By Stuart Nulman Let me say right off the bat … after all the hype and excitement surrounding its impending release earlier this spring, Dan Brown’s latest blockbuster book “Inferno” is not his best novel (that distinction belongs to “Angels and Demons”). However, it remains an entertaining and informative thriller that will be widely […]
Books
Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer (Viking, $30)
By Stuart Nulman for Curtains Up! For his 23rd book, prolific best selling novelist Robert J. Sawyer decided to combine the literary genre that he is best associated with – science fiction – with the genre that he enjoys reading a lot – hardboiled […]
Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and The Renegades of Nashville by Michael Streissguth (it Books, $31.99)
“What kind of music do you usually have here?” “Oh we got both kinds. We got country and western!” -from The Blues Brothers By Andreas Kessaris for Curtains Up! There was a time when a handful of people in Nashville had a virtual monopoly on Country & Western music. All the recording artists were […]
In conversation with Judy Collins
Author and songstress Judy Collins chats with Sharman Yarnell:
Attempting Normal by Marc Maron (Spiegel & Grau, $29.95)
By Stuart Nulman I first saw Marc Maron perform at the Just For Laughs festival back in 2009. He was appearing at the Theatre St. Catherine with his one-man show “Scorching the Earth”, as part of the festival’s Flying Solo Series. I didn’t know much about him, but I decided to give it a shot […]
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (Little, Brown, $30)
By Stuart Nulman When I first saw the title “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” in Little, Brown’s spring catalogue, I thought it was another scientific book that outlined a new approach to finding revolutionary, innovative treatments for diabetes. But when I saw David Sedaris’ name […]
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Simon & Schuster, $29.99)
By Stuart Nulman In the spring of 1970, as Allan Burns and James L. Brooks, the creators of a brand new sitcom that would star Mary Tyler Moore (last seen on the tube as Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” from 1961-66) were sitting down with Mike […]
Top of the Morning by Brian Stelter (Grand Central Publishing, $31)
By Stuart Nulman Around this time a year ago, a full-fledged palace coup was quietly taking place within the confines of NBC’s Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza, the home of the news division’s most profitable program, the Today Show. The target of this coup: Ann Curry, the show’s news reader/correspondent who was with “Today” for […]
My Way: An Autobiography by Paul Anka with David Dalton (St. Martin’s Press, $34.50)
By Andreas Kessaris for Curtains Up! The year was 1988. I was a young student in my first semester at Dawson College taking a course in documentary film taught by David Grey. I wrote a paper on the NFB film Lonely Boy. The paper gets me a grade of 82%. In 1995 I am […]
When Variety Was King by Frank Peppiatt (ECW Press, $17.95)
By Stuart Nulman In 1965, Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth were in the midst of a gig as the creators and writers of the short-lived NBC pop music show “Hullabaloo”. One day, their manager Lester Gottlieb asked the pair to embark upon a whirlwind weekend train trip to Miami. The reason? To have a […]