The star of some of the best and most unconventional American films in recent history, Johnny Depp has also been a source of media fascination since the 90s. His film roles have always been idiosyncratic, earning him international respect and adoration—fromEdward Scissorhands, Ed Wood,andDonnie Brascoto his surprising star turn as the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow inPirates of the Caribbean,which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. His good looks, oddball charm, and tempestuous love affairs have helped push him into the limelight and kept him there. Now in this biography, Nigel Goodall looks at his bad-boy image, his rise to fame, and his high-profile romances with beautiful women such as Winona Ryder, Kate Moss, and longtime love Vanessa Paradis.

“Wonderfully entertaining . . . This distinctive first novel goes down like a chocolate milkshake but boasts the sharpness and finesse of a complex wine” (Publishers Weekly). Gilbert Grape is a twenty-four-year-old grocery store clerk stuck in Endora, Iowa, where the population is 1,091 and shrinking. After the suicide of Gilbert’s father, his family never fully recovered. Once the town beauty queen, Gilbert’s mother is now morbidly obese and planted eternally in front of the TV; his younger sister has recently turned both boy-crazy and God-fearing, while his older sister sacrifices everything for her family. And then there’s Arnie, Gilbert’s younger brother with special needs. With no one else to care for Arnie, Gilbert becomes his brother’s main parent, and all four siblings must tend to the needs of their helpless, grieving mother. So Gilbert is in a rut—until a mysterious new girl named Becky arrives in this small town. As his family gathers for Arnie’s eighteenth birthday, Gilbert finds himself at a crossroads . . . This “completely original” portrait of a family (The New York Times), “charged with sardonic intelligence” (The Washington Post Book World), was the basis for a film starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, and stands as one of the most memorable novels of recent decades. “Sometimes funny, sometimes sad . . . and always engaging.” —The Atlantic “By the book’s exhilaratingly luminous ending . . . we have already been mesmerized.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “A funny, touching, caring first novel whose characters are familiar and moving in spite of (or perhaps because of) their peculiarities.” —Booklist

Presents a study of Johnny Depp's film performances, from A nightmare on Elm Street to Secret window.

Nigel Goodall has written more than a dozen books, including the best-selling Winona Ryder (Blake, 1998), nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in 1999. He was a production associate for Channel 4's The Real Winona Ryder. His other books include Elton John: A Visual Documentary, an illustrated Rolling Stones book and the bestseller Kylie Naked: A Biography (Ebury,2002, with Jenny Stanley-Clarke). He writes for magazines and contributes to various album, video and television projects. Nigel is divorced with two children.

The star of some of the best American films in recent history, Johnny Depp is also one of Hollywood's most versatile and enigmatic actors. From Edward Scissorhands, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Ed Wood, and Donnie Brasco to his Oscar-nominated performances in Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland his film roles have always been unconventional, earning him international respect and adoration. In Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion, film journalist Denis Meikle looks at the effects that Depp's rising critical and commercial stature may have on the direction of his career, including his recent film Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Since his rise to fame in the television series 21 Jump Street in 1987 and his subsequent transition to film acting, Johnny Depp has received constant criticism for his choice of roles--at least until his popular turn in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. This book aims to reveal the ways in which Depp's choices of film roles, though often considered eccentric, allowed him to develop into the representative film actor of his time. It organizes all of Depp's films chronologically, narrating in the process his transition from underestimated teenage pretty boy to bona fide Hollywood hotshot. Along the way, the book addresses Depp's relationship to earlier film actors, especially to Marlon Brando and the silent comics; the influence of Depp's androgynous sexuality on both his choice of roles and his acting; and his relationships with directors Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton.

A "devilishly delightful" (Bookpage) new novel from an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Tim and Kate Welch are seemingly the last middle-class family in the exclusive neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, NewYork. Tim is a popular history teacher, and an ordinary guy. Kate is not ordinary, but she aspires to be. Brought up by a hippie mother, Kate stays home with their two young sons trying to be the responsible parent she never had. But their neat and tidy world is turned upside down when Anna Brody- beautiful, wealthy, and impulsive-moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, and draws Kate and Tim into her world.

Describes the life and career of the critically acclaimed actor, Johnny Depp.

This demonization of the overweight by the media and politicians is unrelenting. Sarah Boseley, the Guardian's award-winning health editor, argues it's time we understood the complex reality of what makes us fat. Speaking to behavioural scientists and industry experts, yo-yo dieters and people who have gone under the knife,Boseley builds a picture of an obesogenic society - one where we're constantly bombarded by the twin evils of big budget food marketing and the diet industry. Filled with in-depth, original reporting, Boseley reveals just how widespread the problem is - 1 in 4 of us are obese - and makes the case that it is time to fundamentally change the way we live. The Shape We're In is essential reading for anyone interested in their health and the health of their children.

This collection presents "more than 650 readings about daily life from present-day authors ..."--Inside jacket flap.