Category Archives: Books

Feb 20 2014
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Books

What Are The Odds?

Fascinating facts abound in dandy data round up 

The Book of Odds

The Book of Odds

By Amram Shapiro, Louise Firth-Campbell & Rosalind Wright

Softcover, 238 pages, $26.99 / Kindle edition $13.29 (William Morrow)

 

What are the odds? Now you’ll know, with this handy, dandy compendium of thousands of ’em, presented in chapters that cover the cradle to the grave—like the best odds for a boy to be named Harold were in the 1920s (1 in 80.4); the odds a female college student has a tattoo on her neck (1 in 125); the odds that an adult agrees that “creatures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster will one day be discovered by science” (1 in 5.6). With sidebars, trivia boxes, lists, graphs and other helpful breakouts, it’s a wealth of data that you can open up anywhere and find something fascinating.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Feb 12 2014
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Books, Photography

Save the Chimps

Proceeds of book go to world’s largest chimpanzee rehab sanctuary  

Opening Doors

Opening Doors

By Gary Ferguson

Hardcover, 176 pages ($24.95, Save The Chimps)

Chronicling the trials as well as the triumphs of rescuing and rehabbing abused, neglected chimpanzees from labs, roadside “attractions” and even backyards, this chronicle of the work of primatologist Dr. Carole Noon will warm the hearts of animal lovers of all kinds. With more than 250 photos of chimps playing, socializing, relaxing, enjoying life or simply looking into the camera, it’s easy to understand why, as Noon says, “chimpanzees are amazing people.” All proceeds from the sale of the book go toward the funding of her Save the Chimps foundation, the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary, in Ft. Pierce, Fla.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Feb 05 2014
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Books, History, Photography

Pioneering Photojournalism

Dorothea Lange depicted the Depression—and launched an art form

Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning

By Elizabeth Partridge

Hardcover, 192 pages ($50, Chronicle Books)

Lange’s groundbreaking work with a camera put human faces on the calamity and suffering of Great Depression—and planted the seeds for what would become the art form of documentary photography. Her iconic work is celebrated in this handsome, career-spanning collection, which includes more than 100 reproductions of her images and an introductory biography essay by Partridge, her goddaughter, which takes readers through the full, fascinating life of one of America’s most influential photojournalists, who died in 1965.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Feb 05 2014
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Books, Music

Inside the Allman Brothers

Definitive oral history weaves ups, downs, all arounds

One Way Out

One Way Out

By Alan Paul

Hardcover, 464 pages ($29.95, St. Martin’s Press)

A sweeping, sprawling oral history of one of American rock music’s seminal acts, this definitive biography covers the Allman Brothers Band’s entire four-decade career, from its origins in 1969 to today, with exclusive interviews from more than 60 sources, including all surviving members. The author, a senior writer for Guitar World magazine and a longtime band insider, interweaves colorful anecdotes with revealing insights, covering the group’s inner workings, trials, tribulations, ups, downs and all arounds, and the legacy of songs like “Whipping Post,” “Ramblin’ Man,” “Statesboro Blues” and dozens of others. Founding group members Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, whose rock-solid dual drumming became one of the Allman’s sonic signatures, anchor the book with a foreward and afterword.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jan 28 2014
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Books, History, Music, Pop Culture Gallery

Mop Top Mania

Remembering the Beatles’ invasion, 50 years ago this month

Rowlands_The Beatles_revise_8_28.indd
The Beatles Are Here!

By Penelope Rowlands
Softcover, 256 pages ($15.95,
Algonquin Books)

The author (pictured on the cover, in the middle, just above the ‘A’ and the ‘T’ of the sign), corralled essays from more than 40 musicians, fellow writers and fans to commemorate Beatlemania’s arrival on American shores 50 years ago. Singer-songwriters Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper and Janis Ian; journalists Gay Talese, Griel Marcus, Roy Blount Jr.; and radio personality “Cousin Brucie” Morrow are among the contributors who recall and reflect on the emotional joy, musical shock waves and sheer hysteria that greeted John, Paul, George and Ringo on their first trip to the United States on Feb. 7, 1963. “How quickly the Beatles changed…everything,” writes Rowlands, noting that “She Loves You” was “two minutes and 18 seconds that seemed to render almost everything, musically, that came before it obsolete.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jan 28 2014
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Books, History

Manners, By George!

Navigating the social world, with a little help from our first president

What Would George Do

What Would George Do?

By Nan Marshall & Helen Broder

Softcover, 134 pages ($12.95, Pelican Publishing Company)

He lived four centuries ago, but our first president’s good manners were timeless—and as applicable today as ever. That’s the premise of this handy, dandy little volume, which takes George Washington’s famous code of personal conduct, “The Rules of Civility,” and uses it to build an engaging, entertaining discourse on etiquette for a spectrum of modern social situations, including meetings and greetings, conversations, sporting events, dining, clothing and dressing, travel, parenting, even sickness and death. So this President’s Day, step out into the social world a bit more sure of yourself…by George!

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine    

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Jan 17 2014
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Books, History, Photography

Made in America

Photographer’s journey reveals handmade treasures

Portraits-of-the-American-Craftsman

Portraits of the American Craftsman

Photographs by Tadd Myers

Hardcover, 275 pages ($29.95, Lyons Press)

Myers, an award-winning corporate photographer, began this project as a commercial assignment about the restoration about an historic building in his home state of Texas, but expanded it as he began to wonder about other work across America still done by hand. This chronicle of his ensuing journey—a collection of images of musical instruments, clothing, long rifles and carving knives, surfboards and boats, stagecoaches and carousel horses, Grammy Awards, suits for country stars, other hand-crafted wonders and the people who make them—will give you a whole new appreciation for the phrase “made in the U.S.A.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jan 10 2014
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Books, History

In Country

Photographic collection captures horror & humanity of Vietnam

 Vietnam_jacket mech_r2.indd

Vietnam: The Real War

Introduction by Pete Hamill

Hardcover, 304 pages ($40, Abrams)

Its release timed with the beginning of ongoing 50th anniversary observances of the beginning of the war in Vietnam, this sweeping, spectacular chronicle compiles the work of more than 50 courageous photojournalists assigned to the heart of the conflict. With 300 photos capturing both the horror and the humanity of America’s messy involvement in a bloody, protracted power struggle that stretched across two decades (presented chronologically with contextual highlights from distinguished war correspondents), it’s a reminder of the extraordinary power of imagery, an unflinching history from the sobering distance of half a century, and one of the most profound collected photographic legacies of the entire 20th century.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jan 03 2014
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Books, History

Yum Yum!

The tasty secrets of one of life’s guilty pleasures

Candy

Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure

By Simira Kawash

Hardcover, 403 pages ($27, Faber and Faber)

The author, a professor at Rutgers University and founder of the website CandyProfessor.com, delves deep into the tasty secrets of the guilty-pleasure treats that most of us consider to be among the most unwholesome things we can eat. But is candy really so bad—especially when compared to other consumer goods laden with highly manipulated, processed products that have many of its same (non) nutritional qualities? Unraveling a tangled web of moral, ethical, cultural, corporate and historical threads with both academic insight and sly wit about a subject to which we all can relate, “Candy” is a book that can hit anyone’s sweet spot.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jan 03 2014
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Books, History, Pop Culture

Lights, Action…History

Rare photos, other artifacts commemorate Hollywood ‘dream factory’

Once Upon a Time in HollywoodOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood

By Juliette Michaud

Hardcover, 288 pages ($60, Flammarion/Rizzoli USA)

Both a fact-filled history of Tinseltown and a fan-focused homage to all it represents, this photo-packed, box-encased tribute chronicles the biggest stars, classic films, iconic studios, shifting trends and the very evolution of American cinema from silent movies to the golden age of the 1960s. With previously unpublished interviews from acting legends, rare archival photos from movie sets and behind the scenes, reproductions of “glamour” headshots, posters and much more, it’s a sweeping, epic tour of the West Coast “dream factory” in all its 20th century-spanning glory.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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