William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910

Book Description

William Randolph Hearst was one of the most colorful and important figures of turn-of-the-century America, a man who changed the face of American journalism and whose influence extends to the present day. Now, in William Randolph Hearst, Ben Procter gives us the most authoritative account of Hearst's extraordinary career in newspapers and politics. Born to great wealth--his father was a partial owner of four fabulously rich mines--Hearst began his career in his early twenties by revitalizing a rundown newspaper, the San Franciso Examiner. Hearst took what had been a relatively sedate form of communicating information and essentially created the modern tabloid, complete with outrageous headlines, human interest stories, star columnists, comic strips, wide photo coverage, and crusading zeal. His papers fairly bristled with life. By 1910 he had built a newspaper empire--eight papers and two magazines read by nearly three million people. Hearst did much to create "yellow journalism"--with the emphasis on sensationalism and the lowering of journalistic standards. But Procter shows that Hearst's papers were also challenging and innovative and powerful: They exposed corruption, advocated progressive reforms, strongly supported recent immigrants, became a force in the Democratic Party, and helped ignite the Spanish-American War. Procter vividly depicts Hearst's own political career from his 1902 election to Congress to his presidential campaign in 1904 and his bitter defeats in New York's Mayoral and Gubernatorial races. Written with a broad narrative sweep and based on previously unavailable letters and manuscripts, William Randoph Hearst illuminates the character and era of the man who left an indelible mark on American journalism.

Customer Reviews:

A biography of William Randolph Hearst!!!!.......2004-03-29

This is a good book! Well researched! Smoothly written! But after a while, just reading about Hearst's frantic life, his manic style of newspapering, got a little tiring... (or tiresome!) Still, if you're looking for an account of the man's early years, YOU COULD DEFINITELY DO WORSE!!!

Elvis, the Early Years: A 2001 Fact Odyssey (2001 Fact Odyssey Series)

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What great research - and what a fun book this is!
Wonderful book!
GETTING ON MY KNEES
Superb research!
WOW! WOW! WOW!

Elvis, the Early Years: A 2001 Fact Odyssey (2001 Fact Odyssey Series)
Jim Curtin , and Renata Ginter
Manufacturer: Celebrity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580291066

Customer Reviews:

What great research - and what a fun book this is!.......2000-10-04

Ok. While on the road, I used this book to conduct trivia contests. The guys I am with, are Elvis fans and they always try to prove that they know Elvis more than I. So this book put an end to that!

But I will say this: I TOO WAS WRONG on many occasions! I never knew 50-60% of the information that was listed in this book -- and I thought I knew a LOT! So this is an educational book beyond any Elvis fans' expections or knowledge!

I think this will soon become an Elvis Bible to the fans and Elvis world - if it's not already!

Remarkable from the first page to the last!

Wonderful book!.......2000-08-02

What struck me about this book was the beautiful and clean art deco cover. What a gorgeous cover! And what fun it is to look at.

I bought it along with Christmas with Elvis by the same author. Never knew about anyone making a Christmas book with Elvis! So I was thrilled about that!

Anyway I took this book home, and to keep it short: I have so far read it 3 times from cover to cover! That is how enticing this book is. Never had I thought possible that anyone could trace Elvis' family history back that far as did Mr. Curtin. Because Graceland still has the OLD information that Elvis came from Scotland and Andrew Pressley! My goodness Mr. Curtin goes back much much farther. What an important addition Mr. Curtin is to the Elvis world. He is the key to the lock on the Elvis Presley that no one dares to write about: THE GOOD MAN!

Thank you Mr. Curtin for showing class in authoring a beautiful book on Elvis. And thank you for all your extremely hard work in finding out all this information on Elvis and for sharing it with us fans. God Bless you and much continued success.

GETTING ON MY KNEES.......2000-01-20

I AM NOW TYPING IN CAPITALS!

JUST READ THIS BOOK AND I WILL SAY THIS : I AM AMAZED AT JIM CURTIN AND HIS WRITER FOR WHAT, AND HOW MUCH THEY RESEARCHED ON ELVIS.

SO WITH THIS REVIEW I AM GETTING ON MY KNEES AND THANKING GOD NOT ONLY FOR GIFTING THIS WORLD WITH ELVIS, BUT FOR GIFTING THE ELVIS WORLD WITH JIM CURTIN! (and lets not forget Renata)

THANK YOU .... THANK YOU .... THANK YOU .... THANKYOUVERYMUCH!

Superb research!.......2000-01-14

This book should get an award just for the research that was done in putting this book together. This team of Jim and Renata is the best ever in the Elvis world. Just wonderful, wonderful information is PACKED into this little book! You would think its a mini encyclopedia with how much writing is involved in this book!

If this book, the early years, is this great; I can't wait for the next volumes!

I personally thought that was no other information that could be FOUND on Elvis, but I was wrong. I think Jim and Renata truly pinpointed Elvis' family tree to a T ..... I can't find fault in it. Everything seems to fit and make sense. Not even Elvis' family members got things as right! So what does that mean to us? THE PERFECT INFORMATIVE BOOK!

Thanks a million!

WOW! WOW! WOW!.......1999-11-22

Did you read or get this book? Well my God what are you all waiting for!

I have never ever seen such intense research put into an Elvis book before in my life .. and this is just the early volume!

This book is worth not only the great photos but for the impressive family tree and lineage that was done on Elvis and his family. I mean did you know that Elvis' family tree was traced back to Denmark to the 1595? I sure didnt, until now.

I am now going to hold Elvis trivia contests with all my Elvis friends and fan club members ... This book is remarkable. that is all I can say.

Jim once again, a super book. And your assistant did a super job with her research! You guys actually proved a lot of "so-called experts" wrong!

Book Description

Bob Dylan was recently named by Life as one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century. In this photographic tour of Dylan’s breakthrough years, 1964 to 1965, Daniel Kramer shows the human side of this legendary figure — playing chess, making coffee, and in one whimsical moment, sitting in a tree — and also in the studio and onstage. An essay by the photographer sheds further light on the man and his music.

Customer Reviews:

PAPERBACK VERSION.......2007-10-01

I got this one in hardbound loaned from the library before I bought this paperback version. I was slightly disappointed since I saw the hardbound version first. It apprears as if the pictures are copies taken out of the the original hardbound rather than done correctly all over again, and there is at least one VERY GOOD picture M I S S I N G!!!!--my favorite--where he is reading a magazine or paper up close and he has his hat on. (For someone not a finicky Morris like me, this book is just fine and dandy) You have the one where Bob Dylan is playing chess at a French cafe--REALLY GOOD ONE, I love that one very much--but it still seems COPY quality. The quality of the pictures in the original hardbound book are superior to a degree, and I SEE it. Maybe people won't notice, but I do notice it. Unfortunately I had to return the hardbound book to the library.

May I also suggest Dylan: Visions, Portraits & Back Pages as a book with SUPERIOR quality pictures.

Please do this PICTURE BOOK all over again, PUBLISHERS!!! These pictures deserve FIRST QUALITY production.

I highly suggest the publishers publish the original hardbound version AGAIN with the same QUALITY of the pictures as the original hardbound and I will CERTAINLY buy it.

Absolutely Sweet Bob.......2005-02-01

These photos will absolutely break your heart.
They will break your heart absolutely. If you love Dylan and the mythology he created around himself, this book will give you a glimpse behind the curtain. The images of Joan Baez and Dylan are so gorgeous you'll want to duck out of your busy life and cry for five crucial minutes. The image of a back-lit Bob and a shadowy Joan in profile is a just, simple ode to these monoliths. These photos give us what we've intimated about Bob all along.

pure dylan.......2005-01-05

many of these photos became icons over the years. not only absorbing photos of dylan, but classics of the photographic art. dylan was lucky during this period to be photographed by so many excellent photographers: kramer's work is the best

Great B&W photos of young Bob Dylan.......2005-01-05

This seems to be a reprint of a book that first came out in the 60's. I still have my copy but it's a smaller format than this reprint. It is chock full of great photos of Dylan being whimsical and eccentric, posing in a studio setting. Very professional. All seem to be from the "Highway 61 Revisited" period (1965)when Dylan affected a "mod" style of clothes, including polka-dot shirts and Beatle boots. This is a treasure for any Dylan addict. Except for one essay, the book is all photos without text.

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A Doorway into Early O'Keeffe
One writer who does not "get" O'Keeffe

Becoming O'Keeffe: The Early Years
Sarah Whitaker Peters
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

By examining the period from 1915 to 1930, with flashbacks to O'Keeffe's little-known studies in Chicago and New York, Becoming O'Keeffe casts a clear new light on how a fiercely independent art student became the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. The careful scholarship and persuasive arguments of Dr. Peters's text--supported with forceful clarity by her choice and juxtapositions of images--reveal not only unexpected complexity in O'Keeffe's own work but also previously unexplored connections with work by her colleagues, particularly her dealer and husband, Alfred Stieglitz, and the photographers Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler, and Edward Steichen.

Dr. Peters's interpretations of the aesthetic and personal interaction between O'Keeffe and Stieglitz show for the first time how strongly the painter's work influenced Stieglitz's own, and she suggests new ways of understanding their art and their relationship. That she does all this in exhilaratingly good prose makes this book a rare pleasure to read. Now revised to take into account the latest scholarship, Becoming O'Keeffe also provides an updated and expanded bibliography, as well as six new illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A Doorway into Early O'Keeffe.......2006-12-19

Having viewed the recent Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit on "Colors and Conservation" in Rochester, NY (which Mississippi Museum of Art-originated exhibit has its own, fine catalogue), I found this volume most illuminative regarding O'Keeffe's relationships as they informed her development as an artist. As a example of the type of "close reading" undertaken by the author here, the background offered on O'Keeffe's "Lake George Farmhouse Door" (near the close of the book, though only halfway through O'Keeffe's life) suggests it may be taken as a response of sorts to her husband's earlier photograph of a smiling, younger woman posed in front of the same doorway.

The author thus raises questions on creative transformations involved in making art. Why, for example, is the door-glass opaque in the artist's painting instead of something we can see through in her husband's photograph? Does her rendering of their summer home's door suggest a way into or a blocking out from the artist's own life, as the photo itself is held to suggest of the woman depicted in it? One does not need this sort of background in order to appreciate the painting itself, held by MoMA, but those seeking autobiographical insights on O'Keeffe's early work should find "Becoming O'Keeffe" intriguing reading.

One writer who does not "get" O'Keeffe.......2006-09-10

I am irritated by writers who purport to know the inner thoughts of people who are no longer alive to defend themselves. Peters has collected plenty of information on what was going on in the American and European art worlds, and it's worth reading for that. There are also some works here I haven't seen in other books. But if Peters wants to understand O'Keeffe's state of mind and approach to her work, why take O'Keeffe's perfectly clear and straightforward writings and then negate them in favor of hyperbolic, overwrought analysis? Having to repeatedly reject an artist's own words and play the game of "What she really meant was..." is a good sign that you don't understand the subject. Why are O'Keeffe's simple words so hard for her to comprehend? Peters' analogies stretch far past the point of usefulness: a closed window equals a camera lens? Paintings of trees become "prototypes" for paintings of crosses made 5 years later? Does she mean O'Keeffe was really trying to paint crosses, and they just came out looking like trees? Or that the first time O'Keeffe saw a cross she thought "Oh, that looks like a tree"? This book isn't nearly as much about O'Keeffe as it is about what Peters would have been doing if she could magically take O'Keeffe's place. Maybe Peters gets really confused about simple actions, like putting a drawing on the floor, because she's never done much artwork. Sometimes you have to put things on the floor because in the facilities you have available, that's the easiest way to see and work on them. I think the lesson here is that if you have to change something to your own words to understand it, you're no longer perceiving that thing--you're only perceiving yourself. Peters spends a lot of time here reflecting her own thought process, and in doing so, misses not only O'Keeffe, but maybe visual art itself.

The Early Years of Art History in the United States

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The Early Years of Art History in the United States

Manufacturer: Dept. of Art and Archaeology Princeton Univer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691036454

Book Description

Art history became established as an academic discipline in the United States between 1865 and 1895, when courses were introduced not only at Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, but also at Vassar, Syracuse, Wellesley, Rockford Female Seminary, Radcliffe, and Bryn Mawr. The prominent early role of the women's colleges and smaller universities is just one of the areas investigated in this volume on the genesis and early development of art history in the United States. Other essays focus on single departments of art history, examining the early subjects and methods of American art history and the way in which its practitioners responded to and assimilated contemporary developments in other fields, particularly history, the sciences, and philosophy. A final section examines some of the great scholarly personalities that dominated the field in the early years of this century. The volume includes a complete reprint of E. Baldwin Smith's 1912 survey The Study of the History of Art in the Colleges and Universities of the United States (Princeton). The contributors include Pamela Askew, Lauren Weiss Bricker, John Coolidge, Julius Held, Sybil Kantor, George Kubler, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Phyllis Williams Lehmann, Hayden Maginnis, Agnes Mongan, Henry Millon, Donald Preziosi, Michael Rinehart, Linda Seidel, Claire Richter Sherman, Craig Hugh Smyth, Mary Ann Stankiewicz, David Van Zanten, and Edward Warburg.

Air Force Academy Heritage: The Early Years

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Air Force Academy Heritage: The Early Years
George V. Fagan
Manufacturer: Fulcrum Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 155591604X

America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide)

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Make meaningful memories on vacation or daytrips with this guide
A wonderful traveling companion
Incredible Resource for Vacationers Seeking U.S. History
Well-written, well-researched history tour of America
Hopefully the beginning of a series: it is that good.

America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide)
Suzanne Sheumaker , and Craig Sheumaker
Manufacturer: Red Corral Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0979259800

Product Description

This is a new kind of history-oriented U.S. travel book, one that not only showcases premier destinations but also uses their histories to tell the story of early America. It focuses on the period before the 1840s westward movement and features 300 of the nation's best living history parks, historic sites and "museum plus" destinations. Information is arranged two ways: by region and field of interest. Chapters focus on America's Native Peoples, European Colonization, Religious and Secular Groups, Road to Independence, Our New Nation and Opening the West. Included are brief historical perspectives, travel maps, tourist information, 500 color photographs and a detailed index.

Customer Reviews:

Make meaningful memories on vacation or daytrips with this guide.......2007-09-10

We are history buffs at home--both of us grew up in historic areas. Trips to Gettysburg, Independence Hall, The Old North Church and Washington, DC were in our childhood experiences. You could hardly take a daytrip without seeing some of America's oldest treasures. So we as children enjoyed historical sites and we still stop for historical markers as a habit when we are out touring any area.

For people with similar tastes or who have children to educate, this is a wonderful resource. Some of the well-known and lesser known historical sites all over the US that date from the early years are laid out in a travel guide format.

The book is organized by popular sites, subjects like religious movements, colonization, the Western movement, and the Revolutionary War and the times leading up to this watershed event. Each historical site has photographs, address and phone number and a synopsis of what is available for touring. The geographical maps show towns or cities of interest. The only thing missing would be day trip routes in some of the more densely-historical areas (Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey.)

But there are also timelines and write-ups of the history of the times (the Shakers, the Mormons, the battles of the Revolution and War of 1812, and the early contact with Native Americans.) So the book is not just a "what to see" but has important background and a good if brief overview of early American history.

After I read this book, I immediately wanted to go see at least a half a dozen sites I had not visited that are not really very far from my, and added a list of places I want to see next time I'm out West.

This is a very pretty book and one that home schoolers would find absolutely a treasure. My parents took us on endless daytrips on weekends and these are some of my fondest memories of childhood. If you have kids and an automobile, I'd put this book on the "must-have" list because you can build some excellent memories and give your kids a fine sense of where we came from as a nation. Big thumbs-up and I eagerly await more in this series.

A wonderful traveling companion .......2007-08-26

Say the words "road trip" and "history" and I get excited. Suzanne & Craig Sheumaker have written a wonderful guide book for people who love living history sites and museums. I've been to most of the places described in Virginia and I can say that they got their descriptions absolutely correct.

I especially liked the photos. Most guide books have no pictures or annoy me with dinky little artsy drawings. When I'm in a car looking for something I don't want a drawing.

The Sheumakers seem to really love what they do and their enthusiasm comes though in each chapter. I've always scorned the Jamestown Settlement and prefered to head to the real Jamestown down the road but after reading the Sheumakers section on it I think I'll give it a try.

I particularly enjoyed the way that they split the book up. If you are interested in sites from the Spanish colonization years or the French or of course the English you can find chapters that deal just with that particular period. If you want to understand more about Indian life they have an exceptionally good section of sites dedicated to America's earliest settlers. Be sure to check out the Cherokee villiage in North Carolina. The book also talks about the Catholics, the Jews, Amish, Moravian, Shakers, Quakers and Mormons who came to America and the living history sites they left behind.

If the Revolutionary period is what interests you most they have a chapter on sites to visit. If the sites of the new nation are your thing then they have a chapter for you. This is really a delightful book and is such a good travel companion I'd say that the best thing to do is to buy two copies. One for the coffee table and one to keep in the car. I hope this is the begining of a new series.

Incredible Resource for Vacationers Seeking U.S. History.......2007-08-13

Suzanne and Craig Sheumaker have created an incredible resource for people looking to vacation in the United States in places where history lives. They profile 300 living history sites in the United States that cover American history from the time when Native Americans had empires and confederations to the 1840's. The Sheumakers provide excellent cross-references to aid people planning a living history vacation. However, this book is more than just a guide for people looking for an excellent place to vacation; this book is also a wonderful history book with factual tidbits sprinkled throughout.

The beginning of this book provides maps of the profiled locations. These maps also divide the sites into categories described later in the book (more on that in a moment). Thus, if your focus is on European colonization and you are interested in traveling to the mid-Atlantic or the South, you will be able to quickly find the sites that are focused on this aspect of history.

The Sheumakers organized this book into six historical categories; America's Native Peoples, European Colonization, Religious & Secular Groups, Road to Independence, Our New Nation, and Opening the West. Each section is color coded to more easily locate them on the previously described maps. Even better, each section has dozens of photographs, typically one per site, along with location information, fee information, and, perhaps best of all, the best available web site for the location. In addition, the Sheumakers sometimes recommend the best time of year to see special events and they typically provide information regarding the historical significance of the site.

I have checked several of the sites recommended by the Sheumakers to see how accurate their information is. Consider Cahokia Mounds, in Illinois, described on page 38 of this book. There are two photographs. One photograph is of the largest mound on the site. The other is a photograph of a walk-through diorama available at the interpretive center. The Sheumakers include several pieces of information about the history of the site and its significance (a small portion of what you can learn at the site). Their information regarding the location of Cahokia Mounds matches the direction provided on the highways east of St. Louis, Missouri. The fee information is also correct (free), though the interpretive center suggests a $1 donation per person. The only flaw I found in the Sheumaker's description of this site is that they neglected to mention the miles of walking trails on the site.

Other sites contain similar accuracy. I looked at Spring Mill Pioneer Village in Indiana, which is a wonderful place to visit (though sometimes it gets very busy). Historic St. Charles, Missouri is yet another wonderful place to visit, if you can avoid the distraction of the gigantic casino that is nearby. Ft. Osage in Sibley, Missouri, has been a popular destination for the nearby residents of Kansas City, Missouri, for decades.

If there is a flaw in this book, it is that space limited the Sheumakers to only 300 destinations. There are many more living history places in the United States. However, the Sheumakers certainly picked many of the very best places from the era before the 1840's. Perhaps if this book is successful, they can write a follow-up book titled "More of America's Living History."

This book is a phenomenal resource for people planning a vacation or seeking a starting point for a history paper. Teachers and other educators may wish to explore one of the living history sites near your school. You may just want to take a day trip to one of these sites. All of them are worth at least a day trip and some of them require days to fully explore.

Traveler's guides seem to be a dime-a-dozen these days. Everyone is competing for shelf space and your attention. The Sheumakers have a unique approach, eschewing typical tourist attractions for those that focus on our (United States) history. It would be a mistake to call these sites tourist attractions, because many of them contain on-going historical research. For example, excavations continue at Cahokia Mounds. Regardless of your need, this beautiful, full-color book is a wonderful as a resource, a coffee-table book, or even just to read - I started it and could not put it down. Whatever your need or goal, if you appreciate the history of the United States and you are seeking an opportunity to immerse yourself further in that history, you need this book.

Enjoy!

Well-written, well-researched history tour of America.......2007-08-08

What can you expect from America's Living History-The Early Years? Definitely not just another "coffee table" book! The stunning photographs may catch your eye, but you'll want to pick up this book and use it.

Have you ever wanted to visit the historic Jamestown site in Virginia? You can view hundreds of artifacts discovered from the first permanent settlement there.

Do you remember the story about Washington crossing an icy river to attack British forces? Been to the place it happened? Did you know that every year on Christmas Day, hundreds of re-enactors cross the river to commemorate this Revolutionary War triumph?

Know where you can find incredible Native American petroglyphs? Sites in New Mexico and Nevada are mentioned in this book.

Readers will find the answers to innumerable questions about early American life in this book. Whether readers are interested in a day trip close to home or going cross-country, this is a great resource.

From the plains to the coast, Alaska to Hawaii, nearly every state is represented in this guide. With three hundred destinations featured, a history buff or interested traveler couldn't ask for more.

The authors have done a great job with tasteful and applicable photographs. They accent pages filled not just with contact information (although it's there for your reference) but with interesting facts, too. The book is separated into categories, including: America's Native Peoples, European Colonization, Road to Independence, and more. It also features destinations lists by region, to help you plan adventures if you are on a trip.

The authors have obviously done their homework and it shows in this wonderful resource.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended.

Hopefully the beginning of a series: it is that good........2007-07-29

Suzanne and Craig Sheumaker express their objective as being to help us find "the places and expeiences which immerse us in [American] history, making real through direct exposure what otherwise can only be imagined through books, lectures, museums and films". They succeed in a very major way.

"Living History" is a lavish presentation of 300 destinations that illuminate the early years of America's history. It is a beautiful book, well-designed and abundantly illustrated with photographs and maps. The Sheumakers describe their criteria for selection as 1) historical accuracy (needs to be far more than just a commemorative plaque); 2) sites ideally have historically based activities; 3) demonstrate aspects of early American life; 4) superior atmosphere (leaves out amusement parks); 5) pre-1840 (for this book - I do hope there are more); 6) subtantiveness.

What the Sheumakers have wrought is both an exquisite armchair travel book and a guide. I admit to being moved to want to just jump in the car and start driving as I psged through this book. Too bad I live in a part of the Midwest which is relatively deficient in spots the Sheumakers would include.

I cannot do justice to this book. It's boundless illustrations and the concise, well-written descriptions for each of the suggested destinations. The Sheumakers are intelligenr people writing for the benefit of other intelligent people.

In truth, I probably won't get to most of the places the Sheumakers describe, but at least I will have the benefit of the Sheumaker's portrayal of them - and that is a plus.

I highly recommend this book both to armchair and real-life travelers. It is a gem and I hope the start of a long series.

Jerry

Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll

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Big Beat Heat
explains a lot!

Big Beat Heat: Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock & Roll
John A. Jackson
Manufacturer: Schirmer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0028711556

Customer Reviews:

Big Beat Heat.......2006-09-24

This is a good book about the life of legendary DJ Alan Freed. His personal life, as a radio and tv host and as promotor of his own concerts around the east coast.
His failures seem to have caused his downfall, a terrible riot during a show in Boston for which he was indicted and also payola, receiving money to play records. Both cases cost him a lot of money and pain.

He was married three times, unfortunately the last two wives refused to talk to the author. Jackson says that his third wife Inga was also a heavy drinker, which did not help at all. He died in 1965, only 44 years old

explains a lot!.......2006-05-12

I really enjoyed this book. Several personal stories about Alan Freed provide insight into his life. The writer does a good job of explaining the historical events/context that surrounded Freed's life. It's a shame Freed didn't live longer to see what he contributed to popular music.

D.W. Griffith and the Origins of American Narrative Film: The Early Years at Biograph

Average customer rating:

Only for the serious film student!

D.W. Griffith and the Origins of American Narrative Film: The Early Years at Biograph
Tom Gunning
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0252017544

Customer Reviews:

Only for the serious film student!.......2005-08-23

This book is a very academic study focussing on D. W. Griffith's work in the years 1908-09, which marked the transition from moving pictures as a novelty or gimmick to an actual `story film' as we know them today. Griffith has been honoured with titles like `the Father of Film', and is credited with introducing many directing, filming and editing techniques which are commonplace today, and anyone with a serious interest in the development of cinema would most likely benefit from this book. But put your thinking-cap on first; this is no easy, entertaining read before bedtime! The approach, the language and the analysis used by the author demand concentration, proper attention and respect. It would also be very helpful for the reader to have some previous knowledge of early film development in the first decade of the 1900s, or at least have seen Griffith's `shorts' from the years prior to 1913. Fortunately, I had just finished reading "The Transformation of Cinema, 1907-1915" by Eileen Bowser which was a good, solid introduction to all the factors which led to cinema developing into what it is now, and therefore I was able to follow "The Origins of American Narrative Film" reasonably easily, although one or two chapters at the beginning and end were slightly challenging.

The author, Tom Gunning, has made a very fine effort in drawing together some of the main factors which moulded the film industry in the years 1908-09, and attempts to be fair by explaining how Griffith found ideas and inspiration from previous film makers, the social trends and the push by `reformers' who were trying to make moving pictures appeal to the middle-class audiences. I found these aspects very interesting, and they give a good, well-rounded picture of history and how certain people like Griffith find and make their place in history. Apart from these accounts, the author has gone into great detail with some of Griffith's films to clearly explain certain techniques which Griffith employed, such as cut-ins and parallel editing - things that we take for granted today, but were a surprising novelty nearly a century ago. There are quite a few photographs from the films in question and also many notes for further reference and reading, but for me personally, I enjoyed gaining a deeper insight into how the narrative film, ie the story film, emerged. Films were not always as they are now, with good stories and plots, suspense, intrigue, close-ups, editing to create excitement, etc. These things had to be thought-out and developed: the format of a good book had to be `translated' to the new film medium, and Griffith was at the forefront in America in these critical years of 1908-09. There is only one chapter dealing with Griffith's work after these years up to 1915, and the book discusses only Griffith's work, not any aspects of Griffith personally - the main focus of the book being this turning point in film history, and having all these techniques explained to me more thoroughly has left me with an even deeper appreciation and respect for both Griffith and films in general. Definitely a worth while read for the serious silent film enthusiast or film historian.

Early Years of Art History in the United States.

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Early Years of Art History in the United States.
CRAIG HUGH (ED.) SMYTH
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQPL42

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