Walking to Hollywood is a dazzling triptych - obsessive, satirical, elegiac - in which Will Self burrows down through the intersections of time, place and psyche to explore some of our deepest fears and anxieties with characteristic fearlessness and jagged humour. 'Very Little' is ostensibly the account of a curative journey to Canada and the USA, but in fact the record of a nematode's progress, as the worm of obsession - with scale and packing and the 'stuff' of our lives - bores through a mind in extremesis. 'Walking to Hollywood' is an extreme satire on celebrity, in which the narrator believes that everyone he meets is played by a famous actor, and that only he can solve the mystery of who murdered the movies. 'Spurn Head' leads Self to a tormented sojourn with a madman whose house is sliding over the edge of a cliff, to a game of checkers with Death, and finally to an encounter with one of Swift's immortal Struldbruggs and a march through a tear in time itself. In Walking to Hollywood Will Self pushes memoir to the limits of invention.
If you could get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for anything at all, what would it be? This writing assignment, given out in Ms. Hart's tenth-grade creative writing class, sparks a group of nine students to tell his/her own story. Readers are introduced to Jake and Shante's interracial romance, Carlos' fear of deportation, and Sunday's determination after being sexually assaulted. These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways. Once again, Brenda Woods shows a keen understanding of the teenage psyche, as she did in Emako Blue, winner of the 2005 IRA Children?s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award.
A candid memoir of building an acting career—and a happy life—with cerebral palsy: “It’s a joy to read this book” (Ian McShane). Exposing real pain, unstoppable perseverance, and unquestionable faith in the human spirit, this autobiography offers a true glimpse beyond actress Geri Jewell’s public image as a one-dimensional hero. Born with cerebral palsy, Jewell made history when she became the first person with a disability cast in a recurring role on American television in The Facts of Life, and in the years that followed she experienced a string of other successes, including a performance at the White House and a role on HBO’s Deadwood. But along with such accomplishments, this personal story also depicts some of the less-than-rosy events that happened behind closed doors during her initial climb to fame—among them, her release from The Facts of Life; her manager’s embezzlement of the money she made on the show; and her struggle with chronic pain, despair, and a fear of revealing her true sexual identity. Told with grace and humor, this inspirational narrative presents an honest portrayal of a woman who refused to give up when others kept knocking her down.
(Limelight). This book offers 18 of the best walking tours you'd ever want to take of the greatest venues of movie scenes in New York City. In one volume, Katz updates the two best-selling Limelight Editions guidebooks, Manhattan on Film and Manhattan on Film 2 to include films released over the past six years as well as changes to New York City neighborhoods, especially lower Manhattan. Each tour is illustrated with photos from each film shot along its route and includes maps and travel tips. No tour takes more than two hours. A list of the films, with page references, provides an easy guide for those who want to quickly look up their favorite movies.
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** “A Gen-X This Boy’s Life...Music and his fierce brilliance boost Jollett; a visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel... In the end, Jollett shakes off the past to become the captain of his own soul. Hollywood Park is a triumph." —O, The Oprah Magazine "This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption story." —Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020 "Several years ago, Jollett began writing Hollywood Park, the gripping and brutally honest memoir of his life. Published in the middle of the pandemic, it has gone on to become one of the summer’s most celebrated books and a New York Times best seller..." –Los Angeles Magazine HOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer. We were never young. We were just too afraid of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams, our questions and confusion. ... So begins Hollywood Park, Mikel Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.” After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic. In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician. Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal.
Containing walks and detailed maps from throughout the city, Secret Stairs highlights the charms and quirks of a unique feature of the Los Angeles landscape, and chronicles the geographical, architectural, and historical aspects of the city’s staircases, as well as of the neighborhoods in which the steps are located. From strolling through the classic La Loma neighborhood in Pasadena to walking the Sunset Junction Loop in Silver Lake, to taking the Beachwood Canyon hike through “Hollywoodland” to enjoying the magnificent ocean views from the Castellammare district in Pacific Palisades, Secret Stairs takes you on a tour of the staircases all across the City of Angels. The circular walks, rated for duration and difficulty, deliver tales of historic homes and their fascinating inhabitants, bits of unusual local trivia, and stories of the neighborhoods surrounding the stairs. That’s where William Faulkner was living when he wrote the screenplay for To Have and Have Not; that house was designed by Neutra; over there is a Schindler; that’s where Woody Guthrie lived, where Anais Nin died, and where Thelma Todd was murdered . . . Despite the fact that one of these staircases starred in an Oscar-winning short film—Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box, from 1932—these civic treasures have been virtually unknown to most of the city’s residents and visitors. Now, Secret Stairs puts these hidden stairways back on the map, while introducing urban hikers to exciting new “trails” all around the city of Los Angeles.
More than 2,000 celebrity biographies containing their stories, movies, songs, inventions, and achievements that earned them everlasting fame. Hundreds of original quotes, secret passions and revealing anecdotes offer insight to their true personalities. Whether or not you can visit in person, with this book in hand you can enjoy "The Hollywood Walk of Fame" star by star! More than 1,000 photographs (many never before published)! Complete map indicates the location of each star. Learn: -- How to nominate your favorite star -- How Hollywood became the film capital of the world -- Why 15 million tourist visit "The Hollywood Walk of Fame" each year!
“Is there anybody that Hawk Koch hasn’t worked with? Magic Time should be required reading for three types of people. One, those starting in show business, two, those that have been in show business for a long time, and three, everyone else. Like every movie Hawk has made, Magic Time is a fascinating journey of self-identity. I love this book.” —Mike Myers, Actor, Writer, and Director “Magic Time recounts what I remember about Hawk: someone who never took an opportunity for granted and worked hard to achieve success in his own right. Plus, he was a lot of the fun, and, as the book reflects, we had some memorable adventures.”—Robert Redford, Oscar-winning Actor & Director, Founder of the Sundance Institute & Film Festival “Hawk Koch is without a doubt one of the great Hollywood storytellers I’ve ever known. His adventures in the movie business are so funny and so incredible that I re-tell stories from his career more than ones from my own. And his own personal journey is as heartfelt as it gets.” —Edward Norton, Actor, Writer, and Director “I can personally relate to this moving journey of a man learning to step out from under a father’s shadow. But Magic Time is also filled with fun, surprising stories that only a deep insider could tell.”—Jane Fonda, Oscar-winning Actress, Bestselling Author “I found the book profoundly moving, and insightful about not only the entertainment industry, but human nature. Bravo and congratulations!”—Gale Anne Hurd, Producer, Terminator and The Walking Dead “This book is more than just a great Hollywood memoir. Hawk Koch shares his story with us in a funny, touching, and vulnerable way in contrast to the glitz and glamor of the show business life he leads. If you want to hear a story about what Hollywood is really like read this book. It’s a winner.”—Mark Gordon, Producer of Saving Private Ryan, Grey’s Anatomy, and Criminal Minds
Beyond its maze of freeways, Los Angeles is a great place to walk. Completely updated and expanded, the second edition of this award - winning book features expanded trips with dozens of additional points of interest, useful new information, and four new trips that are family - friendly.
How we walk, where we walk, why we walk tells the world who and what we are. Whether it's once a day to the car, or for long weekend hikes, or as competition, or as art, walking is a profoundly universal aspect of what makes us humans, social creatures, and engaged with the world. Cultural commentator, Whitbread Prize winner, and author of Sex Collectors Geoff Nicholson offers his fascinating, definitive, and personal ruminations on the literature, science, philosophy, art, and history of walking. Nicholson finds people who walk only at night, or naked, or in the shape of a cross or a circle, or for thousands of miles at a time, in costume, for causes, or for no reason whatsoever. He examines the history and traditions of walking and its role as inspiration to artists, musicians, and writers like Bob Dylan, Charles Dickens, and Buster Keaton. In The Lost Art of Walking, he brings curiosity, imagination, and genuine insight to a subject that often strides, shuffles, struts, or lopes right by us.
