New Releases by Sam Kashner

"In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia. Eric Roberts grew up in Georgia, spending most of his teens away from his mother and sisters, Lisa and Julia. Instead, he stayed with his controlling father, a grifter jealous of his early success. At age 17, Eric moved to New York to pursue acting, where he worked and partied with future legends like Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams. His big break came when he was cast in King of the Gypsies. Eric became one of the hottest stars of the era, starting an affair with actress Sandy Dennis, working with Bob Fosse on the critically acclaimed Star 80, and earning an Oscar nomination for Runaway Train. But for Eric, Hollywood came with a dark side-an ocean of cocaine that nearly swept him away, culminating in a car accident that almost cost him his life. Eric is open about the seriousness of his addictions and their devastating effect on his career. He reveals the reasons behind his complicated relationship with his sister, Julia, and his daughter, Emma, a successful actress in her own right. Now, happily married to actress and casting director Eliza Roberts, who helped him confront his demons, he is revered among his peers as the ultimate actor''s actor. Written with New York Times bestselling author, for years a Vanity Fair contributing editor, and current Air Mail writer-at-large Sam Kashner, this is a powerful memoir of a Hollywood legend"--

An intimate portrait of the legendary filmmaker, theater director, and comedian, as told by his closest friends in show business and the arts. Featuring candid conversations from the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Lorne Michaels, and many more. The work of Mike Nichols pervades American cultural consciousness: The Graduate, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Angels in America, The Birdcage, Working Girl, and Primary Colors, not to mention his string of hit plays, including Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. If that weren’t enough, he was also one half of the timelessly funny duo Nichols & May, as well as a founding member of the original improv troupe. Over a career that spanned half a century, Mike Nichols changed Hollywood, Broadway, and comedy forever. Most fans, however, know very little of the person behind it all. Since he never wrote his memoirs, they don’t know that Nichols, the great American director, was born Mikail Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin and came to this country, speaking no English, to escape the Nazis. They don’t know that he withdrew into a debilitating depression before he “finally got it right,” in his words, by marrying Diane Sawyer. Here, for the first time, Ash Carter and Sam Kashner offer an up close and personal look behind the scenes of Nichols’s life, as told by the stars, moguls, playwrights, producers, comics and crew members who knew and remember him for his uncommon charm, wit, vitality, and genius for friendship. A People magazine Book of the Week “A fascinating oral history of Nichols’s career.” —Brooke Allen, Wall Street Journal “Some of the best writing about Hollywood.” —John Simon, The New York Times Book Review

Accomunate da tanti interessi eppure diverse per indole e aspirazioni. Inseparabili nei momenti più belli come nei più drammatici, ma eternamente divise da invidie e gelosie. Legate da un affetto profondo e tuttavia sempre venato di rivalità e spirito di competizione. Dopo un''infanzia idilliaca, Jacqueline (Jackie) e Caroline (Lee) Bouvier hanno avuto un rapporto tormentato, chiuso nel peggiore dei modi, alla morte di Jackie, con l''inspiegabile esclusione della sorella dal testamento. Figlie dell''esuberante «Black Jack» Bouvier, un operatore di borsa noto per il fascino tenebroso, lo stile elegante e i modi da simpatica canaglia, era chiaro fin dall''inizio che sarebbero diventate donne completamente diverse: Lee era uno spirito ribelle che amava distinguersi, Jackie una ragazzina giudiziosa che cercava di integrarsi; una era estroversa, civettuola e allegra, l''altra intelligente, curiosa, appassionata di letteratura e, soprattutto, era la prediletta del padre, che entrambe adoravano. Per ironia della sorte, fu proprio la schiva e riservata Jackie a conquistare il centro della scena, quando, al fianco di John Fitzgerald Kennedy, diventò una first lady straordinariamente amata e ammirata, e finì per relegare la vulcanica e intraprendente sorella minore allo sgradito ruolo di semplice «damigella d''onore». E se prima era Lee a coltivare sempre nuovi interessi, anticipando Jackie e influenzandone i gusti tanto nella moda quanto nelle arti, da quel momento la sua esistenza si trasformò in una sorta di corsa, più o meno consapevole, per uscire dall''ombra dell''ingombrante sorella. Sullo sfondo di anni cruciali per la storia americana, Sam Kashner e Nancy Schoenberger offrono un racconto brillante e ricco di aneddoti, molti dei quali svelati dalla stessa Lee nel corso di una lunga intervista. Fra matrimoni, figli, amanti, amici e nemici, gli autori tratteggiano il profilo meglio conosciuto ma anche quello privato di due donne indimenticabili, strette in un rapporto fatto di strappi e riavvicinamenti, attese e delusioni, sconfitte e rivalse, che tuttavia rappresentò per entrambe la relazione più forte e importante della vita.

New York Times–Bestseller: “A lush picture of the complicated relationship between . . . Jackie Onassis and Lee Radziwill. . . . Gossipy gems are studded throughout.” —Vanity Fair When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees—but nothing to her. I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime, read Jackie’s final testament. Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complex relationship. In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty—in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry—and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both heard the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives. For the first time, the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters is told. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour. Includes photographs “[An] intricate chronicle rife with romance, tragedy, and surprising details, such as that Jackie may have helped choose JFK’s paramours.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Taut and fascinating.” —In Style “Suffice it to say, more than fifty years on, explorations of the truths and fictions of Camelot continue to mesmerize.” —Kirkus Reviews

A tough Welshman, he was softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman: she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were the king and queen of Hollywood. Yet their two marriages to each other represented much more than outlandish romance. Together, Elizabeth and Richard were a fascinating embodiment of the mores and transgressions of their time and even luminaries like Jacqueline Kennedy looked to them as a barometer of the culture. The enduring glamour, grandeur, drama and bravado embodied in the couple gave rise to the type of rabid gossip and wide-eyed adoration that are the staples of todayÕ s media. Using brand-new research and interviews Ð including unique access to Taylor herself, the Burton family, and TaylorÕ s extensive personal correspondence Ð this ultimate celebrity biography is the gripping real-life story of a fairy-tale couple whose lives were even grander and more outrageous than the epic films they made.

As a kid, Sam Kashner lapped up the beauty and madness of the Beats, living vicariously through the novels, poems, and stories of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. When he heard that Ginsberg had founded an unconventional writing program in Boulder, CO, Kashner became the first certificate student of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets. The Beats were facing their twilight years and feeling it in their joints and in their minds. Kashner became their student, secretary and psychiatrist. Out of this rich material Kashner brings us a funny, touching, and irreverent portrait of the Beats; and a very personal journey of a young man coming of age. Illustrations.

Looks at the scandals, morals and sleaze of 1950''s Hollywood.

Sex, drugs, rock ''n'' roll--and poetry--is the story of a young writer''s apprenticeship to Allen Ginsberg and the aging Beats in the era of disco.

Deftly combining the intelligent wit of David Sedaris with the allure of the Rat Pack, this scathingly funny debut novel tells the story of what can happen when a workaday salesman becomes obsessed with Frank Sinatra.

Oscar Levant was one of the wildly self-destructive personalities ever to become a household name. This biography looks at his life, from his work as concert pianist and the premier interpreter of Gershwin''s concert works, to his presence as an insulting wit, raconteur and best-selling author.

Two writers examine the evidence left by the late Hollywood writer and MGM executive Sam Myer concerning the death of George Reeves, and they conclude that the first Superman was murdered by a man named Eddie Mannix.

Poems.