Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live

Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live

Ever since its debut in the fall of 1975, Saturday Night Live's impact on the culture has been lasting and profound. It has been a breeding ground for our brightest comedy stars, launching the careers of John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Pete Davidson, and many many more. Its iconic sketches - from Wayne's World to Weekend Update to Coneheads to the Californians to of course, More Cowbell -- have dominated water cooler talk for five decades, and its catchphrases, from "we're not worthy!" to ""Daaaaa Beeeears" are embedded in the public lexicon. And at the center of it all, from the moment of its inception to the present day, is one man: producer Lorne Michaels. Over his 50 years running the show, Lorne Michaels has become a revered, inimitable and bewildering presence in the world of entertainment. He's a mogul, a kingmaker, a tastemaker, a grudge-holder, a mensch, a workaholic, a genius spotter of talent, a ruthless businessman, a name dropper, an obsessive step counter, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, a winner of 90 Emmys--and a mystery. Generations of writers, actors, and stars have spent their lives trying to figure him out. He's "Obi wan Kenobi" (Tracey Morgan), the "Great and Powerful Oz" (Kate McKinnon), the Godfather (Will Forte), or "some kind of very distant, strange Comedy God" (Bob Odenkirk). Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels (who has spent his career mostly avoiding reporters) and the entire SNL apparatus, The New Yorker's Susan Morrison takes you behind the curtain for the rollicking, definitive story of how Lorne created the institution that would change comedy forever. Lorne features hundreds of interviews with Michaels, conducted over several years; his close friends (such as Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, and Steve Martin); and the candid, hilarious stars of the show, including Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Buck Henry, Chevy Chase, and more. Nearly a decade in the making, Lorne is an intimate, deeply reported, and wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life - and change American culture.

Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan

Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan

With the development of the B-29 "Superfortress" in summer 1944, strategic bombing, a central component of the Allied war effort against Germany, arrived in the Pacific theater. In 1945 Japan experienced the three most deadly bombing attacks of the war. The firebombing of Tokyo in March burned the city's most densely populated sector, killed some 85,000 residents, and left more than one million homeless. The attack was part of a months-long campaign of incendiary bombing that destroyed almost two-thirds of Japan's cities. The two atomic blasts in August killed hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most of them civilians. The bombing brought a destabilizing devastation that, combined with a declaration of war by the Soviet Union, induced Japan, as they put it, to terminate the war. Many at the time and since have credited American air power, and especially the two atomic bombs, with Japan's surrender. But Richard Overy tells a different, more dimensional story. Drawing on his expertise on the war and its bombing campaigns, he delivers a precise recounting of these aerial attacks, and a balanced, informed assessment of how and why they occurred. Overy is astute on the Allied decision-making, and, notably, integrates the Japanese leadership as well. He ably navigates the dramatic endgame of the war, which featured factional infighting within the Japanese cabinet, a scramble by American officials to formulate an acceptable version of "unconditional surrender," and the crucial role played by the emperor, Hirohito. The atomic bombing emerges as impactful but not decisive in this rich, multilayered history.

Super-Italian

Super-Italian: More Than 110 Indulgent Recipes Using Italy's Healthiest Foods; A Cookbook

If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that life involves a series of pivots. Certainly, that has been true for Giada herself and her journey through the world of food and cooking. Although through it all her fundamental formula has not changed: good cooking = Technique + Ingredients + Ambience. In writing her 11th (yes, 11th!) cookbook, Giada has found that "healthy" needs to be a part of that fundatmental formula as well. Choosing ingredients that promote wellness is the starting point not just to better meals, but to better health and longevity. We all know that food can cause inflammation, weight gain, and other maladies that lead to chronic illness, but we rarely think about the fact that the flip side is equally true. A diet rich in a variety of nutrients can make a world of difference in how you look and feel. And this is where this cookbook comes in. Every single recipe in this book will include the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to stay strong and function properly; antioxidants that tame inflammation; protein to help our bodies repair cells and make new ones; and fiber to keep our guts happy and remove waste from the body. With a deep dive into the Italian superfoods (think olives, beans and legumes, and bitter greens) as well as 100 recipes to help us get the very most out of these ingredients, Giada proves once again that she is an essential member of the food world.

The Queens of Crime: A Novel

The Queens of Crime: A Novel

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment. May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they're stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

Memorial Days: A Memoir

Memorial Days: A Memoir

A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey towards peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of  Horse Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk. After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at the beach. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf. Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the various ways in which cultures grieve and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony’s death. A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.

Let's Call Her Barbie

Let's Call Her Barbie: A Novel

She's an icon. She's fun and aspirational. She's stirring controversy and outrage. Her name is Barbie. In 1956, Ruth Handler, cofounder of a budding toy company, embarks on a mission to upend the marketplace by creating a controversial doll: one that looks like a grown woman. Unlike the current trend of baby dolls that reinforces traditional roles of motherhood, this doll will empower little girls to be and do anything. And Barbie is born. Not everyone sees Barbie as a a positive influence, but Ruth knows this doll is destined for greatness. With the help of head engineer Jack Ryan and fashion designer Stevie Klein, they forge ahead, their own identities becoming entwined with the persona of the doll. For Ruth, Barbie fills a void left by the mother who abandoned her and the daughter who resents her ambition. Jack, Mattel's unlikely Casanova, hides his deepest secrets behind the genius of his engineering, and Stevie pins her professional future and sense of self on Barbie's fashion designs. In the decades that follow, the Barbie team spins the doll into a cultural phenomenon. But with every great success comes the fall, and the problems at Mattel are just getting started. In the cutthroat world of toy-making, greed and public scandals threaten to tear down everything Ruth has built. But Barbie is more than just a doll for her - she's a legacy, one Ruth will do anything to protect. From USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen comes a riveting novel about the team of creative rebels who challenged convention, broke molds, and beat the odds to invent the most famous doll of all time.