Recent books of note. Click links to order from Bookshop.org and support Pop Culture Safari!
Idle in Provence: A Brief History of ThymeIn 1971, at the beginning of Monty Python mania, Eric Idle bought a crumbling ruin in the hills of Provence. With no electricity, no water, no road, and no plan, he set out to transform the neglected stone shack into what he lovingly calls a shackeau.
Idle in Provence is the story of the transformation of both the place and the man. Against the sun-drenched backdrop of southern France, Idle penned iconic songs and scripts, hosted a revolving door of eccentric and brilliant friends--George Harrison, Robin Williams, Paul Simon, and others--and found a rare kind of peace far from the madness of showbiz. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and comedy masterclass, the book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments, tender reflections, and the kind of sharp, self-deprecating wit only Idle can deliver.
As he reflects on love, loss, friendship, and joy, Idle paints a vivid portrait of a place that became more than a home--it became a sanctuary. The story spans decades. It's a love letter to France, to old friends, and to the wild, unpredictable journey of being alive.
Morning in Marin: Zen, Drugs, and Ewoks on the California CoastCross the Golden Gate and enter the rollicking creative scene of midcentury Marin County, a fertile font of risk-takers and radical thinkers. In these misted hills, currents of art and philosophy swirl, giving rise to the seismic cultural awakening out of which Star Wars, Alan Watts, and the Grateful Dead all emerge. Marin is where Anna Halprin dances, Philip K Dick dreams, Gary Snyder circumambulates, and Janis Joplin hides. What made Marin such a galvanizing force of iconoclasm and counterculture: Was it the money, Mount Tamalpais, the acid trips? With a fresh voice steeped in local lore, David Perlis dips into parties on Sausalito houseboats, hangs around communes in West Marin, and introduces us to the visionaries who sowed the seeds of an organic inner revolution that bloomed into a global commercial empire--transforming Marin along the way as outsider elements became the consummate insiders. Blending pop culture, biography, and a deeply affectionate sense of place into an immersive narrative history, Morning in Marin traces a movement of Zen thinkers, Beat poets, mystic feminists, and psychedelic rockers from their radical beginnings through their crises and contradictions. Forging an unbroken chain from bohemians and Beats to New Age and New Hollywood, Perlis reveals how the people, places, and ideas of Marin combined to create a lasting American mythology.
.jpg)
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond)
Part memoir and part cultural history, Resident Punk offers a no-holds-barred expose chronicling the iconic and unforgettable music scene that would become defined by bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Television, the Heartbreakers, and Talking Heads.
In 1975 at just 19 years old, Legs McNeil—alongside John Holmstrom and Ged Dunn—cofounded PUNK magazine. In doing so, they inadvertently chronicled the start of a movement. McNeil’s role in the whole thing? To be their resident punk, embodying the zeitgeist the magazine was looking to capture, often by getting f*cked up with musicians, artists, writers, and hangers-on . . . and sleeping with a different girl every day of the week.
Now, just in time for the 50th anniversary of PUNK magazine, Legs tells the stories behind the stories in a sleazy, star-studded adventure. The coauthor of Please Kill Me, Legs invites readers along for the ride as he tussles with musicians and artists, groupies and writers, Golden Age Hollywood film stars and legendary figures of ‘70s New York. Featuring untold stories about Joey Ramone, William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Alan Vega, Martin Rev, the Dictators, the Dead Boys, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Poly Styrene, this book is an immersive look at the punk music scene as only a true insider can tell it.
What’s more, Legs shares the raw meat of his life, starting with his gritty suburban childhood, and the teenage wasteland years that put him on a path to punk. Join him as he steals David Bowie’s hubcaps, wrestles with Norman Mailer, and lives life on the edge, and wrestles his own demons—eventually setting in a small Pennsylvania town, where he’s very much still the Resident Punk.
At a time when televised cartoons—especially within the superhero genre—were often over-looked, Batman: The Animated Series introduced an entire generation of soon-to-be Batman fanatics to the caped crusader. The series triumphed into what is largely considered one of the best superhero cartoons of all time, and the best depiction of Batman mythology in any format.
But the road to genre-defying and genre-defining success was hardly guaranteed. Along the way, co-creator Bruce Timm and his team of artists at Warner Bros Animation battled a landscape that was often antithetical to their aims with Batman. Internal struggles led the writing team and the network to debate everything (literally everything) about how best to depict Batman—from whether or not the eco-friendly hero would have a recycling bin in the Batcave to how many women he was allowed to kiss onscreen.
In I Am the Night, Daniel Dockery lovingly deep dives into Batman: The Animated Series and the cartoon renaissance it inspired, becoming the definitive primary source for new and old fans of the series alike. Including exclusive interviews with the team behind the cartoon and many never-before-shared insights about the series, I Am the Night will surprise even the staunchest of Batman enthusiasts and capture what made people first fall in love with the series. As many ups and downs as the DC Cinematic Universe may have, Batman is eternal–and so is Batman: The Animated Series.
Established in 1934, Hammer Films is one of the most renowned and prolific independent production companies in the world.
Hammer’s productions encompass almost every genre, but it remains best known for the groundbreaking reinvention of cinematic horror that was a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1950s. The unique formula that became known as Hammer Horror was perfected in such classics as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959). Over the next 20 years numerous sequels and similarly acclaimed films such as The Devil Rides Out (1968) made Hammer one of the most recognisable filmmaking brands in the world.
The Hammer Story is the only authorised history of the company and was compiled with unlimited access to its archive. The book is lavishly illustrated with rare promotional material and previously unpublished photographs.
Now with an additional 32 pages continuing the story of Hammer as it came back from the dead in 2007 and began producing new horror films for a modern audience.
Filled with more than 300 images—stills, behind-the-scenes shots, character studies, objects, landscapes, and beautiful spreads—this image-drenched volume traces the elements that shaped Twin Peaks’ visual language. Red curtains, zigzag floors, flickering lamps, forest shadows, diner counters, owl eyes, Dictaphones, rings, and logs appear not as props but as clues, hinting at shifting layers of meaning.
Motif-focused sections move through iconic interiors—the Black Lodge, the Great Northern, the Palmer house, the sheriff’s station, the Double R Diner—where reality thins and something stranger presses through.
Characters emerge not through biography but gesture and atmosphere: Laura shimmering between innocence and doom, Cooper navigating intuition and ritual, Audrey on danger’s edge, and Leland slipping in and out of darkness. Brief reflections explore ideas central to the series: doubling, dream logic, time loops, hauntings, symbols that refuse to settle, and the uneasy border between the ordinary and the impossible.
Rather than decode or explain, the authors follow the show’s own instincts—letting mood, pattern, and image reveal how the world of Twin Peaks holds together. This book invites devotees and newcomers inside a place where nothing is just what it seems, and every room, object, and glance hums with something just out of reach.
Join self-confessed video nerd Matt Parker as he opens the door to his retro den, showcasing an extraordinary collection of analogue electronics from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. From iconic Sony Trinitron TVs and forgotten Betamax players to early video cameras, LaserDiscs, and neon-lit gaming consoles, this book is a vibrant celebration of a bygone era.
More than just a catalog of vintage tech, The Vintage Video Basement is a visual time capsule filled with personal stories, historical insights, and geeky details that bring these devices - and their cultural impact - to life. Along the way, you'll rediscover the magic of physical media, explore the format wars that shaped a generation, and perhaps even feel inspired to create your own analogue archive. Part history, part design porn, this is the ultimate book for collectors, nostalgia lovers, and anyone who ever raced to press 'record' on a blank VHS tape.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment