'This is Spinal Tap' was the funniest thing I'd ever seen all those years ago, and with the sequel just out, I thought I'd grab a copy of 'A Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid' - and it was worth every penny. For me the funniest bits were stories about the real life events that were adapted for the movie, or in some cases, copied almost verbatim.
For the first time, director Rob Reiner and co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer provide the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of the groundbreaking mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap and its upcoming sequel.
Since its original release in 1984, This Is Spinal Tap has evolved from a beloved cult film into a cinematic landmark: an all-time comedy classic that pioneered an entire genre: the mockumentary. Now, director Rob Reiner and his co-writers and co-stars, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, tell the complete story of the movie and its fictitious band…
The whole trilogy is worth reading, along with the (kind of) prequel, but this is the place to start. Bartimaeus' snark and deviousness is wonderful, and the book's world is thoroughly immersive.
The first volume in the brilliant, bestselling Bartimaeus sequence.
When the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind: revenge. Against his will, Bartimaeus is packed off to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace, a master magician of unrivalled ruthlessness and ambition. Before long, both djinni and apprentice are caught up in a terrifying flood of magical intrigue, murder and rebellion.
I stumbled across Mick Herron thanks to the TV series 'Slow Horses' and I'm glad I picked up his books. They help fill the gap while waiting for the next season. Not sure if it's a good thing or bad, but I can't help but hear Jackson Lamb's dialogue in Gary Oldman's voice.
'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carre - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman
Slough House is the outpost where disgraced spies are banished to see out the rest of their derailed careers. Known as the 'slow horses' these misfits have committed crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal while on duty.
In this drab and mildewed office these highly trained spies don't run…
In this comic fantasy, daydreamer Imperceptibility Happenstance enjoys a good adventure, but only within her imagination. Perhaps things will change when she acquires a magic lamp… And they do: soon after being press-ganged into the navy, she finds herself cast adrift after a mutiny, heading for the underworld and the terrifying Kharon. All she wants is to get home, but her journey continues via the mysterious tunnels of the Humble Monks, sacrifice to a quantum dragon, and an explosive confrontation with a ruthless businessman; and it gets worse from there. Finally, home is within reach, but she realizes she has grown beyond her old mundane life—can she fulfil her dreams, armed with nothing more than a goose feather?
