Tommy James may best be known for boarder-line clean cut pop hits like “Mony Mony†and “Crimson and Cloverâ€, but in realty his life was more Henry Hill from the Good Fellas, than squeaky clean pop singer. Me, the Mob, and the Music, details the early childhood of Tommy James (born Thomas Jackson), his discovery by a Pittsburgh DJ and through his career at Mob-run Roulette Records. The book focuses…
If Seth Grahame-Smith were allowed to pen textbooks, you can only imagine how many more students would actually pay attention in History class. Granted they’d also end up believing that vampires were in charge of keeping slavery alive in the South, but at least they’d be paying attention. Grahame-Smith, author of the surprise best seller Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, does a brilliant job of weaving actual history with a fantastical…
Somewhere between “did she just say that?†and “oh my God, you’re sick!†is Chelsea Handler.
Given all the ink that’s been devoted to grunge over the past few years, it’s a little surprising that more has not been written about the Riot Grrrl movement. In Girl Power, author Marisa Meltzer devotes plenty of space to riot grrrls, as well as a slew of other female-fronted music genres throughout the decade including “Angry Womyn†(Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos), girl groups (The Spice Girls and Shampoo)…
Arts America is like an AAA guide for all of the finer things, in a way that a number of similarly-marketed titles are not. Whether the event occurs in one of the book’s five major cities – New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, or San Francisco – or a slightly smaller metropolis (which includes but is not limited to places like Seattle, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and the like) – Compton…
Regardless of how well you think you know him, Ozzy Osbourne has a remarkable sense of humor and pretty spot on view of how the world sees him. For more than 350 pages, the Prince of Darkness opens up about his childhood, his rocky relationships, his addictions, his arrests and friendships, and is still realistic enough to end the memoir with the following phrase: “Ozzy Osbourne, Born 1948. Died, whenever.…
The price point of this issue is undoubtedly to bring individuals in to this new story. This issue is the first of eight, and starts off fairly slowly. Individuals are introduced to a disaffected child in a Donnie Darko type of vein, who seems to be ignored or abused at every corner by parents, bullies, and the entirety of the outside world. The story begins to really take a turn…
While some may say that the Complete Idiot’s Guides are getting increasingly less relevant as the years go on, I feel that there are still a lot of good things to be educated about coming out of these titles. In “Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgeryâ€, Margaret Furtado and Joseph Ewing match wits to create a fulfilling and healthy life for those individuals that have elected to choose weight loss…
There are very few records that could illicit the almost academic like study of its origins, but Bruce Springsteen’s career defining Born to Run is one that can. Recorded nearly 35 years ago, the record was delayed in part due to Springsteen’s extreme perfectionism and intense pressure from the band’s record label desperate for a big seller after their first two efforts garnered critical praise, but failed to find an…
Standing stage left to Bruce Springsteen for the past three decades, E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons has had the opportunity to take in life from a unique advantage as a member of perhaps the greatest American rock band. In his wildly entertaining memoir, written with the help of his best friend Don Reo (creator of “My Wife and Kids†and a number of other sitcoms), Clemons manages to share…
John Ortved’s carefully researched and entertaining behind the scenes look at one of the most beloved TV series works primarily because the author is such a big fan of The Simpsons. How do you know he has a deep appreciation for The Simpsons? He is willing to admit that the show is not nearly as good as it once was. Simply put, he knows it is cable of being better.
David Cross is getting a little tired of carrying around the hipster cross. Worshipped for co-creating/starring in Mr. Show and his brilliant work with Arrested Development, Cross also happens to be one of the funniest controversial stand ups working today (controversial meaning he does more than jokes about airline peanuts).
Chances are, unless you were part of the early 90’s music scene in North Carolina, you have no idea who Michael Plumides, Jr. is. That doesn’t make his memoir Kill the Music any less interesting. The book is Plumides’ reflections on the late 80’s and early 90’s when he worked in South Carolina as a deejay at an influential college radio station and eventually moved on to become the owner…
Australian novelist Tom Gilling may not be that well known outside of his native Australia, but if his latest book is any indication he surely should be. The surprisingly funny mystery/thriller Seven Mile Beach is far more interesting than any of the last few Grisham and Patterson tomes lining the book shelves.
There are certain liberties authors are granted. Only David Mamet can get away with stringing together seemingly unrelated explicatives into believable dialogue the way he does; only Stephen King can make Maine seem like the third circle of Hell; and only Joe Lansdale, Texas born and bred, can get away with the often goofy quotes his duo Hap Collins and Leonard Pine spout off on just about every other page…
It’s amazing this book ever made it to print. Music writer Barney Hoskyns was shut out at just about every attempt to interview anyone who was even remotely close to the notoriously media shy Tom Waits. In fact, the end of the book comes with a collection of often humorous e-mail transcripts from a slew of Waits’ friends, collaborators and associates explaining why they would not be able to answer…
Over the course of the last twenty-five years, author J.A. Jance has provided a tremendous amount of work in fleshing out the characters of J.P. Beaumont and Sheriff Joanna Brady. Fire and Ice is perhaps Jance’s best work to date, as the story that Jance tells showcases two distinct sub-plots hat come together in a way that will keep readers focused in throughout the entirety of the 350-plus pages. The…
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen is the latest title in the Stephanie Plum series, which has turned 15 years old in 2009. Despite the countless titles that have been situated by Evanovich in this series over the years, I still feel as if ey is able to keep things fresh and ensure that fans of the series will be happy.
The Doomsday Key is one of many (actually, six) in the Sigma Force series, but author James Rollins takes more than enough care to ensure that readers are caught up before the crux of the action begins. A crew is placed together to figure out what exactly happened in Africa, where a highly cutting-edge type of agricultural development has been completely torn to the ground, all the individuals there killed.…
Along with Batman: Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?, the first issue of the eight-part Blackest Night storyline is the first comic that we have reviewed from a major company. Geoff Johns begins this arc with positive imagery, showcasing exactly how many in the DC Universe were able to move on from major events. Those that were in Coast City were able to firmly mend themselves in the years since…
