In this compelling series of lectures on literary journalism, Professor William McKeen delves into the origins of storytelling, the nature of literary journalism, and the ways in which literary journalism has affected culture and modes of expression. As Professor McKeen takes listeners back to the Second World War and progresses through the history of literary journalism to the present, he introduces such intriguing-and sometimes notorious-writers as John Hersey, Norman Mailer, Gay Talese,...

"Gets it all in: the boozing and drugging…but also the intelligence, the loyalty, the inherent decency." —Jonathan Yardley, Washington PostHunter S. Thompson detonated a two-ton bomb under the staid field of journalism with his magazine pieces and revelatory Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In Outlaw Journalist, the famous inventor of Gonzo journalism is portrayed as never before. Through in-depth interviews with Thompson’s associates, Wil...

True stories of writers and pirates, painters and potheads, guitar pickers and drug merchants in Key West in the 1970s.For Hemingway and Fitzgerald, there was Paris in the twenties. For others, later, there was Greenwich Village, Big Sur, and Woodstock. But for an even later generation—one defined by the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Tom McGuane, and Hunter S. Thompson—there was another moveable feast: Key West, Florida.The small town on the two-by-four-mile isla...

Los Angeles in the 1960s gave the world some of the greatest music in rock 'n' roll history: "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, a song that magnificently summarized the joy and beauty of the era in three-and-a-half minutes.But there was a dark flip side to the fun fun fun of the music, a nexus between naïve young musicians and the fringe elements that exploited the decade's peace-love...

Esteemed author and journalism professor William McKeen chronicles the mesmerizing life of legendary Gonzo journalist and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson's childhood is detailed, along with his explosive relationship with his editors at Playboy and Rolling Stone, his drug use, his controversial persona, and life at his secluded Colorado home.

Professor William McKeen delves into the origins of rock beginning with its emergence in the 1950s

Florida can seem like a child's dream of paradise: endless sunny days, trips to the beach to swim and build sandcastles, bike riding without a jacket in the middle of January, and magical themeparks only a short drive away. But what was life really like for those who grew up here?During a recent reunion, writers Bill McKeen, Tim Dorsey, and Jeff Klinkenberg found themselves lamenting that so many of their childhood memories were fading away. For them, and for many, Florida...

Los Angeles in the 1960s gave the world some of the greatest music in rock 'n' roll history: "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, a song that magnificently summarized the joy and beauty of the era.But there was a dark flip side to the fun fun fun of the music, a nexus between naïve young musicians and the hangers-on who exploited the decade's peace, love, and flowers ethos, all fueled ...

"Anyone who loves Hollywood and movies is bound to enjoy this lively, funny book, filled with candid recollections . . . I love her clear-eyed memories." —Leonard Maltin, author/film criticForeword by Carrie FisherIn Unsinkable, the late great actress, comedienne, singer, and dancer Debbie Reynolds shares the highs and lows of her life as an actress during Hollywood's Golden Age, anecdotes about her lifelong friendship with Elizabeth...

"One of the more readable, insightful and entertaining celebrity autobiographies in recent memory—a tragicomedy that could be turned into its own movie." — Chicago Sun-TimesThere is—and could only ever be—one Billy Bob Thornton: actor, musician, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and accidental Hollywood badass. In The Billy Bob Tapes, he leads us into his Cave Full of Ghosts, spinning colorful tales of his modest (to say the least) Southern upbri...

A collection of strange-but-true crime tales featuring cops, lawyers, and some very unusual suspects . . .The fact-finding folks at Bathroom Readers' Institute have rounded up the best cops-and-robber articles we've ever done, plus a rogues' gallery of new offenders. You'll read about dumb crooks and criminal masterminds, mafia henchmen and low-level goons, ancient warriors and Old West gunslingers, crazed cops and jovial judges, and even a few loony lawyers and cr...

A Curious Man is the marvelously compelling biography of Robert “Believe It or Not” Ripley, the enigmatic cartoonist turned globetrotting millionaire who won international fame by celebrating the world's strangest oddities, and whose outrageous showmanship taught us to believe in the unbelievable.As portrayed by acclaimed biographer Neal Thompson, Ripley’s life is the stuff of a classic American fairy tale. Buck-toothed and cursed by shyness, Ripley turned his sense of bei...