Other books that might interest you

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  Some Like It Wilder - The Life...

  Gene D. Phillips

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  A biography of the six-time Oscar-winning director of films like Some Like It Hot and Double Indemnity, featuring analysis of his work. 
   
  Although his career spanned fifty years and included more than fifty films, Austrian-American film director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) may be best known for the legendary shot of Marilyn Monroe’s dress billowing over a subway grating in The Seven Year Itch (1955). This “shot seen round the world” is representative not only of Hollywood’s golden era of cinema but also of one of its most prolific and brilliant directors. Wilder, whose filmography includes such classics as Sunset Boulevard (1950), Sabrina (1954), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), and Some Like It Hot (1959), is often remembered for his versatility, biting wit, and passion for challenging social and moral conventions. 
   
  Author Gene D. Phillips departs from the traditional biography in Some Like It Wilder, offering new insights into the acclaimed director’s professional and private life. In preparation for the book, Phillips conducted personal interviews with Wilder and other key players from the legendary director’s life and times. Phillips’s unique combination of analysis and biographical detail brings Wilder to life, as both an artist and man. 
   
  Phillips traces Wilder’s path from Berlin, where he worked as a scriptwriter for one of the city’s largest studios, to Hollywood, where he would quickly establish himself as a premier film director. Forming a partnership with writer-producer Charles Brackett, Wilder directed the classic films Five Graves to Cairo (1943), Double Indemnity (1945), and The Lost Weekend (1945), which earned Academy Awards for best picture, best director, and best screenplay. During the 1960s, Wilder continued to direct and produce controversial comedies, including Kiss Me Stupid (1964) and The Apartment (1960). The Apartment brought Wilder another round of Oscars for best picture, best director, and best screenplay. 
   
  Wilder’s maverick approach and independent artistic vision pushed boundaries and ensured his legacy as one of the Hollywood greats. Sharply written, Some Like It Wilder serves as a comprehensive companion to Wilder’s films, offering a personalized and heartfelt account of the life and genius of this compelling director. 
   
  Praise for Some Like It Wilder 
   
  “Featuring Gene D. Phillips’ unique, in-depth critical approach, Some Like It Wilder . . . provides a groundbreaking overview of a filmmaking icon . . . . This definitive biography reveals that Wilder was, and remains, one of the most influential directors in filmmaking.” —Turner Classic Movies 
   
  “[Phillips] goes beyond the surface and deep into the complex mind and soul of the famous film director . . . . This book is, in my view, definitive.” —Vincent LoBrutto, author of Martin Scorsese: A Biography

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  The PILOT Method - The 5...

  Elizabeth McCormick

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  Becoming a Black Hawk helicopter pilot wasn't easy, and from that experience came the realization that pilots- rotary or fixed wing, military or civilian, have a different thought process.  The rigors of flight training and the heightened state of awareness during flight changes who they are.  What makes pilots different?  Why are they revered as an industry and looked up to by children with awestruck eyes?   And how can the lessons learned as pilots translate into personal leadership and high level performance? The P.I.L.O.T. Method breaks down the 5 elemental truths to being a better leader of yourself through the experiences of pilots.  P-  Potential:  You have potential, are you confident in that potential, and how to boost it.  I-  Implementation:  What are you doing with your potential, and how to get more out of it.L-  Leadership:  The three pillars of leadership based on aviation principles and how they apply to you.O- Optimize:   Are you living your best life?  Learn how you CAN be more, do more, and live more.T- Tenacity:  Never give up.  How to find that toughness within you.   Through Elizabeth McCormick’s stories and those of her pilot friends, you’ll learn how to FLY-  First Lead Yourself.

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  Death Row Texas - Inside the...

  Michelle Lyons

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  “Tells the story of a traumatic life spent witnessing hundreds of people being executed in Texas’ most infamous prison.” —Daily Beast“I can’t remember his name or his crime. What I remember is the nothingness. No family members, no friends, no comfort. Maybe he didn’t want them to come, maybe they didn’t care, maybe he didn’t have any in the first place. It was just a prison official and two reporters, including me, looking through the glass at this man strapped fast to the gurney, needles in both arms, staring hard at the ceiling.When the warden stepped forward and asked if he wanted to make a last statement, the man barely shook his head, said nothing and started blinking. That’s when I saw it: a single tear at the corner of his right eye.A tear he desperately wanted to blink away, a tear he didn’t want us to see. It pooled there for a moment before running down his cheek. The warden gave his signal, the chemicals started flowing, the man coughed, sputtered and exhaled. A doctor entered the room, pronounced the man dead and pulled a sheet over his head.” —Michelle Lyons, from the Prologue Michelle Lyons witnessed nearly 300 executions at the Texas State penitentiary. This “haunting, dark and hard to put down” behind-the-scenes look at those final moments of life relates shocking true stories of the inmate, his/her family members, prison officials, the death-row chaplain and the victim’s loved ones—all of whom come together in the death chamber (Houston Chronicle).

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  A Funeral for My Fat - My...

  Sharee Samuels

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  Sharee Samuels was seventeen and 256 pounds when she hit her rock bottom. But with incredible determination and an unflaggingly positive attitude, she went on to lose more than one hundred pounds over the course of five years. When she began documenting her journey on Tumblr, she never expected to become such a powerful voice for health, fitness, and self-love, but her blog, called Funeral for My Fat, soon morphed into an inspirational guide for hundreds of thousands of individuals looking for support and advice on their own fitness journeys.Here Sharee tells her story. Integral to her success has been her burgeoning passion for teaching group fitness classes, including Zumba, as well as her commitment to eating vegan. However, she firmly believes that it is important for everyone to follow their own path and find what works for them while treating themselves and their bodies with care and respect.If you have a journey ahead of you, Sharee has a story worth hearing.

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  Draft No 4 - On the Writing Process

  John McPhee

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  The long-awaited guide to writing long-form nonfiction by the legendary author and teacher Draft No. 4 is a master class on the writer’s craft. In a series of playful, expertly wrought essays, John McPhee shares insights he has gathered over his career and has refined while teaching at Princeton University, where he has nurtured some of the most esteemed writers of recent decades. McPhee offers definitive guidance in the decisions regarding arrangement, diction, and tone that shape nonfiction pieces, and he presents extracts from his work, subjecting them to wry scrutiny. In one essay, he considers the delicate art of getting sources to tell you what they might not otherwise reveal. In another, he discusses how to use flashback to place a bear encounter in a travel narrative, while observing that “readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone’s bones.” The result is a vivid depiction of the writing process, from reporting to drafting to revising—and revising, and revising.Draft No. 4 is enriched by multiple diagrams and by personal anecdotes and charming reflections on the life of a writer. McPhee describes his enduring relationships with The New Yorker and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and recalls his early years at Time magazine. Throughout, Draft No. 4 is enlivened by his keen sense of writing as a way of being in the world.

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  I'd Trade Him Again - Wayne...

  Terry McConnell, J'Lyn Nye,...

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  August 8, 2023 marks the 35th anniversary of the news conference during which THE TRADE was announced, and in the annals of professional hockey, no incident has resulted in such furor, such angst among Canadians as did the decision by team owner Peter Pocklington to trade Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. Pocklington's biographers focus on the relationship between the two men, today and during the heady heydays of the five-time Stanley Cup champion team. 
  Peter Pocklington brought the people of Edmonton a winning franchise and the most skilled player in hockey history: The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. This book tells the fascinating story of the flamboyant entrepreneur's tenure of the Edmonton Oilers, from its origins as a WHA team to its heights as an NHL powerhouse. 
  "I'D TRADE HIM AGAIN: WAYNE GRETZKY & PETER POCKLINGTON" is an "must listen" for hockey fans on both sides of the border. Get inside details from the major players in this dramatic tale.

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