Mad Men Carousel is an episode-by-episode guide to all seven seasons of AMC's Mad Men. This book collects TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s celebrated Mad Men recaps—as featured on New York magazine's Vulture blog—for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show’s first three seasons. Seitz’s writing digs deep into the show’s themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex an...

AMC’s Breaking Bad is among the most beloved, critically acclaimed American television series of our time. Created by Vince Gilligan, the series charts the transformation of high school science teacher Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) into a cold, calculating meth kingpin. Breaking Bad 101 collects esteemed critic Alan Sepinwall’s (Uproxx) popular Breaking Bad recaps in book form, featuring new, exclusive essays and completely revised and updated ...

The official behind-the-scenes companion to Asteroid City and the latest volume in the bestselling Wes Anderson Collection seriesAsteroid City—the eleventh feature film from Academy Award–winning director Wes Anderson—follows a group of teen geniuses and their families as they attend the 1955 Junior Stargazers convention in the eponymous dusty hamlet.The events of the film, a representation of a fictional play, also titled Asteroid Cit...

A sad, forgotten, New York City phone booth becomes a hero in this story of community and caring for others.The Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th Street was one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City. Everyone used it―from ballerinas and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents. Kept clean and polished, the Phone Booth was proud and happy until, the day a businessman strode by and shouted into a shiny silver object, "I'll...

Have you ever read a suspense novel so good you had to stop and think to yourself, “How did the author come up with this idea? Their characters? Is some of this story real?” For over five years, Mark Rubinstein, physician, psychiatrist, and mystery and thriller writer, had the chance to ask the most well-known authors in the field just these kinds of questions in interviews for the Huffington Post.Collected here are interviews with forty-seven accomplished authors, including Michae...

This timeless masterclass on visual storytelling guides you through the common processes used to craft emotionally satisfying scripts for television, streaming, and beyond—from “the most sought-after screenwriter teacher in the world” (Hollywood Reporter).No one knows more about screenwriting than Syd Field—and now the ultimate Hollywood insider shares his secrets and expertise in The Screenwriter’s Workbook. Filled with new material—including fre...

There's a mantra that real writers know but wannabe writers don’t. And the secret phrase is this:NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T.Recognizing this painful truth is the first step in the writer's transformation from amateur to professional.From Chapter Four:“When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy. You acquire the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in your imagin...

'Gaiman is god in the universe of story' Stephen Fry'A perfect antidote to cynicism and a paean to the power of reading' Observer---'Literature does not occur in a vacuum. It cannot be a monologue. It has to be a conversation'This collection will draw you in to exchanges on making good art and Syrian refugees, the power of a single word and playing the kazoo with Stephen King, writing about books, ...

Book one in Crystal Lake Publishing's The Dream Weaver series...Where Nightmares Come From focuses on the art of storytelling in the Horror genre, taking an idea from conception to reality—whether you prefer short stories, novels, films, or comics.Featuring in-depth articles and interviews by Joe R. Lansdale (Hap & Leonard series), Clive Barker (Books of Blood), John Connolly (Charlie Parker series), Ramsey ...

Featuring speculative fiction-writing exercises from Harlan Ellison (R), Piers Anthony, Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, screenwriters of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek: The Next Generation, and many more.The fifth volume in the acclaimed Now Write! writing-guide series offers a full toolbox of advice and exercises for speculative fiction writers hoping to craft an engaging alternate reality, flesh out an enthralling fantasy quest, or drea...

A must-have collection for comics fans and creators everywhere, packed with interviews and original comics by today’s foremost graphic novelists.Respected anthologist Leonard S. Marcus turns his literary microscope to the world of comics, which has lately morphed and matured at a furious pace. Powerful influences from manga to the movies to underground comix have influenced the thirteen artists and writers interviewed in these pages to create their own word-and-pic...

A veteran film critic offers a lively, opinionated guide to thinking and talking about movies -- from Casablanca to CluelessWhether we are trying to impress a date after an art house film screening or discussing Oscar nominations among friends, we all need ways to look at and talk about movies. But with so much variety between an Alfred Hitchcock thriller and a Nora Ephron romantic comedy, how can everyday viewers determine what makes a good movie...