About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
RuPaul
Rave Library Journal A probing, emotionally raw memoir that’s an introspective examination of RuPaul’s family and the issues he confronted before embracing self-love.
William J. Mann
Rave Library Journal Revelatory ... Definitive ... This magnificent biography is splendidly written, reads fast, and is impossible to put down.
Tom Hanks
Positive Library Journal Sprawling and engaging ... Hanks’s attention to detail and quirky, full-blooded characters make this novel an ideal choice for fans of both James A. Michener and John Irving. It’s an old-fashioned \'big\' novel that book clubs will love getting lost inside.
Paul Newman
Rave Shelf Awareness This unforgettable and extraordinary memoir, one of the best and most compelling books of 2022, is a breathtakingly honest mea culpa from a complicated man striving to excavate his demons; according to Newman\'s daughter Clea, who writes the memoir\'s afterword, he succeeded in his final decades.
Jann S. Wenner
Rave Shelf Awareness Few people have interacted with more celebrities, rock stars and politicians than Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone. Even fewer possess Wenner\'s prodigious wordsmanship; in his soaring memoir, Like a Rolling Stone (clocking in at nearly 600 pages), he captures these encounters, fights and friendships with much verve and economy ... Wenner\'s enormously influential life is masterfully told and should be a treat for pop culture fans and historians alike.
Jennette McCurdy
Positive Shelf Awareness This is a brutally frank, no-holds-barred memoir that answers a lot of questions about why so many child stars end up miserable, broke or dead. McCurdy\'s hard-won victory over her demons will leave many readers exhausted, but her excellent writing will compel them to stay with her on her torturous journey.
James Gavin
Positive Shelf Awareness Definitive, epic-sized ... Emotionally satisfying and meticulously researched ... Although he writes with compassion, Gavin doesn\'t let Michael off the hook for his self-destructive tendencies.
Kristin Chenoweth, Kathy Najimy, Linda Perry, Chely Wright, Lauren Blitzer
Positive Shelf Awareness The remarkable My Moment--moving, empowering and impossible to put down--collects those inspiring responses. Each of the more than 100 entries from a diverse group of women is paired with a striking black-and-white photograph of its author ... This stirring tribute to strength and perseverance will resonate with everyone, regardless of gender.
Gary Janetti
Rave Shelf Awareness Gary Janetti\'s second collection of autobiographical essays...is as funny as the first...but what is unexpected from the writer and producer of Will & Grace and Family Guy is the tender poignancy that laces this one ... An abundantly funny and nostalgic collection of memories of growing up gay that leaves a sweet aftertaste.
Nyle DiMarco with Robert Siebert
Rave Shelf Awareness Inspiring ... The innovative way in which DiMarco and coauthor Robert Siebert tell these stories is by interspersing American Sign Language (ASL) into the English text ... Mixed in with his empowering autobiographical tales are fascinating historical facts and stories from Deaf history and culture ... Deaf Utopia is an empowering, eye-opening and beautifully expressed memoir.
Delia Ephron
Rave Shelf Awareness ... beautifully measured, eloquent and moving ... Ephron\'s reluctance to portray herself as an ideal patient taps into readers\' empathy and adds tremendous power to her brutally candid and moving memoir of her long battle with a very aggressive cancer.
Harvey Fierstein
Rave Shelf Awareness Four-time Tony Award-winning playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein knows how to tell captivating stories that are hilarious and heartbreaking. I Was Better Last Night is filled with the same energy, quick wit, wise observations and big heart that are hallmarks of his plays and musicals. This is a theater memoir for the ages ... This is a joyous, life-affirming memoir written with charisma and a generous spirit.
James Curtis
Rave Shelf Awareness ... Curtis doesn\'t write inconsequential profiles, he writes definitive biographies ... This hefty, swift-moving book is both a superbly researched and fascinating account of the star\'s life and an astute, articulate and informed look at the many classic films and shorts he wrote, directed and starred in ... Film buffs will cherish this monumental biography of a phenomenally talented but troubled comic filmmaker.
Shirley Jackson, Ed. by Laurence Jackson Hyman
Rave Shelf Awareness While Jackson labored over her published prose, her massive missives seem to flow effortlessly. Yet, her letters captivate with the same sly, caustic humor, clever attention to detail and inventive phrasing that mark her best writing. At nearly 700 pages, readers are unlikely to find a book that moves with more assured swiftness than The Letters of Shirley Jackson. This is a bountiful offering fans will treasure ... Shirley Jackson\'s letters are just as compelling and beautifully written as her best novels.
Michael Koresky
Rave Shelf Awareness ... [a] charming and moving mix of memoir and movie appreciation ... an empowering, surprising and unforgettable tribute to strong women in films—and in the audience ... [an] unforgettable and moving tale of a mother and son reliving their past by rewatching favorite films from the 1980s.
Craig Brown
Rave Shelf Awareness ... wildly imaginative and tremendously entertaining ... With nearly 200 books previously published on the Beatles and its four members, Brown delights in sorting through conflicting versions of band folklore ... Even fans who have read numerous books on the Beatles will enjoy Brown\'s sharp eye for fresh details and sharp tongue in his retelling ... compulsively readable, and Brown\'s love and admiration of the band shines on every page. His perceptive take on a treasure trove of stories creates an indelible, full-bodied biography of one of the most important bands in music history.
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Rave Shelf Awareness ... heartbreaking and scorchingly frank ... a loving but clear-eyed biography ... Wagner\'s compelling memoir rejects the tragic and doomed legend surrounding her mother and recasts her as a vibrant woman who was devoted to her profession, friends and family. Wagner also speaks out against the decades of tabloid fabrications of cover-ups and foul play conspiracy theories, often fanned by her aunt Lana Wood for attention and profit. This beautifully written memoir will appeal to movie fans, but Wagner\'s long search for emotional stability also makes it a compelling tool for those crippled by grief.
Jerome Robbins, Ed. by Amanda Vaill
Rave Shelf Awareness With access to the letters, journals, essays and unfinished memoir of Jerome Robbins (1918-98), biographer Amanda Vaill creates a compelling autobiography of the director and choreographer. Vaill...is skilled and savvy about arranging eight decades of Robbins\'s archival writings into a coherent and compelling chronology. She also offers succinct overviews at the beginning of each chapter, and her annotations at the bottom of each page clarify and enrich ... This superbly assembled Jerome Robbins autobiography is nirvana for Broadway fans.
Lou Sullivan, Ed. by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma
Rave Shelf Awareness Sullivan\'s diaries are fascinating and eye-opening as well as educational, informative and refreshingly raunchy as he tries to find his place on the sexual landscape ... Sullivan\'s heartbreaking, self-effacing and inspiring diaries are a roadmap and history for trans people.
Benjamin Stevenson
Rave Shelf Awareness ...a tightly written nail biter with so many twists and turns that it successfully keeps readers riveted, yet slightly off-balance, until its genuinely surprising conclusion ... This clever thriller complements its intricate plot by filling it with a number of fascinating, damaged characters who are keeping secrets ... Stevenson\'s engaging and sure-footed whodunit...is a twisty delight.
Michael Carroll
Positive Shelf Awareness Many of the same characters appear in several of Stella Maris\'s eight stories, creating a strong tapestry and community ... Carroll\'s spare but evocative prose cast a haunting spell. Although death and dying is the uniting factor in all of these tales, there\'s still humor, passion and desire simmering below
Peter Biskind
Positive Shelf Awareness Abandoning the oral history format of his previous books, The Sky Is Falling is a dizzying ideological treatise on how extremist politics has changed films and TV shows ... The Sky Is Falling eloquently chronicles pop culture\'s pervasive role in mainstreaming extremism ... a fast-paced and eloquent ideological treatise on how radical politics has normalized extreme behaviors in films and TV shows.
Matthew Polly
Rave Shelf Awareness Matthew Polly\'s Bruce Lee: A Life is the definitive and authoritative biography fans of the Little Dragon have been waiting to read. This mammoth, 650-page book about the martial arts film superstar who died at age 32 is packed with new information and, like its subject, moves with lightning speed and grace ... Polly\'s meticulously researched and superbly written biography is a delight. (Even his 100 pages of footnotes are pithy and revelatory.) Bruce Lee: A Life is a spectacularly entertaining and candid biography that separates the myth and the man.
J.E. Smyth
Rave Shelf Awareness Film buffs will delight in discovering the lives and careers of Oscar-winning film editors Anne Bauchens (who edited every Cecil B. DeMille film from 1918 to 1956) and Barbara McLean (All About Eve), producer/writer Virginia Van Upp (Gilda) and many others. Smyth\'s appreciation of producer/screenwriter Joan Harrison (Rebecca) removes her from the shadow of her mentor, Alfred Hitchcock. Nobody\'s Girl Friday is an energetic, surprising and vital book that uncovers and celebrates the accomplishments of women who created film history from the 1920s to the 1960s
Thomas Doherty
Positive Shelf Awareness Doherty smoothly marshals his material and sets the stage well with colorful and knowledgeable backgrounds on all those involved ... Doherty\'s concise background and the actual testimonies of the witnesses freshen the book. Show Trial is an important and valuable study that illuminates a dark period of American history.