Category Archives: Project 366

A Year in Books/Day 149: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare

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  • Title: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare
  • Edited by: Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells
  • Year Published: 2001 (Oxford University Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2001/2002
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: Everything you could want to know about Shakespeare, his works, and his era, this volume is an accompaniment to the Oxford Shakespeare. Dense, detailed and, like any encyclopedia, culled from a diverse, sometimes contradictory set of sources, it is one of the definitive texts on the king of all playwrights. It’s a cornerstone of my Shakespeare collection. Bonus points for the handsome coffee table treatment, complete with beautiful photographs and illustrations.

    English: Title page of Shakespeare's Sonnets (...

    English: Title page of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Motivation: I was that lone teen in high school English Literature class who was thrilled whenever Shakespeare showed up on the syllabus. I grew up to study Shakespearean Theatre (yep, that’s a thing). I’m still passionately keen for the Bard of Avon, whose works comprise one of my favourite linguistic and literary playgrounds.
  • Times Read: Cover-to-cover:1/As resource: countless
  • Random Excerpt/Page 482: “Translation, the rendering of Shakespeare texts into another language, is inalienably part of the process whereby Shakespeare has been, and is being, received in non-English-speaking countries. Hence Shakespeare translation has not only (1) linguistic but also (2) theatrical and cultural-even political-aspects.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10+++

A Year in Books/Day 148: Rebels Pretenders & Impostors

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  • Title: Rebels Pretenders & Impostors
  • Author: Clive Cheesman & Jonathan Williams
  • Year Published: 2000 (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2001
  • Source: History Book Club
  • About: Rebels Pretenders & Impostors covers all manner of aspirants to various thrones and seats of power throughout the centuries. Armed with intrigue, deceit and delusion (and often shored up by a skewed sense of destiny), the majority of these fake kings, faux queens and misguided rebels ended up on the wrong side of history. Built on strong research and excellent writing ,while remaining fast-paced, this short book resides in the middle ground between popular history and academic study. It is fun food for thought.
  • Motivation: History, how I love thee! Academic or popular, you are both alright in my book.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 137: “Nor are the Stuarts the only British royal dynasty from whom people claim to descend. The end of the house of Tudor did not inspire either constitutional crisis or a romantic sense of loss in the same way as the events of 1688, but the Tudor monarchs are for many heroic figures, larger than life, loved and hated in equal measure, and with plenty of significance for political and national questions that are still debated. It is not surprising therefore that several individuals have presented themselves as their legitimate descendants.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9

A Year in Books/Day 147: Bare Blass

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  • Title: Bare Blass
  • Author: Bill Blass
  • Year Published: 2002 (HarperCollinsPublishers)
  • Year Purchased: 2010
  • Source: My lovely momma
  • About: The loosely structured autobiography of the great American fashion designer is a fun, quick and riveting read. His perspective on national and international society of the mid-to-late 20th-century is considerably more interesting that what I expected. His retelling of his journey from the Indiana boy he never quite left behind to sophisticated man-of-the-world is complex, humorous and compelling, with detours that I never suspected. Yet, his writing voice is exactly what you would expect: barbed, candid, and smooth. By story’s end, it is obvious why he was welcomed with open arms by high society. Bonus: The book includes his apparently famous recipe for meatloaf.
  • Motivation: It was $1.00. My mom knew that I would find it interesting, as I am  a fashion history hobbyist. Well played, Momma. Well played.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 72: “Actually, what I was shooting for was swagger-a cross between Damon Runyan and the Duke of Windsor, or what fashion editor Sally Kirkland, after seeing my first show, called “the Scarsdale Mafia look.” I loved the expressive masculine style of the thirties. I didn’t give a damn about tastefulness.”
  • Happiness Scale: 8

A Year in Books/Day 146: A Memoir of Jane Austen

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  • Title: A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections
  • Author: J.E. Austen-Leigh
  • Year Published: 1870/This Edition: 2002 (Oxford University Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2002/2003
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: J.E. Austen-Leigh was Jane’s nephew, the son of her eldest brother. He was nineteen when his famous aunt died; his impressions of her were published 53 years later. Although there are more scrupulous works of scholarship available, this memoir is the closest we will ever get to the ‘real’ woman (other than her surviving letters and fiction). On the other hand, one can argue that a writer’s works are the best representative of their true self and that everything else-character, mannerisms, speech patterns, habits, loves, hates and proclivities-is the fiction. That is a bit deeper than I want to dive in this mini-review, so hold on to that thought if you’d like; I’m sure I will cover it here some other day. Where were we? Ah, yes! Jane as presented in the bosom of her family hearth and home, by her nephew. As biased as it obviously is, it is a really fantastic book. It is of key importance to Austen scholars and fans alike. This edition also includes reminiscences by her brother Henry and nieces Anna and Caroline, which is a touch that nicely rounds out the portrait of this truly compelling woman.
  • Motivation: I love Jane Austen. Pick your jaw up off of the floor, you must be shocked.
  • Times Read: 2
  • Random Excerpt/Page 1: “More than half a century has passed away since I, the youngest of the mourners, attended the funeral of my dear aunt Jane in Winchester Cathedral; and now, in my old age, I am asked whether my memory will serve to rescue from oblivion  any events of her life or any traits of her character to satisfy the enquiries of a generation of readers who have been born since she died.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

A Year in Books/Day 145: Marilyn-The New York Years

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  • Title: Marilyn-The New York Years
  • Author & Photographer: Sam Shaw
  • Year Published: 2004 (Lardon)
  • Year Purchased: 2004
  • Source: Unknown, but it was in conjunction with a show of Sam Shaw’s Marilyn photographs.
  • About: Sam Shaw was a photographer who also worked as a movie producer (most notably on several John Cassavetes films). He was a long-time close friend of Marilyn Monroe, and acted as the still photographer on The Seven Year Itch (1955). After her famous move to New York City to study acting with Lee Strasberg, during which time she married playwright Arthur Miller, Sam Shaw took up his camera to capture his friend at her luminous best. The trust she felt for Shaw is apparent: whether candid or posed, there is an ease and casual glamour to most of the images not seen since her earlier modeling work with Andre de Dienes. It is a beautiful coffee table volume that allows the photography to shine; the text is limited to a few brief quotes by Shaw and Monroe.
  • Motivation: Sam Shaw is my favourite Marilyn photographer; many of the images in this book were never-before-published. Win-win.
  • Times Read: A few
  • Random Excerpt/Page 4: “Eventually, Marilyn found herself in the business of being a superstar. She became a business woman. She became a big tycoon trying to lay the law down to the Hollywood bigshots. And she nearly beat them. In today’s atmosphere, with women all over demanding more rights, she would have won hands down.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10+++

A Year in Books/Day 144: Anthony Trollope

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  • Title: Anthony Trollope
  • Author: James Pope-Hennessy
  • Year Published: 1971/This Edition: 2001 (Phoenix Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2003/2004
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: The creator of fictional Barsetshire, and its memorable inhabitants, receives an excellent biographical treatment by Pope-Hennessy. To read a Trollope novel-especially one from this famed series-is to step into one of the greatest of all fictional worlds. It’s a beautifully self-contained experience. As part of the careful unfolding of the novelist’s life, we are introduced to his formidable mother, Fanny; a professional writer with a deep social conscience, she has been sadly neglected by most modern scholars. Her story offers an interesting counterpoint to that of her famous son.
  • Motivation: I am a Trollope fan. I love dead writers. Biographies are an obsession.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 102: “To sum up: we know extremely little about the pretty Yorkshire girl whom Anthony Trollope met at Kingstown near Dublin in the summertime of 1842, to whom he was engaged for the best part of three years, and whom he finally married.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9
    English: Anthony Trollope

    English: Anthony Trollope (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

A Year in Books/Day 143: Longfellow’s Poems

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  • Title: Longfellow’s Poems
  • Year Published: 1900/This Edition: 1901 (A.L. Burt Company, Publishers)
  • Year Purchased: Unknown
  • Source: My Step-grandmother
  • About: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the great American poet of the 19th century, is remembered for Evangeline, Paul Revere’s Ride, and The Song of Hiawatha.
  • Motivation: This is another book that I ended up with after my Step-grandmother’s death nearly 20 years ago; it was given to her by her mother, who had been a school teacher during The Great War. This beautifully preserved volume was, I thought then, something of a reward for having been frightened by my stepfather’s severe (yet kindly enough) Grandmother Doris. During the few years that I knew her, when she was in her nineties, she was every inch the prim, dour school marm. Each encounter with her was like an inspection, where I was assessed head to foot then grilled about my school work. In her presence, I instinctively knew not to speak until spoken to; fortunately, simply being in the same room with her cowed me (and my natural chattiness) to the point of panicky muteness.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page vii: “The reader observes also the absence of the wit and humor which is almost universal in poets. While Longfellow was always cheerful, he was never droll.”
  • Happiness Scale: 7 1/2

    English: Engraving of American poet Henry Wads...

    English: Engraving of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, presumably after a portrait by Samuel Lawrence. From the book The Song of Hiawatha, Moscow, 1931. Published by OGIZ. Sepia. Русский: Генри Лонгфелло. Портрет. “Песнь о Гайавате”. ОГИЗ – Молодая гвардия – 1931. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Year in Books/Day 142: American History

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  • Title: American History
  • Year Published: 1911/This Edition: 1933 (The Athenaeum Press)
  • Year Purchased: 1930s
  • Source: My Step-grandmother.
  • About: This book belonged to my Step-grandmother. She started high school the year this edition hit classrooms. It was, as the excerpt below testifies, a very modern take on the subject. What was new then is, nearly 80 years later, a piece of history itself. It is a window into how education was approached during the early part of the 20th century.
  • Motivation: I just love old books (and history!). The books I inherited from my Step-father’s mother (and grandmother) are still in excellent condition; I treasure them deeply.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page iii: “The present volume represents the newer tendency in historical writing. Its aim is not to tell over once more the old story in the old way, but to give the emphasis to those factors in our national development which appeal to us as most vital from the standpoint of today. However various may be the advantages of historical study, one of them, and perhaps the most unmistakable, is to explain prevailing conditions and institutions by showing how they have come about.”
  • Happiness Scale: 8

    New $1.62

    New $1.62

A Year in Books/Day 141: Silent Players

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  • Title: Silent Players A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses
  • Author: Anthony Slide
  • Year Published: 2002 (The University Press of Kentucky)
  • Year Purchased: 2010
  • Source: Half Price Books
  • About: Most of the stars profiled in this book were forgotten within a few years of the end of the silent era; the rest-the lucky few- are mere by-words for Old Hollywood, names disconnected from faces. Leftovers from our great-Grandparents’ childhoods. Anthony Slide, over the course of a couple of decades, had the pleasure or the privilege to have met the majority of entertainers featured in this volume. Thus, Silent Players is not dry biography or weak conjecture, nor is it pure scholarship (although it has a foundation of extensive research); it is alive with personal experiences and revealing reminiscences. His passion for his subjects shines through his clear, yet keen writing. A must-have for anyone interested in silent cinema and those who graced it with their magic.

    Publicity photo of Mae Marsh from Stars of the...

    Publicity photo of Mae Marsh from Stars of the Photoplay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Motivation: Many of my favourite film performers appeared in silent movies. I write on the subject. A lot. In fact, silent movies are one of my biggest passions!
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 127: “The number of Hollywood extras is probably in the hundreds of thousands. As early as November 1934, Photoplay reported some 17, 541 individuals registered as extras with Central Casting. Among the number of small part and bit players available at that time were former stars, including Monte Blue, Betty Blythe, Mae Marsh, and Dorothy Phillips, and silent directors, including Francis Ford, Frank Reicher and George Melford. One-time stars might become extras, but the only extra to ever be accorded the celebrity and fame of stardom is Bess Flowers.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10+++

A Year in Books/Day 140: Evelyn Waugh

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  • Title: Evelyn Waugh The Later Years 1939-1966
  • Author: Martin Stannard
  • Year Published: 1992/This Edition: 1994 (W.W. Norton & Company)
  • Year Purchased: 2000?
  • Source: Barnes & Noble clearance rack
  • About: I’m currently on a Bright Young Things reading binge; although it focuses on Waugh’s mature years, this book almost instantly came to mind. It is one of the better biographies present on my sagging shelves. A potent reminder that he was more than just the writer of Brideshead Revisited (which, if it came down to that, wouldn’t be such a bad thing), Stannard succeeds in making the complex yet usually unapproachable Waugh, for good and bad, seem human. It is a masterly work.
  • Motivation: I collect dead writer biographies like kids collect toys.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 170: “The delay in departure was all Waugh needed to fire his imagination. There was, he felt, a story in this about everything that had troubled him since leaving the army, and Scott-King’s Modern Europe was to be his revenge on his hosts.”
  • Happiness Scale: 9
    Portrait of Evelyn Waugh

    Portrait of Evelyn Waugh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)