Bibliophile - Jane Mount

My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Books of Books, Plot Ensues - Pamela Paul

Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times (DVD)

Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times (DVD)

Summary: The story of the Chandler family's influence over Los Angeles through their publication, the Los Angeles Times, and its entwinement with politics, civic ideals, and personal agendas.




Video Librarian Reviews
This PBS documentary, narrated by Liev Schreiber, chronicles the rise and fall of the Chandler family—who for four decades owned the Los Angeles Times and helped provide the vision that transformed L.A. from a sleepy agricultural town to a bustling metropolis—while also charting the shifting political culture and the decline of newspapers in the Internet age. Two-time Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Peter Jones traces the family lineage from the paper's founder, Harrison Gray Otis, a tireless, often self-serving California promoter and rabid anti-union businessman; to his son-in-law Harry Chandler, who became a trusted confidante, drawing the nickname "pirate visionary"; to the savvy third-generation head Norman Chandler, whose wife, Dorothy, built a concert hall and saved the Hollywood Bowl; and their son Otis, who led the Los Angeles Times into its glory days in the 1970s. Along the way, the paper exploited its political and Hollywood connections—at one point even encouraging MGM boss Louis B. Mayer to produce a fake documentary that helped crush socialist Upton Sinclair's bid to become state governor. Eventually, political divides, attempts to diversify holdings, and the gradual decline of the newspaper business led the Chandlers to sell to out-of-town interests. Drawing upon extensive archives, this is a vivid, informative social history, featuring insights from historians, former employees, and select family members. Recommended.

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The receptionist - Janet Groth

The receptionist: an education at the New Yorker - Groth, Janet

Summary: Describes the author's career as a receptionist at the prestigious New Yorker magazine, recounting her relationships with famous poets, essayists, and playwrights, and chronicling the behind-the-scenes affairs of the magazine and its staff.


Booklist Reviews
Fresh out of college in 1957, Groth managed to get an interview at the New Yorker with a painfully shy E. B. White. She dreamed of being a famous writer but was offered the job of receptionist on the writers' floor of the magazine. Seeing that as a starting point, she began the job of tending to the work details of writers like John Berryman, Joe Mitchell, Calvin Trillin, Charles Addams, and Muriel Spark, to name a few. She never did become one of the writers there but never felt trapped. She had many experiences, good and bad, including Christmas in Tuscany with Muriel Spark. During her time there, she worked on her PhD; and, after 21 years, she left to take a professorship at the University of Cincinnati. She candidly relates her sexual awakening and foolish love choices as well as giving the reader a glimpse into the private lives of some of the writers who passed by her desk. She is witty, honest, and self-deprecating, without whining, and quite a good role model. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

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