The next Books & Beyond meeting is on Tuesday, December
28th at 6:30pm and it is one of our biannual Salon Discussions so there is no
assigned topic. Join us and share whatever you’ve been reading/listening
to/watching lately! The Library will be on holiday hours that day and will close
at 6pm but I will be here to let you in. You are welcome to Zoom in as well! Simply register your email address on the calendar
to receive a Zoom link the morning of the meeting. https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/4597976
November’s topic was “American Masters” and included a
variety of American standouts in several areas.
Masque
of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a
dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He,
along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in
seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst
of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters
and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting
this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible
inside it; the guests also die in turn.
Masque of the Red Death
The
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake
as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal
bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of
moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing
illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises is “an
absorbing, beautifully and tenderly absurd, heartbreaking narrative...a truly
gripping story, told in lean, hard, athletic prose” (The New York Times).
Prince's early music career saw the release of Prince, Dirty
Mind and Controversy, which drew attention for their fusion of
religious and sexual themes. He then released the popular albums 1999 and Purple
Rain, cementing his superstar status with No. 1 hits like "When Doves
Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy." A seven-time Grammy winner, Prince
had a prodigious output that included later albums like Diamonds and
Pearls, The Gold Experience and Musicology. He died on April 21,
2016, from an accidental drug overdose.
A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis
musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home
life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his
truculent father (Clarence Williams III), the Kid navigates the club scene and
a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero).
But another musician, Morris (Morris Day), looks to steal the Kid's spotlight
-- and his girl.
Bossy
Pants by Tina Fey
From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty
on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of
physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her
one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- Tina Fey reveals
all, and proves what we've always suspected: you're no one until someone calls
you bossy.
Girl
with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
Ranging from the raucous to the romantic, the heartfelt to
the harrowing, this highly entertaining and universally appealing collection is
the literary equivalent of a night out with your best friend—an unforgettable
and fun adventure that you wish could last forever. Whether she’s experiencing
lust-at-first-sight while in the airport security line, sharing her own views
on love and marriage, admitting to being an introvert, or discovering her
cross-fit instructor’s secret bad habit, Amy Schumer proves to be a bighearted,
brave, and thoughtful storyteller that will leave you nodding your head in
recognition, laughing out loud, and sobbing uncontrollably—but only because
it’s over.
Yes,
Please by Amy Poehler
In her first book, one of our most beloved funny folk
delivers a smart, pointed, and ultimately inspirational read. Full of the
comedic skill that makes us all love Amy, Yes Please is a rich and
varied collection of stories, lists, poetry (Plastic Surgery Haiku, to be
specific), photographs, mantras and advice. With chapters like "Treat Your
Career Like a Bad Boyfriend," "Plain Girl Versus the Demon" and
"The Robots Will Kill Us All" Yes Please will make you
think as much as it will make you laugh. Honest, personal, real, and
righteous, Yes Please is full of words to live by.
A
Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a
setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics
give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his
mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11). Told
with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals
the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays
bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy—with a face you can’t help but
want to punch.
James Franco made a documentary about making an episode of
Saturday Night Live. It was filmed in 2008 but wasn't released to the public
until 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu3LyygiSJM
House
of Earth by Woody Guthrie
Finished in 1947 and lost to readers until now, House
of Earth is legendary folk singer and American icon Woody Guthrie’s only
finished novel. A powerful portrait of Dust Bowl America, it’s the story of an
ordinary couple’s dreams of a better life and their search for love and meaning
in a corrupt world.
PBS American Masters: Woody Guthrie
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/woody-guthrie-aint-got-no-home/623/
Mel
Brooks
With a career spanning over seven decades, Brooks is a creator of broad farces and parodies widely
considered to be among the best film comedies ever made.
Failing producer Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) and his
accountant, Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick), scam a group of elderly women out of
their nest eggs by convincing them to invest in a horrendously offensive Third
Reich-themed musical secretly intended to bomb the moment it opens. But when
high-brow Broadway audiences mistakenly assume "Springtime for
Hitler" is a satire, Bialystock finds himself with the critical acclaim
that has long eluded him -- and the biggest hit of his career.
Respected medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene
Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather's estate in
Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate
his grandfather's experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman),
Inga (Teri Garr) and the fearsome Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman). After he
creates his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications ensue with the arrival
of the doctor's fiancée, Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn).
Just after becoming the director of the Psychoneurotic
Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) is
greeted by a series of mysterious events. When his colleagues -- including the
militaristic and mustachioed Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman) -- become leery of
his questions, they accuse him of murder. Thorndyke's own mental health comes
into question as he struggles to clear his name in the midst of a crippling
bout of a condition known as "high anxiety."
Human history is traced through a series of vignettes,
beginning with cavemen awestruck by their own magnificence. Then Moses (Mel
Brooks) receives the tablets containing the "15" commandments, and
Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise) presides over a madcap Rome with his wife, Nympho
(Madeline Kahn). Jumping ahead, the Spanish Inquisition softens repression with
song and dance, and a few centuries later Madame Defarge (Cloris Leachman) is
fomenting revolution in France. It seems Hulu has ordered a sequel: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/history-of-the-world-part-ii-series-hulu-mel-brooks-nick-kroll-wanda-sykes-1235091840/
House
of Mirth by Edith Wharton
A black comedy of manners about vast wealth and a woman who
can define herself only through the perceptions of others. The beautiful Lily
Bart lives among the nouveaux riches of New York City – people whose millions
were made in railroads, shipping, land speculation and banking. In this morally
and aesthetically bankrupt world, Lily, age twenty-nine, seeks a husband who
can satisfy her cravings for endless admiration and all the trappings of
wealth. But her quest comes to a scandalous end when she is accused of being
the mistress of a wealthy man. Exiled from her familiar world of artificial
conventions, Lily finds life impossible.
Twilight
Sleep by Edith Wharton
Out of print for several decades, here is Edith Wharton's
superb satirical novel of the Jazz Age, a critically praised best-seller when
it was first published in 1927. Sex, drugs, work, money, infatuation with the
occult and spiritual healing - these are the remarkably modern themes that
animate Twilight Sleep.
To
Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
In this harshly realistic, yet oddly tender and wise novel,
Hemingway perceptively delineates the personal struggles of both the
"haves" and the "have nots" and creates one of the most
subtle and moving portraits of a love affair in his oeuvre. By turns funny and
tragic, lively and poetic, remarkable in its emotional impact, To Have and
Have Not is literary high adventure at its finest.
In Vichy France, fishing boat captain Harry (Humphrey
Bogart) avoids getting involved in politics, refusing to smuggle French
Resistance fighters into Martinique. But when a Resistance client is shot
before he can pay, Harry agrees to help hotel owner Gerard (Marcel Dalio)
smuggle two fighters to the island. Harry is further swayed by Slim (Lauren
Bacall), a wandering American girl, and when the police take his friend Eddie
(Walter Brennan) hostage, he is forced to fight for the Resistance.
National Geographic Genius: Aretha Franklin
National Geographic Channel's GENIUS focuses on the untold
stories of the world's most brilliant innovators. This season will explore
Aretha Franklin's musical genius, her incomparable career, and the immeasurable
impact she has had on music and culture. Starring Academy-Award Nominee Cynthia
Erivo as Aretha Franklin. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/genius
Singer Aretha Franklin performs gospel songs at the New
Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. View the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkKOIQwTiKE
Praying
with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice by Vanessa
Zoltan
Our favorite books keep us company, give us hope, and help
us find meaning in a chaotic world. In this fresh and relatable work, atheist
chaplain Vanessa Zoltan blends memoir and personal growth as she grapples with
the notions of family legacy and identity through the lens of her favorite
novel, Jane Eyre. Informed by the reading practices of medieval monks and
rabbinic scholars from her training at the Harvard Divinity School and filtered
through the pages of Jane Eyre as well as Little Women, Harry
Potter, and The Great Gatsby, Zoltan explores topics ranging
from the trauma she has inherited as the granddaughter of four Holocaust
survivors to finding hope, meaning, and even magic in our deeply fractured
times. Brimming with a lifelong love of classic literature and the tenderness
of self-reflection, the book also reveals simple techniques for reading any
work as a sacred text--from Virginia Woolf to Anne of Green Gables to
baseball scorecards.
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