Category Archives: Books

Nov 19 2013
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Books, History

Going Up!

Big book of world’s tallest buildings is shaped to suit its subject  

Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers

By Judith Dupré

Hardcover, 176 pages ($26.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)

A skyscraper of a book itself, this super-tall 9”x18” volume mirrors its subjects: the world’s tallest buildings. With oversize, full-color photos, specs and a history of awe-inspiring vertical masterpieces all around the globe—including such iconic American landmarks as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Willis (formerly Sear) Tower, plus an array of newer creations in Europe, China, the Middle East and India—it’s an inspiring, eye-popping, soaring architectural tour, one that might just leave you feeling a little bit light-headed.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 13 2013
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Books, History

Wide Open Spaces

Panoramic photos show a spectrum of early 20th century America

TheBigPicture

The Big Picture

By Josh Sapan

Hardcover, 144 pages ($29.99, Princeton Architectural Press)

The invention of flexible film (as opposed to solid plates) in the late 1800s sparked a revolution in devices that could take “panoramic” photos. Before long, it seemed, just about everyone—and every kind of group—was hiring a photographer with one of the newfangled cameras, some of which could take a single image encompassing a full 360 degrees. These delightful reproductions from the collection of Sapan (the CEO of the company that operates the American Movie Channel, the Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel)—of circus performers, rodeo cowboys and Indians, football and baseball teams, church groups, Ku Klux Klan members, college students, beachgoers, firemen and policeman, tradesmen, bathing beauties, soldiers and more—offer a wildly diverse cross-section of early 20th century America, in all its wonderful, wide-angle splendor.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 07 2013
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Books, DVDs, History

Up, Up & Away

1983 tale of America’s first space cowboys shines on Blu-ray

TheRightStuff

The Right Stuff: 30th Anniversary Edition

Blu-ray $27.98 (Warner Home Video)

Director Philip Kaufman’s acclaimed 1983 drama about America’s space race and the original seven astronauts of Project Mercury—adapted from writer Tom Wolfe’s equally acclaimed 1979 bestseller—came to the screen in an era before computerized razzle-dazzle and the wizardry of digital special effects. But no matter: It remains a rocket ride of high-spirited, spunky adventure that perfectly captures the space-cowboy tone of the times, spurred along by a dream cast of Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Sam Shepard, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey and Levon Helm. The commemorative Blu-ray comes with a generous load of bonus features, including several documentaries, a profile of real-life astronaut John Glenn, and commentary by the director, cast and crew.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 07 2013
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Books, Pop Culture

Loved to Pieces

Heartwarming portraits of childhood holdovers hugged to tatters

MuchLoved_Jacket_Mech_r3.indd

Much Loved

Photographs by Mark Nixon

Hardcover, 124 pages ($17.95, Abrams Image)

Inspired by the unconditional, unbounded attachment of his young son to his stuffed Peter Rabbit, photographer Mark Nixon began seeking out other people’s snuggly childhood holdovers, eventually amassing these 65 quirky, charming and heartwarming portraits of teddy bears, bunnies and other furry friends, all of them hugged, squeezed, kissed and carted around to tatters. Each one is accompanied by a brief bio (like “Edward,” the stately 104-year-old Steiff teddy bear rescued from a cruel fate by Dublin’s Dolls Hospital, or “Flopsie,” a 6-year-old bunny whose owner’s aunt, a nurse, put a bandage on his leg to keep its stuffing from falling out), and the back page includes a blank spot for the reader to include a photo of his or her own favorite childhood stuffed companion, and record its history.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 05 2013
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Books, Pop Culture

One Thing Leads To Another

Stripping away the fluff of life’s most significant milestones

Life in Five Seconds

Life in Five Seconds

By Matteo Civaschi & Gianmarco Milesi

Softcover, 256 pages ($14.95, Quercus Books)

 

Life is short—there’s no time to waste bogged down in boring details. This whimsical breakdown takes some 200 events, cultural milestones, inventions, iconic places, and significant men and women throughout history…and pares away all the fluff, reducing them all to often-hilarious minimalist “pictographs” in which one thing leads naturally to another. The best way to use the book, suggests the authors, is as a quirky brain teaser: Look at the illustrations, then try to guess: Is it Frankenstein, Joan of Arc, the Great Wall of China, or sushi? Have fun…and maybe learn something, too!

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Nov 05 2013
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Books, Music, Pop Culture

Gallery of Greatness

Robbie Robertson salutes musical movers & shakers

Legends Icons & Rebels

Legends, Icons & Rebels

By Robbie Robertson, Jim Guerinot, Jared Levine & Sebastian Robertson

Hardcover, 128 pages ($35, Tundra Books)

Robertson, one of the founders of the seminal music group The Band, collaborated with his adult son, Sebastian, and fellow music-biz veterans (and fathers) Guerinot and Levine, on this collection of tributes honoring 27 singers, songwriters and other performers across the spectrum of popular music “who changed with world” with their talent—and their tenacity. Featuring designs from numerous illustrators and including a CD with handpicked songs from each of the artists (including Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley and Carole King), it’s clearly geared for younger readers. But it’s a true multimedia treat for eyes and ears of any age.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 28 2013
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Books

Getting to Know Hue

How color pervades our lives and shapes the way we react with the world

TheSecretLanguageOfColor_1The Secret Language of Color

By Joann Eckstut & Arielle Eckstut

Hardcover, 240 pages ($29.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)

Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? Why could wearing purple once get you killed? What artificial coloring scheme got Starbucks in hot water? These and hundreds of other questions are answered in this deeply entertaining, engrossing and educational dive into the physics, chemistry, astronomy, neuroscience, geology, botany, zoology, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, history, art, biology and sociology that create the spectrum of ways color pervades our lives—and shapes our view of reality. To quote (as the authors do) the 19th century French painter John Cézanne: “Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet.”

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 28 2013
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Books, Television

Remembering JFK

First-person reflections on the day a hopeful nation was ripped apart in grief

WhereWereYou-JFK-1Where Were You?

By Gus Russo & Harry Moses

Hardcover, 408 pages ($29.95, Lyons Press/Globe Pequot)

A companion book to the NBC special airing Nov. 22 on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, this handsome compilation of first-person stories features contributions from Jimmy Carter, Robert De Niro, John Glenn, Tom Hanks, Jay Leno, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Judy Collins and more than 30 other heads of state, journalists, public figures, performers and ordinary citizens swept up in the extraordinary circumstances of that fateful day. Through reflections on the many ways Kennedy’s death represented a hopeful nation suddenly ripped apart in grief and loss, it’s a portrait of a people forever changed, as remembered by a diverse group united by the experience of having lived through it.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 17 2013
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Books, Pop Culture, Television

An ‘Abbey’ Companion

What makes the popular PBS British period drama tick

Behind The Scenes At Downton AbbeyBehind the Scenes at Downton Abbey

By Emma Rowley

Hardcover, 280 pages ($29.99, St. Martins Press)

Fans of the popular PBS TV series will delight to the hundreds of color photos and the inside info in this dandy, richly detailed companion book, which goes behind the scenes of the scripts, music, sets, props, costumes and other gears that have to turn to bring the award-winning British period drama to life. The author, a journalist for Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper, includes interviews with numerous members of the cast and crew, and a foreword by the show’s executive producer, Gareth Neame, notes how the successful show, popular on both sides of the Atlantic, reminds “us there is still an appetite for a drama that the whole family can sit down to [watch] together.”

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 17 2013
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Books, Misc, Pop Culture

Art All Around

Tour a great, sprawling gallery spread across time and space

ArtAndPlaceArt & Place

By the Editors of Phaidon

Hardcover, 368 pages ($79.95, Phaidon Press)

All the world, as Shakespeare famously wrote, is a stage. Well, it’s also an art gallery, a point driven home by this handsome guided tour of indoor and outdoor artwork spread across North, Central and South America, an amazing, unprecedented overview encompassing cave etchings, carvings, paintings, sculptures, mosaics, altars, tapestries, stained glass, “land art,” and the work of ancient civilizations, Colonial settlers, 19th century muralists and modern urban artists. With more than 800 large color photos and accompanying text, it’s an exhilarating affirmation of the many ways the creative spirit can blossom and spread over space and time.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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