Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

1930s Cinema History

Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema; 1930-1934 by Thomas Doherty

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Are you looking for a primer on how the enforcement of what became known as the Hayes Code on the movie business in the 1930s impacted what came before and after 1934? I might have the book for you. In 1999 Thomas Doherty published what might be considered the go to book on early 1930s Hollywood, deep diving the various social forces at work and how they effected the creative output of the artists (and businesspeople) in Hollywood.   The Code was adopted in 1930 but was without any enforcement measures. By 1934, however, the enforcement was […]

“That’s the last time I ever saw her:” Judy Garland in Decline

The Other Side of the Rainbow: With Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol by Mel Tormé

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CBR14Bingo: Cold (the wintery chill of the sight of a full staff of people leaving a woman to slowly kill herself) While it was interesting reading about the behind the scenes of the ill-fated Judy Garland Show, this is a very sad book and it’s a grim look into the waste that can occur on the heels of abuse with no help afterwards. I think what struck me the most reading this is that Tormé never has the thought t0 get Judy some help — […]

The Aviator

Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes' Hollywood by Karina Longworth

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The male gaze. Wow. Yuck. Like many others, I adore Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This. Well researched and well told, Longworth is effective at dispelling old Hollywood myths while still reminding us about our fascination with these people. It’s unquestionably one of the best podcasts out there. Here, she turns her knowledge and skill into telling the story of Howard Hughes’ life and the lives of the women he pursued. I knew it was bad with Hughes; his fictionalized James Ellroy character prepared me enough […]

“It is visceral, it is personal, it is gleeful, and it is triumphant”

Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel M. Lavery

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While explaining to a group of medievalists his feelings on reading pieces that are older than a hundred years old, Daniel states ‘ I feel a profound sense of triumph and superiority over the author’ I said, ‘because they are foolish enough to be dead, while I am young and gloriously alive. Not because I think their ideas are outdated or anything like that. It has nothing to do with how they think, or how we see the world differently. It is visceral, it is […]

Final Bingo Post – Bingos 9 and 10 with Karina Longworth

Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood by Karina Longworth

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I’ve been a fan of Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This since 2015, and when Longworth announced she was writing a book about the Howard Hughes era of Hollywood focusing on the women who came into contact with him and telling their stories I was intrigued. After listening last year to the season “The Seduced” which served as an extended trailer for this book as well as a place for information that didn’t fit into the book (which at over 500 pages certainly has […]

Some People Will Do Anything to Become Famous

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True Crime novels are one of those tricky types of books that are hard to do well. Most of the time the writer manages to do a dry retelling of events that, while factual, fails to ignite my interest. I’m afraid this one falls into that category. While Mann adds little details like what the weather was like in order to bring the story to life, in the end the book is a pretty dry accounting of the events. To be honest, I suspect that […]



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