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  • Chasing the light Oliver Stones biography. He comes of as much more levelheaded and thoughtful then in interviews, and the books feels honest. He does not shy away from his failures and shortcomings.
    "No presh from the Dresh!"

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    • It was almost 80 outside today but a pile of wind. So sat on the back porch and started this book.

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      • Originally posted by Randy G View Post
        A fun, well written overview of all kinds of genre B films from the 70s.

        Click image for larger version

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        Got this book and is indeed terrific! I can see myself going back to this often.
        I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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        • Glad you liked it, I discovered Charles Taylor from his essay in an early collection on porn films where he was the only one who didn't take a superior approach to the material and seemed to have real knowledge of genre and exploitation films.

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          • I'm almost finished reading Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. It's a great history book and an interesting read. The best parts are the ones dealing with his chaotic childhood and the Mongol military tactics.

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            • I haven’t contributed to this thread in many years:

              Presently reading The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis, which is pure catnip to me. The book is part love letter to the LA of his youth, to his High School friends, to the eighties, and part . . . serial killer-themed thriller, I guess. It was serialised on his podcast as he wrote it and it is a little odd reading the revised text after, effectively, listening to the audio book. It’s highly recommended to anyone who has enjoyed his previous work though.

              A quick mention to the two best books I read last year - The Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen and Bright Precious Days, by Jay McInnerney. I’d never read Franzen before, and while that book was long and took me a while to get through, I was stunned by the rendering of the central characters, a family of five in small town America. I’m not sure this is really selling it and I’m not going to get too far into it here, but the hopes and fears, the small victories and crushing defeats, the familial tensions feel remarkably real. I’m intending to read The Corrections this year.

              The McInnerney was lightweight by comparison, though tremendously enjoyable. It’s the third in a series of novels chronicling the trials and tribulations of Manhattan’s literarty, principally Russell and Corine Calloway. All three volumes are highly recommended and I struggled to put this one down. It is a bit soapy compared to the Franzen though.
              s.chivers
              Senior Member
              Last edited by s.chivers; 04-03-2023, 07:55 AM.
              https://carnalcinema.blog

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              • Learning How To Die, by Greg Kot. Billed as the story of the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, this is really the story of Tweedy, Uncle Tupelo and Wilco up to that point. Highly recommended for fans, as is Tweedy’s autobiography Let’s Go, So We Can Get Back.
                https://carnalcinema.blog

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                • Discovered months ago this series of kids books I read back when I was 10 had 7 books in the run not the 4 that I thought.

                  Tracked down all 7 and got the first 2 read so far.

                  13 Ways to Sink a Sub by Jamie Gilson-Book 1 in the Hobie Hanson series. Hobie is your average 4th grade kid. When his class finally gets a subsitute teacher they have a challenge who can make her sink aka cry first. The Boys or the girls.

                  Hadn't read this book since I was about 15,first read it when it came out and I was 10. It holds up fairly well. And yes they sink the sub at the end.

                  4B goes Wild By Jamie Gilson-set a few months after the first book,this time Hobie is going for a weekend stay at some outdoor education class. Not nearly as good as the first book.

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                  • Deep in a Dream - The Long Night of Chet Baker, by James Gavin.
                    https://carnalcinema.blog

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                    • I finished Escape From Alcatraz.

                      Now reading The Monuments Men, which is holding my attention in spite of the detailed subject matter, and I have The High Desert graphic novel by James Spooner that just showed up in the mail.

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                      • Back to the Hobie hanson series,read three last night.

                        Hobie Hanson you are weird-Book 3,Hobie is stuck by himself most of the summer. Ends up becoming friends with Molly. And has his birthday on July 4th. Not one of the better books in this series.

                        Double dog Dare-5th grade has started. Lisa has won Ms pre teen personality. So invited the entire class to a party at the ice skating rink. Hobie is mad cause his best friend is in the smart kids program. So devises a prank to prove he is smart than most figured. Not bad but not as good as the first 2.

                        Hobie Hanson Greatest Hero of the mall-So far the worst.

                        Starts off with Hobie babysitting Nick's lil brother as it is flooding. They get rescued from the flooding house by Molly and a floating girafee. During the rescue Hobie loses Ms rossi's diamonds.

                        School is flooded so they moved the elementary school kids into an empty store in teh nearby mall.

                        Rest of the book is hobie trying to find the diamonds. And more hints that him and Molly will start dating.
                        This is the first in the series I didn't read when it was new. Discovered it existed a few years back.

                        Reading book 6 right now and so far it ain't bad. Lots of forgotten plot points being resolved.



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                        • The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen.
                          https://carnalcinema.blog

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                          • The Corrections is brilliant but also quite depressing, with its depictions of familial tensions, dysfunctional marriages and degenerative illnesses. I’m mixing it up with Sympathy for the Devil: the birth of the Rolling Stones and the death of Brian Jones, by Paul Trianka. It’s a bit repetitive at times but compelling nonetheless.
                            https://carnalcinema.blog

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                            • Liz Phair’s memoir, Horror Stories.
                              https://carnalcinema.blog

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                              • The Big Goodbye, by Sam Wasson.

                                The Liz Phair is very episodic and something I will probably dip in and out of. Wasson’s book is apparently a deep dive into the making of Chinatown. I’m about forty pages in and thus far we’ve tracked Polanski from the Krakow ghetto through the making of Rosemary’s Baby to the horrors of Cielo Drive. It’s a great read.

                                I finally finished The Corrections btw, and it’s really wonderful. Highly recommended for anyone who fancies 600-odd pages of human fallibility, of disappointment, resentment and physical degeneration.
                                s.chivers
                                Senior Member
                                Last edited by s.chivers; 08-19-2023, 06:51 AM.
                                https://carnalcinema.blog

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