Books & Authors
85 posts found
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Rambamalama (The Rambam, Rabbi Leder and Julie Salamon)
Put down your "Da Vinci Code." Set aside your "South Beach Diet." Let your kaballah red string drop off your wrist. I’m here to alert you to the next pop cultural phenom: a 12th-century philosopher popularly known as the Rambam. Just a few weeks ago, I attended the "Aloud" reading series at the Los Angeles Central Library to hear a conversation between Julie Salamon and Steven Leder. Salamon, a culture reporter for The New York Times, is the author of… -
The Kid Still Stays in the Picture (Robert Evans)
Tommywood was expecting a Hollywood moment. Publicity guru extraordinaire Michael Levine had arranged for me to meet legendary Producer Robert Evans at his longtime lair, Woodland, the former home of Greta Garbo. I turned north of Sunset Boulevard and, like William Holden, wondered what I was getting myself into. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate Evans’ accomplishments. Evans, the former head of production at Paramount, was responsible for "Love Story," "The Godfather" and "Chinatown" among many other classic films. He… -
Most of the Best (S.J. Perelman)
Among the allergens being released this June is a remake of "Around the World in 80 Days," the Jules Verne novel that launched a thousand travel articles. Perhaps Jackie Chan will inhabit the role of Passepartout in a fashion that surpasses the achievements of Cantinflas, "the world’s greatest comedian," according to Charlie Chaplin, a person of no small ego or talent himself. That remains to be seen — or not seen, as the case may be. Although this remake gives… -
Breaking the Mold (Eric Lax's book on the discovery of penicillin)
Earlier this month I attended the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation research benefit for stem-cell research. Although James Taylor’s five-song set and Nancy Reagan’s acceptance speech were each memorable and moving, what I found myself thinking about most that evening was Eric Lax’s new book "The Mold in Dr. Florey’s Coat" (Henry Holt & Company, $25), about the story of penicillin. In the 60 years since it was first made available, penicillin has gone from miracle drug, to cure-all, to over-prescribed.… -
The Escapist (MIchael Chabon's "The Escapist" as metaphor)
Jewish history has tradition of escaping and escapism It’s Sunday and I’m rushing over to my local comic book store, Hi De Ho, in Santa Monica to buy issue No. 1 of “The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist.†If the name is familiar, it’s not because you used to collect “The Escapist†in your youth, as many people have told Mike Hennessy, the owner of Hi De Ho. Rather “The Escapist†is a fictional invention — I know that seems… -
Second Government (Bernard-Henri Levy)
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about French philosopher, journalist and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Levy (only in France can philosopher hyphenate with filmmaker). We had lunch about six months ago. At the time, Levy’s English-language edition of "Who Killed Daniel Pearl?"(Melville House), had just been published. The book had received a mixed response for its controversial thesis that Daniel Pearl was murdered because he was on the trail of a larger story, of connections between Pakistani security forces, Pakistan’s nuclear establishment… -
Sleep, Interrupted
I remember, as a child, trying in vain to stay up to see the ball fall on New Year’s Eve. In later years, high school brought concerts that went past midnight and college introduced all-nighters of the studying and partying kind. In the midnight hour came inspiration and revelation and dreams of new worlds to conquer. Back then, sleep was not an issue. Then sometime in my 20s, I suffered a bout of insomnia. For several weeks, I could not,… -
The Living Desert (Palm Springs, The Desert and Deanne Stillman's "29 Palms")
As I write this, it’s 64 degrees in Santa Monica and Sub-Zero is just a brand of refrigerator I covet. On the East Coast, there is a record cold spell and everyone is paying rapt attention to the wind-chill factor. The climatic difference can best be explained not merely by boasting or gloating — but by the fact that Los Angeles is a desert. For most Angelenos, heading out to the desert means driving on Interstate 10 for about two… -
Reading Something Into Some Books (Marboro Books, Richard Farina and Daniel Deronda)
At 14, I had never read a book outside of school assignments — certainly not for pleasure. I was more of a comic book kid. My parents were concerned and even asked one of my friends to talk to me. I just wasn’t interested. But I liked hanging out at Marboro books in Manhattan. Marboro was a New York book chain that sold books and posters and had large tables with discounted books stacked on them, many for 99 cents.… -
Summer Reading (Sandor Marai's "Embers," Gunter Grass' "The Crab")
I had planned to spend my summer in Hollywood. I had teed up on my reading list "Maneater" by Gigi Levangie Grazer, "Action!" by Robert Cort and "San Remo Drive" by Leslie Epstein. But, as Primo Levi used to say, life proved otherwise. I had high hopes for "Maneater." I like Grazier’s scripts and, as the wife of producer Brian Grazer, she is uniquely poised to see and hear a lot of dish. However, the accumulation of sordid details overwhelmed… -
A Guilty Pleasure Swings With Style ("Mr. S. My life with Frank Sinatra by George Jacobs with William Stadiem")
"Mr. S, My Life With Frank Sinatra" by George Jacobs and William Stadiem is this summer’s guilty pleasure. Jacobs was Frank Sinatra’s valet from 1953 to 1968, and his memoirs are the excuse for a polished backstage tour of Sinatraland, a roller-coaster ride of the high life and the lowdown on almost every scandal, scoop, star, starlet, call girl and politician of the ’40s ’50s and ’60s. I enjoy good gossip. Not the malicious betrayal of personal confidences, but the… -
Affirmative Actions (A Place Called Home; The Accelerated School; PS ARTS)
Affirmative Actions by Tom Teicholz If you want to talk about education, if you want to discuss affirmative action, you need to take a trip with me down the 10 Freeway. Let’s head east past the 405 and the 110 and exit on Central Avenue, heading south. That’s right — South Central, recently renamed South Los Angeles. Driving on Central Avenue, you get inured to a certain version of urban neglect — you begin to take gang tagging as a…