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Benson: The Autobiography
by George Benson Alan GoldsherOver the course of his fifty-year career, George Benson has performed for hundreds of millions of fans around the world, received ten Grammy Awards, and recorded with some of the most revered musicians of his era. In 2011, he earned a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Award. And he has finally decided to tell his story.Benson: The Autobiography follows the musician's remarkable rise from the ghettos of Pittsburgh to the stages of Dubai, and everywhere in between. His tales of scuffling on the road with jazz legend Brother Jack McDuff, navigating his way through the recording studio with Miles Davis, and emerging as the first true (and truly successful) jazz/soul crossover artist will enthrall devotees of both music history and pop culture.An open and truthful raconteur, Benson discusses his near-arrest for domestic abuse, the tragic illnesses that afflicted his family, the secret lives of his musical cohorts, and racism's effect on his life and art. His long-awaited book allows readers to meet one of the most beloved, prolific, and bestselling musicians of any era.
Bermondsey Boy: Memories of a Forgotten World
by Tommy SteeleThirties Bermondsey was a thriving place, and it was in this bustling London borough that Thomas Hicks was born. Later, this Bermondsey boy would become known as Tommy Steele …In this engaging memoir Tommy recalls his childhood years growing up in Bermondsey. He relives with great fondness Saturdays as a young boy, spent gazing at the colourful posters for the Palladium and days spent wandering up Tower Bridge Road to Joyce’s Pie Shop for pie and mash. But he also brings to life with extraordinary vividness what it was like to live through the devastation of the Blitz.Yet it was once he joined the merchant navy and began singing and performing for his fellow seamen that his natural ability as an entertainer marked him out as a favourite. And it was while ashore in America that he became hooked on rock’n’roll and a legend was born …From Tommy’s humble beginning to life at sea and finally as a performer, Bermondsey Boy is a colourful, charming and deeply engaging memoir from a much-loved entertainer.
Bernard Shaw: The New Biography (Great Lives)
by Michael HolroydPlaywright, wit, socialist, polemicist, vegetarian and charmer, Bernard Shaw was a controversial literary figure, the scourge of Victorian values and middle-class pretensions. This is Michael Holroyd's essential biography of George Bernard Shaw. With its pace and verve, its comedy, drama and politics, it portrays a provocative and paradoxical figure sympathetically and movingly.
Bernard Shaw and the Censors: Fights and Failures, Stage and Screen (Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries)
by Bernard F. Dukore“Dukore’s style is fluid and his wit delightful. I learned a tremendous amount, as will most readers, and Bernard Shaw and the Censors will doubtless be the last word on the topic.”- Michel Pharand, former editor of SHAW: The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies and author of Bernard Shaw and the French (2001). "This book shows us a new side of Shaw and his complicated relationships to the powerful mechanisms of stage and screen censorship in the long twentieth century.” - - Lauren Arrington, Professor of English, Maynooth University, IrelandA fresh view of Shaw versus stage and screen censors, this book describes Shaw as fighter and failure, whose battles against censorship – of his plays and those of others, of his works for the screen and those of others – he sometimes won but usually lost. We forget usually, because ultimately he prevailed and because his witty reports of defeats are so buoyant, they seem to describe triumphs. We think of him as a celebrity, not an outsider; as a classic, not one of the avant-garde, of which Victorians and Edwardians were intolerant; as ahead of his time, not of it, when he was called “disgusting,” “immoral", and "degenerate.” Yet it took over three decades and a world war before British censors permitted a public performance of Mrs Warren’s Profession. We remember him as an Academy Award winner for Pygmalion, not as an author whose dialogue censors required deletions for showings in the United States. Scrutinizing the powerful stage and cinema censorship in Britain and America, this book focuses on one of its most notable campaigners against them in the last century.
Bernard Shaw and Totalitarianism: Longing for Utopia
by M. YdeThis book reveals the genuity of Shaw's totalitarianism by looking at his material - articles, speeches, letters, etc but is especially concerned with analyzing the utopian desire that runs through so many of Shaw's plays; looking at his political and eugenic utopianism as expressed in his drama and comparing this to his political totalitarianism.
Bernard Shaw, W. T. Stead, and the New Journalism: Whitechapel, Parnell, Titanic, and the Great War
by Nelson O'Ceallaigh RitschelThis book explores Bernard Shaw’s journalism from the mid-1880s through the Great War—a period in which Shaw contributed some of the most powerful and socially relevant journalism the western world has experienced. In approaching Shaw’s journalism, the promoter and abuser of the New Journalism, W. T. Stead, is contrasted to Shaw, as Shaw countered the sensational news copy Stead and his disciples generated. To understand Shaw’s brand of New Journalism, his responses to the popular press’ portrayals of high profile historical crises are examined, while other examples prompting Shaw’s journalism over the period are cited for depth: the 1888 Whitechapel murders, the 1890-91 O’Shea divorce scandal that fell Charles Stewart Parnell, peace crusades within militarism, the catastrophic Titanic sinking, and the Great War. Through Shaw’s journalism that undermined the popular press’ shock efforts that prevented rational thought, Shaw endeavored to promote clear thinking through the immediacy of his critical journalism. Arguably, Shaw saved the free press.
Bernard Shaw, W. T. Stead, and the New Journalism: Whitechapel, Parnell, Titanic, and the Great War
by Nelson O'Ceallaigh RitschelThis book explores Bernard Shaw’s journalism from the mid-1880s through the Great War—a period in which Shaw contributed some of the most powerful and socially relevant journalism the western world has experienced. In approaching Shaw’s journalism, the promoter and abuser of the New Journalism, W. T. Stead, is contrasted to Shaw, as Shaw countered the sensational news copy Stead and his disciples generated. To understand Shaw’s brand of New Journalism, his responses to the popular press’ portrayals of high profile historical crises are examined, while other examples prompting Shaw’s journalism over the period are cited for depth: the 1888 Whitechapel murders, the 1890-91 O’Shea divorce scandal that fell Charles Stewart Parnell, peace crusades within militarism, the catastrophic Titanic sinking, and the Great War. Through Shaw’s journalism that undermined the popular press’ shock efforts that prevented rational thought, Shaw endeavored to promote clear thinking through the immediacy of his critical journalism. Arguably, Shaw saved the free press.
Bernard Who?: 75 Years of Doing Just About Everything
by James Hogg Bernard Cribbins'Essential' DAILY MAIL CELEBRITY BIOGRAPHIES OF THE YEAR'The book reads like it's Bernard sitting down and telling a story' Steve Wright, BBC Radio 2'A fitting celebration of one of our most versatile and enduring acting talents' Sunday Express'A rollicking good read - charming, unassuming and full of amiable, homespun wit' The OldieThe long-awaited autobiography of national treasure Bernard Cribbins.Bernard Cribbins's life has been an eventful one. In 1943, he left school aged fourteen and joined Oldham Repertory Company where he earned fifteen bob for a seventy-hour week. After being called up for National Service in 1946 he became a paratrooper and spent several months in Palestine being shot at. On returning home, and to the theatre, Bernard was eventually approached by George Martin, then an A&R man for Parlophone Records, who suggested he made a record. Just months away from producing The Beatles, Martin asked Bernard to come to Abbey Road Studios in north London and, after teaching him how to sing into a microphone, they eventually recorded two hit singles - 'The Hole in the Ground' and 'Right Said Fred'. These, together with appearances in now classic films such as Two Way Stretch and The Wrong Arm of the Law (not to mention a certain television programme called Jackanory), catapulted Bernard to stardom and, by the time he started filming The Railway Children in 1970, he was already a national treasure.Since then, Bernard's CV has been an A-Z of the best entertainment that Britain has to offer, and, thanks to programmes such as the aforementioned Jackanory, The Wombles, and, more recently, Old Jack's Boat, he has become the voice of many millions of childhoods. Seventy-five years in the making and packed with entertaining anecdotes, Bernard Who? tells the wonderful story of one of the longest and most celebrated careers in show business.
Berserker!: An Autobiography
by Adrian EdmondsonFrom brutal schooldays to 80s anarchy, through The Young Ones and beyond, Berserker! is the one-of-a-kind, fascinating memoir from an icon of British comedy, Adrian Edmondson.Berserker [noun]: A Norse warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable; often off his tits on henbane and large quantities of alcohol; one who is out of control with anger or excitement.Ade Edmondson smashed onto the comedy circuit in the 1980s, stormed The Comedy Store and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household – and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools – end up joining the revolution? Well, he is part Norse. Could it be his ‘berserker’ heritage?With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy: starting out on the alternative scene, getting arrested in Soho, creating his outrageously violent characters and learning more about his curious (possibly Scandinavian) heritage. With star-studded anecdotes and set to a soundtrack of pop hits which transport the reader through time, it’s a memoir like no other.'Boarding school, despair, love, music, Rik Mayall – everything Adrian Edmondson writes about makes you love him desperately' - Caitlin Moran'The berserker from The Young Ones and Bottom tells his story with self-effacing charm and no end of backstage anecdotes' - Ian Rankin'This is a bloody good book. Lots of people live interesting lives, but very few people can write genuinely interesting books about those lives. Adrian Edmondson has done both. And while it is incredibly funny, it is also a lot, lot more than that' - Miles Jupp
Bert: The Life and Times of A. L. Lloyd
by Dave ArthurFolk singer and folk music collector, writer, painter, journalist, art critic, whalerman, sheep station roustabout, Marxist, and much more - this is the story of A. L. (Bert) Lloyd's extraordinary life. *BR**BR*A. L. Lloyd played a key part in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s, but that is only part of his story. Dave Arthur documents how Lloyd became a member of the Communist Party, forceful antifascist, trade unionist and an important part of left-wing culture from the early 1930s to his death in 1982. Following his return from Australia as a 21-year-old, self-educated agricultural labourer, he was at the heart of the most important left-wing movements and highly respected for his knowledge in various fields. *BR**BR*Dave Arthur recounts the life of a creative, passionate and life-loving Marxist, and in so doing provides a social history of a turbulent twentieth century.
Bert: The Life and Times of A. L. Lloyd
by Dave ArthurFolk singer and folk music collector, writer, painter, journalist, art critic, whalerman, sheep station roustabout, Marxist, and much more - this is the story of A. L. (Bert) Lloyd's extraordinary life. *BR**BR*A. L. Lloyd played a key part in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s, but that is only part of his story. Dave Arthur documents how Lloyd became a member of the Communist Party, forceful antifascist, trade unionist and an important part of left-wing culture from the early 1930s to his death in 1982. Following his return from Australia as a 21-year-old, self-educated agricultural labourer, he was at the heart of the most important left-wing movements and highly respected for his knowledge in various fields. *BR**BR*Dave Arthur recounts the life of a creative, passionate and life-loving Marxist, and in so doing provides a social history of a turbulent twentieth century.
Bertolt Brecht (Routledge Performance Practitioners)
by Meg MumfordBertolt Brecht’s methods of collective experimentation, and his unique framing of the theatrical event as a forum for change, placed him among the most important contributors to the theory and practice of theatre. His work continues to have a significant impact on performance practitioners, critics and teachers alike. Now revised and reissued, this book combines: an overview of the key periods in Brecht’s life and work a clear explanation of his key theories, including the renowned ideas of Gestus and Verfremdung an account of his groundbreaking 1954 production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle an in-depth analysis of his practical exercises and rehearsal methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are an invaluable resource for students and scholars.
Bertolt Brecht (Routledge Performance Practitioners)
by Meg MumfordBertolt Brecht’s methods of collective experimentation, and his unique framing of the theatrical event as a forum for change, placed him among the most important contributors to the theory and practice of theatre. His work continues to have a significant impact on performance practitioners, critics and teachers alike. Now revised and reissued, this book combines: an overview of the key periods in Brecht’s life and work a clear explanation of his key theories, including the renowned ideas of Gestus and Verfremdung an account of his groundbreaking 1954 production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle an in-depth analysis of his practical exercises and rehearsal methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are an invaluable resource for students and scholars.
Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life (Biography and Autobiography)
by Stephen ParkerThis first English language biography of Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) in two decades paints a strikingly new picture of one of the twentieth century's most controversial cultural icons. Drawing on letters, diaries and unpublished material, including Brecht's medical records, Parker offers a rich and enthralling account of Brecht's life and work, viewed through the prism of the artist. Tracing his extraordinary life, from his formative years in Augsburg, through the First World War, his politicisation during the Weimar Republic and his years of exile, up to the Berliner Ensemble's dazzling productions in Paris and London, Parker shows how Brecht achieved his transformative effect upon world theatre and poetry. Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life is a powerful portrait of a great, compulsively contradictory personality, whose artistry left its lasting imprint on modern culture.
Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life (Biography and Autobiography)
by Stephen ParkerThis first English language biography of Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) in two decades paints a strikingly new picture of one of the twentieth century's most controversial cultural icons. Drawing on letters, diaries and unpublished material, including Brecht's medical records, Parker offers a rich and enthralling account of Brecht's life and work, viewed through the prism of the artist. Tracing his extraordinary life, from his formative years in Augsburg, through the First World War, his politicisation during the Weimar Republic and his years of exile, up to the Berliner Ensemble's dazzling productions in Paris and London, Parker shows how Brecht achieved his transformative effect upon world theatre and poetry. Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life is a powerful portrait of a great, compulsively contradictory personality, whose artistry left its lasting imprint on modern culture.
Bertolt Brecht Journals, 1934-55
by Bertolt Brecht John Willett"Those who dismiss Brecht as a yea-sayer to Stalinism are advised to read these journals and moderate their opinion." (Paul Bailey, Weekend Telegraph)Brecht's "Work Journals" cover the period from 1938 to 1955, the years of exile in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and America, and his return via Switzerland to East Berlin. His criticisms of the work of other writers and intellectuals are perceptive and polemic, and the accounts of his own writing practice provide insight into the creation of his dramatic works of the period, the development of his political thinking and his theories about epic theatre. Also integrated into the journals are Brecht's immediate reactions to and commentary upon the events of the period: his political exile's view of the course of World War II and his account of the House Un-American Activities committee."A marvellous, motley collage of political ideas, domestic detail, artistic debate, poems, photographs and cuttings from newspapers and magazines, assembled, undoubtedly for posterity by one of the great writers of the century" (New Statesman and Society)
Bertrand Blier (French Film Directors Series)
by Sue HarrisThe most complete study of Blier's work to date, Harris traces the director's career from the early 1960s until the present. Outlines the forms, themes and style which dominate in Blier's work, and challenges the many labels that have been used to describe both the corpus of films and the man himself. Provides an original and controversial discussion of Blier's alleged 'misogyny', and invites the reader to understand the scatological and corporeal aspects of Blier's filmmaking in terms of long-established traditions of popular dramatic culture. Brings to light the comic mechanisms underpinning Blier's films and identifies strategies which navigate through one of the most entertaining and disconcerting bodies of work of recent years. The first book on Blier published in English.
Bertrand Tavernier (French Film Directors Series)
by Lynn Anthony HigginsBertrand Tavernier is widely recognized as the leading French filmmaker of his generation. Both a consummate artist and a controversial public figure, he is a passionate advocate for social causes and also a tireless defender of world cinema in general and the French cinematic heritage in particular. Lynn Higgins’ book offers a guided tour through Tavernier’s oeuvre, taking into account both its prodigious diversity and its unifying themes. It explores his use of genre and adaptation, his work with actors and his affection for characters, his treatment of France’s colonial history, his explorations of the powers of art and the complexities of intergenerational relations, both among fictional characters and within French cinema history. This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date scholarly book about Tavernier. Original and lively, sophisticated and engaging, the book will appeal to anyone interested in film studies, gender studies, and French cultural studies including academics, students, cinema enthusiasts, and Tavernier fans.
Besides the Screen: Moving Images through Distribution, Promotion and Curation
by Virginia Crisp Gabriel Menotti GonringNew media technologies impact cinema well beyond the screen. This volume speculates about the changes in modes of accessing, distributing, storing and promoting moving images and how they might affect cinematographic experience, economy and historiography.
Best Foot Forward
by Adam Hills*The Sunday Times Bestseller*Adam Hills is one the UK's best-loved comedians. For thirty years he has been performing stand-up, hosting TV shows and winning the hearts of a nation.Taking us from the early days of the Sydney Stand Up scene to hosting his own radio show, touring the world and eventually landing on British TV, Best Foot Forward is a story of a life in comedy. Along the way Adam shares some childhood tales, a few backstage blunders and encounters some fairly famous faces - the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Connolly, and that guy who sang The Macarena. Yes, him. This is an utterly hilarious and honest collection of stories about Adam's ups and downs in the world of comedy. It's a lesson in following your heart, being positive and discovering that what makes you different also makes you unique.
The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea
by Chris JerichoThe two-time bestselling author, wrestler and metal rocker returns with another insightful and hilarious memoir.Inspired by Anton Chigurh, Javier Bardem's character in No Country for Old Men, Chris Jericho decided to put down his guitar, ease off on the red-carpet appearances in Hollywood and return to ring. What followed were the best three years of his wrestling career. A trilogy that began with A LION'S TALE and was followed by the bestselling UNDISPUTED now concludes with a behind-the-scenes account of Jericho becoming WON WRESTLER OF THE YEAR for two consecutive years in 2008 and 2009. The book also features the final word on Jericho's feuds with Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio, his run-in with Mickey Rourke, life hanging out with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Mike Tyson and Lars Ulrich, and the resurrection of his band Fozzy, which saw them play to huge audiences in the UK and Europe and support Metallica.
Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to the Present (Cinema and Society)
by Jeffrey Richards Anthony AldgateThe new, revised and expanded paperback edition of this widely-used textbook for film history brings up to date its authors' demonstration of how a close study of films in their historical and cultural settings can enrich our understanding of both cinema and historical events. It introduces three new chapters, one focusing on _The Blue Lamp_ and changes in cinema's depiction of the police from that key 1949 film up to the 1960s, another on the 'British New Wave' centring on _The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner_, and a third which, starting from _Scandal_ and its recreation of the 1960s Profumo scandal, goes on to examine the 'retro' fashion for covering crimes of the 1940s, '50s and '60s in films of the 1980s like _Let Him Have It, Dance with a Stranger_ and _Chicago Joe and the Showgirl_. This edition has a new, accessible format and provides a valuable Resource Section for teachers, students and scholars.
The Best of Miranda: Favourite episodes plus added treats – such fun!
by Miranda HartWell hello to you, Dear Book Peruser and thank you for your kind interest in my book o'Miranda. Here you will find my favourite six scripts, hand-picked from all three series, with introductions by moi, and some other tit-bits, and silliness. Because no book of this ilk should be without tit-bits and silliness. If nothing else it's fun to say tit-bits. Repeat after me: tit-bits. You're welcome. I hope you enjoy seeing the scripts in their pure written form on the page before they translated to what you have seen on screen. And if you're a lovely young person still at school let me know if your drama teacher ever lets you do an episode for the school play. Nothing would make me happier. Though I bagsy play Miranda. Your favourite, number one bestselling, comedian Miranda Hart is giving you an access-all-areas VIP backstage pass to her award-winning sitcom. Miranda Hart has won bundles of awards, written a bestselling book and completed a sell-out nationwide tour.But it was her award-winning BBC sitcom Miranda which first made her a much-loved household name. Here Miranda gives us an access-all-areas VIP backstage pass to Miranda the sitcom. The Best of Miranda is a beautiful and hilarious book which will delight Miranda's many fans and earn her many new ones.
The Best of the Rejection Collection: 297 Cartoons That Were Too Dark, Too Weird, or Too Dirty for The New Yorker
by Matthew DiffeeThe best of the worst: these cartoons rejected by The New Yorker were deemed too dumb, too weird, or too naughty—but not for lack of laughs! Every week, hundreds and hundreds of cartoons pour into The New Yorker. Most are rejected. Doesn&’t matter how big a deal the cartoonist is, either. Roz Chast, David Sipress, Kim Warp, Sam gross, Ed Steed, Emily Flake, Navied Mahdavian, or Mary Lawton—if the work in question is too weird, too naughty, too juvenile, or too dark, it&’s out. Luckily for us, Matthew Diffee has been bravely sifting through the circular file to rescue the best of the worst. Here are 297 cartoons in a revised second edition featuring more than 50 new cartoons—even better, even worse! The cartoon set-ups may be familiar—a couple in bed, a few people stranded on a desert island, a doctor and patient in an examining room—but the joke are anything but, with twists so unexpected, you can&’t help but laugh out loud.
A Best Practice Guide to Sex and Storytelling: Filming Scenes with Sex and Nudity
by John BucherA great deal of storytelling in film and television involves narratives that include sexual situations and nudity. The increased amount of on-line and streaming content outlets has in turn increased the number of narratives that involve these once-taboo subjects. Often, even though directors and producers desire to handle such issues with professionalism, sets become awkward when producing these scenes. A Best Practice Guide to Sex and Storytelling serves as a helpful tool for guiding creators through these waters. Even as the practice has become more common, the environments in which individuals on both sides of the camera work to create sensitive content have not become any more comfortable. To date, there have been no industry guides and little practical instruction on how to approach such important yet delicate scenes. Sex and Storytelling offers theoretical and practical approaches to creating the most effective content, while honoring the dignity and humanity of everyone involved on-set when sexuality and nudity is a part of the story being told. Drawing on John Bucher’s professional experience in both high- and low-budget environments and including interviews with players from both sides of the camera, this book provides an essential guide to handling sex and nudity for film and television in a professional manner.