Hollywood Unseen
ACC Editions
Talk about your familiar faces in unfamiliar situations: Boris Karloff in monster garb and makeup for “Bride of Frankenstein” drinking a cup of tea, very civilized; W.C. Fields dressed for tennis; young Marilyn Monroe reading the LA phone book; Humphrey Bogart snapping a picture of his dog, Sluggy. While the photos in this fine collection might look candid, most were in fact shot by studio lensmen tasked with showing the “ordinary lives” of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Particularly popular: holiday-themed pictures they could give to magazines, like this Fourth of July look from Jayne Mansfield. Taken from the archive of the John Kobal Foundation, it’s filled with gorgeous pictures — long-hidden — of the gorgeous people from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs
Random House
If you’re crazy about canines, bark yourself on the couch, grab a treat and crack open this volume. A James Thurber story leads off each of the book’s sections: “Good Dogs,” “Bad Dogs,” “Top Dogs” and “Underdogs.” And you can enjoy Roald Dahl on greyhound racing, Susan Orlean on Rin Tin Tin, and other rover revelations by the likes of E.B White, Roger Angell and Ogden Nash.
Art of the Dead
edited by Philip Cushway
Softskull Press
Almost as much as their music, the posters inspired by the Grateful Dead left their mark. Coming from the streets of San Francisco starting in 1965, they showed influences of Japanese wood blocks, the Belle Époch era, beatniks and acid-droppers. The five most-noted artists — Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso — are profiled and interviewed.
Elizabeth Taylor
A Shining Legacy on Film
by Cindy De La Hoz
Running Press
The violet-eyed beauty has been in the news of late, thanks to a cheesy cable flick with Lindsay Lohan as Liz. But here, you can get your fill of the real deal. Film historian De La Hoz goes through Taylor’s filmography, beginning with her part as a pudding-maker’s daughter in “There’s One Born Every Minute” (1942) and ending with the 2001 TV movie “These Old Broads.” For each film, we get photos, credits, review excerpts and off-screen tidbits. Liz’s love life also gets a nod, with a 10-page (naturally!) photo timeline.
Reporting the Revolutionary War
Before It Was History, It Was News
by Todd Andrlik
Sourcebooks
Newspaper archivist and historian Andrlik’s book gives us original reports from the Boston Tea Party in 1773. American papers at the time, such as the Boston Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal (The New York Post didn’t start publishing till 1801), helped fan the flames of rebellion against the British. He reprints news from the Battle of Bunker Hill, the First Continental Congress and Valley Forge. Read all about it the way Americans did when it happened.
Booked for the holidays
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Booked for the holidays
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Booked for the holidays
