Recommended reading - To Die For (1992):

To Die For

By Joyce Maynard.

First published 1992.

Published by Open Road Media.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1497643821

ISBN-13: 978-1497643826

Description:

“That’s the beauty of television. It’s like an eye that’s on you all the time…. Kind of like God, if you want to get heavy.”

Local weather reporter Suzanne Maretto craves nothing more than to transcend life at her suburban cable television news station and follow in the footsteps of her idol: Barbara Walters. When she concludes that her unglamorous husband is getting in the way of her dream of stardom, the solution seems obvious: Get rid of him. She seduces a fifteen-year-old admirer, Jimmy, and persuades him to do her dirty work. Mission accomplished, Suzanne takes to the airwaves in her new role as grieving widow, in search of a TV deal. If that means selling Jimmy down the river, she’s ready.

Maynard’s brilliant, funny, and groundbreaking novel – adapted by Gus Van Sant into the cult classic movie of the same name, starring Nicole Kidman – was first published in 1992 before the era of manufactured stardom and the phenomenon of televised murder trials as entertainment. The book still stands as a razor-sharp satire of celebrity-fixated culture and the American obsession with TV – a novel that imagined the phenomenon of reality television before its creation, with alternately bone-chilling and hilarious accuracy.

“A seductive page turner.” – The New York Times Book Review.

“A triumph.” – The Boston Globe.

“A powerful novel of murder and sexual obsession. . . .  Chilling.” – The Star-Ledger.

Jean Craighead George, on books:

Be you writer or reader, it is very pleasant to run away in a book.

- Jean Craighead George.

On this day in movie history - Spielberg (2017):

Spielberg

a documentary on director Steven Spielberg,

directed by Susan Lacy,

was released at the New York Film Festival in the United States on October 5, 2017.

Cast:

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Richard Dreyfuss, Bill Butler, John Williams, David Edelstein, Michael Phillips, Nancy Spielberg, Anne Spielberg, Janet Maslin, Sue Spielberg, Leah Adler, Arnold Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Sid Sheinberg, James Brolin, David Geffen, Roger Ernest, Steven Bochco, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Vilmos Zsigmond, Brian De Palma, Tony Kushner, Bob Balaban, Tom Hanks, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Melissa Mathison, Leonardo DiCaprio, A.O. Scott, Kathleen Kennedy, Harrison Ford, Tom Stoppard, Walter F. Parkes, Oprah Winfrey, J. Hoberman, Frank Marshall, Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Janusz Kaminski, Michael Kahn, Annette Insdorf, Dennis Muren, David Koepp, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Rick Carter, Robert Zemeckis, Ron Meyer, Laurie MacDonald, Cate Blanchett, Holly Hunter, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dustin Hoffman, Lawrence Kasdan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Todd McCarthy, Tom Cruise, Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Adam Somner, Joanna Johnston, Alan Alda, Karen Allen, William Atherton, Richard Attenborough, Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Ed Bradley, Tom Brokaw, Jessica Capshaw, Kate Capshaw, Dana Carvey, Bill Clinton, Sean Connery, Joan Crawford, Hugh Downs, Denholm Elliott, Peter Falk, Paul Freeman, Teri Garr, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Cary Guffey, Goldie Hawn, Alfred Hitchcock, Norman Howell, Amy Irving, Ben Johnson, Wayne Knight, Shia LaBeouf, Marcia Lucas, K.C. Martel, Mike Myers, George Negus, Al Pacino, Fievel Posner, Dan Rather, John Rhys-Davies, Terry Richards, Oliver Robins, Mark Rylance, Roy Scheider, Gene Shalit, Robert Shaw, Dinah Shore, Tom Snyder, Rebecca Spielberg, Sasha Spielberg, Theo Spielberg, David Strathairn, Henry Thomas, François Truffaut, Dennis Weaver, Robert Young, Margaret Avery, Ruby Barnhill, Marlon Brando, Edward Burns, John Candy, David Costabile, Melinda Dillon, Dakota Fanning, Morgan Freeman, Adam Goldberg, Alec Guinness, Mark Hamill, Hal Holbrook, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Byron Jennings, Tommy Lee Jones, Charlie Korsmo, Ronald Lacey, Maurice LaMarche, Lee Majors, Joseph Mazzello, Samantha Morton, Sam Neill, Frances O'Connor, Kevin J. O'Connor, Peter O'Toole, Haley Joel Osment, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Ariana Richards, Miranda Richardson, Pat Roach, Geoffrey Rush, Amy Ryan, Omar Sharif, Martin Short, Tom Sizemore, Robert Stack, Christopher Walken, Dee Wallace, Robin Williams.

On this day in music history - Nightbook, by Ludovico Einaudi (2009):

Nightbook

Album by Ludovico Einaudi,

released October 5, 2009.

Track list:

Einaudi: Indaco; Einaudi: The Snow Prelude No. 15; Einaudi: Eros; Einaudi: The Crane Dance; Einaudi: The Snow Prelude No. 2; Einaudi: The Tower; Einaudi: Reverie; Einaudi: Bye Bye Mon Amour; Einaudi: The Planets; Einaudi: Solo; Einaudi: Berlin Song.

On this day in music history - Hidden Sky, by Jami Sieber (2004):

Hidden Sky

Album by Jami Sieber,

Released October 5, 2004.

Track list:

Maenam; Out of the Mist; Homage; Sukhothai Rain; Red Moon; Common Music; In the Silence; Prayer 1; Hidden Sky; Mandlovu Mind; Arms of the Mother; Prayer 2; Hidden Sky.

On this day in movie history - Training Day (2001):

Training Day

directed by Antoine Fuqua,

written by David Ayer,

was released in the United States on October 5, 2001.
Music by Mark Mancina.

Cast:

Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Eva Mendes, Cliff Curtis, Raymond Cruz, Noel Gugliemi, Dr. Dre, Peter Greene, Nick Chinlund, Jaime P. Gomez, Snoop Dogg, Macy Gray, Charlotte Ayanna, Harris Yulin, Tom Berenger, Raymond J. Barry, Samantha Esteban, Seidy López, Rudy Perez, Cle Shaheed Sloan, Abel Soto, Denzel Whitaker, Fran Kranz, Terry Crews.

On this day in music history - Let the Good Times Roll, by B.B. King (1999):

Let the Good Times Roll

Album by B.B. King,

released October 5, 1999.

Track list:

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens; Is You Is, Or Is You Ain’t (My Baby); Beware, Brother, Beware; Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door; Ain’t That Just Like A Woman; Choo Choo Ch’Boogie; Buzz Me; Early In The Mornin’; I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town; Jack, You’re Dead; Knock Me A Kiss; Let The Good Times Roll; Caldonia; It’s A Great, Great Pleasure; Rusty Dusty Blues (Mama Mama Blues); Sure Had A Wonderful Time Last Night; Saturday Night Fish Fry; Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out.