Book Me, Please!

In episode seven we get our first big “celebrity” interview when we’re joined by internet sensation Danielle Perez from the infamous ‘Price Is Right!’ viral video in which she won a treadmill, despite being in a wheelchair. In this in-depth interview, we find out what it’s like to “go viral”, and the surreal circumstances that lead from a funny game show “fail” to her video appearing on huge media outlets such as ‘The Huffington Post’, ‘World Star Hip Hop’, ‘Reddit’, and eventually going viral around the world before finally landing her on the stage of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ All in the span of 48 hours! It’s been a crazy week for Danielle and we get to hear all about it in this, her first full length interview since the madness began.

Eventually we do get to the books, and we’ve got some great ones to recommend. The very funny Hannah Gansen recommends the books of Joe Hill, including ‘Heart Shaped Box’ and ‘Horns’, and Danielle recommends ‘The Interestings’ by Meg Wolitzer, a fascinating look at what it means to be creative, what it takes to live a happy life, and the difficulties that arise when you desire both.

Joe Hill - William Morrow - ISBN 978-0-06-114793-7 (Heart Shaped Box)

Meg Wolitzer - Riverhead Books - 978-1-59448-839-9 (The Interestings)!

On episode six we go deep and discuss a collection of obituaries, a book about how to improve your life with mythology, and a book that explains why “religion poisons everything”. Funny stuff! But really, in the hands of these hilarious comedians, Steve Rosenfield, Jim Earl, and Troy Conrad, it’s a surprisingly fun and informative show. We start with Jim Earl’s hilarious book of fake obituaries, “Mourning Remembrance”, which gets my highest recommendation, which is that it ”Belongs on the back of every toilet in America”. Next, we discuss a very interesting book about creativity, ‘The Icarus Deception’, with Troy Conrad, the man behind one of comedy’s most creative hit shows, ‘Set List’. And finally, we delve deep into the genius mind and compelling career of Christopher Hitchens, whose book ‘God Is Not Great’ explains everything you need to know about organized religion, and a lot about Steve Rosenfield’s career choices.! !!

“God Is Not Great” - Christopher Hitchens ISBN - 978-0-446-57980-3 Pub. Atlantic Books!!!

“The Icarus Deception” - Seth Godin ISBN - 978-1-101-61230-9 Pub. Portfolio/Penguin! !!

“Mourning Remembrance” - Jim Earl - http://morningremembrance.com - Amazon - Kindle!

In our fifth episode we have recommendations for a classic of literature and two different views of Los Angeles, one a modern classic, the other a follow up to a controversial best seller.

Joining us this week is the great Australian comedian Jim Short, who brings us a whopper of a classic, The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’ timeless pillar of western literature, which Jim claims to have read in it’s entirety. Next, we get a positive recommendation for ‘Bright Shiny Morning’, the post-modern novel of contemporary and historical Los Angeles by James Frey that followed his controversial memoir “A Million Little Pieces”. Finally, we get to discuss one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite books based on one of my favorite films, Charles Bukowski’s ‘Hollywood’, his fictionalized version of the making of the movie ‘Barfly’. (Hint, I liked it!) And as always, we end up with a “bonus recommendation” when the conversation brings us to downtown LA and I recommend ‘Ask The Dust’ by John Fante.!

In our fourth episode we have our first graphic novel, our first author, and a book about an amazing group of women who broke down gender barriers in WWII. Joining us this week is comedian Miles K, (Babe Island) who brings us one of his, and my, favorites by writer/artist Daniel Clowes, the inimitable, incomparable, and sometimes infuriating ‘Wilson’. Next, we talk to the hilarious Brandie Posey, (‘Lady to Lady’ podcast, ‘Picture This’ ) about ‘Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The Wild And Glorious Story Of American Women Aviators From World War II To The Dawn Of The Space Age’, a fascinating book that uncovers the long ignored contribution of female aviators. We wrap things up by speaking with author/comedian Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show on KPFK, The Young Turks Network) about his funny and insightful book of political humor, ‘Your Country Is Just Not That Into You: How the Media, Wall Street, and Both Political Parties Keep on Screwing You—Even After You’ve Moved On’. It’s a fun and informative hour that flies by, and as usual, it’s full of recommendations for other stuff, such as books by Charles Burns, Walter Isaacson, and more!

In our third episode we begin the show discussing Steve Martin’s autobiography “Born Standing Up” with comedian Dan Van Kirk, looking into the incredible career of the legendary comedian. We also delve into the art and challenges of stand up comedy, the improvised stand up show “Set List”, audience dynamics, and how fame and popularity change everything.

Next, we get a visit from a “Helicopter Mom” in New Canaan Conn., Julia Ballentine Peter, who tells us how a children’s book by James Patterson of ‘Alex Cross’ fame, “Treasure Hunters”, got her daughter Nel, 8, to fall in love with reading. It turns out that’s something he’s passionate about, and he has a great website called readkiddoread.com that promotes reading for kids and does lots of great work.

Next, we talk to comedian Doug Dixon about a fascinating non-fiction book, “How We Got To Now: Six innovations That Made the Modern World” - by Steven Johnson. Based on the television series of the same name, hosted by Steven Johnson of the same person, seen on BBC2 and PBS. It’s an amazing multi-media project about innovation and how things change our world in surprising ways. Read it or watch it, you can choose! (You’re probably gonna watch it, aren’t you?) This project reminds me of another multi-media project I love, The Big History Project, a collaboration between Bill Gates and David Christian that’s about, well, everything. I highly recommend checking it out. It’s fun, easy, and informative.

We wrap it up with a timely selection from Raj Desai, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”: by Ben Fountain. Currently being made into a movie by Ang Lee, this provocative novel leads us into a great discussion about late bloomers, heroes, Raj’s hometown of Arlington Tx., Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, a young Alan Arkin, Malcolm Gladwell, The Dallas Cowboys, and so much more. Enjoy!

Related Links https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdoQ5XwLxb4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Van_Kirk https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home http://video.pbs.org/program/how-we-got-now/ http://www.readkiddoread.com

In our second episode we manage to rein in our show to a manageable one hour despite having super-stoner Tony Camin from ‘The Marijuana-logues' as a guest. Joining him is ‘The Tonight Show’ warm up comic and ‘@Midnight’ winner Seth Herzog, as well as the hilarious Kristen Carney from such shows as ‘Loveline’ and ‘The Adam Corolla Show’. In addition to recommending three great books, ‘The Confederacy of Dunces’ by John Kennedy Toole, ‘Black Market Billions’ by Hitha Prabhakar, and ‘Stiff’ by Mary Roach, we delve into such hot button issues as smoking pot backstage at ‘The Jimmy Kimmel Show’, ‘Geek Love’ by Katherine Dunn, ‘Adaptation’ by Spike Jonze, ‘Silicon Valley’ on HBO, 90’s band Crash Test Dummies, and we end with a tribute to legendary Science Fiction writer Terry Pratchett.

We had so much fun on our premier episode of “Book Me, Please!” that we ran a full 90 minutes! In this first episode comedians Klee Wiggins, Tess Barker, and Robert Duchaine sit down with host Cornelius Peter for a fast and funny discussion of some of their favorite books. Books discussed include “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, “Clan of The Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel, and “Travels With Charley” by John Steinbeck, and in our segment for younger readers, “Helicopter Mom”, ‘Book Show’ owner Jen Hitchcock and her daughter Eleanor recommend “The Castle In The Attic” by Elizabeth Winthrop. But if that’s not enough, we also touch on works by Joan Didion and Russell Brand, as well as Archie Comics, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, National Novel Writing Month and much more!