In 1939 Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden emigrated together to the United States. In spare, luminous prose these diaries describe Isherwood's search for a new life in California; his work as a screenwriter in Hollywood, his pacifism during World War II and his friendships with such gifted artists and intellectuals as Garbo, Chaplin, Thomas Mann, Charles Laughton, Gielgud, Olivier, Richard Burton and Aldous Huxley.Throughout this period, Isherwood continued to write novels and sustain his literary friendships - with E. M. Forster, Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams and others. He turned to his diaries several times a week to record jokes and gossip, observations about his adopted country, philosophy and mystical insights. His devotion to his diary was a way of accounting for himself; he used it as both a discipline and a release. Views: 26
From BooklistJames Madison and Thomas Jefferson are both in the pantheon of Founding Fathers, but Madison is frequently relegated to the second tier. He is often described as Jefferson’s protégée and “faithful lieutenant” and credited primarily with his role in the formation and ratification of the Constitution rather than achievements during his presidency. This extensive and well-researched examination of their relationship spanning 50 years paints a more nuanced and often surprising portrait of both men. The authors, both history professors, succeed in removing their subjects from their pedestals without diminishing their brilliance or importance. Both Madison and Jefferson were intense political animals in politically turbulent times. In his conflicts with Federalists, Jefferson used surrogates to engage in “dirty tricks,” while seeming to remain above the fray. Madison was much more than a “policy wonk.” He was an effective and tough legislator at both the state and federal levels; also, he did not shrink from opposing Jefferson’s policies when he disagreed with them. This is an important reappraisal of a critical partnership that shaped our early republic. --Jay Freeman Review“[A] satisfyingly rich dual biography [that] promotes Madison from junior partner to full-fledged colleague of the 'more magnetic' Jefferson...An important, thoughtful, and gracefully written political history from the viewpoint of the young nation's two most intellectual founding fathers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)From the Hardcover edition. Views: 26
Ray Robertson is an irrepressible voice, with brass balls, and a heart of gold. I Was There the Night He Died is a hilarious, moving, insightful, and timely piece of modern realism, delightfully void of literary pretension. Here, at last, is a novel that rocks and rolls."—Jonathan Evison, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving"So," she says. Who died tonight?"Sam Samson, meet Samantha. Sam's a novelist: his dad has Alzheimer's, his mother died of stroke, his wife was killed seventeen months ago in a car crash. Samantha, eighteen, is a cutter. She lives across the street from Sam's parents' house. Marijuana and loneliness spark an unlikely friendship, which Sam finds hard to navigate, especially as his dad's condition worsens and the money for his care suddenly vanishes. Yet somehow, between a record player and a park bench, through late-night conversations about the deaths of Sam's musical heroes, and ultimately... Views: 26
