Anyone who has ever considered a job in show business — whether in front of or behind the camera – should read Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, the Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me. Most people may not be familiar with its subject, Hollywood publicist, agent, producer Jay Bernstein, but they will undoubtedly be more than familiar with his stellar client list, which includes the biggest stars of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. Stars such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy […]
Amazing Amy is a “Cool Girl”
I recently finished reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. I wanted to read it before I saw the David Fincher film. In a way, I wish I had seen the film first, as the book was so fresh in my mind, and so riveting a read, that I may not have been as blown away by the movie as I could have been. Gone Girl is structured as a “he said,” “she said” novel. It would not be giving too much away to say that both the he and […]
Down the Yellow Brick Road and Beyond the Rainbow
The Wizard of Oz is an enduring and endearing classic. Who hasn’t seen it, perhaps even multiple times? It made a star out of cultural icon Judy Garland and has held up remarkable well over the years since its 1939 release, enchanting generations of young and old alike. There have been stories over the years about what went on behind-the-scenes of making the film. The most familiar factoids center around Buddy Ebsen, who was originally cast as the Tin Woodman, but had such a terrible reaction […]
Like sands in the hourglass, these are the Games of our Thrones …
Both book and television spoilers lurk within … A Dance with Dragons, the fifth novel in George R. R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series, was published in 2011, after a five-year gap between it and the previous entry, A Feast for Crows. The series started with A Game of Thrones in 1996. The series has had an interesting evolution. Originally intended to be a trilogy, Martin soon realized that his fictional world of Westeros and beyond was expanding and would require first, four, than six, now […]
How to Open Up and Let It All Go
I am continuing my journey to relax and enjoy life more and a friend recently suggested that I read The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, by Michael Singer. Written in 2007, the book is still profiting from excellent word-of-mouth, and was even profiled recently on Oprah’s OWN network. The book is designed as a guide to helping to suppress one’s ego and seek true enlightenment. It is the sort of book that one may want to go back to again, and again. Singer uses easy-to-understand […]
Time to Get Happy
I have been reading a lot of books lately about clearing out the clutter of one’s home (and mind), for an easier life. A friend suggested I might want to check out The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin, so I gave it a try. I can’t say that there was anything new or startling in its pages, but it was a quick, mostly […]