If you’re looking for a gift for the movie buff on your holiday list, you might consider Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection. This Blu-rays offer crisp, clear transfers of the original films. And the SPECIAL FEATURES are intriguing, too. Check them out! For $30 on AMAZON, this box set is a steal! GRADE: A
Special Features
Disc 1 – Rear Window:
Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary
A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Masters of Cinema
Feature Commentary with John Fawell, Author of Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
Disc 2 – Vertigo:
Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock’s Collaborators
Hitchcock / Truffaut
Foreign Censorship Ending
The Vertigo Archives
Feature Commentary with Film Director William Friedkin
Theatrical Trailer
Restoration Theatrical Trailer
100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
D-BOX
Disc 3 – North by Northwest:
Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style
Cary Grant: A Class Apart
Feature Commentary by Screenwriter Ernest Lehman
Stills Gallery
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 4 – Psycho (1960):
The Making of Psycho
Psycho Sound
In The Master’s Shadow: Hitchcock’s Legacy
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
The Psycho Archives
Posters and Psycho Ads
Lobby Cards
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
Re-release Trailers
My Scenes
Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho”)
BD-Live
Disc 5 – The Birds:
Deleted Scene
The Original Ending
The Birds: Hitchcock’s Monster Movie
All About The Birds
Storyboard Sequence
Tippi Hedren’s Screen Test
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel)
Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel)
Production Photographs
Theatrical Trailer
100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics
100 Years of Universal: The Lot
My Scenes
pocket BLU App
BD-Live
D-BOX

I’m a big fan of Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club and Lit so I was eager to read Karr’s new book, The Art of Memoir. Karr takes writing a memoir seriously (I wish could take her writing class at Syracuse University!). If you check out the Table of Contents, you’ll see the range of Karr’s interests and her approach to writing. I consider The Art of Memoir to be one of the best books I’ve read this year! But the big bonus is her Appendix: Required Reading–Mostly Memoirs and Some Hybrids which I typed out for you to appreciate. How many of those books have you read? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Caveat Emptor xi
Preface: Welcome to My Chew Toy xiii
1 The Past’s Vigor
2 The Truth Contract Twixt Writer and Reader
3 Why Not to Write a Memoir: Plus a Pop Quiz to Protect the Bleeding & Box Out the Rigid
4 A Voice Conjures the Human Who Utters It
5 Don’t Try This at Home: The Seductive, Narcissistic Count
6 Sacred Carnality
7 How to Choose a Detail
8 Hucksters, the Deluded, and Big Fat Liars
9 Interiority and Inner Enemy—Private Agonies Read Deeper Than External Whammies
10 On Finding the Nature of Your Talent
11 The Visionary Maxine Hong Kingston
12 Dealing with Beloveds (On and Off the Page)
13 On Information, Facts, and Data
14 Personal Run-Ins with Fake Voices
15 On Book Structure and the Order of Information
16 The Road to Hell Is Paved with Exaggeration
17 Blind Spots and False Selves
18 Truth Hunger: The Public and Private Burning of Kathryn Harrison
19 Old-School Technologies for the Stalled Novice
20 Major Reversals in Cherry and Lit
21 Why Memoirs Fail
22 An Incomplete Checklist to Stave Off Dread
23 Michael Herr: Start in Kansas, End in Oz
24 Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision
Acknowledgments
Appendix| Required Reading—Mostly Memoirs and Some Hybrids
Permissions

APPENDIX: REQUIRED READING–MOSTLY MEMOIRS AND SOME HYBRIDS
The asterisked memoirs are books I’ve taught. Does this mean they’re better written? Absolutely.

*Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams and Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
*Allende, Isabel. The Sum of Our Days
*Als, Hilton. The Women
Amis, Martin. Experience
*Angelou, Maya. I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Antrim, Donald. The Afterlife
*Arenas, Reinaldo. Before Night Falls
Ayer, Pico. Falling Off the Map
*Saint Augustine. Confessions

Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Sun
*Batuman, Elif. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
*Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Home
Beck, Edward. God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest
*Bernhard, Thomas. Gathering Evidence
*Black Elk. Black Elk Speaks
Blow, Charles M. Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential
Boyett, Micha. Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer
Brave Bird, Mary. Lakota Woman
*Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land
*Buford, Bill. Among the Thugs and Heat
Burgess, Anthony. Little Wilson and Big God: Being the First Part of the Confessions of Anthony Burgess
Busch, Benjamin. Dust to Dust

Cairns, Scott. Short Trip to the Edge
Carr, David. The Night of the Gun
Carroll, James. Practicing Catholic
*Chaudhuri, Nirad C. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian
*Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia
Chast, Rox. Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
*Cheever, Susan. Home Before Dark
*Cherry-Garrard, Apsley. The Worst Journey in the World
Churchill, Winston. My Early Life, 1874-1904
Ciszek, Walter, SJ. With God in Russia
*Coetzee, J. M. Boyhood
Collins, Judy. Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing
*Conroy, Frank. Stop-Time
Conway, Jill Ker. The Road form Coorain
Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain
*Crews, Harry. A Childhood: The Biography of a Place and Blood and Grits
*Crick, Francis and James Watson. The Double Helix
Crowell, Rodney. Chinaberry Sidewalks

Dau, John Bul. God Grew Tired of Us
*Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness
*Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa
*Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking
*Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood
*Doty, Mark. Heaven’s Coast
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
*Dubus, Andre, III. Townie
Dunham, Lena. Not That Kind of Girl
Dylan, Bob. Chronicles

Eggers, Dave. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Eire, Carlos. Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
*Exley, Frederick. A Fan’s Notes

Fey, Tina. Bossypants
Forna, Aminatta. The Devil That Danced on the Water
Fox, Paula. Borrowed Finery
Frame, Janet. An Autobiography
Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
*Frazier, Ian. On the Rez
Frenkel, Edward. Love and Math
Fuller, Alexandra. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

*Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Living to Tell the Tale
Gellhorn, Martha. Travels With Myself and Another
Geronimo. My Life
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love
*Ginzburg, Yevgenia. Journey Into the Whirlwind
*Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
*Graves, Robert. Good-Bye to All That
Gray, Francine du Plessix. Them: A Memoir of Parents
Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face
Greene, Graham. A Sort of Life
Guevara, Ernesto Che. The Motorcycle Diaries

*Haley, Alex, and Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Hamilton, Gabriella. Blood, Bones & Butter
Hampl, Patricia. A Romantic Education
*Hardy, G. H. A Mathematician’s Apology
*Harrison, Kathryn. The Kiss
*Haxton, Brooks. Fading Hearts on the River: A Life in High-Stakes Poker
*Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast
*Herr, Michael. Dispatches
*Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar
Hogan, Linda. The Woman Who Watches Over the World
Hongo, Garrett. Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai;i
Hooks, Bell. Bone Black
Huang, Eddie. Fresh Off the Boat
*Hurston, Zora Neal. Dust Tracks on a Road

Irving, Debby. Waking Up White

Jackson, Phil. Sacred Hoops
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jamison, Kay. An Unquiet Mind
Jordan, June. Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood

Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life
Kidder, Tracy. House
*Kincaid, Jamaica. My Brother
King, Stephen. On Writing
*Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior
Knausgard, Karl Ove. My Struggles series
*Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air
Lawrence, T. E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Least Heat-Moon, William. Blue Highways: A Journey into America
*Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz
*Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy
Liao Yiwu. For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet’s Journey Through a Chinese Prison
Lopate, Philip. Against Joie de Vivre
*Lorde, Audre, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
*Lowell, Robert. “91 Revere Street,” in Life Studies

Macdonald, Helen. H is for Hawk
Malan, Rian. My Traitor’s Heart
Mandela, Nelson. Conversations with Myself
*Mandelstam, Nadezhda. Hope Against Hope and Hope Abandoned
Manguso, Sarah. The Two Kinds of Decay
*Mantel, Hilary. Giving Up the Ghost
*Markham, Beryl. West with the Night
Martin, Steve. Born Standing Up
*Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leapard
Mayle, Peter. A Year in Provence
*McBride, James. The Color of Water
McCarthy, Mary. Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
*McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes
McPhee, John. Coming into the Country
*Merton, Thomas. The Seven Storey Mountain
*Milburn, Michael. Odd Man In
*Mingus, Charles. Beneath the Underdog
Momaday, N. Scott. The Names
Monette, Paul. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir
Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi
Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

*Nabokov, Vladimir. Speak, Memory
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
*Neruda, Pablo. Memoirs
Nolan, Ty. Memoir of a Reluctant Shaman
Norris, Kathleen. The Cloister Walk

Oates, Joyce Carol. A Widow’s Story
Olsen, Tillie. Silences
*Ondaatje, Michael. Running in the Family
O’Rourke, Meghan. The Long Goodbye
Orwell, George. Homage to Catalonia, Burmese Days, and Down and Out in London and Paris

Parker, Mary Louise. Dear Mr. You
*Patchett, Ann. Truth & Beauty
Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Raban, Jonathan. Bad Land
Radziwill, Carole. What Remains
Raphael, Lev. My Germany
Red Cloud. The Heart of Everything That Is
Reed, Ishmael. Blues City
Rios, Albert. Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir
*Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory
Roth, Marco. The Scientists
Russell, Bertrand. The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

*St. Aubyn, Edward. The Patrick Melrose novels
Sallans, Ryan. Second Son
Santiago, Esmeralda. When I Was Puerto Rican
Sartre, Jean-Paul. The Words
*Sassoon, Siegfried. Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
*Shackleton, Ernest. South: The Endurance Expedition
Shakkur, Assata. Assata
Shakur, Sanyika. Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
*Shreyngart, Gary. Little Failure
Sleigh, Tom. Interview with a Ghost
Smith, Patti. Just Kids
Smith, Tracy K. Ordinary Light
Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon
Sontag, Susan. Illness as a Metaphor
Soto, Jock. Every Step You Take
Stahl, Jerry. Permanent Midnight
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild

Tan, Amy. The Opposite of Fate: A book of Musings
Theroux, Paul. Old Patagonia Express
Tolstoy, Leo. Childhood, Boyhood, Youth
Thompson, Ahmir-Khalib. Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Trillin, Calvin. About Alice
*Twain, Mark. Autobiography of Mark Twain

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle
Wainaina, Binyavanga. One Day I Will Write About This PLace
Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery
Watt, Robert Lee. The Black Horn
Weil, Simone. Waiting for God, Gravity and Grace
*Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings
White, Edmund. My Lives
White, T. H. The Goshawk
*Wideman, John Edgar. Brothers and Keepers
*Wiesel, Elie. Night
Winterson Jeanette. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
*Wolfe, Tom. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
*Wolff, Geoffrey. The Duke of Deception and A Day at the Beach
*Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army
Woolf, Virginia. Moments of Being
*Wright, Richard. American Hunger

*Yen Mah, Adeline. Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

Zailckas, Koren. Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

USEFUL BOOKS ABOUT MEMOIR
Adams, Timothy Dow. Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography
Leibowitz, Herbert. Fabricating Lives
Shields, David. Reality Hunger
Yagoda, Ben. Memoir: A History

The Buffalo Bills season all comes down to this game with Kansas City. The New York Times Playoff Simulator says that if the Bills win this game against the Chiefs, the Bills will have a 65% chance of making the Playoffs. But, if the Bills lose to the Chiefs today, the Bills Playoff chances plunge to 29%! Yikes! So this is a make-it-or-break-it game for the inconsistent Buffalo Bills. I’m hoping they’re “ON” today. How about your favorite NFL team? Where do they stand?

I am a big fan of Adele’s previous CDs--19 and 21–so it came as shock to find her new CD, 25, is a dud. “Hello” dominates the local pop music radio stations. 25 is the the biggest selling album in the U.S. right now. But for all of that, there just isn’t much worth listening to on this album. Part of the problem may be that Adela and an army of “partners” wrote all the songs on this disc. Maybe recording some stronger songs would have made this a much better listening experience. Even the BONUS TRACKS are weak. Not worth the extra money I spent. I love Adele and her powerful voice, but 25 sucks. GRADE: C
TRACK LIST:
Hello
Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
I Miss You
When We Were Young
Remedy
Water Under The Bridge
River Lea
Love In The Dark
Million Years Ago
All I Ask
Sweetest Devotion
BONUS TRACKS:
“Can’t Let Go”
“Lay Me Down”
“Why Do You Love Me”

No, this is not one of Max Allan Collins’ Quarry novels. This is a science fiction and private eye mashup tale. Rick Robinson reviewed a John E. Stith novel here. As I result, I picked up Deep Quarry to give it a try. ACE Books published Deep Quarry in 1989. A private eye on an alien planet is hired to look into thefts at an archaeological dig sight. The theft of 10,000 year old antiques is just the tip of the iceberg in a surprising plot. If you’re interested in some off-beat detection, Deep Quarry just might be your cup of tea.

I’m a big fan of Gertrude Himmelfarb who specializes in writing about the Victorian era. This new edition of The Moral Imagination features insightful essays on George Eliot, John Stuart Mill, Lord Acton, Charles Darwin, and others. I find Himmelfarb’s essays clear and concise. Her writing style is lucid. And Himmelfarb puts the ideas she discusses in these essays in historical context. You’re not going to read better historical essays than these gems! Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
Adam Smith:Political Economist cum Moral Philosopher
Edmund Burke: Apologist for Judaism?
George Eliot: The Wisdom of Dorothea
Jane Austen: The Education of Emma
Charles Dickens: “A Low Writer”
Benjamin Disraeli: The Tory Imagination
John Stuart Mill: The Other Mill
Walter Bagehot: “A Divided Nature”
Lord Acton: The Historian as Moralist
Alfred Marshall: “The Economics of Chivalry”
John Buchan: An Untimely Appreciation
The Knoxes: A God-Haunted Family
Michael Oakeshott: The Conservative Disposition
Winston Churchill: “Quite Simply, a Great Man”
Lionel Trilling: The Moral Imagination
Notes
Index

Spotlight is the best movie I’ve seen in 2015. It’s almost as good as the best journalism movie ever: All the President’s Men. Based on a true story, Spotlight tells the story of a Boston Globe investigative team who starts looking into what was to become one of the most shocking newspaper series of the past 20 years. What the team uncovered in 2001 about pedophile priests is still having seismic effects around the world. Michael Keaton plays Robby Robinson, the Spotlight team leader. John Slattery is Ben Bradlee, Jr. who remains skeptical about the project until almost the end. Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer leads the team in personal interviews with victims. I loved Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes, an emotional reporter who becomes obsessed with the investigation into the conspiracy. I’m not a big Liev Schrieber fan, but he’s powerful in Spotlight as Marty Baron, the Globe’s new Jewish editor-in-chief who refuses to play it safe. Spotlight will be a contender for Best Film at Oscar time. GRADE: A

For that P.G. Wodehouse fan on your holiday buying list, here’s The Complete P.G. Wodehouse series (99 volumes!) from Overlook Press. It’s only $1,378. I own a couple dozen of these Overlook Press books. When BORDERS was going out of business, I loaded up on these wonderful novels that were selling for pennies on the dollar. Part of me would like to buy this set just to support Overlook Press for this wonderful project! But, of course, I suspect Diane would find spending over a thousand dollars on a set books I already own many of (in Penguin editions mostly) a dubious enterprise. But, I’m sure there are Wodehouse fans who are rejoicing to see these books back in print and available to a new audience. If you want to know more about these books, just click Overlook Press.

The Buffalo Bills play the New England Patriots tomorrow night on Monday Night Football but I figured I’d put up the graphic today. The Bills are underdogs to the undefeated Patriots. In their Week Two meeting at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Tom Brady threw for 466 yards in a 40-32 win. I don’t expect the score of tomorrow night’s game to be high but I suspect the result will be the same. How is your favorite NFL team going to do today?