A Filmmaker in Movieland
What amazes me after having read "Scorsese on Scorsese" (Faber and Faber, revised 2003, $15) is how much divergent work this one great American director has been able to get done in Hollywood. It took this book, edited by Ian Christie and David Thompson, to really focus my attention on Martin Scorsese's career and put it in perspective—somehow, before reading this, I was sure that he was at least two different men. But it's true—the director of "Gangs of New York," "GoodFellas," and "Raging Bull" is the same man responsible for "The King of Comedy," "After Hours," "The Age of Innocence" and, yes, the "Last Temptation of Christ." The man whose fame arose in part from his collaborations with Robert DeNiro even directed "Cape Fear" and was offered, believe it or not, "Analyze This."(Good move turning that one down, Marty.)
A Wild Ride
Alan Huffman's "Mississippi in Africa" (Gotham Books, 2004, $27) is a remarkable book that will capture your imagination and ground you in reality. For anyone who has ever been haunted by the ruins of Windsor, or wandered through an ancient graveyard and thought," if only I knew the stories," this is the book for you. It seems that Huffman reveals a new ghost on every page, hiding behind Corinthian columns, lost in legal minutiae, a child killed in a legendary slave revolt, slaves choosing an uncertain and deadly future rather than remain enslaved.
FOOD: Love, Luis Style
We would drizzle honey all over each other's bodies, then dangle strawberries between each other's lips. I would describe the whipped-cream and ice-cube part... but I can't stop snickering. Unfortunately, Luis and I are not exactly Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. When asked to write about what I would cook for my husband on Valentine's Day, I panicked. I had to be impressive; we're both chefs, for cryin' out loud.
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