Summer Reading Challenge!

As some of you may remember, I failed miserably at Raquel‘s Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge last year. So here’s my list for attempt number two. If you’d like to join in the fun, details are here at Out of the Past.

My list for this summer:

Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker- I’m kind of a Bix Beiderbecke nut, and although this fictional novel is not a biography, Baker dedicated her book to the spirit of the legendary cornetist. The book was adapted into a film starring Kirk Douglas, who was dubbed by Harry James, which brings us to…

Trumpet Blues– by Peter J. Levinson- This is one I’ve picked through for research, but need to read cover to cover. A biography of trumpet player and bandleader Harry James, who was married to Betty Grable and had a significant film career of his own.

The Crime Films of Anthony Mann by Max Alvarez – Having just recently seen a good chunk of the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s retrospective on Mann, I’m looking forward to reading more about Mann’s noir and western films of the 40s and 50s.

The Hollywood Musical by Jane Feuer and/or Film/Genre by Rick Altman – doing a little bit of genre studies reading for research and background.

Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews by Carl Rollyson- I love Dana Andrews, and a good biography has been a long time coming. I’m looking forward to finally reading this one, it’s been calling from my shelf for a while.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett- I’ve read some Chandler and some Cain, time to see what Hammett offers.

Other books on my shelf:

Unsinkable by Debbie Reynolds

The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand- not a classic film book, but I swear I’m reading it this summer.