Bøger udgivet af Rare Bird Books

Wes Anderson is now seen as one of America's greatest and most stylistic filmmakers. With movies like The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson has solidified his place among the best and brightest of contemporary filmmakers.Anderson's early films, the films that rocketed him to stardom, are often written about separately and in contrast to his later films, in Fucking Innocent, John Andrew Frederick, who has taught Anderson's early work at the University of Southern California, examines his three earliest films and discusses each individually and as the burgeoning of the art of one of most talented of American directors. Frederick's criticism looks at Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tennenbaums in this fun and sharp critique.

Dave Naz spent eight years photographing transgender, genderqueer, gender variant, and other people from the queer community. He has been documenting lives, poems, and stories from the community in his zine Identity, now collected in this striking book.

A collection of eleven one-act plays. With hints of Samuel Beckett, Sam Shepard, Neil LaBute, and Tracy Letts, Scott Caan grapples with the emotional interiors of people in a fractured world. Whether writing about actors, lovers, or co-workers, Caan takes on the complicated tension between what we say and what we feel, how we grapple with the world publicly and privately, and what that difference says about us as people.Caan's training as an actor imbues his words with a sense of play and the characters he leaves other actors to create within these plays are deep and open to interpretation. The Performance of Heartbreak and Other Plays is the introduction of an exciting new voice in American theater.

Do Americans live in a land of freedom and equality where people with vision, brains, and a strong work ethic can have rewarding lives? Or is ours a society where well-being, dignity, and independence are reserved for a narrow elite?Bitter Is The Wind is a coming-of-age novel that traces the lives of George Johnson Jr. and his father from the rural blue-collar landscape of upstate New York in the 1970s to the halls of Wharton Business School and the heights of Wall Street. After a family tragedy strengthens their familial bond, the Johnsons contend with assembly line monotony, unfulfilled dreams of baseball stardom, and they learn what it means to be tempted, trapped, jailed, and ignored by a seemingly uncaring God.First time novelist Jim McDermott opens a window on the American working class and its aching desire for financial security, recognition, and respect. His characters confront a modern world with limited possibilities, ambiguous mores, and authorities who seem devoted to keeping the brightest and most talented members of the underclass on the other side of town. Bitter Is The Wind deconstructs the American dream.

Meet Josh, a paragon for the modern postcollegiate. He has a job with no upward path, and a dysfunctional relationship with his ex. Through his work with teenagers, he begins to find definition through the haze, gradually discovering purpose and a measure of self-respect. After two shiftless friends take up residence in his apartment, using his couch as a podium to rail against the world, he takes stock of who he is versus who he wants to be. And when his troubled ex finds herself in real danger, Josh can't resist the allure of playing the savior, but now he may have a little wisdom on his side.

Venice, CaliforniaHome to the broken, the dispossessed, and other scary folk.In our prayers, we mispronounce the words of the paternoster; we curse the womb of the anomalous woman; we deny Christ and the Eucharist, and we praise Pilates decision every Friday. Instead of fasting during Lent, we offer our bodies and souls to our master, Satan.Nineteen-year-old Josie Garca is torn between true love with a down-and-out poet and the monetary stability that only a rich husband can provide. She owes renttwo monthsand while her little landlady is docile enough to pretend that she has forgotten about the money, shes also a self-taught witch, planning to chop Josies head off and use it as the main ingredient in a potion to recover her lost youth and become the beautiful woman she never was.Creepy, campy, and yet incredibly lyrical, Love, or the Witches of Windward Circle is a wildly imaginative tale that spans five decades, connecting the otherworldly occult to the out-of-this-world bohemia of fiftiies Venice Beach.

Home Fires is the powerful saga of the Gordon family-real people, names unchanged. Spanning nearly five decades, from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, their story has the scope, depth, wealth of incident, and emotional intensity of a great novel, and an abundance of humor, scandal, warmth, and trauma. A masterful chronicle of the turbulent postwar era, illuminating the interplay between private life and profound cultural changes.Donald Katz begins his account in 1945, when Sam Gordon comes home from the war to his young wife, and two-year-old daughter, eager to move his family into the growing middle class. After a few years in the Bronx, Sam and Eve move to a new Long Island subdivision and have two more children. As the '50s yield to the '60s, the younger Gordons fly out into the culture like shrapnel from an artillery shell, each tracing a unique trajectory.Katz tells the Gordons' story-the unraveling of Sam's and Eve's American dream, to the slow, hopeful reknitting of the family-marshaling a vivid cast of supporting characters. Deftly juxtaposing day-to-day family life with landmark public events, Katz creates a rich and revealing portrait of the second half of 20th century America.

Brother Stephen dies suddenly. Thats when things get complicated. Is Stephens death his wake-up call? This possibility slowly dawns on him. Soon, though, he is behind the wheel of a Prius, driving through his afterlife, listening to himself being interviewed on NPR. Its just like high school, Terry. You know, maybe it is high school, he tells her, in the interview, as she questions him about lawsuits filed by students who claimed to have been molested by pedophile Brothers.As an administrator of his Roman Catholic religious order, he was caught in the middle of these heartbreaking cases. In fact, the lawsuit he was dealing with the moment he died is one that strikes especially close to his heart. He once knew the plaintiffhe once knew her very wellbut he also knew the Brother who is named in the lawsuit. Now that hes dead, hes more determined than ever to get to the truth. He spends his afterlife unraveling this terrible mystery, learning more about the plight of the survivor and that of the accused, but the biggest mystery he faces is one about himself.

Elevating Overman is a funny and painful story of redemption that explores the complex ramifications of what it means to get a second chance. The novel follows the journey of Ira Overman, veteran of multiple botched careers and a singularly botched marriage, as he makes one last attempt to rise above the guilt, weakness, and self-hatred that have been hard-wired into his soul since birth. Through an unlikely side effect from a seemingly routine surgery, Overman suddenly finds himself trying to reconcile newfound powers with the man he used to be, determined not to repeat the poor choices of his past. Overman succeeds at righting some of his former wrongs, fails miserably at others, but, most importantly, gains a small yet significant window into a life that matters.

In News Junkie, the cutthroat worlds of journalism, politics, and high finance are laid bare by Jason Leopold, whose addictive tendencies led him from a life of drug abuse and petty crime to become an award-winning investigative journalist who exposed some of the biggest corporate and political scandals in recent American history. Leopold broke key stories about the California energy crisis and Enron Corporation's infamous phony trading floor as a reporter for the Dow Jones Newswires. While he exposed high-rolling hucksters and double-dealing politicians, Leopold hid the secrets of his own felonious past, terrified that he would be discovered. When the news junkie closed in on his biggest story one that implicated a Bush administration member he found himself pilloried by angry colleagues and the presidents press secretary, all attempting to destroy his career. Introducing an unforgettable array of characters from weepy editors and love-starved politicos to steroid-pumped mobsters who intimidate the author into selling drugs and stolen goods News Junkie shows how a man once fueled by raging fear and self-hatred transforms his life, regenerated by love, sobriety, and a new, harmonious career with the independent media.

A laugh-out-loud funny, sassy, helpful, and profoundly honest memoir, Mani-Pedi STAT chronicles Deb Ebensteins two bouts with cancer, and a rare blood disorder, between the ages of 16 and 33. Navigating cancer treatments while continuing to balance real life and then returning to a world she doesnt quite recognize anymore, her story is told through the eyes of a bright-eyed Jersey girl who loves boys, sports, fashion, and ultimately a family of her own.Deb discovers that at the very worst of timeswhen her body is bloated and her future is uncertain and bleakthat the generosity of girlfriends, family, and a good mani-pedi can lift the spirits and help her thrive and survive. Mani-Pedi STAT is for survivors, friends of survivors, and memoir lovers alike. It will bring patienthood to life in ways that make you laugh and cry at the same time, and along the way you might learn a thing or two for your next trip to the doctors office.

A New York story, a dark comedy, Balls tells of the thirty-year-old Henry Schiller, a songwriter and lounge-player, in love with a woman far younger and more musically gifted than himself, one with her eye on other men and the rise of her own career, whose crisis deepens when he discovers he has testicular cancer.

Brett Tanager is the writer/producer of a hit TV detective show until the mistakes of one dreadful night send her life skidding out of control into a downward spiral that takes her job, family, savings and self-respect.At her lowest ebb she is approached by Julia, her sixteen-year-old former stepdaughter whose best friend Caleigh has disappeared. Seems Julia's classmates, young daughters of Hollywood's elite, were "e;partying"e; with high rollers for a thousand bucks a night, and now Caleigh is missing, her parents are lying, and Julia is terrified. But not as terrified as Brett when Caleigh's naked corpse turns up and Julia goes missing.Brett's attempt to find Julia plunges her into a dark, disturbing journey through moneyed Hollywood and its sinister undersides. Now she must find resources other than drink to overcome her fears, as she is pitted against cunning of a ruthless killer, and a web of deceit in which the darkest secrets may be her own.

Cofounded by former LA Weekly editor Joe Donnelly and current Los Angeles Times Arts and Entertainment editor Laurie Ochoa, Slake is a literary journal that sets a new template for the next generation of print publications — collectible, not disposable; destined for the bedside table instead of the recycling bin. It's a whole new way of looking at Los Angeles and the world. We Dropped a Bomb on You is a devastating compendium of essays, fiction, and photo essays from the first four issues of Slake. Featuring previously unpublished work by Mark Z. Danielewski, Dana Goodyear, Gregory Bojorquez, Jonathan Gold, Richard Lange, and Iris Berry, this collection marks a return to storytelling with polished essay, memoir, fiction, poetry, and profile writing that is disappearing in a world of instant takes and unfiltered opinion.

Where do you go when you've done everything right? Tom Claughlin, a forty-something labor lawyer, has spent his life fighting an unwinnable war. A husband, recent father, and longtime advocate for the noble New York City workforce, he plunges himself into every casea school teacher threatened with deportation, a former receptionist haunted by abuseeven as they bring him intimately closer with the firm's newest hire: Jessie, a winsome young legal assistant.We All Sleep in the Same Room pans between the victories and flirtations of a Times Square office, and the tiffs and tenderness of a Union Square home. A simmering psychological bender, Paul Rome's debut offers a tale of moral erosion and collapse over the course of four fateful months in the fall of 2005.

Mikey is history. Hes got what he calls the Alzhammer. A once-powerful mob boss, he is seriously slippinglosing control of his crew and of his mind. His business is sideways, his rivals are coming for him, hes crazy forgetful, and it is a fact his parents suffered miserably with Alzheimer's. He refuses to ride diapered and drooling into the sunset. He is going to whack himself. Problem is, others are trying to whack him and rip off whats left of the familys business, which is different and which pisses him offwhen he remembers.Meanwhile, his ex, Zayana, slips back into his life. Shes been on the lam. Long ago, she hooked up with a rich, ruthless, and very married Senator who's concerned she might go public during election season, and hes prepared to do whatever it takes to eliminate her and save his image. Mikey decides to do the right thing for a change. They will hole up in the perfect hideawaya shady, unlicensed nursing home near Vegasuntil after the vote. Mikey's feelings for Z resurface, but even so, he figures once she and her son, who might be his, are safe, he will finally kill himself in peace. Until then, he must confront his would-be killers, the Senator, and the lunatic who cracks the whip at the three-ring-circus home called Over the Rainbow.

An East Los Angeles police officer by day and a beach cities punk rock legend by night, Salem is forced into action when his two worlds violently collide. The search for his friends murderer takes him on a treacherous journey through the murky waters of his hometown, forcing him to explore the dark corners of his sun-soaked world.Without a badge to hide behind any longer, he enlists the help of his drug-addict drummer Marco to help him solve the crime. Over the course of ten days, they survive vicious beatings, car chases, love triangles, kidnapping, and betrayal on Salems road to self-discovery.

Paralyzed from the neck down, Gordon Zahler rose from his deathbed to a fast-talking, Hollywood entrepreneur/idea man who traveled the world, lived hard, married, fantasized about water-skiing and chased his dreams to create one of the largest independent postproduction shops in Hollywood. While this is Jacobs' story about his coming to grips with his deformed uncle, himself and his mother, the silent victim to Gordon's recklessness, Strange As It Seems is also a tip of the hat to the man who turned his back on the notion of I can't.

Charleston Sutterfeld does what people do: shows up to work, tends to assigned tasks, avoids conflict and complication. Sure, he occasionally ponders whether a personal greatness might exist somewhere inside of him as anyone, he presumes, might naturally wonder. But his life seldom offers occasion to descend to such introspective depths.Until an innocent oversight brings Charleston face to face with an unexpected bit of information about a man known simply as Mr. Twytharp the revered and reclusive founder of Thundercom Corporation, a company known as the universe's single largest manufacturer of all things material. Housed in a towering 86-floor building, Thundercom has revolutionized business. But as Charleston unwittingly discovers, the lauded humanitarian at the center of the company's success barely resembles in appearance, at least the human beings whose culture he has so advanced.Rather than proving his undoing, this discovery brings about Charleston's inexplicable rise to the top of Thundercom's bizarre ranks. His success requires that he keep from asking one simple question. A question he has heretofore seldom asked. A question that is now proving irrepressible. A question that is deeply threatening to the most powerful man-like thing in the global economy.

In 2011, Mike Spitz began photographing dozens of record stores in and around the greater Los Angeles area, rich with old and new record shops, to capture the lively experience of going to the independent record store. Beautifully wrought on color film, his photographs illustrate how each store has a unique and vibrant culture, and the stimulating experience of being in a record store and discovering that rare vinyl record, cassette or 8-track tape, memorabilia, vintage concert poster, turntable, nostalgia, or other music-related gems. The inclusion of in-depth interviews with store owners demonstrates how record stores cultivate a communal gathering place for human interaction, exploration and discovery.In chronological order from the oldest existing stores, such as Canterbury Records that opened in 1956 in Pasadena or Music Man Murray Records that opened in 1962, to the most recently opened stores, The Record Store Book respectfully marks the changing of the guard from the older to the newer generation of stores as each owner shares facts, store history, and distinctive points of view regarding how people search for, find and appreciate music.

Punk Elegies arrives like a chemically unstable mixture of Richard Yates and Damon Runyon. Set along Hollywood Boulevard at the birth of punk and the death of the 1970s, the thirty-three melancholic, comic laments of Punk Elegies are a mesmerizing concoction of delusion and revelation. A cultural moment, a marriage and one young mans mind and soul spiral through a series of boundless possibilities and arrive at a harrowing finality. In the end, on the spin cycle of destiny, MacDonell circles alone, naked and bewildered in the labyrinth of a pre-AIDS bathhouse inferno. The first sunrise of the rest of his life dares him to step outside.

Pam Braun takes "e;you are what you eat"e; to a whole new level with an easy-to-use, everyday foodsbased Ultimate Anti-Cancer Cookbook. Incorporating sound science, a chef's sensibility, and common sense, this indispensable reference gets tons of use while inspiring well-being with Pam Braun's delicious recipes that are virtuous for your body. Plus, readers learn about nutrition along the way.

Musician, producer, manager, rock journalist, indie label executive: Southern California native Bruce Duff has seen and been a part of more rock and roll fantasies come to life than the average guy with long hair and a penchant for living the dream. From playing with the legendary GG Allin, the Angry Samoans' Jeff Dahl, and the Dead Boys' Cheetah Chrome to running Triple X Records and writing for the most acclaimed publications in the genres, Duff remembers things past with The Smell of Death, his ode to the good times and his acceptance of the bad.

Investigative reporter Chip Jacobs goes deep into some of his most compelling journalism pieces of the last three decades with his signature spotlight on strange corruption, seedy individuals, megalomaniacs, bright ideas, and transgressive game-changers. Featuring in-depth and expanded stories previously published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and others, The Vicodin Thieves is an instant classic of crime, politics, and socio-analysis.

When eternal prankster Bernard Radfar created a make-believe character, Mark Black, a filthy rich eccentric with some highly unusual needs, he had no idea that Marks letters requesting bizarre services would actually bring him responses! Mark tended to expect a lotafter all, the richest doand wrote to a wide range of companiesfrom private jet firms to life coacheswho might be willing to satisfy the requests of an affluent individual. This hilarious collection of genuine letters is pure fun, contrasting Marks boldness of privilege with his respondents genuine desire to be of service. Among them is a request for a private jet to fly his Brazilian lover(s) to his ranch house in Germanyordering a ton of beluga caviar for next-day delivery to satisfy his craving for munchies . . . and asking how he could apply for the Nobel Prize for Literature. And thats just the beginning!

A dextrous novel centered around the current generation of American teenagers coming of age in a networked world highly conscious of violence and the apocalyptic, Echo of the Boom is literary fiction about the Call of Duty and The Hunger Games generation. While the narrative spans the globe and jumps in time, much of the action orbits a near-past and present Washington, D.C., as each of the four main characters wrestle with their notions of fear, power, mysticism, and the future. An unusual book, equal parts Gossip Girl and Gravitys Rainbow.

No Snowflake in an Avalanche goes deep inside the world of religious extremism in America s military and political infrastructure from the perspective of Michael L. Mikey Weinstein proud Academy graduate and father of graduates who single-handedly brought to light the Evangelicals' utter disregard of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state that is so essential to the nations military mission. Weinsteins war pits him and his small band of fellow graduates, cadets, and concerned citizens of varying religious backgrounds against a program of Christian fundamentalist indoctrination that could transform our fighting men and women into right-thinking warriors more befitting a theocracy than a democracy.

Proclaimed "e;girl-pervert"e; Oriana Small, AKA Ashley Blue, a veritable artist at heart, weaves through the intricacies of a decade in and out of the adult film industry, love, drugs, and her own firebrand of what it means to live ecstatically. From accolades to agony, Girlvert illuminates the surreality of a life lived beyond all comprehension.