I make music and I make movies, so I tend to like books about those topics. Also, I like hard-boiled crime fiction and absurd literary fiction, which are sometimes the same thing.
An entrancing bilingual volume from the masterful Uruguayan poet Idea Vilariño. This collection of brief and enigmatic love poems is soaked in ache, at once beautiful and startling.
The pocket-sized books in the 33 1/3 series make great stocking stuffers for the music fans in your life. This illuminating and enjoyable volume on Kate Bush's fifth studio album (familiar to some listeners from its use in Netflix's Stranger Things) is a prime example of this LP-obsessed series at its best.
33 1/3 has spun off a new side series about different music styles and scenes called Genre. This vital entry discusses the Black artists of the ‘60s and ‘70s folk music boom. It also traces their influences and illustrates beautifully how those sounds gradually reverberated across all of American music, even as their creators were marginalized.
Former Skylighter Allison Woodnutt (née Smith) and acclaimed novelist Brandon Taylor have a new imprint that specializes in gorgeous paperbacks of lesser known gems by famed authors. Each reprint ends with a new discussion between authors, critics, and more. Smith and Taylor's take on this bracingly witty Wharton novel? It’s “a better Great Gatsby.”
Kimberly Mack's brilliant book shows how the eclectic hard rock band Living Colour made their second album, while dealing with rejection from their peers in the Black music world for “selling out” with their rock sound. Mack herself had trouble finding peers as a rock-loving Black teen. The book's approach is personal and the effect is disarming.
German New Wave music! On this side of the Atlantic, it was a quirky pop blip that gave us "99 Luftballons" and "Da Da Da" (you know, from the Volkswagen commercials?). But Claudia Lonkin's compact study digs into the Cold War cultural tumult that spurred this mini-movement with satisfying clarity and style.
A cultural critic without peer. Jonathan Rosenbaum was the main film critic for the Chicago Reader for years, but he also writes about music and literature in this vital collection. In Dreams Begin Responsibilities shows him to be brainy but not a blowhard, refined but not elitist, and, maybe most importantly, academic but not boring.
Uncanny and cool teen detective series that is typically pegged as "Nancy Drew meets Twin Peaks." For good reason! Perfect for weirdo teens of ALL ages. Newly remastered in color!
Considering he has been a superstar for decades, it's maybe hard to imagine a time when Elton John wasn't at the top of his game. Matthew Restall's examination of the 1976 album BLUE MOVES pinpoints the moment when John saw his first dip in fame, even if the album was arguably as strong as the multiplatinum run that preceded it. Counterpointed with personal memories, this is a fascinating exploration of a neglected gem from an all-time great.
Showbiz polymath Griffin Dunne comes from a famous family, and this memoir has plenty of dishy tidbits about celebrities who have hovered in Dunne's orbit, from Carrie Fisher to Otto Preminger (!). But this "family memoir," covering Dunne's youth and early career, is steeped heavily in tragedy due to the murder of his sister Dominique by her boyfriend. Folks looking for more info on Dunne's famous aunt Joan Didion (recognizable in the family portrait on the cover) will be disappointed, but he already made a documentary about her after all. Dunne's story is enough -- and one hopes another memoir covering later periods of his life is in the making.
One of the 20th Century's premiere wits. This stuff is funny, sad, and a little mean. Perfect poetry for a sunny day (if you're more in the mood for clouds).
You've seen the Matt Damon movie, you're psyched to see the Netflix show. Heck, you even watched Purple Noon on Criterion Channel. But have you actually READ this book??? Ya should! (Then listen to our episode covering this on the Skylight Books podcast. It was a fun one.)
An eminently readable exploration of 25 concept albums across the past half-century. I chatted with the author on the Skylight Books podcast. You should give it a listen on your fave podcast app!
A gem from our collection of Staff Made Stuff. This gorgeous colored-vinyl LP is ten tracks of melodic indie rock—gentle, jangly, sometimes noisy—and chock full of love. Literally. Four of the songs have “love” in the title. My favorite moments are probably the gentle lilt of “Run to Love” and the throwback pop feel of “I Love the World Today.”
Ernie Kovacs was “alternative” TV comedy decades before Adult Swim, Conan O’Brien, or Andy Kaufman. This treasure trove of writing, memorabilia, and ephemera gathers together some shiny nuggets of comedy gold and also creates a shaggy portrait of a wild comedy mind gone too soon. (He died in a car accident at age 42.)
A deep cut from the long-running French detective series. Inspector Maigret must solve the murder of a professional gambler. Also, why did his unhappy wife get a bullet fished out of her ribs that same night? Hmm. Simenon’s snappy dialogue and precise characterizations are on point. The descriptions of slushy, slippery January weather will remind you why you live here.
Buster Keaton came of age as the movie business did, and he is a man who both defines his era and utterly transcends it. Dana Stevens not only profiles a comedy filmmaking genius, she zooms out to profile the entire 20th Century.
I read Patrick DeWitt's dark and deadpan western to discuss on Skylight's podcast series "Better Than the Movie," and... well... it IS much better than the movie! And the movie ain't bad! Recommended if you like: Charles Portis, Cormac McCarthy, or morbid existential comedy in general.
Untranslated into English for over 70 years, this classic locked-room mystery introduces Japan’s scruffy, stammering Sherlock: Kosuke Kindaichi. Don’t mind that unkempt nest of hair; it houses one of the best analytical minds in crime-solving. A couple is murdered on their wedding night in a bizarre fashion that suggests the killer was a fan of detective novels. Perfect for hardcore fans of the genre and curious newcomers alike.
A cozy French policier for a chilly winter night. Chief Inspector Maigret is supposed to be investigating a string of robberies, but instead the veteran detective can’t stop looking into the brutal killing of a good-natured burglar he had known. This entry in the decades-spanning Maigret series shows off Georges Simenon’s effortless knack for sharp writing and memorable characters in the framework of a cop procedural.
A wham-bam bullet train of a book that updates the Raymond Chandler–style L.A. detective story with idiosyncratic verve. Happy "Hank" Doll is more Doc Sportello than Philip Marlowe, with a varied assortment of pharmaceuticals fueling his investigation, as he tries to make sense of an old friend’s murder. Jonathan Ames’s narration is tinged with humor and horror, making for a wild ride through some familiar Angel City locales.
A great look into the late-'60s comeback, where Elvis tried to shed the patina of Hollywood phoniness and reconnect with the kind of music he loved. This small volume offers a nice blend of biographical sketch, cultural analysis, and a deep dive into Elvis's recording sessions with producer Chips Moman.
My favorite filmmaking memoir, from the director of pulpy masterpieces like Fixed Bayonets!, Shock Corridor, and Pickup on South Street. This tale of combat both in the trenches and within the Hollywood studio system is as unsentimental as Fuller's films, but I still got choked up at the end. Inspiring for filmmakers and creative people in general!
Talk about toxic masculinity! Hoo doggies! Pulp maestro Jim Thompson delivers a disturbing character study of a psychotic small town deputy that is arguably his dingy masterpiece.
One of the best recent entries in the long-running 33 1/3 music series. The book touches on the early days of the tribute album boom and how it dovetailed with Leonard Cohen’s waning career in the ’80s. The trailblazing I’m Your Fan album inspired Jeff Buckley and inadvertently led to the cultural supersaturation of the song “Hallelujah.”
Chester Himes's novel is best known as source material for one of the first '70s blaxploitation films. It's also as twistedly funny as it is tough and thrilling. The mysterious arrival of a giant bale of cotton on the streets of Harlem is far from the strangest thing detectives Grave Digger and Coffin Ed will encounter as they investigate a daring daytime heist.
Georges Simenon's gift for writing economical crime stories that somehow ride the line between hardboiled terseness and deadpan whimsy is really on display in this short novel. Inspector Maigret is assigned to a superficially banal murder investigation that gets twistier and harder to solve with each new discovery.
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
Jan Wahl was a good personal friend, in addition to being a great author of children's stories. This story, one of his last, concerns a hunter who discovers a new respect and reverence for nature that causes him to make a change. The book is beautifully illustrated too.
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
A great non-fiction book for children about film star and renowned inventor (!!) Hedy Lamarr. Beautifully illustrated, this is a delightfully offbeat choice for little burgeoning scientists and future film fanatics.