Historians have long acknowledged Carl Laemmle’s accomplishments in the film industry: his meteoric rise from exhibitor to founding Universal Pictures and his mastery of movie marketing. As early as 1908 he appeared in newspaper ads claiming “I am the Moving Picture Man” and promising theatre owners “the liveliest business you ever dreamed of.” He went on to produce thousands of stories on the silver screen, from Dracula to the academy award winning All Quiet on the Western Front. However, Laemmle’s own epic tale of resilience and triumph has gone unrecognized. The Moving Picture Man details his remarkable ascent from poor immigrant to international fame and his quiet but profound humanitarianism in his fight to save Jews from Nazi, Germany.
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Butterfly in the Typewriter
The saga of John Kennedy Toole is one of the greatest stories of American literary history. After writing A Confederacy of Dunces, Toole corresponded with Robert Gottlieb of Simon & Schuster for two years. Exhausted from Gottlieb’s suggested revisions, Toole declared the publication of the manuscript hopeless and stored it in a box. Years later he suffered a mental breakdown, took a two-month journey across the United States, and finally committed suicide on an inconspicuous road outside of Biloxi. Following the funeral, Toole’s mother discovered the manuscript. After many rejections, she cornered Walker Percy, who found it a brilliant novel and spearheaded its publication. In 1981, twelve years after the author’s death, A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize.
In Butterfly in the Typewriter, Cory MacLauchlin draws on scores of new interviews with friends, family, and colleagues as well as full access to the extensive Toole archive at Tulane University, capturing his upbringing in New Orleans, his years in New York City, his frenzy of writing in Puerto Rico, his return to his beloved city, and his descent into paranoia and depression.
Read an excerpt here.
Readings and events: check the event schedule
Release Date: March 27, 2012
Available at your local bookstore or online booksellers
ISBN 978-0-306-82040-3
$26.00/ $29.00 CAN
For subsidiary rights contact William Clark at:
wmclark@wmclark.com
Banner image “Good Companion Typewriter” by Indi Samarajiva
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