Other books that might interest you

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  As the Stage Turned - A Front...

  Jeannie Emser Schultz

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  Sammy Davis, Jr. opened it. Luther Vandross closed it. During the 19 years in between, a who’s who of the world’s top entertainers and speakers performed on the novel revolving stage of the Front Row Theatre, from Liberace to Alice Cooper, Jay Leno to Jerry Seinfeld, Marlene Dietrich to Dolly Parton, Presidents Ford and Carter and culinary grand dame Julia Child. Many were unknown opening acts, like Whitney Houston. Another, the legendary Roy Orbison, would unknowingly perform the final concert of his life there. 
  Cleveland Landmarks Press’ newest release, As the Stage Turned: A Front Row Theatre Memoir, captures the dynamic energy that sprung from one of the most unique entertainment venues in the country – a theater-in-the-round located in the sleepy suburb of Highland Heights, just outside of Cleveland. 
  Jeannie Emser Schultz, the venue’s longtime former director of marketing and publicity, has written a memoir capturing the star power and draw of the Front Row. It’s an homage to seemingly everything related to show business and the cultural significance of that famed theater that drew the biggest and brightest stars of its day. 
  For instance, where else would you learn that several days into Sammy Davis’s opening run at the Front Row in 1974, he received a phone call threatening his life? Or that the only way Frank Sinatra would agree to perform there was if he and his entire entourage could rent out the Shaker Heights home of Larry Dolin, the founder and president of the Front Row? Or that comedian Bob Newhart always kept a nude picture on his dressing room table of Anthony Newley looking backwards through his legs (Newhart told Emser Schultz it was one of the funniest pictures he ever saw)? 
  Emser Schultz’s narrative takes readers on a detailed and behind-the-scenes firsthand journey of the almost 20-year history of what was considered one of America’s most significant entertainment venues. Revisit your own fond memories of a lost Cleveland classic.

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  Unsuccessful Thug - One...

  Anonymous

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  From Naptown to Tinseltown—legendary stand-up comedian and actor Mike Epps finally tells all in this outrageous, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir. 
  Before starring in Def Comedy Jam and Showtime at the Apollo—before the sold-out comedy shows, Uncle Buck, and becoming his hero Richard Pryor in a biopic—there was Indianapolis. And not the good part. Mike Epps is one of America’s favorite and funniest people, but the path to fame was paved with opportunities to mess it up. And mess it up he did. 
  Growing up in “Naptown”—what people who live there really call rough-around-the-edges Indianapolis—Epps found himself forced to hustle from an early age. Despite his mother’s best efforts, and the love of his well-behaved brother, “Chaney,” and his beloved sister, Julie, Epps was drawn to a life of crime, but as he quickly discovered, stealing and dealing didn’t really fit his sweet sensibilities. Not to mention he wasn’t very good at it—take, for example, the day he had to call the cops on himself when a dog wouldn’t let him leave a house he was burgling. After several arrests and more than a few months in jail, Epps finally realized that he was an unsuccessful thug, and instead turned to the next most obvious career path: stand-up comedy. 
  Heading first to New York, then all over the country, and finally to Hollywood, Mike Epps carved out a unique place in American comedy, combining hysterical tales of his family and friends with a mordant take on life in the Naptowns of America. Comedy saved Mike Epps, and here he reveals exactly how he finally grew up and got out, barely. And when describing how he survived when so many of his friends didn’t, Epps makes clear what he’s thankful for and sorry about. Unsuccessful Thug is about growing up black in America, facing down racism in Hollywood, and ultimately how it feels to fail at thugdom, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and end up selling out arenas and starring in movies across the country.

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  Leonardo da Vinci – The...

  Théophile Martin

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  Leonardo da Vinci was not just a painter—he was an architect, scientist, engineer, and inventor. A man centuries ahead of his time, he explored the mysteries of human anatomy, sketched flying machines long before airplanes existed, and painted some of history’s most iconic masterpieces, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. 
  This immersive audiobook delves into Leonardo’s relentless curiosity, his secret notebooks filled with futuristic ideas, and his impact on both the Renaissance and modern science. Discover the man behind the genius—his struggles, his triumphs, and the mind that changed the world forever. 
  Leonardo da Vinci – The Renaissance Genius and Visionary is a must-listen for history lovers, art enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the power of human imagination.

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  Johnny Cash's American Recordings

  Tony Tost

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  This title offers a superb investigation of what is arguably Johnny Cash's greatest album, focusing on his enduring mythology. When Johnny Cash signed to Rick Rubin's record label in 1993, he was a country music legend who, like his fellow Highwaymen Willie, Waylon and Kris, remained a fondly regarded yet completely marginalized Nashville figure, unheard on the radio and unseen on the charts. Cash's odyssey from oldies act to folk hero pivots on his first American Recordings album, a document of almost unbearable solitude and directness. It is a singular record, an instance in which a musical giant has been granted a kind of midnight reprieve, a chance to regain and renew his legend. Tony Tost illuminates the ways in which American Recordings is the crossroads where cultural, spiritual and mythic archetypes come together in the figure of The Man in Black. Ultimately, this is a guidebook to myth and mystery, a means of apprehending the stark beauty of Cash's greatest record, the sound of a man alone and fighting for his soul, one song at a time.

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  Camille Pissarro - The Audacity...

  Anka Muhlstein

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  From the acclaimed biographer and author of Balzac's Omelette, an engaging new work on the life of "the father of Impressionism" and the role his Jewish background played in his artistic creativity. 
   
   
   
  The celebrated painter Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) occupied a central place in the artistic scene of his time: a founding member of the new school of French painting, he was a close friend of Monet, a longtime associate in Degas's and Mary Cassatt's experimental work, a support to Cézanne and Gauguin, and a comfort to Van Gogh, and was backed by the great Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel throughout his career. Nevertheless, he felt a persistent sense of being set apart, different, and hard to classify. Settled in France from the age of twenty-five but born in the Caribbean, he was not French and what is more he was Jewish. Although a resolute atheist who never interjected political or religious messages in his art, he was fully aware of the consequences of his lineage. 
   
   
   
  Drawing on Pissarro's considerable body of work and a vast collection of letters that show his unrestrained thoughts, Anka Muhlstein offers a nuanced, intimate portrait of the artist whose independent spirit fostered an environment of freedom and autonomy.

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  Raiders Of The Lost Ark - The...

  Film Trivia Metaverse

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  RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 
  THE ULTIMATE TRIVIA COLLECTION 
    
  FROM THE MOVIE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG 
    
  CREATED BY FILM TRIVIA METAVERSE 
    
  ABOUT THE FILM 
  Raiders of the Lost Ark is an action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by George Lucas. Set in 1936, it follows Indiana Jones, a daring archaeologist, as he races against Nazi forces to find the Ark of the Covenant, a biblical relic believed to possess immense power. Along the way, Jones faces treacherous enemies, dangerous traps, and a complicated relationship with his former lover, Marion Ravenwood. The film blends thrilling action, suspense, and historical mythology, paying homage to classic adventure serials while exploring themes of courage, greed, and the quest for power. 
    
  TRIVIA SAMPLES: 
    
  “Harrison Ford ad-libbed the line "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage" to Marion on the ship.” 
    
  “The "body blow" sounds were made by striking a pile of leather jackets with a baseball bat.” 
    
  “Alfred Molina had his first credited role in this film, where he had to endure being covered in tarantulas.” 
    
  “During filming in Tunisia, almost everyone on set fell ill, except for Steven Spielberg. He avoided sickness by only eating cans of Spaghetti-O's that he brought himself.” 
    
  “A python bit first assistant director David Tomblin during the "Well of Souls" scene, and it wouldn’t let go until someone grabbed its tail and snapped it, making the snake release its bite.”

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