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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Patrick Lonergan has commented on (12) products
Fifth Avenue 5 AM
by
Sam Wasson
Patrick Lonergan
, June 22, 2011
What an insightful read! Wasson's book is more than a simple collection of anecdotes from Hollywood personnel on the making on this iconic film; it also examines the life of Truman Capote and his numerous inspirations for both his timeless novella and its main character, Holly Golightly. The book also effectively displays the personal turmoil surround actress Audrey Hepburn as she tackled this character, a far cry from her usual on-screen persona, but the one which she is most famous for because it set a new tone for women in film at the dawn of the 1960's. Highly recommended for all fellow film buffs.
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Moment Of Psycho
by
David Thomson
Patrick Lonergan
, June 16, 2011
David Thomson offers a comprehensive study of the cinematic themes found within the 1960 horror film, "Psycho", as well as biographical anecdotes about director Alfred Hitchock and the changing mood of filmgoers by the late 1950's which allowed for a movie with such altered expectations to be made at that time. Thomson uses the first half of his book to probe every intimate detail of the film with rich points-of-interest, before moving on to discussing other relevant films that followed in "Psycho"'s wake and analyzing characters and themes of Hitchcock films prior.
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From Russia With Love James Bond
by
Ian Fleming
Patrick Lonergan
, February 25, 2011
Classic cloak-and-dagger spy adventure, all the more thrilling for the fact that James Bond doesn't appear until late in the story to propel the espionage forward. Fleming focuses much of the novel on descriptive locales and colorful backstories involving a secret Russian spy organization and its top agents. The cat-and-mouse double-crosses don't even let up at story's end, where Bond's fate is left uncertain in a cliffhanger that defies the serie's many cinematic adaptations.
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Gasping for Airtime Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live
by
Jay Mohr
Patrick Lonergan
, November 16, 2010
Jay Mohr's name will never be synonymous with "Saturday Night Live", but the comedian did spend two years in the mid-nineties struggling as a featured player on the late-night sketch comedy institution, and he has plenty of interesting and amusing backstage anecdotes to satisfy even the show's casual viewers. Topics he dishes about include Shannen Doherty's refusal to perform a sketch she found funny because it would mean sharing screentime with an unknown newcomer, Norm MacDonald's insistence at cracking up Bob Newhart with a fake sketch pitch he had no intention of actually writing, and the extreme level of horseplay and pranks Chris Farley would pull on his fellow cast members. On a more serious note, Mohr discusses his personal anxieties which were heightened by the time he spent on "SNL", as well as his regrets over plagiarizing another comic's sketch in a desperate attempt to get a piece on the air.
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American Born Chinese
by
Gene Luen Yang
Patrick Lonergan
, July 11, 2010
Yang's amusing and sometimes intentionally politically-incorrect graphic novel tells three unique stories, all focused on being true to one's identity, that unexpectedly come to one conclusion. The first story is about Jin Wang, an American-born Chinese boy who struggles to fit in at his school; he is the only student of his origin until Wei Chen Sun transfers to his school from Taiwan. The second story relates an ancient Chinese tale about the Monkey King, a mighty ruler who wants to be a god among his people. The third story focuses on Danny, a popular student who suffers from great embarrassment at the hands of his cousin Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. The culmination of these three stories is interesting to watch unfold, as the characters' eye are finally opened to the potential their lives have to offer.
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Flotsam
by
David Wiesner
Patrick Lonergan
, July 04, 2010
The pictures in Wiesner's story are worth well more than a thousand words apiece, as the story of an antique camera's journey through time is told. The book is very suspenseful, and I could not wait to see where Wiesner was going with a story that I found reminiscent of the childhood thrill of tying a note to a helium balloon and waiting to discover where it landed. The vivid illustrations nearly jump off the page, especially the odd underwater photos and the action shot toward the end when the boy takes his own picture to add to the collection of photos that have filtered through time. The book will delight young children as they use their own imaginations to tell the story based on the illustrations within.
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Schlock Value Hollywood At Its Worst
by
Richard Roeper
Patrick Lonergan
, March 08, 2010
Film critic Richard Roeper loves to discuss the merits of a good movie, but uses this platform to discuss his equal enjoyment of really bad movies (just try not to laugh at his wicked summary of the deliciously terrible ending to “Basic Instinct” in his epilogue, for instance!) Among the insightful points made by Roeper are the career batting averages of less successful big-name film stars, an itemized account of the time and expense you can expect to spend on a night at the movies, and an amusing anecdote about how, despite a double Thumbs-Up review from Ebert & Roeper, the film “Kate & Leopold” was re-edited to remove a plot point that troubled them only slightly. The sarcasm and distaste of Roeper's writing voice makes this one deviously fun in its accuracy.
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Lions Of Lucerne
by
Brad Thor
Patrick Lonergan
, February 21, 2010
Brad Thor’s debut novel introduces readers to Scot Harvath, an ex-Navy SEAL turned Secret Service agent who, in his own words, is “bulletproof”. That aspect, typical of the genre, may not seem realistic to cynical readers, but Thor, a former member of the Department of Homeland Security, crafts his storyline and location scenery with such vivid details and circumstances that it’s easy to disappear into Harvath’s adventures without need of questioning issues of plausibility. After all, Harvath is the post-9/11 equivalent of Ian Fleming’s James Bond – with enough narrow escapes, twists, and rapid-fire one-liners to match. I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of the novels in this series.
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Fletch
by
Gregory McDonald
Patrick Lonergan
, February 18, 2010
Although the theatrical adaptation is very funny and was my first introduction to the character of investigative reporter I. M. Fletcher, Gregory McDonald’s source novel is a far superior work of art. Of course, the majority of the novel is dialogue-heavy to the point where casual conversation often seems a little too casual for the sake of laying out clues, but McDonald infuses so much humor in each of his character’s quips, stories and speeches, that the dialogue ultimately reads more natural than it would in real-life. Another great trademark of this series is McDonald’s deft ability to balance multiple subplots that will eventually come to a crashing halt in the course of Fletch’s current investigation. In this case, we have Fletch simultaneously working to uncover the source of drugs on the beach and finding out why the well-to-do millionaire Alan Stanwyk has hired him to act as a mercy killer, all while skillfully and playfully trying to avoid the matter of paying back alimony to each of his ex-wives or collecting his long-ignored Bronze Star. Fletch has a week to tie all these loose ends together, and it’s oftentimes very amusing to watch him feign distress as his deadline ticks closer. It’s interesting to note that, even in book form, these actions and rapid-fire one-liners make it very easy to picture Chevy Chase in this role, rightly regarded as one of his best -- although the accolades belong to McDonald for having crafted such a sharp comic-mystery novel in the first place.
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Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival
by
Larson, Kirby and Nethery, Mary and Cassels, Jean
Patrick Lonergan
, September 21, 2009
Although set during the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, the true nature of the story is the intense friendship between a cat and a dog who were presumed to have been abandoned in the wake of the storm. The two rely on each other for survival in the barren streets, are displaced to a makeshift animal shelter, and ultimately find a new home halfway across the country when their plight is told on cable news. There's even a surprise twist that makes their story all the more touching and heartwarming.
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Live From New York An Oral History of Saturday Night Live
by
Tom Shales
Patrick Lonergan
, June 15, 2009
The first 27 seasons of "Saturday Night Live" are detailed in the recollections of the late night show's casts, writers, producers, and guests. Stories include the genesis of the show, Eddie Murphy's quick rise during one of the show's most troubled seasons, the abrupt firing of Norm MacDonald, and how the show was affected by the 9/11 tragedy. It's an interesting and entertaining read for long-time fans, but still an eye-opener for the casual viewer who's curious about the behind-the-scenes operations that brings the show to air each week.
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Confess Fletch
by
Gregory McDonald
Patrick Lonergan
, June 12, 2009
Investigative reporter I.M. Fletcher returns in this hilarious sequel which finds him the prime suspect in the murder of a young naked woman in the apartment he's borrowing while in Boston to ostensibly research an autobiography of artist Edgar Arthur Tharp, Jr. In reality, he is in town to use his investigative skills to track down some stolen paintings. Fletch enjoys a playful antagonism with his accused, Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn (whom author Gregory McDonald would later cast in his own series of mystery novels). Complicating matters for Fletch is the sudden arrival of his Italian fiancee and her snooty stepmother, the Countess de Grassi, who suspect Fletch is attempting to double-cross them in his search for the paintings. McDonald does an excellent job of setting up the novel so that Fletch can be the only possible murder suspect, but once again surprises the reader when the mystery is solved. Read it twice and you still won't see the answer coming.
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