tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post8806429190400460040..comments2023-01-07T19:00:52.526-05:00Comments on the excelsior file: Keep Your Eye On The Kiddavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-56475385156432739732008-04-14T01:43:00.000-04:002008-04-14T01:43:00.000-04:00So true on many points. In doing research on anot...So true on many points. In doing research on another figure in early film history what I have discovered is that many people in the late 19th/early 20th century took the American Dream as an opportunity to reinvent themselves: giving themselves new names, inventing whole past stories to match the expectations of a growing fan base, changing facts on whim or when it best suited their purpose.<BR/david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-78090093748291547042008-04-14T00:26:00.000-04:002008-04-14T00:26:00.000-04:00I am just learning of this book and am thrilled to...I am just learning of this book and am thrilled to be. In fact, so thrilled I fired off an email to Ms. Brighton even though I haven't read the book yet. <BR/><BR/>I'm a passionate advocate for picture book biographies on pioneers from the popular arts. Seems the majority of nonfiction picture books on our creative heritage focus on classical composers, which is of course important and wonderful.Marc Tyler Noblemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10732005290440645718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-6110497511533371462008-04-07T16:43:00.000-04:002008-04-07T16:43:00.000-04:00I bet it's a huge challenge to write about any Hol...I bet it's a huge challenge to write about any Hollywood star from before the 1960s because publicity agents and ghost writers were so willing to tell any story that sounded good. And many previous chroniclers followed the <I>Liberty Valence</I> rule and printed the legend.<BR/><BR/>Just today, the <I>NY Times</I> had to correct its front-page obituary of Charlton Heston because he turned out to J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-18074015487326360122008-04-06T22:35:00.000-04:002008-04-06T22:35:00.000-04:00Between this one and Don Brown's Mack Made Movies,...Between this one and Don Brown's <I>Mack Made Movies</I>, you're absolutely right that there's lots more room on the shelf for books about movies, film, cinema. Why aren't there more such titles already, given the vast amount of money that Americans spend on movies, and the huge place those movies (even stuff like <I>Goonies</I>) occupy in our culture -- compared to, say, jazz?<BR/><BR/>Maybe it Chris Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891925951616484973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-77125479588971212902008-04-03T20:29:00.000-04:002008-04-03T20:29:00.000-04:00Yeah, apparently Jabberwocky's back matter was a j...Yeah, apparently Jabberwocky's back matter was a joke. There was a huge debate at ALA Notables when the book came up. People were incensed when they heard that he'd made up stuff and printed it as fact. <BR/><BR/>I think this is a fascinating question to ask about non-fiction picture books because on my part I'm always backing and forthing. I loved the work of Brighton and McCarthy (no opinion Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-66575360586968640292008-04-03T10:51:00.000-04:002008-04-03T10:51:00.000-04:00No, wait, the backmatter in Jabberwocky was fake? ...No, wait, the backmatter in <I>Jabberwocky</I> was fake? You mean that was Meyers trying to be clever? Oh, now I hate that book eve more if that's true! I NEVER thought the illos were a good fit for the poem, but now this? Bah!<BR/><BR/>I think the problem with the authorial "I" is that when you're dealing with a real person you assume they are telling the truth. For older kids, the david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-77966315544421745192008-04-03T10:37:00.000-04:002008-04-03T10:37:00.000-04:00See, to my mind the fact that Brighton acknowledge...See, to my mind the fact that Brighton acknowledges the fact that these stories are perhaps not real gives the book a green card. Since it's told in the first person this is similar to Keaton telling you his own personal tall tales firsthand. Yeah, it's tricky territory, but remember the brouhaha that erupted when people discovered that the backmatter at the end of Christopher Myers' "JabberwockyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com