Results tagged “book”

Amy Sohn's tome on Park Slope parents, titled Prospect Park West, is officially out there causing a stir. Recently her "neighbor" and local blogger Louise Crawford trashed Sohn for fueling the cliches of the Bugaboo culture that thrives there, or maybe because she was jealous she didn't write the book... one of those. Now the NY Times takes a closer look at life in Sohn's portrayal of the neighborhood; any outbursts about that portrayal seems to be grounded in the paradox that Sohn says is “Every mother know[ing] what a Park Slope Mother is, but no one think[ing] she is one." (In fact, Susan Fox, the founder of Park Slope Parents, tells the Gray Lady she's “non-frumpy, non-cargo-wearing mom who actually has a good marriage, unlike PPW would have us believe”).

The NY Times and Daily News speak to former students of NYC public school teacher turned bestselling memoirist Frank McCourt, who passed away on Sunday. One woman told the Times, "We all thought, ‘He’s such a genius, what’s he doing just teaching us?’ Everybody thought he was destined for bigger and better things. And when he became a global phenomenon, we felt it was justice." Another revealed to the News, "I was not a big reader back then, until he taught us 'Moby Dick.' I mean, the whale was in our classroom. I read everything ['Moby Dick' author Herman] Melville wrote after that. All of a sudden, I spent all my time in the library because of Frank McCourt."

Remember that guy who wrote the creepy sex book for teens. Well, he's back! This time targeting the L train set, and those who love them, with a book of short stories titled I Hate All of You on This L Train (dedicated to fellow author Tao Lin).

                     

Finally, photographer Allan Tannenbaum is releasing a new book of photographs that will transport you back to NYC as it was in the '70s. Sex, drugs, street gangs, disco divas, politicians, homeless, celebrities, musicians, hookers, and literally every other thing (and person) that went down during the decade are amongst the images included. It's nearly impossible to narrow down just a few from the book, but consider this a preview (minus all the sex club, disco orgy, x-rated shots). The book is out April 2nd, and the preface is written by Yoko Ono, with a foreword by P.J. O’Rourke.

       

Queens gets the Then & Now treatment as Arcadia Publishing releases their image-heavy book by Jason D. Antos, filled with contemporary and historic photographs of the borough. You'll get side-by-side shots comparing the old and the new landscapes, but the book won't hit shelves until January 19th, so here's a sneak peek at what you'll find inside.

Ladies, gentlemen, Anderson Cooper: Olympic gold medalist and America's sweetheart Michael Phelps is in town. Sure, Phelps-mania was put on the back burner during that whole election thing, but it has re-arrived, and if you want to stand in his superhuman shadow then you best get yourself over to the Barnes & Noble at 5th Avenue and 46th Street by 12:30 today. He'll be there promoting his new book, No Limits: The Will to Succeed, which documents his entire life up through his big wins in Beijing. We suppose if he can swim at world record speeds, then it makes sense he wrote a memoir in three months.

Over a year after Brooke Astor's death, journalist Meryl Gordon has published a book, Mrs. Astor Regrets, about the battle over the philanthropist's care and finances during her final years. The Post excerpted some juicy parts last month, but this Janet Maslin's review of the biography offered this interesting insight: "Many of those interviewed seem tone-deaf to their own gushing excesses and overwhelmed by displays of largess. About Ms. De la Renta’s literally gilded childhood: 'Dinner guests still recall the stacks of gold Krugerrands used as table décor and given away as party favors.'” And the saga surrounding Brooke Astor's legacy is far from over: Her son Anthony Marshall was indicted on criminal charges relating to how his mother's will was handled (believed to be forged to benefit him) last year.

The New York Public Library is in temporary possession of a new coffee-table book that weighs in at 61-lbs. The NY Times reports that the rarity was recently hand-made "by scholars, artists and artisans," and is called Michelangelo: La Dotta Mano. The book cost around $126K to make (what recession?) and will be on view through Monday. The cover of the book is "a bas-relief depiction of Michelangelo’s 'Madonna of the Steps,' sculptured on a piece of white marble from one of the Polvaccio quarries in Carrara, Italy, that supplied stone for the master’s statues." Decadence lives! ArtInfo reports that according to "a fine-art publication house in Italy whose charitable foundation donated this copy to the New York library, the book is intended to be 'a provocation in the age of the Internet.'" If you've got some cash to burn, 99 limited edition copies will be made, 20 of which have already been sold. Library president, Paul LeClerc, says: “It is one of the single greatest books made in the last 100 years. There is nothing else at this level.”

Heather Hunter has been vindicated! What do you mean, who's Heather Hunter? Ever hear of a little film called Screw The Right Thing? Bloopers And Boners? Hung Jury? Nevermind; according to her website, the retired porn star is "hailed as this generation’s most well-regarded sexual icon." And she's "ready to start another phase of her career.......as a rap superstar." But first she had to put a nasty lawsuit behind her, brought by her presumably less porny rival Dianne Miller, who has accused Hunter of stealing her idea for a novel about a porn star. Which is such an inspired concept, you'd think Miller would have an open and shut case—especially considering she gave Hunter a manuscript titled Insatiable Desires in 2005, and Hunter's 2007 novel is called Insatiable: The Rise of a Porn Star. But according to the Daily News, the judge threw out most of Miller's allegations yesterday, while telling the plaintiffs he was open to reconsidering the suit.

The New York Supreme Court has ruled that Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. must submit to a deposition by attorneys representing Donald Trump, who is suing Times business editor Timothy O'Brien and the publishers of O'Brien's book TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald. Trump is seeking $5 billion in damages because he says the book grossly underestimated his net worth at $150 million to $250 million, instead of the billions and billions he claims. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Trump contends that being labeled a mere millionaire hurt his "brand and reputation" and undermined the "perception of Trump as a businessman of extraordinary means and ability (which he is)."

A waiter who turned his service industry lemons into publishing lemonade with his blog Waiter Rant has unmasked himself for the Post today, just in time for the release of his tell-all book. After years of anonymous venting about his miserable experiences serving swells at an unspecified restaurant in “the city's affluent suburbs,” Steve Dublanica has outed himself as the man who “prefers more elegant methods of revenge" than spitting in diners’ food – though he assures the Post this does happen often enough.

The NY Sun reports that Jones received a $40K advance for her booked titled, "Untitled Novel" and Marchand received $75K for hers, called "Broken Silence" -- the former is four years late, and the latter is two years overdue. C'mon ladies, even 50 Cent turned in a manuscript for the publishing house! However, maybe they should be cut some slack since they each did some jail time when they (or a ghost writer) could have been laying down some ink about their lives. And besides, Kim was busy writing her other book, The Price of Loyalty, due out later this year through St. Martin's Press.

Last month Dumbo Books announced a new release by writer Richard Grayson called Who Will Kiss the Pig? Sex Stories for Teens; the announcement got some attention after their Craigslist ad was published. You see, they were looking for cool-looking hipsters to write blurbs for the book, and now they've finally sent out a PDF copy to those who inquired. What took so long? "We have been waiting for Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling [on internet child pornography] to ascertain whether we could still go ahead with publication of the book." Luckily, after consulting with their attorney they got the green light!

John Darnielle may be best known for his band The Mountain Goats, but he's also the latest blogger with a book; this weekend he's in town as both a musician and an author.

Attention sexy hipster kids, there's a new Craigslist poster that needs YOU...if you are, in fact, a young hip Brooklynite who has a penchant for blurbing and reading about the sexual encounters of teens. Interested? Read on...

Cool Brooklyn book publisher looking for cool 18-25yo hipsters to blurb our cool forthcoming book of sex stories for teens. We will send you a PDF of the book and ask for a blurb & headshot for advertising, website, publicity. Tiny honorarium of free books and our guarantee to read and consider your own book manuscript for publication.

Native Son. Not bad for a guy who at the time was barely 30.

With Brooklyn storefronts becoming more and more generic as chains move in to the borough's nabes, a book documenting some of the more old-timey awnings has hit the market. Featuring 75 photographs taken while on bicycle rides, Paul Lacy's Brooklyn Storefronts will take you on a colorful (albeit 2-dimensional) tour of retail exteriors including Los Doctores Tires Shop, the Great Eagle Photo Company, and the St. Jude Religious Articles. This is a decidedly less dangerous Brooklyn storefront project than Don Wiss took on a few years ago (random fact: Wiss recently put together a collage of Emperor's Club girls).

Nicholas Pekearo was a 28-year-old auxiliary police officer whose life was ended short after being gunned down in Greenwich Village last year. Almost exactly one year later, it has been announced that Pekearo's debut novel will be in stores soon.

Five years ago today, the U.S.-led "coalition of the willing" invaded Iraq. Some $600 billion later, with over 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers, more than 6,000 U.S. casualties, and some some 82,000 dead Iraqi civilians, the U.S. continues to occupy the country. A Nobel prize-winning economist has calculated that the war will ultimately cost the U.S. more than $3 trillion. On Monday, during Dick Cheney's visit to Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed 43 people in Karbala.

Five years ago today, President George Bush announced the start of the Iraq War. Some $600 billion later, with over 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers, more than 6,000 U.S. casualties, and some some 82,000 dead Iraqi civilians, the U.S. continues to occupy the country.

Yoko Ono is not going to be too pleased with this: it turns out John Lennon was quite happy during his infamous "Lost Weekend" period. The "weekend," which lasted 18 months (during 1973-75), was a separation from Ono, where he spent nearly two years with the couple's one-time employee May Pang (in both LA and NYC).

continues to embarrass the book publishing industry. Writer Margaret Jones, who told her publisher she was a half-white, half-Native American raised by a black foster family in South Central L.A. and former Bloods gang member, was exposed as Margaret Seltzer, white private school graduate from Sherman Oaks, California.

, hit shelves late last year. The tome delves into the cultural history of music since 1900, and even has Björk touting: "Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music." Tonight he'll step away from the printed word and you can catch him chatting with Stephen on The Colbert Report.

Brooklyn writers are banding together to be the latest voice against Bruce Ratner's vision for Atlantic Yards. A number of local wordsmiths have contributed to Brooklyn Was Mine, an anthology consisting of short essays and stories put together by two Vogue editor to benefit Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (a non-profit that fights development while uniting the community). From the press release:

"Brooklyn has given birth to some of America's greatest literary voices," note the anthology's co-editors, Chris Knutsen and Valerie Steiker. "Today, a new generation of authors has grown up or resettled here, a testament to Brooklyn's unique quality of life. These writers simply want to protect a community that has provided them with so much. Fortunately, the passion they feel for the place has yielded a vibrant collection of essays—and we are delighted that, with each book sold, something will be given back to Brooklyn."

The elements that have made City Hall Park so attractive to New York's humans have also made the area hospitable to the city's rodent population--so much so that the park has become overrun with rats, who don't seem to mind people company as much as people mind rat company. Regardless of the time of day or the number of people congregating there, rats--lots and lots of them--have made City Hall park their home. The New...