The IBIC Guide to Books About the Movies

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Remarks from the IBIC Editor's Journal

I mentioned Sidney Lumet's MAKING MOVIES (Knopf) in a quick review at the time of the Academy Awards. I said then that this was an inspiring book. Since then, I have read Roger Ebert's review in the New York Times Book Review, in which he stated his opinion that this was one of the best books ever written on its subject. I agree.

November 20, 1994

IF YOU'RE TALKING TO ME, YOUR CAREER MUST BE IN TROUBLE by Joe Queenan (Hyperion) is a terrific title--in the great tradition of BUT ENOUGH ABOUT YOU by Cynthia Heimel. This collection of essays about current movies and entertainment celebrities makes entertaining reading. Add Queenan to the roster of excellent magazine writers who might write a really good book some day.

From an Internet point of view, an interesting feature of this book is that Queenan's prose style highly suitable for hypertexting. He makes a lot of references to great movies of the past and a lot of internal references to his own ouevre of idiosyncratic and amusing value judgments.

If you like movies, you'll like this book.


Comments from IBIC Readers

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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996

In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.

  • When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on the classic. What a great movie it would make!
  • The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy. I've read a number of translations over the years, but my favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO; PURGATORY; PARADISE). The notes are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
  • I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY, which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
  • Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent acquisition, the very handsome NIV STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black and brown are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding Scripture.

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