Hollywood Beach Beauties: Sea Sirens, Sun Goddesses, and Summer Style 1930-1970 by David Wills

Hollywood Beach Beauties by David Wills is a book of photographs, advertisements, and movie posters from the Thirties to early Seventies. Its subtitle does a good job of zoning in on the topics described in the text of the book (which was minimal, the book is mostly images and is divided by decade): "Sea Sirens, Sun Goddesses, and Summer Style, 1930-1970".  I'll admit up front to ignoring the subtitle because I was mostly in it for the vintage photography. I was curious about how the photography was done. For example: the changing poses and settings over the years. So, let's talk about the photography, first.

There were some really interesting things to note about the photography, but there were three things that really jumped out at me:

1. Poses have changed but not all that much - There are some photos, like the cover image, that look ridiculously posed and unnatural. And, I don't recall seeing models posing in bathing suits with high heels, before. But, there were also casual poses that have become more common in our era: the joyful beach photos in which models (the vast majority were also actors, not just models) jump in the air or splash in the water, for example, but there was a mix of happy and sexed-up photos. Note: from a fashion standpoint, it's extremely fun to see shoes of the various time periods.

2. Huge change in the body styles of models - While models in all 4 decades described were slender and beautiful, they were also curvy in earlier days, particularly in the 50s. And, quite a few of the early starlets who modeled bathing costumes were short. So, a good portion of them would be considered overweight by today's ridiculous modeling standards. It's notable that they looked every bit as terrific. You can't help but quickly note tricks to extend the length of legs, like the high heels, standing on tiptoes, toes pointed. I also noticed that the models tended to hunch their shoulders and clearly were pulling in their stomachs in many of the photos.

3. Almost no touch-ups - While some of the movie posters and advertisements were clearly manipulated (and many of the advertisements were artistic renditions rather than photographs), the vast majority appear unretouched. Some of the color photos, in fact, show that the models had skin that was burned in places. Poor Grace Kelly looked burned to a crisp in a beach photo from To Catch a Thief. A couple images also showed tan lines.

There's something deeply satisfying in the realization that women can still look utterly fabulous when nobody has gone in and removed the little pooches of skin that pucker above a bathing suit, thinned their thighs or made skin flawless with a computer program. I didn't expect to notice such details; as I mentioned, I was more interested in the changing photography than the human form or style. But, everything about the images ended up fascinating me.

Less interesting was the text, which I thought was a hot mess. While mostly about the crossover between modeling and acting and the changing styles of bathing suits, the author had a tendency to bombard the reader with names of actors who modeled, photographers, artists, and bathing suit designers . . . but then most of the photographs didn't show the specific suits or images described. At first, I went looking for particular images. One of the first models mentioned was not, in fact, shown at all. So, that baffled me. Then, I realized the author had chosen photos that matched the particular styles described without choosing the exact images that he had decided to highlight. I didn't care for that at all and I found the text really clunky and frustrating. But, at the same time I managed to learn a bit about changing styles, which was more interesting than I anticipated. I had no idea that early one-piece bathing suits of the type we wear today were knit and therefore very heavy when waterlogged. Nor did I realize that the early versions of stretchy bathing-suit material were quick to lose their shape. You couldn't just buy a swimsuit for the season, wear it for your daily dip in the pool, and expect it to last all summer.

Recommended to a specific audience - If you're interested in the photography alone, you might find this book a bit disappointing. But, I still enjoyed it. I just found that it held my interest for different reasons than I anticipated. It's more fascinating for the view of cultural and fashion changes than for the photography (my chief interest). So, I'd particularly recommend Hollywood Beach Beauties to people who are interested in fashion, with focus on bathing suits (although there is one photo of Audrey Hepburn in shorts -- totally out of place, I thought). It's also of interest for how women in movies were the models of most of the time period covered. And, if you have a fascination for old movie posters, you might enjoy how the beach images were incorporated into movie posters.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Sherlock: Chronicles by Steve Tribe

I've just checked my local public broadcasting schedule to confirm that the encore showing of "The Abominable Bride" -- the latest Sherlock episode -- is scheduled to air tonight, which gave me the nudge I needed to finally photograph Sherlock: Chronicles.

Sherlock:: Chronicles by Steve Tribe describes the creation of the Sherlock TV series from a germ of an idea tossed around randomly to development, editing and final production. A chapter is devoted to each of the episodes in the first three seasons along with a foreword by Mark Gatiss (who plays Mycroft and is co-creator of the series with Steven Moffat) and a great deal of background material about older versions of Sherlock Holmes that influenced the modern series, creative decisions like the choice to use a contemporary setting, the casting of the show, wardrobe and sets . . . even the styling of Benedict Cumberbatch's hair.

I've been flipping through the book and I can't find the hair bit but I recall Cumberbatch referring to the chosen hairstyle as "this mop" or something similar, which made me laugh. To be honest, the hair is the only thing I dislike about Sherlock's characterization. I'm rather fond of the star's shorter, natural auburn hair. Apparently, I'm in the minority in that regard.

Sherlock: Chronicles is crammed with gorgeous photographs of the actors (behind-the-scenes and official release photos), the sets, side-by-side comparisons of original A. Conan Doyle stories and the scripts that drew from those stories, lists of selected roles key actors have played, deleted scenes, images of art, special effects  (including the creation of the terrifying hound in the updated version of "The Hounds of Baskerville", on-screen texts, and the mattress that meets Sherlock halfway when he's drugged) and storyboards. There are some collages of photos but none of the photos were so painfully small that I had to pull out a magnifying glass. The layout is very nicely done.

Some of the things I enjoyed learning:

• There is an actual blog to accompany the series: The Personal Blog of Dr. John H. Watson. What fun! I'll go back and read the entries as I watch the series, the next time around. I've only taken the time to read the blog about the wedding episode (the last update; perhaps they felt a post about the final episode would give too much away?). The comments below that entry were a hoot. 
• Why and how certain changes were made from the original stories, like the decision to make the series more of an adventure than a mystery series.
• The actors' thoughts about their roles.
• Details like the way names of characters were changed to reflect the naming in the original stories but update them. For example, Sir Henry Baskerville of the original "Hound of the Baskervilles" became Henry Knight -- "Knight" being a reference to Henry's knighthood. 
• The details behind the stunt work in "The Reichenbach Fall". You can see this in the extra material on the DVDs but it was still fun reading the details about how the actual London building was chosen and I love the still shots.
• Background about settings: which were actual London settings and when and where other locations were used.

I spent a good two months working my way through Sherlock: Chronicles and then viewing each episode as I read about it, which was tremendously fun. Just before I began reading the book, we spent 9 days in London, in a flat on Baker Street, and discovered that we had sat in the park where John Watson's friend told him about an acquaintance looking for a flatmate and stood watching skateboarders in a South Bank setting covered with graffiti that Sherlock and John walked past in another episode.

Highly recommended - If you're a fan of Sherlock, Sherlock: Chronicles is an exceptionally fun read and an excellent reference. At 8" x 10", the book is large enough that photos are nicely sized (some of the text in side-by-side comparisons of story vs. script, emails, and lists of other roles played by key actors are quite small, though). It would look nice on a coffee table and would make a great gift for the Sherlock lover in your life. I especially enjoyed the fact that the reading opened up a few delightful discussions with the spouse. He enjoyed learning those little background tidbits as much as I did.

My thanks to Dey Street Books for the opportunity to review Sherlock: Chronicles.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss
Copyright 2011
Dey Street Books (an imprint of HarperCollins) - Graphic biography incl. notes, "Radioactive Bestiary and Garden" and more
205 pp.

I love what the National Book Foundation had to say about this book (from the book cover), so I'll open with their thoughts:

"Redniss's achievment is a celebration of the essential power of books to inform, charm, and transport. In marrying the graphic and visual arts with biography and cultural history, she has expanded the realm of nonfiction."

That is honestly a perfect description of Radioactive. The story of Marie and Pierre Curie's lives, Radioactive opens with an excerpt from "Lecture on Radium" by Loie Fuller that is almost a soliloquy to the magic of science. The word "magic" is used repeatedly. It's a scholarly work but it sets the tone brilliantly. This excerpt is followed by a bewitching 2-page illustration and then a simple line drawing with a single paragraph introducing each of the subjects: Pierre Curie and Marya Sklodowska (later Marie Curie).

I was a little stunned at the odd simplicity of the illustrations in Radioactive, at first. They seemed loose, almost childish. But, as the book progresses and Pierre and Marie's lives unfold and intertwine, the illustrations and period photographs combine to take on an eerie blend of professional artistry and simplistic genius. Between the text -- which is very informative if, at times, the science itself lost me -- and the unique illustrative style, the book has a magnetic appeal. By that, I mean I couldn't put it down till I finished. Too bad I started reading it at bedtime. The book is a quick read but I started it late enough to end up with a reading hangover.

Highly recommended - A unique, well-written biography that transports you to the world of Pierre and Marie Curie. I've always thought of both of the Curies in a distant, abstract way, but I came out of the reading with, I think, a well-rounded image of both as individuals, so they now seem more human and less like names from a list of scientists involved in important breaththroughs. Also of interest: I had no idea that after its discovery radium was touted as a bit of a cure-all. Horrors. I wonder how many people died because of that trend.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

HitRECord TV, Season 1 and a Friday Cat

First things first: a description for those unfamiliar with HitRECord. HitRECord.org is a website created by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, to which anyone can subscribe. Artists, musicians, illustrators, writers, filmmakers, poets and cartoonists all work together in a collaborative creative effort. HitRECord is responsible for the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories book series (I have read and loved all three and hope they'll publish more, in the future) and the HitRECord production company also has released this TV series, an auditory and visual feast.

Second things second: I have a confession to make. I got Season 1 of HitRECord TV from HarperCollins' Dey Street imprint in late 2014 and hesitated to write about it because I wanted to buy a copy of the season for a friend. He's a blog friend and I couldn't bear the thought that he'd read my gushy review and buy it before I got around to sending it to him. So, I dragged my feet.

Fortunately, Season 1 of HitRECord TV is memorable. The boxed set contains 9 booklets. One of those is a general guide; the rest are books with bits of art much like that in the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories series but with some background information about the episodes, lyrics to songs, and brief blurbs from contributors (illustrators, musicians, composers, etc.) that add a bit of dimension to the episodes. They're not stories in and of themselves but material to accompany the series.

I absolutely loved watching Season 1 of HitRECord TV. There are touching stories, funny skits, illustrated songs and poems, people playing games. Each episode is centered around a particular theme: "Games", "Money", "Trash", "Patterns", "Fantasy", "Space", "The Number 1", and "The Other Side." I had particular favorites amongs those songs, skits, stories and such -- and even favorite episodes. But, in general, I just loved being swept away, listening to the songs, thinking about the topics, singing along, being entertained by this massively creative collaborative effort.

The only thing I dislike about the HitRECord TV, Season 1? The episodes are downloaded to computer. I am old school and absolutely hate watching things on the computer. Plus, I like to have a physical copy of any television series I own. Downloads don't feel entirely real to me; and, I'm not even sure where exactly to locate them on my computer, now that I've watched them and stepped away for a couple months. The download code is on a small piece of paper that falls out when you pull out the booklets. I'm going to tape mine to either the case or that first booklet. It would definitely be much nicer to have this series on DVD.

Otherwise, I have zippo complaints, although I would have personally preferred a single book to a set of booklets. No big deal, though. It works. Highly recommended. I keep thinking "visual and auditory feast" and can't get beyond that description but let me say this . . . it will not only entertain you, HitRECord on TV will make you want to pull out your paint box, sit with your guitar, put pen to paper. It's inspiring.

Also, it's Friday, so have a cat:

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Three I loved - The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1963: The Year of Revolution by Morgan and Leve and Entertaining Judgment by Greg Garrett

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt is so crammed with little flags that I could quote from it all day, but instead I'm going to skip quotes entirely and just tell you about it, although I may eventually do a post filled with quotes so I can remove those markers.

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt is apparently a compact version of Mrs. Roosevelt's memoirs (which were originally published in several volumes). Although it's edited down to a single book, Mrs. Roosevelt's autobiography is crammed with wonderful anecdotes and gives the reader an excellent inside view of her life. Especially interesting, of course, are the tumultuous Depression and WWII years, during which her husband Franklin served as President of the United States.

I have long been an admirer of Eleanor Roosevelt but wow . . . she's my hero, now. She was indefatigable in her efforts to make the lives of everyday people, especially women, better. She traveled the world at her husband's request numerous times to comfort soldiers and was relentlessly picked on by the press, though the soldiers deeply appreciated her. She wrote personal letters and columns, hosted dignitaries at her home and the White House, represented the U.S. in the early years of the United Nations. She was a woman of strong character who made an indelible imprint on our nation's direction.

I think The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt would make an exceptional school resource. Although some of the characters are unfamiliar because they were prominent at the time and have now faded into history, those occasional bits that have lost their impact tend to be brief enough that they don't interfere with the reading. Annotations wouldn't be a lost cause, in my humble opinion, but for teaching purposes it would work to use selected excerpts. The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt was one of those rare books that I found so exciting I occasionally read anecdotes to my husband. He enjoyed the portions I read. Highly recommended.


1963: The Year of the Revolution by Robin Morgan and Ariel Leve is an absorbing read, in spite of the fact that I don't like the way it's organized. An introduction is followed by chapters that begin with a quotation and then consist of first-person viewpoints by the people who were a part of the "youth-quake" that took place in 1963 in fashion, art and music on both sides of the Atlantic.

Each chapter contains a number of first-person accounts from musicians, artists, and other people involved in the changing events. Some were familiar to me, like Eric Clapton, Mary Quant and Sir Alan Parker, but many were not and therein the problem lies. While I enjoyed looking up various music groups, artists, fashion leaders and their work (particularly the music), it was a bit frustrating having to keep flipping back to remind myself who this or that person was. It might be a less chaotic-feeling read to those who lived it.

However, I grew up with a lot of the music that was mentioned without actually realizing who sang songs that were still playing on the radio during my childhood. So, it was loads of fun looking up music videos. And, in spite of the fact that I disliked the manner in which this oral history was presented, I really did enjoy the reading and came out of the experience feeling like I'd learned a great deal. I even have a new favorite old song. Definitely recommended, but do be aware that the book is focused on the arts and fashion, not generalities. It's worth mentioning that even though I disliked the organization of the book and having to look things up slowed down the reading, I was never tempted to set it aside. I found 1963: The Year of Revolution utterly fascinating.

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt and 1963: The Year of Revolution were both sent to me by HarperCollins (the former a Harper Perennial imprint, the latter from Dey Street).

Entertaining Judgment by Greg Garrett is a book I purchased because I love the author's writing. I pre-ordered it when he talked about it on Facebook and didn't wait long after it arrived before indulging. Subtitled "The Afterlife in Popular Imagination", Entertaining Judgment is about how Heaven, Hell and purgatory are portrayed in books, films, video games and music. Garrett talks a bit about angels, the devil and ghosts, as well.

Entertaining Judgment is as informative as it is captivating. Garrett describes how minimal the descriptions of Heaven and Hell are in religious writings and how strongly popular opinion of what exactly may await us in the afterlife has been dictated by fiction. I loved the fact that the author doesn't let his Christianity interfere with the presentation of the material, examining how the afterlife is portrayed in various religious texts without ever saying one is superior to another.

Entertaining Judgment is not all-encompassing. I thought the portions about ghosts focused a little too heavily on fear when ghosts often are portrayed as entities that help people move on. One of my favorite ghost movies, Always, is not mentioned, for example. But, there are plenty of excellent examples that I knew little about and I came out of the reading of Entertaining Judgment with a strong desire to catch up on films and literature that I've missed. It's probably worth noting that I don't play video games at all but I found the descriptions of video games every bit as absorbing as those about film, books and music. Highly recommended. I don't recall ever reading anything quite like Entertaining Judgment and particularly enjoyed it for the change of pace.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Catch-up #3: Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming, The Giver (review and F2F report) by Lois Lowry

I am seriously going to have to start jumping on the reviews the moment I finish a book. Not My Father's Son is excellent, really one of the best memoirs I've read in the last few years -- and I love memoirs. But, I waited too long and I'm feeling like I can't do it justice. I'll do my best, though.

Not My Father's Son tells the unfolding story of events that took place a few years ago when Alan Cumming agreed to have his family history revealed in a reality show, the UK's "Who Do You Think You Are?"

The story pivots between "Then" and "Now", sometimes with specific dates added. The past that he refers to as "Then" describes childhood abuse at the hands of his father. "Now" refers to a time when he was preparing to appear on "Who Do You Think You Are?", a show in which a famous personality's family history is revealed. Cumming describes how he dealt with what he discovered about his immediate family and his family's history. The genealogical preference for investigation was his. What did Cumming want to know about his family? He chose his maternal grandfather's last years. Why did his mother's dad leave the family for Malaya? How did his early death occur? Did he commit suicide, die accidentally, or was he murdered?

Trigger warning: If you have difficulty reading about childhood abuse, you might want to skip this one.

Cumming's story is an extremely emotional journey. The reality show triggered memories that he, his brother and his mother had suppressed. As a child, his father abused them all. He had a ready excuse: Alan was not his son. But, if that was the case, why did he also terrorize his biological child, in addition to the wife he thought faithless and the son he refused to think of as his own?

As Cummings sought to both reveal the truth about his parentage and keep his own unknown story from being publicly revealed before he had firm answers, he was also gradually learning about his grandfather's death. Both a story of family events and how mental health has been treated, past and present, Alan Cummings' memoir reveals a man of surprising strength, joy, and love, especially given his painful childhood. You can't help but emerge from the book admiring its author, his mother, and his brother. They may have been treated badly but their unbending love for each other and Cumming's mother's amazing support throughout their ordeal is a wonder.

Highly recommended - Very skillfully crafted and moving.

I received a copy of Not My Father's Son from Dey Street Books (an imprint of HarperCollins) in return for an impartial review. It was released last week. Choosing a maximum of 2 or 3 books a month is going well, so far. I'm definitely glad I requested Not My Father's Son.


********SPOILER WARNING********

I've already read The Giver before and this time I want to talk about the ending. So skip my review if you don't want to know what happens.

The Giver by Lois Lowry was a book I reread for book group discussion; the meeting was held last night. 

The Giver is the story of Jonas, a boy chosen by the elders in his utopian, literally black-and-white world to hold the memories of the past for the people of his village. The old Giver is exhausted from holding the memories and the physical and mental pain that accompanies them. But, he's erred in the way he attempted to pass on the memories to a new Giver, in the past. So, he tries to be gentle when passing on memories of life and death, color and temperature, war and love -- all the things that have been eliminated in a structured, precise world where marital partners, children and careers are chosen based on personal attributes but deviation from societally-imposed strictures is deadly. In spite of gentle adjustment to the memories, Jonas still thinks things need to change and a baby whose imminent "release" (a euphemism for death) shocks Jonas will be the catalyst for change.

The Giver has what some people read as an open ending. Did Jonas really escape with baby Gabriel and find a place where Christmas is celebrated with color and cheer or did he fall into unconsciousness and dream of a place he wished to find? Apparently, the question of what really happened is answered in a sequel; there are 3 companion novels and I can't recall which one answers the question. I couldn't find our old copy of The Giver, so I bought the "quartet". I'll get to the other books, eventually. I had my own opinion of what happened.

The good and the bad:

I think everyone in my F2F group felt the same about the science fiction aspect of The Giver. There's no explanation as to how and why memories are held by a single person, how the people are restricted from seeing color, how their world is climate-controlled. So, I think everyone felt like there were aspects of the book that were difficult to buy into. What we loved about The Giver was the fact that it opens up so many different avenues for discussion. Jonas's father is a "carer" who works with children because he's a natural nurturer but his mother is a judge, for example, which brings up the issue of how gender plays into our expectations of character and career aspirations. The fact that nobody can see color led us to discussion about how color blindness allows for racial equality. The lack of pain leads to questions about whether or not pain is essential to growth. We also talked about how rigid structure didn't allow for creativity or individuality.

Highly recommended - No wonder they teach this book in schools.  At any rate, not everyone loved the story (I loved it every bit as much as I did the first time) but the conversation was lively and fresh. I haven't made it to very many meetings, this year, but our discussion of The Giver was one of the best I've experienced in recent memory so I definitely recommend it for group discussion.

Some of our group members have seen the recent movie release of The Giver, so we also discussed the differences a bit. I have not, but hope to view it in the future.

I call Jonas's world "utopian" early in this review but that's a question I neglected to ask group members. Is the story really utopian if people are being put to death for minor aberrations from the norm or is the village a dystopian world because many are unaware of its realities? Thoughts are welcome.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.