Download or read book Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen written by Sarah James and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Glamorous and suspenseful." —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made. But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group—each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers—that call themselves the Ambassador's Club. Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back. "This vibrant, utterly delightful mystery expertly captures the drama, glamour and absurdity of wartime Hollywood. Sarah James's swift dialogue, dry wit and clever characters transport you into a 1940s movie, where the jokes are quick, the love affairs scandalous and the cast as charming as they are flawed." —Brianna Labuskes, author of The Librarian of Burned Books
Download or read book Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen written by Sarah James and published by Sourcebooks Landmark. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is The Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by the entertainment industry. Annie Laurence definitely hopes to rub elbows with the stars - maybe then she can get her movie made. After a devastating surprise breakup, she moved from New York to Hollywood to start her new life as a screenwriter of murder mysteries--only to learn that the controlling studio head thinks women can only write light romances. At her second night at the Canteen, however, a particularly vicious critic is murdered. Annie falls in with the critic's old friends, a bitter and cynical group--each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers--that call themselves the Ambassador's Club. Even though the critic's death is officially ruled a suicide, Annie comes to believe that one friend-- or maybe a disgruntled former friend-- is trying to off the group one by one. Unfortunately, that now includes her. "This vibrant, utterly delightful mystery expertly captures the drama, glamour and absurdity of wartime Hollywood. Sarah James's swift dialogue, dry wit and clever characters transport you into a 1940s movie, where the jokes are quick, the love affairs scandalous and the cast as charming as they are flawed. Underneath it all, James's deep knowledge of the era's movies and music lends an authenticity that makes the rest shine even brighter. I laughed, I gasped and I never wanted it to end. This should head straight to the top of every must-read list." --Brianna Labuskes, author of The Librarian of Burned Books
Download or read book The Hollywood Canteen written by Lisa Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2012-06 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspired by the Stage Door Canteen in New York, Bette Davis and John Garfield saw the need of a similar enterprise on the West Coast. From 1942 to 1945, over three million servicemen came through its doors on their way to fight in the Pacific--some never to return. There, in a converted barn in the heart of Hollywood, soldiers were fed, entertained by and danced with some of the biggest stars in the world ... Knowing they were so appreciated, the soldiers were armed with the kinds of hope and encouragement that would help them win a war.--from the back cover.
Download or read book The Woman with Two Shadows written by Sarah James and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-07-26 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A riveting tale about a town and its people that officially never existed and the secrecy behind one of the Manhattan Project's top-secret cities!" —Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman's Daughter For fans of Atomic City Girls and Marie Benedict, a fascinating historical debut of one of the most closely held secrets of World War II and a woman caught up in it when she follows her missing sister to the mysterious city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Lillian Kaufman hasn't heard from her twin sister since Eleanor left for a mysterious job at an Army base somewhere in Tennessee. When she learns, on an unexpected phone call, that Eleanor is missing, Lillian takes a train from New York down to Oak Ridge to clear up the matter. It turns out that the only way into Oak Ridge is to assume Eleanor's identity, which Lillian plans to do swiftly and perfectly. But Eleanor has vanished without a trace—and she's not the only one. And how do you find someone in a town so dangerous it doesn't officially exist, when technically you don't exist either? Lillian is thrust into the epicenter of the gravest scientific undertaking of all time, with no idea who she can trust. And the more she pretends to be Eleanor, the more she loses her grip on herself.
Download or read book George Raft written by Everett Aaker and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-05-03 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early 1930s, George Raft, an actor and dancer from New York City's Hell's Kitchen, gained a name for himself playing stylish and charismatic gangsters in films like 1932's original Scarface. Raft's own real-life connection to the New York mob added frightening authenticity to his portrayals, and his star quality coincided with the peak years of the Hollywood factory to produce a remarkable track record of successful movies. Highly regarded during his lifetime as a performer, his reputation as an actor suffered a steep decline after his death. This definitive study of all of Raft's films offers intimate insight into all of his productions, including casts, characters, technical credits, and story synopses, and dispels a number of myths surrounding his legendary career.
Download or read book Boy at Sea written by Jonathan May and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2005-10-19 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kenny Roper has seen too many movies about WWI to hang around and be caught in the draft of WWII. If he goes down, let it be in water and not in trenches. He joins the U. S. Coast Guard. He won't have to go overseas, will he? Guess again, Kenny. You're in for a rude awakening, as well as a riotous and raunchy adventure. "Do you like girls?" he is asked in the examination room. What do they think, he's antisocial? So begins Boy At Sea, a novel that, as the title suggests, is about conflicted sexuality as revealed through the picaresque adventures of a college freshman-turned-sailor. Kenny meets great guys on ship and on land, but none so intriguing or troubling as blond gunner's mate Blake, stationed aboard the same destroyer escort in the South Pacific. Kenny's travels take him from Wilmington and other parts of California to New York and Boston, Brisbane, Samoa, the Panama Canal Zone and Alaska. He experiences the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles in 1943 and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, but nothing sears itself into his consciousness like his relationship with Blake.
Download or read book She Damn Near Ran the Studio written by Jacqueline R. Braitman and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2020-10-19 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Best known as the woman who “ran MGM,” Ida R. Koverman (1876–1954) served as talent scout, mentor, executive secretary, and confidant to American movie mogul Louis B. Mayer for twenty-five years. She Damn Near Ran the Studio: The Extraordinary Lives of Ida R. Koverman is the first full account of Koverman’s life and the true story of how she became a formidable politico and a creative powerhouse during Hollywood’s Golden Era. For nearly a century, Koverman’s legacy has largely rested on a mythical narrative while her more fascinating true-life story has remained an enduring mystery—until now. This story begins with Koverman’s early years in Ohio and the sensational national scandal that forced her escape to New York where she created a new identity and became a leader among a community of women. Her second incarnation came in California where she established herself as a hardcore political operative challenging the state’s progressive impulse. During the Roaring Twenties, she was a key architect of the Southland’s conservative female-centric partisan network that refashioned the course of state and national politics and put Herbert Hoover in the White House. As “the political boss of Los Angeles County,” she was the premiere matchmaker in the courtship between Hollywood and national partisan politics, which, as Mayer’s executive secretary, was epitomized by her third incarnation as “one of the most formidable women in Hollywood,” whose unparalleled power emanated from her unique perch inside the executive suite of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Free to adapt her managerial skills and political know-how on behalf of the studio, she quickly drew upon her artistic sensibilities as a talent scout, expanding MGM’s catalog of stars and her own influence on American popular culture. Recognized as “one of the invisible power centers in both MGM and the city of Los Angeles,” she nurtured the city’s burgeoning performing arts by fostering music and musicians and the public financing of them. As the “lioness” of MGM royalty, Ida Koverman was not just a naturalized citizen of the Hollywood kingdom; at times during her long reign, she “damn near ran the studio.”
Download or read book Dutch Clarke The War Years written by Brian Ratty and published by eBookIt.com. This book was released on 2013-05-22 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1942, as American blood is about to be spilled in far-off Guadalcanal, a young man boards a train and blindly heads towards his destiny: boot camp with the United States Marine Corps. These tragic times of World War II were the defining years for millions of cowboys and plowboys. This book is a compelling chronicle about these years and one not-so-ordinary young man. aThe War Years' is a heartwarming saga about Dutch Clarke who, over the objections of his prominent family, answers his country's call. Just as Dutch is about to complete boot camp, family influence steps in and propels him through the ranks and into the Office of War Information. Here he puts down his rifle and takes up photography. Soon Dutch learns the power of the lens and the courage to use it. This is a uniquely different war story about men who fought their way across the Pacific, not with guns but with cameras. This tapestry covers more than just guns and bullets; it is also about the human threads of prejudice, friendship and the ultimate sacrifice. After surviving a Japanese POW camp and a daring escape, Dutch is given the opportunity to be one of the first American photographers to set foot on homeland Japan...here he turns his assignment from reconnaissance to revenge. This story is as fresh as today's headlines and as true as yesterday's sins. Winner: Eric Hoffer Literary Award Book of the Year Finalist - ForeWord Magazine The War Years is an engaging and insightful look into Dutch Clarke's military service among tinsel town's celebrities, his front line action as a combat photographer, and his subsequent refusal to be cowed as a Japanese prisoner. It's an action filled, satisfying read for any reader, especially if you like a good military novel. Gary Adams, author of Felicity - Hard Times - Happy Days. The novelist misses nothing as his narrative snaps pictures of racism, injury, death, heroism, revenge, and redemption in nonstop action. Ratty effectively weaves a combination of current drama and flashbacks as Dutch narrates his saga. A skilled storyteller, Ratty has moments of elegant prose. ForeWord Clarion Review
Download or read book Baseball Prospectus 2023 written by Baseball Prospectus and published by Baseball Prospectus. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 949 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2023 edition of The New York Times Bestselling Guide. PLAY BALL! The 28th edition of this industry-leading baseball annual contains all of the important statistics, player predictions and insider-level commentary that readers have come to expect, along with significant improvements to several statistics that were created by, and are exclusive to, Baseball Prospectus, and an expanded focus on international players and teams. Baseball Prospectus 2023 provides fantasy players and insiders alike with prescient PECOTA projections, which The New York Times called “the überforecast of every player’s performance.” With more than 50 Baseball Prospectus alumni currently working for major-league baseball teams, nearly every organization has sought the advice of current or former BP analysts, and readers of Baseball Prospectus 2023 will understand why!
Download or read book A Doctor in the Pacific War written by Malcolm Hawk and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2020-02-27 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In August 1942, Malcolm Henry Hawk left a promising post-graduate medical residency in Wisconsin to begin serving his country in the Pacific Theater during World War II. In the Pacific, he served as an anesthesiologist with the 44th General Army Hospital, first in Australia and then in the Philippines. The work was essential and often hard; the medical staff treated frontline casualties and also kept the support troops healthy. Malcolm was fortunate to be seldom in danger, although he mentions being uncomfortably close to a few Japanese attacks in the Philippines. But the hazards of his military life included the frustrations of trying to obtain the equipment and operating facilities that his unit needed, the rigors of tent life, searing heat and monsoon rains, the loneliness of missing his family, endless hours of boredom, and worries about what he would do after the war was over and he came home to resume his career. His letters home paint a vivid picture of what daily life was actually like for one medical doctor during the war.
Download or read book Hedy Lamarr s Double Life written by Laurie Wallmark and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Revelatory to young audiences in more ways than one.” —Kirkus “Many STEM-for-girls biographies fan excitement over women’s achievements, but this title actually brings the central scientific concept within middle-grade reach.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Movie star by day, ace inventor at night: learn about the hidden life of actress Hedy Lamarr! To her adoring public, Hedy Lamarr was a glamorous movie star, widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world. But in private, she was something more: a brilliant inventor. And for many years only her closest friends knew her secret. Now Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu, who collaborated on Sterling’s critically acclaimed picture-book biography Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, tell the inspiring story of how, during World War Two, Lamarr developed a groundbreaking communications system that still remains essential to the security of today’s technology.
Download or read book Buster S Book written by Donald Junkins and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2012-11-17 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing insight in a familys history against the backdrop of major world wars, Busters Book offers a collection of more than a thousand letters exchanged during the twentieth century as young men provided service to their country. In this memoir, author Donald Junkins has compiled letters, diaries, interviews, recollections, and photographs of the familys participants in both world wars and the Korean and Vietnam wars. This fascinating historical record includes the stories of a variety of escapades: from single-handedly opening an eight-year-old Nazi prison camp; to B-24 air forays from New Guinea in which an aerial gunner shot down two Japanese Zero planes; and to the rescue in Korea of wounded men stalled in a jeep in the middle of a freezing river that culminated in the awarding of the Silver Star. Busters Book reflects both the lives of a middle-class American family during these years and the daily activities of two generations of young American men at war.
Download or read book The World of Jak Smyrl written by Joan A. Inabinet and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2020-02-27 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I was just a poor artist. I couldn't afford a 'C.'" This quip by Jak Smyrl, born Oscar Jackson Smyrl, Jr., in Camden, South Carolina, captures all the charm, humility, and humor of a one-of-a-kind character, beloved cartoonist, artist, and journalist who uniquely rendered his era and place with his pen, brushes, and words. In this long-overdue biography ranging from his humble beginnings to being honored by the South Carolina General Assembly "for his distinguished career as an artist" with thanks for "lightening the heart of uncounted South Carolinians," his life and legacy is honored, and his love for South Carolina is magnified. Warm and intimate, this is the story of a gentle and self-effacing man with an uncanny talent and a dry, whip-smart sense of humor that was never cruel but brought people together while enlarging their lives with pleasure. He discovered his talent while young and used it throughout his life to spotlight not only the foibles of the world around him but the goodness he found there as well. It was a good life, well lived yet not without its sorrows—but always infused with an admirable and infectious optimism, a hallmark of his character. From Smyrl's work illustrating members of his high school football team for a newspaper to his war experiences, and from his struggling-artist days as a student at the University of South Carolina and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to landing his dream job, where he became "Jak" (without that "C"), as the first staff artist of the State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, Joan A. Inabinet and L. Glen Inabinet highlight excerpts from his letters and diaries that offer trenchant insights into the man and his times. Enhanced by photographs and Smyrl's illustrations, The World of Jak Smyrl presents a remarkable slice of small-town and rural southern life in the 1920s and 30s, moving on to the wider world and the turmoil of World War II through the turn of the millennium. Some artists' lives are worth chronicling because their unique vision and their works are fine-tuned to capturing the flavor of an era and its color—Jak Smyrl's life is one of these.
Download or read book The Pink Hotel written by Liska Jacobs and published by MCD. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Heady and dark and dangerous, The Pink Hotel is an intoxicating binge of a book. Liska Jacobs's stunning indictment of a society teetering toward apocalypse is one you won’t easily forget.” —Janelle Brown, author of I'll Be You Newlyweds Keith and Kit Collins can hardly believe their luck when the general manager of the iconic, opulent Pink Hotel invites them to come for a luxurious stay as a bid to hire Keith. Kit loves their small-town life, but Keith has always wanted more, and the glittering, lily-scented lobby makes him feel right at home. Soon after their arrival, wildfires sweep through the surrounding mountains and Los Angeles becomes a pressure cooker, with riots breaking out across the city amid rolling blackouts. The Pink Hotel closes its doors to "outsiders," and Keith and Kit find themselves confined with an anxious, disgruntled staff and a growing roster of eccentric, ultra-wealthy, dangerously idle guests who flock to the hotel for sanctuary, company, and entertainment. The Pink Hotel exposes a tenuous class system within its walls, full of insurmountable expectations and unspoken resentments, which deteriorate as the city burns. In her barbed, provocative new novel, Liska Jacobs explores the corrosive nature of greed and interrogates the notion of true love, while hurtling readers toward certain disaster.
Download or read book The Bread of Teaching written by Michael Bennett and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2009-02 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fifty-six years after their fathers fought on Iwo Jima, two teachers unaware of their shared past face the 2001 school year, a year unlike any other, a year in which change comes to their lives, their school district, and their nation.
Download or read book Hollywood Victory written by Christian Blauvelt and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For film and history buffs alike, this is the engrossing story of Hollywood's involvement in World War II, as it's never before been told. Part of the Turner Classic Movies Library. Remember a time when all of Hollywood--with the expressed encouragement and investment of the government--joined forces to defend the American way of life? It was World War II and the gravest threat faced the nation, and the world at large. Hollywood answered the call to action. This is the riveting tale of how the film industry enlisted in the Allied effort during the second World War--a story that started with staunch isolationism as studios sought to maintain the European market and eventually erupted into impassioned support in countless ways. Industry output included war films depicting battles and reminding moviegoers what they were fighting for, "home-front" stories designed to boost the morale of troops overseas, and even musicals and comedies that did their bit by promoting the Good Neighbor Policy with American allies to the south. Stars like Carole Lombard--who lost her life returning from a war bond-selling tour--Bob Hope, and Marlene Dietrich enthusiastically joined USO performances and risked their own health and safety by entertaining troops near battlefronts; others like James Stewart and Clark Gable joined the fight themselves in uniform; Bette Davis and John Garfield created a starry haven for soldiers in their founding of the Hollywood Canteen. Filmmakers Orson Welles, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, and others took breaks from thriving careers to make films aiming to shore up alliances, boost recruitment, and let the folks back home know what beloved family members were facing overseas. Through it all, a story of once-in-a-century unity--of a collective need to stand up for humanity, even if it means risking everything--comes to life in this engrossing, photo-filled tale of Hollywood Victory.
Download or read book The Sound of Musicals written by Steven Cohan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-07-25 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite having had its obituary written many times, the movie musical remains a flourishing twenty-first century form, and as this volume demonstrates, one that exists far beyond the confines of Broadway and Hollywood. The Sound of Musicals examines the films, stars, issues and traditions of the genre from the 1930s to the present day. Featuring sixteen original essays by leading international scholars, this illuminating collection addresses the complex history and global variety of the movie musical, and considers the delight and passionate engagement that musicals continue to inspire in audiences around the world. The contributors address key issues for understanding the movie musical: questions of genre and generic traditions; questions of history, bringing fresh perspectives to a consideration of Classical Hollywood musicals; and the musical beyond Hollywood, looking at alternatives to the Hollywood model from the 'New Hollywood' and American independent cinema to Bollywood and other national musical traditions. Individual chapters consider key musical stars such as Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand; film-makers including Robert Altman and Christophe Honoré, and classic musicals such as South Pacific (1958) and Hairspray (1988). In his introduction to the volume, Steven Cohan addresses the significance and enduring appeal of this multi-faceted genre, and considers its recent renaissance with movies such as the High School Musical franchise, and the success of the television series Glee.
