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James Dean: An American Icon
When I picked up James Dean: An American Icon, I expected another glossy tribute to the Hollywood rebel who burned bright and left too soon. What I got was a detailed and surprisingly intimate look at Dean’s rise, struggles, and enduring legacy. The book walks through his early years in Indiana, his faltering start in California, his transformative move to New York, and, of course, his brief but legendary Hollywood career with East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant. Brennan doesn’t shy away from Dean’s flaws, his mood swings, his stubbornness, his combative nature, but he also makes clear why Dean’s presence electrified audiences in a way that hasn’t quite been matched since.
Reading about James Dean’s close relationship with his mother, followed by the devastating impact of her death from cancer when he was only nine years old, carried a profound emotional weight. Brennan convincingly links this formative loss to Dean’s later restlessness and at times reckless ambition, and that connection resonated with me strongly. The scene in which Dean reads the 23rd Psalm to his dying mother was particularly affecting, leaving me in thoughtful silence. It served as a poignant reminder that behind the iconic figure of Hollywood’s brooding rebel was a young man who continued to long for stability throughout his life.
I also loved the sections about Dean’s relentless push to carve out an acting career in New York. Brennan captures his raw hunger in those years, washing dishes, living at the YMCA, and taking tiny roles just to keep himself afloat. The anecdote about Dean working as a stunt tester on Beat the Clock, practicing silly tasks until he mastered them, made me smile. It showed his obsessive streak but also his refusal to quit. And when Brennan describes Dean writing to his young cousin Marcus Jr., warning him not to draw prisons and weapons but to draw trees and animals instead, I saw a softer, gentler James that doesn’t usually make it into the legend.
Of course, the Hollywood chapters are the most exciting, and Brennan delivers them with energy. I especially enjoyed the behind-the-scenes glimpses of Rebel Without a Cause. The way Dean pushed against Nicholas Ray’s direction, the way he made a scene electric even when he ignored the script, it made me feel like I was there on set, watching history being made. Brennan also notes how critics dismissed him at first as a Marlon Brando knockoff, only to eat their words after Rebel and Giant. I found myself almost cheering for Dean while reading these pages. It’s hard not to admire someone who stayed true to his craft, even if it made him “difficult.”
By the end, I felt both inspired and a little hollow. Inspired because Dean really did change cinema, Brennan shows how he gave voice to young people’s discontent long before it was fashionable. Hollow because I couldn’t shake the thought of what roles he might have taken on had he lived past twenty-four. The chapter on his death is sobering, but the final chapter on his lasting impact balances it with hope, showing how his spirit still touches new generations.
I’d recommend James Dean: An American Icon to anyone who loves film history, but also to anyone curious about the messy, human side of stardom. It’s not just about the myth of James Dean, it’s about the boy, the actor, the rebel, and the artist. For me, it was both a celebration and a reminder that brilliance often comes with shadows.
Pages: 318 | ISBN : 1587906880
ACTing Now: A New Approach to the Old Techniques of Acting
ACTing Now by Norman B. Schwartz is an enlightening book that provides guidance that will help actors prepare for the demands of the contemporary acting world. The content of this book provides advice on topics beyond acting and includes areas such as commercials, film, and even television. The techniques highlighted in this book are not mere postulations and conjectures as Norman Schwartz has experience as an actor, director, film editor, and teacher of creative writing and he brings that experience to bear in this informative book and shares key principles that will help budding actors get and keep an acting job.
The chapters of this book are grouped into three parts – Acting Then, Acting Now, and Acting Next. This organization is essential as it helps guide the reader, and future actor, on what acting used to be, what it is today, and what it will be in the future. Beyond the keen insights, I enjoyed the historical evolution shared here.
In Acting Then, Schwartz covers some of the techniques that theater actors used as far back as the 1920s such as the Strasberg method which leaned on some of Stanislavski’s writings. Stanislavski is one of the first to offer formal training in theater acting. When the first generation who studied at the American Laboratory Theatre began their study of acting, they also based their variations on the Stanislavski system.
Thus, the system evolved to the present form where there is little accommodation for improvisation to performing monologue exercises, being mindful of camera angles and self-taping. Schwartz covers all these old techniques and suggests new ones that embrace the old ones but also better prepares the actor for the new reality of modern acting with lots of multimedia coverage.
One of the outstanding qualities of this book is that it is as expository as it is suggestive. It focuses on the history that has driven acting to where it is today. For instance, Stella Adler’s disagreement with Strasberg’s methods and teaching of tapping into emotions from one’s personal life as opposed to one’s imagination helps one glean some lessons on how best to trigger an emotional response while on stage.
ACTing Now is a must read book for any aspiring actor as it contains actionable advice that can help their career. This is an illuminating book that will also appeal to performing art students who are interested in the evolution of acting and the industry.
Pages: 163 | ASIN: B0BFPP1N2S
Beguiled
Beguiled by Karma Kitaj is definitely a MUST read. One of the greatest things about Beguiled is it hooks you right from the start. Within reading the first two paragraphs I was hooked, I knew right away that this was going to be a book that I couldn’t put down until I had finished it.
The story of Beguiled starts out with a young woman leaving her husband. Upon leaving her husband with her young son this woman finds herself on her parent’s doorstep as she really has no other place to go. As the first chapter closes the reader is taken back in time to this young woman’s childhood. Beguiled isn’t just a romance story, it is a story about growing up and finding your own way in the world.
Beguiled follows the life and adventures of a young girl named Miriam and follows her story as she grows into a young lady. Miriam is a young Jewish girl with Russian immigrant parents who grew up during the 1920’s. The story goes into the hard childhood of Miriam and how no matter what she did she could never please her mother. Miriam’s father loved the theater and took Miriam to as many shows as he possibly could. The love of theater instilled a strong desire in young Miriam to become an actress, despite what her mother thought.
The story takes place during the 1920’s where women were not seen as equals to men. Beguiled does touch upon some political aspects, but the story is not overly political. Beguiled is filled with historical events and is written in a way that allows you to really connect with the characters. Women’s suffrage is touched upon in Beguiled and the author also tackles some other social situations.
As you progress deeper and deeper into Beguiled you will find yourself pleasantly surprised at the way the story is told. As you read one page and then another you can’t help but find yourself wanting to know what is going to happen next in Miss Miriam’s life. Beguiled isn’t a typical romance story filled with wanderlust and girls who are seeing stars; there is only the slightest suggestion of romance towards the very end of the book. The main story behind Beguiled is that of a young girl who grows up and finds out just who she really is and how she can actually make a difference in the world.
Although this story does go back in time, it doesn’t jump around from past to present as many other stories do. Something else that I really like about this book was how each chapter identified the year it was taking place in. If you know your history you can easily follow along with the events that were taking place and perhaps anticipate what was about to happen next.
Pages: 349 | ASIN: B079924GDK
Beguiled
Beguiled is about every person who ever had dreams that were interrupted by cultural mores, by discrimination, or by their own shortcomings. Miriam Levine, born in 1900, dreamed of going on stage, until an almost fatal mis-step forced her to postpone her “real life.” A serendipitous offer compelled her to confront her inner demons and society’s expectations. As Glinda, the Good Witch of the South in the Wizard of Oz, she recites at age 16: “You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”
The story is inspirational for young people and their parents who dearly wish to access the American dream. The historical context of the decades before the Great Depression, the role of immigrants and women’s suffrage parallels tough political dilemmas that the US faces today.
Will Miriam have the gumption to follow her dreams? Will those dreams yield her the happiness she seeks? Or will she find that her childhood fantasies “beguile” her to seek ‘fool’s gold?’
The Perfect Research Subject
Dennis William Hauck Author Interview
A Transformed Man details an astonishingly prolific man with unbridled passion as an actor, writer and director with a zeal for mystical life. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I have always been interested in personal transformation and how a person’s beliefs influence their actions. After working with Shatner, I realized what an amazingly energetic and prolific man he was. As his career progress, he was always very open and public with his beliefs and feelings. For me, he was the perfect research subject the perfect example of a transformed man.
This biography is very detailed. What kind of research did you do to ensure accuracy of the subject?
I interviewed people who knew him personally, including the cast and crew of Star Trek, and researched hundreds of public sources and media. Then, I organized everything chronologically, and published a thousand annotated credits of his acting career in a book in the Greenwood Press Performing Arts series called William Shatner: A Bio-Bibliography. That made it much easier to compose an in-depth biography of him that was concise and accurate.
What is one thing that surprises you the most about William Shatner?
His passion for life. He is totally engaged in everything he does. People have no idea how perceptive and sensitive he is. He is also an athletic guy, who stays very active even at the age of 87.
What is the next book that you are writing and when will it be available?
I am working on a biography of the Elizabethan alchemist Dr. John Dee that focuses on his mathematical and scientific contributions.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
![William Shatner: A Transformed Man by [Hauck, Dennis William]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mnUSXvMlL.jpg)
This biography of William Shatner adds some surprises beyond the all the stories of his eccentric behavior. It reveals what really makes the man tick. The author has done his footwork, talking to all the cast and crew and sifting through sixty years of archives, and he has come up with many amazing insights, including the shocking source of the Star Trek franchise. This is a moving portrait of a fascinating man, an in-depth and often unsettling biography of a modern icon. This is a book for people who don’t give a damn about Star Trek.
Off-Off-West End
Sally Roger Author Interview
Stage Door Comedies provides a cheeky glimpse into the quirky characters surrounding theater life. What has been your experience in the theater industry and how did that bring you to writing a collection of stories?
I trained as an actor in 1985 then undertook what would nowadays be called ‘an internship’ as an unpaid stage manager/lighting/sound operator on the London, England Fringe (professional Off-Off-West End). Fast-forward twenty years and I started writing plays. When I had an offer from two London Fringe theaters to premiere my first play Limehouse I knew I had broken into the business as a writer. That was my calling card.
The book is based in England and Paris, with each providing a unique backdrop that flavors the stories with each local’s unique atmosphere. Was there a reason why you chose these locations as the backdrops for your stories?
The story about my casting in Paris is true; I did approach theaters – including American outfits – for an English-speaking cast and did hit a brick wall. London is fortunate to have so many small-scale venues for new play tryouts and so many ‘pop-up’ comedy venues. I put Paris in Stage Door Comedies because my drama school Artistic Director studied there with Louis Jouvet at the Theatre des Champs Elysees. You could say it’s my school.
In this book you show us the underbelly of the theater industry and all the weird happenings and intricacies of the individuals who call the shots. Were there any characters that you especially enjoyed writing for?
Limehouse and A Suitable Lover are play-to-fiction adaptations of my first two plays which received offers of production on the London Fringe: others, I workshopped in rehearsal for conversational ‘say-ability’ (a comedic craft I honed in stand-up comedy). I directed and acted in Limehouse, an autobiographical twosome about quitting the theater, in a short run. It marked a return to a small-scale London venue. Would I direct again? No thank you, very much, at least, not for stage. In America you don’t have the British class system. What is success? Why do we pursue it? I guess as they say there is a bit of all the characters in the author of Stage Door Comedies.
What was it like to be an alternative comedy monologist at Steve Strange’s Cabaret Futura?
The 1980s was the era of the New Romantics and Karma Chameleon figure Boy George in the London clubs. At Cabaret Futura I did a one-person duologue playing both the comedian Jack Benny and his wife using two chairs back-to-back on the stage as props. I was also an MC at a comedy cellar near to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
I understand Stage Door Comedies is your first published book. Are you planning to continue writing? If so, when is the next book due out?
I have some more stories up my sleeve on the theme of the random nature of Fame – many are called but few are chosen. Why is one actor on the West End or Broadway while another is fated to ply their trade in a seedy, backstreet pub theatre? As Oscar winning actor Michael Caine said, it’s the years of rejection and humiliation they pay you for.
Author Links: GoodReads
For the admirers of those entering the stage door, the attraction is in what they represent. In London’s Notting Hill, a BAFTA award winner is sick and tired of people using him as a stepping-stone or step-ladder to the the big time instead of putting in ‘the hard slog’. The hustlers find that talent is not enough – it is a serious game.
LITERARY TITAN 