A fearless, hardworking seeker, veteran actress Samantha Harper Macy (widow of comedic TV and film actor, Bill Macy) has written an open, honest tell-all (and then some) about some of the most interesting men and women that the theatre and big screen had to offer. Racy and juicy, yet tender and sweet. Hedonistic, yet innocent. From rural Mississippi to Broadway to Hollywood, including pivotal moments in U.S. history. What a journey. What an adventure. Samantha Harper Macy (ne ́ Harriet Lloyd Harper) was raised in the small town of Batesville, Mississippi, where she lived an enchanted childhood isolated from most of the larger world. Her vision of life changed at nineteen, when she was a sophomore present during riots at the University of Mississippi in 1962, sparked after James Meredith became the first black student to enroll there, allowing her to witness firsthand a key moment in civil rights history and the birth pains of momentous change in the Deep South. After receiving a master of arts in Speech and Theater at the University of Illinois in 1964, she traveled to New York City, arriving in The Big Apple, a virginal young woman of twenty-one. Within seven years, she found herself on the vanguard of the sexual revolution, performing nude in stage and film versions of Oh! Calcutta! She watched the rise of the antiwar/hippie movement sparked by the Vietnam and Cambodia wars, the ravages of the Kent State massacre against unarmed students, and the downfall of Richard Nixon, meeting along her way an eclectic group of artists and innovators who'd influence the rest of her life. Her marriage to actor Bill Macy brought her to Los Angeles and the chance to chase her girlhood dream: to go to Hollywood and kiss all the movie stars.

(Applause Books). Featuring rumpled PIs, shyster lawyers, corrupt politicians, double-crossers, femmes fatales, and, of course, losers who find themselves down on their luck yet again, film noir is a perennially popular cinematic genre. This extensive encyclopedia describes movies from noir's earliest days and even before, looking at some of noir's ancestors in US and European cinema as well as noir's more recent offshoots, from neonoirs to erotic thrillers. Entries are arranged alphabetically, covering movies from all over the world from every continent save Antarctica with briefer details provided for several hundred additional movies within those entries. A copious appendix contains filmographies of prominent directors, actors, and writers. With coverage of blockbusters and program fillers from Going Straight (US 1916) to Broken City (US 2013) via Nora Inu (Japan 1949), O Anthropos tou Trainou (Greece 1958), El Less Wal Kilab (Egypt 1962), Reportaje a la Muerte (Peru 1993), Zift (Bulgaria 2008), and thousands more, A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir is an engrossing and essential reference work that should be on the shelves of every cinephile.

The first edition of Purity in Print documented book censorship in America from the 1870s to the 1930s, embedding it within the larger social and cultural history of the time. In this second edition, Boyer adds two new chapters carrying his history forward to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

John Cheever spent much of his career impersonating a perfect suburban gentleman, the better to become one of the foremost chroniclers of postwar America. Written with unprecedented access to essential sources—including Cheever’s massive journal, only a fraction of which has ever been published—Bailey’s Cheever is a stunning example of the biographer’s art and a brilliant tribute to an essential author.

After the sexual revolution came the sexual explosion The six years between 1968 and 1973 saw more sexual taboos challenged than ever before. Film, literature, and theater simultaneously broke through barriers previously unimagined, giving birth to what we still consider to be the height of sexual expression in our pop culture: Portnoy's Complaint, Myra Breckinridge, Hair, The Boys in the Band, Midnight Cowboy, Last Tango in Paris, and Deep Throat. In Sexplosion, Robert Hofler weaves a lively narrative linking many of the writers, producers, and actors responsible for creating these and other controversial works, placing them within their cultural and social frameworks. During the time the Stonewall Riots were shaking Greenwich Village and Roe v. Wade was making its way to the Supreme Court, a group of daring artists was challenging the status quo and defining the country's concept of sexual liberation. Hofler follows the creation of and reaction to these groundbreaking works, tracing their connections and influences upon one another and the rest of entertainment. Always colorful and often unexpected, Sexplosion is an illuminating account of a generation of sexual provocateurs and the power their works continue to hold decades later.

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Examines adult musicals as reflective of the socioeconomic mood of New York City in the 1970s, the socio-sexual mores of the country in the decade following the sexual revolution, and contemporary debates about obscenity and art.

"Grease, Tell Me More, Tell Me More is a fabulous rockin' and rollin' origin story with every juicy inspiration that went into creating it. . . . A must read for all Grease fans." —Didi Conn, Grease's "Frenchy" What started as an amateur play with music in a converted trolly barn in Chicago hit Broadway fifty years ago—and maintains its cultural impact today. Grease opened downtown in the Eden Theatre February 14, 1972, short of money, short of audience, short of critical raves, and seemingly destined for a short run. But like the little engine that could, this musical of high school kids from the 1950s moved uptown. On December 8, 1979, it became the longest running show—play or musical—in Broadway history. Grease: Tell Me More, Tell Me More is a collection of memories and stories from over one hundred actors and musicians, including the creative team and crew who were part of the original Broadway production and in the many touring companies it spawned. Here are stories—some touching, some hilariously funny—from names you may recognize: Barry Bostwick, John Travolta, Adrienne Barbeau, Treat Williams, Marilu Henner, Peter Gallagher, and others you may not: Danny Jacobson, creator of Mad About You; Tony-winning Broadway directors Walter Bobbie and Jerry Zaks; bestselling authors Laurie Graff and John Lansing; television stars Ilene Kristen, Ilene Graff, and Lisa Raggio, and many, many more. Read about the struggles, the battles, and the ultimate triumphs achieved in shaping the story, characters, and music into the iconic show now universally recognized the world over.

Music: A Social Experience offers a topical approach for a music appreciation course. Through a series of subjects–from Music and Worship to Music and War and Music and Gender–the authors present active listening experiences for students to experience music's social and cultural impact. The book offers an introduction to the standard concert repertoire, but also gives equal treatment to world music, rock and popular music, and jazz, to give students a thorough introduction to today's rich musical world. Through lively narratives and innovative activities, the student is given the tools to form a personal appreciation and understanding of the power of music. The book is paired with an audio compilation featuring listening guides with streaming audio, short texts on special topics, and sample recordings and notation to illustrate basic concepts in music. There is not a CD-set, but the companion website with streaming audio is provided at no additional charge.