Check out all the great books the folks here at Tarcher are personally reading (and get a sneak peek at upcoming books and projects)! What are you picking up next? Tell us in our comments or tweet to us at: @TarcherBooks.
Name: Kevin Howell
Position: Marketing Manager
Currently reading: FIVE CAME BACK: A STORY OF HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR by Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC)
What made you pick up this book?
I’m a big fan of Mark Harris, who writes for Entertainment Weekly and who wrote my favorite book of 2008, PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION: FIVE MOVIES AND THE BIRTH OF NEW HOLLYWOOD. His first book was about the five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 1967 (BONNIE & CLYDE, THE GRADUATE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, DOCTOR DOLITTLE, and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER) and how 1967 was the year when Old Hollywood and New Hollywood clashed for the first time. It was a brilliantly constructed book and as juicy as it was fascinating.
What’s the general plot/topic of the book?
FIVE CAME BACK (coming out March 3, 2014 from Penguin Press) tells the story of five film directors (John Ford, George Stevens, John Huston, William Wyler and Frank Capra) from 1938 to 1947, when they enlisted into the military and made films during World War II. It’s also an amazingly vivid chronicle of history through the setting of the second World War—for example how initially timid studios were about saying anything negative about the Nazis in films out of fear of losing film revenue overseas. Also, because there was a fairly vocal isolationist movement in the US opposing America getting involved with “a war that doesn’t concern us,” those who did speak up against the bombings going on in Europe were often silenced by antisemitism. (And most of the studio heads were Jewish and keeping a low profile.)
What do you like about the author’s style?
First of all, he’s an amazing historian (check out the 69 pages of notes in the back), but his 15 years at EW has honed his smooth, assured and witty writing style. Despite the fact that he seamlessly recreates the world of these filmmakers through their letters and memoirs, he is not afraid to contradict or correct the (sometimes self-serving) memories of the filmmakers.
Would you recommend this book to a friend?
Why/Why not? I’m only half-way through this nearly-500 page book, but I can safely recommend it to film buffs and those who enjoy history books.
What are your top 5 favorite books?
Nonfiction:I have to do it quick and off the top of my head or I’ll never be able to limit myself.
Vito Russo’s THE CELLULOID CLOSET
Mark Harris’s PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION
Jane Fonda’s MY LIFE SO FAR
William Mann’s BEHIND THE SCREEN: HOW GAYS AND LESBIANS SHAPED HOLLYWOOD 1910—1969
Sam Fuller’s A THIRD FACE.
Fiction:
Joe Keenan’s BLUE HEAVEN
Jacqueline Susann’s VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
Fannie Flagg’s DAISY FAY AND THE MIRACLE MAN
Stephen King’s SALEM’S LOT
Armistead Maupin’s TALES OF THE CITY series.