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Popular Culture September 2018
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Just a Shot Away: Peace, Love, and Tragedy with the Rolling Stones at Altamont
by Saul Austerlitz
What it's about: the ill-fated Rolling Stones concert at the 1969 Altamont Speedway Free Festival, in which Meredith Hunter, an 18-year-old African American attendee, was killed by Hells Angels security forces.
Don't miss: Saul Austerlitz's poignant tribute to Hunter includes interviews with surviving family members.
Further reading: Joel Selvin's Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day.
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You're on an Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir
by Parker Posey
What it is: the quirky debut memoir from "Queen of Indie Film" Parker Posey, best known for her roles in Christopher Guest mockumentaries.
What's inside: family recipes, handmade photo collages, showbiz anecdotes, and advice from Posey's therapist.
Want a taste? "I'm not great at being a movie star. It's either too boring or too much work."
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Bruce Lee : A Life
by Matthew Polly
Bruce Lee made martial arts a global phenomenon. He bridged the divide between Eastern and Western cultures. He smashed long-held stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans. And yet, almost a half-century after his sudden death at age thirty-two, there has not been a definitive account of the film legend's life. Until now. Following years of research that included more than one hundred interviews--with Lee's family, friends, business associates, and even the actress in whose bed he died--Matthew Polly has constructed a complex, humane portrait of the icon. Polly explores Lee's boyhood as a child star in Hong Kong cinema; his troublemaking teenage years that got him sent away to America; his beginnings as a martial arts teacher, eventually becoming instructor to movie stars like Steve McQueen; his struggles as an Asian American actor in Hollywood and frustration seeing roles go to white actors in eye makeup; his eventual triumph as a leading man; his challenges juggling a skyrocketing career with his duties as a father and husband; and his shocking death, which even today remains the subject of controversy. This is an honest, revealing, and long overdue look at an impressive yet imperfect man whose personal story was even more entertaining and inspiring than any fictional role he played onscreen.
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Black Klansman : Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime
by Ron Stallworth
The extraordinary true story of a black police officer who goe undercover to investigate the KKK, the basis for the forthcoming major motion picture directed by Spike Lee and produced by Jordan Peele. When detective Ron Stallworth, the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department, comes across a classified ad in the local paper asking for all those interested in joining the Ku Klux Klan to contact a P.O. box, he responds with interest. He figures he'll receive a few brochures in the mail, maybe even a magazine, and learn more about a growing threat to his community. A few weeks later the office phone rings, and the caller asks Ron a question he thought he'd never have to answer, 'Would you like to join our cause?' This is 1978, and the KKK is on the rise in the United States. Its Grand Wizard, David Duke, has made a name for himself, appearing on talk shows and in major magazine interviews preaching a "kinder" Klan that wants nothing more than to preserve its heritage. Ron answers the caller's question that night with a yes, launching what is surely one of the most audacious and incredible undercover investigations in history. Ron recruits his partner Chuck to play the 'white' Ron Stallworth, while Stallworth himself conducts all subsequent phone conversations. During the months-long investigation, Stallworth sabotages cross burnings, exposes white supremacists in the military, and even manages to deceive David Duke himself. "Black Klansman" is an amazing true story that reads like a crime thriller. It's a searing portrait of a divided America and the extraordinary heroes who dare to fight back.
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Room to Dream : A Life
by David Lynch
An unprecedented look into the personal and creative life of the visionary auteur David Lynch, through his own words and those of his closest colleagues, friends, and family. In this unique hybrid of biography and memoir, David Lynch opens up for the first time about a life lived in pursuit of his singular vision, and the many heartaches and struggles he's faced to bring his unorthodox projects to fruition. Lynch's lyrical, intimate, and unfiltered personal reflections riff off biographical sections written by close collaborator Kristine McKenna and based on more than one hundred new interviews with surprisingly candid ex-wives, family members, actors, agents, musicians, and colleagues in various fields who all have their own takes on what happened. "Room to Dream" is a landmark book that offers a onetime all-access pass into the life and mind of one of our most enigmatic and utterly original living artists.
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| Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts.... by AJ Mendez BrooksWhat it's about: In this inspiring and upbeat memoir, three-time WWE champion A.J. Brooks chronicles how she survived an impoverished childhood rife with family dysfunction to become an empowered "real-life superhero" in a male-dominated industry.
Read it for: Brooks' unflinching, behind-the-scenes look at the oft-brutal world of professional wrestling; her motivational directive for readers to stay true to themselves. |
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| Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania by Daniel Bryan with Craig TelloWhat it is: an engaging, conversational memoir of Daniel Bryan's unlikely ascent to WWE stardom, hindered by his being "undersized" and his disinterest in fame and fortune.
Art alert: flip-book style animations add a whimsical touch to the lower corners of the book's pages.
About the author: Outside the ring, Bryan is an avid supporter of environmental advocacy and was named PETA'S Most Animal-Friendly Athlete of 2012. |
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| Carry On: A Story of Resilience, Redemption, and an Unlikely Family by Lisa FennWhat it's about: Leroy Sutton lost his legs after a childhood train accident; Dartanyon Crockett is legally blind. The two formed a brotherly bond while wrestling for their Cleveland high school team. When ESPN producer Lisa Fenn saw their story in a newspaper article, no one could predict the effect these three would end up having on each other's lives.
For fans of: Moving sports stories like Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side. |
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| Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and... by Mark Schultz with David ThomasWhat it's about: the fraught relationship that brothers and Olympic gold medalists Mark and Dave Schultz had with self-styled coach and eccentric du Pont family heir John du Pont, culminating in the shooting death of Dave by John in 1996.
Want a taste? "We were his newest trophies...and we were more fun to play with than his seashells and birds because we were collectibles that he could manipulate."
Media buzz: Foxcatcher is the basis of the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name. |
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| The Squared Circle : Life, Death and Professional Wrestling by David ShoemakerWhat it is: an eye-opening history of professional wrestling, from its sideshow origins in the late 1800s to its breakthrough during the beginnings of the television industry.
Is it for you? Adventurous readers and fans of Chuck Klosterman's cultural histories will appreciate this deep dive into ringside life.
Further reading: Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women's Wrestling by Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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