Coming Up: "The LEGO Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World's Imagination"
Out Nov. 15. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
The extraordinary inside story of the LEGO company—producer of the most beloved and popular toy on the planet—based on unprecedented access to the founding family that still owns the company, chronicling the brand’s improbable journey to become the empire that it is today.
"This book tells the story of how my family built the LEGO brand." —Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, former President/CEO of the LEGO Group and 3rd generation owner
From bare-bones wooden toys to plastic interlocking bricks, from a single rectangle on which a child could build a simple house to the ability to recreate the worlds of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Batman, and more, hundreds of millions of people around the world have played with LEGOs, driven around in toy cars at LEGOLAND, and flocked to theaters to watch The LEGO Movie and its sequels. Some have taken their passion into adulthood, building in the late hours when the younger generation has been tucked into bed. Though LEGO has existed for nearly a century, the product has not always been the one we know and adore today. The toy has undergone big changes in both material and design due to a combination of cultural and historical circumstances as well as industrial advancements.
Yet as ubiquitous as the LEGO company is, the family behind the brand is an enigma. Now, for the first time, the Kirk Kristiansen family has agreed to tell the story of LEGO and their life’s work to Jens Andersen, one of Denmark’s most acclaimed writers and beloved biographers. Through interviews with Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen—who represents the third generation of the family business—and with access to the vast LEGO archive, Andersen takes the reader back to the very beginning of LEGO and chronicles its improbable journey to become the iconic company that it is today.
The LEGO Story is the definitive story behind one of the most beloved brands on the planet, shown through the deeply personal lens of one singular family. Excellently written with ease and verve, it’s also a riveting cultural history of changing generations’ view of childhood and the importance of play. Richly illustrated with never-before-seen photos from the family’s private archive, this is the ultimate book for fans of LEGO, revealing everything you ever wanted to know about the brand.
Hot Trax '72: Nilsson! Roberta and Donny! Undisputed Truth! More!
New songs entering the charts 50 years ago this week.
Coming Up: "Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius"
Out Nov. 15. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
Every so often, a pairing comes along that seems completely unlikely—until it’s not. Peanut butter and jelly, Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un, ducks and puppies, and now: Dickens and Prince.
Equipped with a fan’s admiration and his trademark humor and wit, Nick Hornby invites us into his latest obsession: the cosmic link between two unlikely artists, geniuses in their own rights, spanning race, class, and centuries—each of whom electrified their different disciplines and whose legacy resounded far beyond their own time.
When Prince’s 1987 record Sign o’ the Times was rereleased in 2020, the iconic album now came with dozens of songs that weren’t on the original— Prince was endlessly prolific, recording 102 songs in 1986 alone. In awe, Hornby began to wonder, Who else ever produced this much? Who else ever worked that way? He soon found his answer in Victorian novelist and social critic Charles Dickens, who died more than a hundred years before Prince began making music.
Examining the two artists’ personal tragedies, social statuses, boundless productivity, and other parallels, both humorous and haunting, Hornby shows how these two unlikely men from different centuries “lit up the world.” In the process, he creates a lively, stimulating rumination on the creativity, flamboyance, discipline, and soul it takes to produce great art.
Pop Culture Roundup: Sgt. Rock Fights Zombies, Alex Ross Salutes Neal Adams, Remembering Julee Cruise, more
ITEM! Bruce Campbell is penning "Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Dead," a new six-issue series from DC Comics.
ITEM! Artist Alex Ross pays tribute to Neal Adams with a new Batman comic book cover and print.
ITEM! A new DC Pride comics story tells the story of Batman: The Animated Series voice actor Kevin Conroy.
ITEM! Singer Julee Cruse who appeared in David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" and "Blue Velvet" is dead at age 65.
New on Video: "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" Ultimate Collector's Editions
Click the links to order from Amazon.
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Check Out the Justice Society from DC's "Black Adam" Film!
"Black Adam," DC's "Shazam!" spin-off film starring the Rock (we still can him that) features the Justice Society. Here are pics of a few of the JSA members appearing in the flick.
The film stars Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Sarah Shahi as Isis, Noah Centenio as Atom Smasher, Maxine Hunkell as Cyclone, and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman.
