Biography & Autobiography : Entertainment & Performing Arts

Not being famous is worse than being dead in Hollywood, where the bones of dead celebrities are literally worth killing for. Murder follows an unexpected betrayal, and Nina's quest for the grave robbers twists from the tabloid assignment to a grief-stricken vendetta that matches her camera against their guns, shot for shot. With her sidekick Frank -- a slovenly assassin of celebrity reputations -- and her beloved toothless Rottweiler in tow, Nina returns to the page in an emotionally riveting tabloid thriller fit to please her own cultish following. more...

Price: $17.99

Talks about the generation that wanted to break every rule. An account of rules broken, left intact and re-written forever, this book talks about an artist and a mother becoming an adult on her own terms. more...

Price: $14.99

Everyone says they would like to retire early, but Rodney Rothman actually did it -- forty years early. Burnt out, he decides at the age of twenty-eight to get an early start on his golden years. He travels to Boca Raton, Florida, where he moves in with an elderly piano teacher at Century Village, a retirement village that is home to thousands of senior citizens. Early Bird is a funny, insightful, and moving look at what happens to us when we retire, viewed from a remarkably premature perspective. Any reader who plans on becoming an old person will enjoy joining Rodney on his strange journey, as he reconsiders his notions of romance, family, friendship, and ultimately, whether he's ever going back to work. more...

Price: $11.99

A vibrant, sympathetic portrait of the once and future king of rock ?n? roll by the award-winning author of Shiloh and In Country. To this clear-eyed portrait of the first rock ?n? roll superstar, Bobbie Ann Mason brings a novelist?s insight and the empathy of a fellow Southerner who, from the first time she heard his voice on the family radio, knew that Elvis was ?one of us.? Elvis Presley deftly braids the mythic and human aspects of his story, capturing both the charismatic, boundary-breaking singer who reveled in his celebrity and the soft-spoken, working-class Southern boy who was fatally unprepared for his success. The result is a riveting, tragic book that goes to the heart of the American dream. Introduction. ON AUGUST 16, 1977, when I learned that the King-Elvis Presley-was dead, I was vacationing in Nova Scotia. In the lounge at the inn where I was staying, the news came on TV. Stunned, I could only mumble some clichés. The bartender recalled the death of the actor Audie Murphy, a war hero of his generation. I felt far from home. Although I hadn't thought much about Elvis lately, I now sensed there was a great hole in the American cultural landscape. Elvis had always been there, hovering in the national psyche, his life punctuating our times-his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, his first movie, the death of his mother, the Army, his marriage, the 1968 ''Comeback Special.'' It seemed inconceivable that Elvis-just forty-two years old-was gone. For me, Elvis is personal-as a Southerner and something of a neighbor. I heard Elvis from the very beginning on the Memphis radio stations. Many parents found Elvis's music dangerously evocative, his movements lewd and suggestive-but when my family saw Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing ''Ready Teddy,'' my father cried, ''Boy, he's good!'' We had been listening to rhythm-and-blues late at night on the radio for years, and we immediately recognized what Elvis was about. We had heard Arthur ''Big Boy'' Crudup and more...

Price: $13.00

A biography equal to the outsized personality of one of Broadway’s best-loved stars. From her breakout rendition of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” in 1930 to her triumphant performance as Gypsy’s Mama Rose in 1959, Ethel Merman defined Broadway stardom for two generations of music lovers. Merman’s singing voice—brassy, penetrating, and undeniably American—has transcended genre and era to become a cultural icon. As an entertainer she burned with unstoppable energy. Offstage she was the original diva, a woman who knew what she wanted and brooked no interference. Her spats and frequently off-color zingers have become part of theater lore. In this entertaining and authoritative biography, Brian Kellow traces Merman’s life from her childhood in Queens, New York, through her three decades at the peak of Broadway celebrity. In an era dominated by outsized personalities and egos, none was more vibrant and powerful than Merman’s, yet beneath the tough-dame image was an enormously vulnerable and often lonely woman. Kellow’s book, which includes recollections from more than 120 of Merman’s friends, colleagues, and family members, stands as the definitive biography and an affectionate portrait of an unforgettable star. Fans of Broadway history and of the great Ethel Merman will find Kellow’s biography an irresistible read. more...

Price: $25.95