In Theatres NOW: Books!
For the long-form fiction crowd, movies adapted from books have cast a large shadow already this year. The Descendants won a Golden Globe earlier this week, and the book is now a bestseller. Author Kaui Hemmings gives meaning to a family struggling with impending loss. Her genius is writing comedy and tragedy, sometimes in the same sentence. I am a big fan of her short story collection (which the novel is based on), House of Thieves.
And, in We Bought a Zoo, author Benjamin Mee showers the pages with the healing power of animals over a grieving family. The hopefulness despite a huge tragedy is beautifully scripted. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a riveting story (by a debut author) of one child’s journey after his father dies on 9-11. You will need a truck load of tissues, but the writing is great. The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo’s popular fiction series seems to have resonated with both book lovers and movie goers.
Coming soon is Finding Flynn http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455323/ based on Nick Flynn’s first memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. A poet and Sarah Lawrence professor, Mr. Flynn has a poet’s economy with words and spare storytelling, with impressive results.
Wow, isn’t 2012 off to a great start? Wonderful entertainment and fabulous reads. Enjoy!
I loved The Descendants, the novel! I haven’t seen the film yet, but it’s Alexander Payne, so I’m sure I’ll love it! And, well, Clooney…. It’s everything I could hope for my own writing!
| Posted 1 month, 1 week agoApryl, do you remember when Kaui came to SLC? She got her MFA several years before us. That is our future. XO
| Posted 1 month, 1 week agoHere’s hoping!
I distinctly remember being very disappointed that I couldn’t go to that. At the time, I was in love with her story “Begin With An Outline.”
Posted 1 month, 1 week agoShe was great, it was just before The Descendants was published. She read from House of Thieves. Wow, what a ride she has had. George Clooney, Yikes! She was in the movie, too.
Posted 1 month, 1 week agothanks for the lovely book list. I can’t wait to read them all, especially the one about the real Downton Abbey.
| Posted 3 weeks, 3 days agotrust me you won’t be disappointed. let’s go to england and see the castle.
| Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago