Most Popular Books by Kristine McKenna

Kristine McKenna''s work as a journalist began in the late 1970s, when she covered the Los Angeles punk scene for various domestic and international publications. During the ''80s and ''90s she wrote art, film and music criticism, and profiled directors, musicians and visual artists for a variety of publications including Artforum, Playboy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times and New York Rocker. Talk to Her is McKenna''s second collection (the first was 1999''s Book of Changes) of favorite interviews culled from McKenna''s files, and the book reveal''s McKenna''s highly intimate technique as an interviewer. That she manages to get such candor out of her subjects is remarkable. The stunning list of interview subjects includes: Filmmaker Robert Altman; Jackie Onassis''s cousin Edie Beale; punk rocker and poet Exene Cervenka; the musician Elvis Costello; surf guitar legend Dick Dale; the postmodern critic Jacques Derrida; Beat poet Allen Ginsberg; Television''s Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine; art curator Walter Hopps; Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde; country music legend Rickie Lee Jones; the Sex Pistols'' John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten); singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell; the Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man; punk rock legend Joey Ramone; New York rock legend Lou Reed; the actress Eva Marie Saint; and the recently-departed Joe Strummer of the Clash. Also included are brief oral histories of Andy Warhol and Orson Welles.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An unprecedented look into the personal and creative life of the visionary auteur David Lynch, through his own words and those of his closest colleagues, friends, and family “Insightful . . . an impressively industrious and comprehensive account of Lynch’s career.”—The New York Times Book Review In this unique hybrid of biography and memoir, David Lynch opens up for the first time about a life lived in pursuit of his singular vision, and the many heartaches and struggles he’s faced to bring his unorthodox projects to fruition. Lynch’s lyrical, intimate, and unfiltered personal reflections riff off biographical sections written by close collaborator Kristine McKenna and based on more than one hundred new interviews with surprisingly candid ex-wives, family members, actors, agents, musicians, and colleagues in various fields who all have their own takes on what happened. Room to Dream is a landmark book that offers a onetime all-access pass into the life and mind of one of our most enigmatic and utterly original living artists. With insights into . . . Eraserhead The Elephant Man Dune Blue Velvet Wild at Heart Twin Peaks Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Lost Highway The Straight Story Mulholland Drive INLAND EMPIRE Twin Peaks: The Return Praise for Room to Dream “A memorable portrait of one of cinema’s great auteurs . . . provides a remarkable insight into [David] Lynch’s intense commitment to the ‘art life.’ ”—The Guardian “This is the best book by and about a movie director since Elia Kazan’s A Life (1988) and Michael Powell’s A Life in Movies (1986). But Room to Dream is more enchanting or appealing than those classics. . . . What makes this book endearing is its chatty, calm account of how genius in America can be a matter-of-fact defiance of reality that won’t alarm your dog or save mankind. It’s the only way to dream in so disturbed a country.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Edited by Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna. Essays by Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna and Stephen Fredman.

In 1950s California, and especially in Los Angeles, there existed few venues for contemporary art. To a whole generation of California artists, this presented a freedom, since the absence of a context for their work meant that they could coin their own, and in uncommonly interesting ways. The careers of Ed Ruscha, Wallace Berman and Ed Kienholz all begin with this absence: Ruscha turned to books as a means of dissemination, Berman pioneered mail art through his magazine Semina and in March 1957, Ed Kienholz, in collaboration with curator Walter Hopps, co-founded one of California''s greatest historical galleries, Ferus. Within months of opening, Ferus, which is Latin for "wild," gained notoriety when the Hollywood vice squad raided Berman''s first--and, in his lifetime, last--solo exhibition, following a complaint about "lewd material." Shows by Kienholz and Jay DeFeo followed, but 1962 was Ferus'' annus mirabilis, with solo shows by Bruce Conner and Joseph Cornell, and the first solo shows of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol on the west coast. The following year, Ferus also hosted Ed Ruscha''s first solo exhibition. After Kienholz and Hopps parted ways--Hopps went on to mount the first American Duchamp retrospective at the Pasadena Art Musuem--the reins were handed to Irving Blum, who got Ferus out of the red and ran the gallery until its closure in 1966. A Place to Begin is an illustrated oral history of this heroic enterprise. With 62 new interviews with Ferus artists and more than 300 photographs (most previously unpublished), it retrieves a lost chapter of twentieth-century American art. Edited by Kristine McKenna, noted expert and co-editor of the critically acclaimed Semina Culture.

Ein einzigartiger Einblick in das persönliche und kreative Leben des visionären Künstlers David Lynch, erzählt von ihm selbst und seinen engsten Kollegen, Freunden und Verwandten. In einer faszinierenden Mischung aus Biografie und Memoire schreibt David Lynch erstmals über seine vielen Kämpfe und auch Niederlagen; wie kompliziert es oft war, seine zahlreichen unorthodoxen Projekte zu verwirklichen. Lynch kommentiert ungefiltert und auf sehr offene Art und Weise die biografischen Ausführungen seiner Co-Autorin Kristine McKenna, die für das Buch über hundert Interviews mit erstaunlich gesprächigen Ex-Frauen, Familienmitgliedern, Schauspielern, Agenten, Musikern und sonstigen Kollegen geführt hat. Traumwelten ist ein besonderes Buch, das dem Leser eine tiefe Einsicht in das Leben und die Gedankenwelt eines der schillerndsten und originellsten Künstlers unserer Zeit gewährt.

Um mergulho sem precedentes na vida pessoal e criativa do visionário cineasta David Lynch, por meio de suas próprias palavras e do olhar de colegas de trabalho, família e amigos. Uma combinação única de biografia e memórias, talvez Espaço para sonhar seja mais precisamente descrito como uma história oral da carreira de Lynch. O livro traz intercalados capítulos escritos por Kristine McKenna pelo próprio cineasta, mesclando depoimentos de familiares, amigos e profissionais que trabalharam com Lynch e a perspectiva do próprio diretor. O resultado é um livro que acompanha o estilo único e a reverência peculiar de Lynch, uma obra singular que dá ao leitor acesso único à vida e à mente de um dos artistas vivos mais originais e enigmáticos da atualidade.

Kristine McKenna is an L.A based author who has been writing about art, film, music and literature since 1977 for nearly every major music and arts related magazine in the US. This is a collection of interviews she conducted with the famous and the great, with illustrations by seminal comic artists, Crumb, Roth, Woodring, Hernandez, Bagge and many more. McKenna''s list of interviewees reads like a who''s who in music and literature. James Brown, Beefheart, George Clinton, Leonard Cohen, Eno, Nici, Iggy, Burroughs, Ginserg -nearly every great mind of the 20th Century.

David Lynch realiza una original incursión en el género biográfico. Un libro magnético y particular. Espacio para soñar ofrece una mirada insólita a la vida personal y creativa del cineasta David Lynch, a través de sus propias palabras y las de sus colegas más próximos, amigos y parientes. En este libro singular, a caballo entre la biografía y las memorias, David Lynch se sincera por primera vez acerca de una vida dedicada a perseguir un imaginario único, deteniéndose en las penurias y las luchas que soportó para llevar a buen puerto sus proyectos heterodoxos. Las reflexiones de Lynch --líricas, íntimas y sin tapujos-- parten, capítulo tras capítulo, de las secciones biográficas que aporta su estrecha colaboradora Kristine McKenna, sustentadas en más de cien entrevistas inéditas con ex mujeres sorprendentemente francas, miembros de su familia, actores, agentes, músicos y colegas en todo tipo de disciplinas, cada uno con su propia versión de lo ocurrido. Espacio para soñar es un libro llamado a no perecer jamás, un pase exclusivo a las bambalinas de la vida y la mente de uno de los artistas más enigmáticos y sustancialmente originales de nuestro tiempo. La crítica ha dicho... «Si esperaban que la biografía de David Lynch fuese como cualquier otra, es que nunca han visto una de sus películas. Un libro fascinante.» The New York Times «E spacio para soñar bien podría ser el evangelio según David Lynch. Aquí hay infinidad de informaciones inéditas incluso para los más fanáticos. Y todo estácontado con el formidable encanto del cineasta, una mezcla de entusiasmo juvenil y sabidurá cósmica.» The Washington Post «Las memorias de David Lynch iluminan los orígenes de su arte. El humor y las excentricidades de sus recuerdos y observaciones son uno de los innegables atractivos de este libro.» The Economist «Lynch es todo un maestro para los locos perversos e inquietantes, y también para los locos del montón.» The Sunday Times «Un libro gozosamente fuera de lo convencional. Lynch escribe como habla. Esplana y llanamente directo, alegremente profano y se entusiasma repentinamente con lo más inesperado.» The Big Issue «Descubrimos o redescubrimos aspectos singulares de su singular personalidad, todo ello desde una perspectiva honesta, algo excéntrica y también a ratos divertida y cálida. [...] A medio camino entre la biografía y las memorias, es un documento esencial para comprender mejor su a veces incomprensible universo.» Fotogramas «Para los que aman el delirio cinematográfico lynchiano. Espacio para soñar acaba por convertirse en un artefacto biográfico curioso e inevitablemente extraño.» Zenda Libros

Dans ces mémoires uniques et hybrides, qui sont aussi particulières que l’homme lui-même, Lynch se confie pour la première fois sur sa vie, toujours en quête d’une vision singulière, et sur les nombreux chagrins d’amour et épreuves qu’il a affrontés pour mener à bien ses projets peu orthodoxes, parfois avec succès, parfois sans. Les réflexions lyriques, intensément intimes et sans aucun filtre de Lynch sont précédées de sections biographiques, écrites par sa proche collaboratrice Kristine McKenna et basées sur plus de cent interviews inédites avec des membres de sa famille, des acteurs, des agents, des musiciens et des collègues dans plusieurs domaines, qui ont chacun leur propre version de ce qu’il s’est passé. Room to dream est un livre-monument qui offre un exceptionnel et accessible voyage dans la vie et l’esprit de l’un des artistes vivants les plus timides, énigmatiques et authentiques. Traduit de l’anglais par Carole Delporte et Johan Frederik Hel Guedj

«Il secondo dopoguerra era un periodo perfetto per essere bambini negli Stati Uniti. All''epoca, pur essendo la capitale dell''Idaho, Boise manteneva un clima da cittadina di provincia, dove i figli della classe media godevano di libertà oggi inimmaginabili» scrive Kristine McKenna a proposito dell''infanzia e della città natale di David Lynch. Il quale, da parte sua, conferma ma aggiunge: «Quando giravo in bici la sera, al buio, da certe case provenivano luci calde, accoglienti. In altre le luci erano basse. Ecco, io avevo la sensazione che dentro quelle case non succedessero cose belle». Questo doppio registro narrativo - da un lato le oltre cento testimonianze di parenti, amici, attori, produttori, sceneggiatori e collaboratori che hanno lavorato con lui e che parlano unanimemente di Lynch come di una persona dolce e affabile e di un cineasta geniale, dall''altro la viva voce del protagonista che rivisita, talora con occhi diversi, gli stessi episodi e le stesse esperienze - è il tratto saliente di una biografia-autobiografia che, nel raccontare la vita del grande regista americano, offre una formidabile chiave d''accesso ai segreti della sua poetica e della sua creatività. Il flusso corale di ricordi, sentimenti e riflessioni, reso in un linguaggio colloquiale che ne esalta la spontaneità, chiarisce la natura di quello sguardo eccentrico e visionario che guida in modo coerente la cinematografia di Lynch, lungo una sequenza di titoli dal successo alterno ma tutti capaci di sferzare la fantasia e smuovere l''inconscio dello spettatore: da Eraserhead (1977) a The Elephant Man (1980), da Velluto blu (1986) alla saga tv di Twin Peaks (1990), da Cuore selvaggio (1990) a Mulholland Drive (2001). Ampio spazio è dedicato anche al talentuoso e vulcanico eclettismo del Lynch non regista. Che dipinge, una passione coltivata fin da ragazzo e mai abbandonata, con mostre in alcune delle più importanti gallerie del mondo; pratica la Meditazione Trascendentale; suona e compone musica; costruisce con le proprie mani oggetti, mobili e scenografie; e ha dato il proprio nome a una fondazione che promuove l''educazione infantile basata sullo sviluppo della coscienza. Di questo corposo racconto, Lynch dice che ha appena scalfito la superficie delle cose. Eppure il ritratto dell''uomo e dell''artista che ne emerge è così penetrante da rendere difficile credere che vi si possa aggiungere qualcosa di essenziale.

When photographer Ann Summa arrived in Los Angeles in 1978, the cityis punk scene was still fresh and diverse. She saw immediately that the L.A. audience was close-knit, smart, able to recognize punk energies in predecessors as various as Captain Beefheart and Nina Simone, and refusing of the punk stereotype ossification that was shortly to became so entrenched. Los Angeles is Ann Summais portrait of the musicians, artists and fans who made the city such a fertile venue during the late 70s and early 80s. Taken between 1978 and 1984, the images mostly revolve around L.A.is first punk generation, with vivid portraits of the Germs, the Screamers, X, the Cramps and Gun Club, among many others. From there, the bookis scope expands to accommodate the cross-pollination that took place between L.A.is punk scene and the fine art community (the audience for artists such as the Kipper Kids, Johanna Went and Laurie Anderson was primarily drawn from the underground music scene), as well as other key cities that helped give birth to punk. Photographed during their first U.S. tours are U.K. groups The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Magazine, The Fall, The Slits, Bow Wow Wow and The Pretenders, among others. Visiting dignitaries from New York include Television, James Chance, Lydia Lunch and Talking Heads. Also included are portraits of several artists who served as inspirations to L.A.is punk community--Captain Beefheart, Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Roxy Music--plus candid shots of unidentified audience members. Edited and with an introduction by Kristine McKenna, Los Angeles includes 95 previously unpublished images. Ann Summa studied photography in Japan, and has worked for such magazines as Fortune, People and The New York Times.

Throughout the 1950s, Charles Brittin was the unofficial house photographer for the Beat community that coalesced around the artist Wallace Berman. Brittin settled in Venice Beach, California, in 1951, and his beach shack became a hangout for the Berman circle, which included actors Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper, artist John Altoon, curator Walter Hopps and poet David Meltzer, among many others. A self-taught photographer, Brittin was working as a mailman at the time, and spent much of his free time wandering the streets with a camera; he came to know Venice intimately, and his pictures of the town are freighted with a hushed beauty and forlorn sweetness. In the early 1960s the focus of Brittin''s life shifted dramatically when he became involved with the civil rights movement. "I suddenly realized I was compelled to do something," Brittin recalls, "because the times demanded it." As a photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality, Brittin documented the dramatic non-violent protests that occurred throughout Southern California, and made a courageous trip to the deep South, in 1965, to assist with the registration of black voters. As the 60s progressed he documented the antiwar movement, and by the end of the decade was devoting most of his time to the Black Panther Party. These two very different social revolutions are at the heart of Charles Brittin: West and South. With 150 images--138 of them previously unpublished--this monograph is published on the occasion of a 2011 retrospective at Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles. Charles Brittin (born 1928) moved to California from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after enrolling at UCLA. He contributed several photographs to Wallace Berman''s Semina magazine throughout the 50s and 60s, while working as a photographer for Charles and Ray Eames. After a two-decade hiatus, Brittin returned to photography in the 1990s, also making video works.

This substantial survey of the spacious abstractions of Los Angeles-based painter Joe Goode (born 1937) traces the rise of his career following his move to LA in 1959 and reproduces key series of works from the past six decades.

Mark Ryden (nato a Medford, Oregon, nel 1963) è un pittore che predilige le immagini fantastiche e criptiche. La sua abitazione è invasa da una collezione di gingilli, ciondoli, scheletri, statue, libri, quadri e giocattoli antichi: sono questi gli oggetti da cui ha tratto ispirazione per la realizzazione dei suoi quadri più famosi, come Ryden stesso ha avuto più volte modo di affermare. L''intento dissacratorio dell''autore emerge con chiarezza dai soggetti delle sue opere spesso caratterizzate dalla presenza di simboli culturali e religiosi dell''Occidente. Prendendo spunto dall''immaginario iconografico delle fiabe, Ryden ne ha stravolge di fatto il significato iniziale, creando un stile visivo coerente in cui si fondono promiscuità, ambiguità e senso del macabro.

En 2012, Paris Photo propose de " visiter " la Foire en compagnie d''une personnalité d''exception. Sous la forme d''un parcours inédit au coeur des galeries et de ce livre, c''est à David Lynch que revient le soin de partager ses coups de coeur. Une façon originale pour le public de contempler les oeuvres exposées par les galeristes, tout en découvrant l''univers esthétique de l''artiste.