A Year in Books/Day 37: The Reel List

Posted on February 8, 2012 by maedez

Title: The Reel List An Irreverent Guide Arranged by Uncommon Categories, from Rock ‘n’ Roll to Revisionist Westerns
Author: Lynne Arany, Tom Dyja, and Gary Goldsmith
Year Published: 1995 (A Detal Book/Published by Dell Publishing)
Year Purchased: 1996/1997
Source: Little Professor Book Company
About: The subtitle gets to the point better than I could. I’ll add that some of the categories are a hoot, and let them ‘speak’ for themselves-The Butler Did It; Hot Rock Rip-Offs & Other Capers; The Aesthetics of Elvis; Adulteries to Remember.
Motivation: One of the points you will see me assert repeatedly is how much I love movies. I really, really do. Mostly old ones, but I digress. I also love lists. No, let me take that a step of 932 further: I need lists. They are a lifelong and basic requirement to my happiness and well-being, one of the tools I use to keep my untidy and wildly fertile mind in some semblance of order. This book is a winner on dual fronts.
Times Read: 2
Random Excerpt/Page 110: “The best thing about movie cats is that precious few of them belong to sensitive tykes with no friends. These cats have sex, work for the FBI, come from outer space, even rise from the dead, and the last thing they’d ever do is wander cross-country to find a beloved owner. Apparently these inert lumps of fur can be interesting when they want to be.
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A Year in Books/Day 32: The Great American Bars and Saloons

Posted on February 1, 2012 by maedez

Title: The Great American Bars and Saloons
Author: Kathy Weiser
Year Published: 2006 (Chartwell Books, Inc.)
Year Purchased: December 2010
Source: A wedding gift from a dear friend.
About: Although hardly a sociological study, ‘The Great American Bars and Saloons’ IS deeper than the average coffee-table volume. With limited text, it is up to the period photographs to tell their history: they do so with gritty, unflinching, and fascinating detail. You can almost smell the mixture of whiskey, sweat and sawdust.
Motivation: We have weird friends who obviously appreciate our own weirdness.
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Times Read: 1
Random Excerpt/Page 10: “Because the saloon was usually one of the first and bigger buildings within many new settlements, it was common that it was also utilized as a public meeting place. Judge Roy Bean and his combination saloon and courtroom in Langtry, Texas was a prime example of this practice. Another saloon in Downieville, California, was not only the most popular saloon in town, but also held the office of the Justice of the Peace. In Hays City, Kansas, the first church services were held in Tommy Drum’s Saloon.”
Happiness Scale: 7

Posted on January 10, 2012 by maedez

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Title: The Filmgoer’s Companion Third Edition
Author: Leslie Halliwell (with a Foreword by Alfred Hitchcock)
Year Published: 1970 (Hill and Wang New York)
Year Purchased: 1990’s
Source: Antique Building, The Ohio State Fair
About: A dense, 1,072 page listing of nearly every player in movie history (up to the 1960’s), complete with pertinent biographical and career data, this is an info junkie’s dream. There is nothing extraneous, with Halliwell offering up facts and not opinions.
Motivation: I love old movie stars, especially those of the once-famous-now-obscure variety. For this reason, I collect vintage fan magazines and out-of-print, pre-1990’s genre books. Every cinema buff should own one edition of ‘The Filmgoer’s Companion’.
Times Read: 2
Random Excerpt/Page 7: “Speaking personally, I don’t know whether it is more flattering or disturbing to find oneself pinned down like a butterfly in a book which recounts all the macabre details of one’s career. But being a stickler for detail myself, I must, and do, submit; and I wish the enterprise well.”
Happiness Scale: 10+++ (although IMDB is splendid, sometimes only a book will do)
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