Lee Server

The author of Robert Mitchum: "Baby, I Don't Care" presents a detailed account of the Hollywood woman icon, tracing her numerous affairs, her marriages to such men as Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra, and her larger-than-life, passionate lifestyle. 50,000 first printing.

"Love Is Nothing"

Ava Gardner

Traces the life and career of actor Robert Mitchum in a biography of one of Hollywood's biggest and most colorful stars.

"Baby I Don't Care"

Robert Mitchum

Edward Gorman

A compendium of articles and interviews about film noir and its spin-offs--novels, TV and radio shows, and comic books--pays homage to the leading actors and writers of the genre and includes an essay by Stephen King. Original. 20,000 first printing.

The Big Book of Noir

Asian Pop Cinema is the first full-color guide to the wide-ranging films of Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and India, served up with dozens of spectacular photographs, film stills, and movie posters. Outlandish animated science fiction, musical shoot 'em ups, sword epics, ghost stories, and erotic tales (sometimes all in one!)-the floodgates of Asian cinema are open and Western audiences are hungry for the dazzling thrills. Presenting the major films, the people behind them, the key elements of each genre, and interviews with John Woo and others, Lee Server brings a unique breadth of knowledge and inimitable wit to every page. From subversive camp to high-adrenaline crime thrillers, Asian Pop Cinema is a great read and exciting resource for both seasoned and uninitiated viewers.

Bombay to Tokyo

Asian Pop Cinema

The American paperback went through a brief but gloriously subversive era during the 40's and 50's. Publishers wooed millions of war-hardened readers with inexpensive, pocket-sized paperbacks full of sex and violence. Lurid covers with square-jawed men and scantily clad women in perilous situations helped to sell these sensation-packed tales of hard-boiled private eyes, deadly dames, sex fiends, beatniks, and juvenile delinquents. Lee Server, author of the acclaimed Danger Is My Business (Chronicle Books), recounts this unique period of American publishing and describes the authors, artists, and editors who made it so memorable. Complete with over 100 colorful photographs of rare covers, plus tips on how to collect vintage paperbacks, Over My Dead Body is not only a great read, but also a useful resource for collectors and lovers of American pop culture.

The Sensational Age of the American Paperpack, 1945-1955

Over My Dead Body

"The most complete and engrossing biography yet of this exotic Southern girl...Excellent."—Liz Smith She was the sex symbol who dazzled all the other sex symbols. She was the temptress who drove Frank Sinatra to the brink of suicide and haunted him to the end of his life. Ernest Hemingway saved one of her kidney stones as a sacred memento, and Howard Hughes begged her to marry him—but she knocked out his front teeth instead. She was one of the great icons in Hollywood history—star of The Killers, The Barefoot Contessa, and The Night of the Iguana—and one of the few whose actual life was grander and more colorful than any movie. Her jaw-dropping beauty, charismatic presence, and fabulous, scandalous adventures fueled the legend of Ava Gardner—Hollywood's most glamorous, restless and uninhibited star. In this acclaimed first full biography of Gardner, Lee Server recreates—with great style and vivid detail—the actress's life, from her beginnings as a barefoot North Carolina farm girl to her heady days as a Hollywood goddess. He paints the full spectacle of her tumultuous private life—including her string of failed marriages to Mickey Rooney, Sinatra and Artie Shaw—and Gardner's lifelong search for adventure and love. Ava Gardner: "Love is Nothing" is both an exceptional work of biography and a richly entertaining read.

The 25 films written and directed by Sam Fuller (e.g., Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss and White Dog) are a combination of social commentary, bold plotting, brutal violence and dazzling cinematic technique. An extended interview with Fuller is the basis of this work; to it are added lengthy commentaries from his actors, cameramen, editors and many others. For each of the films, there is a critical analysis and an extensive plot synopsis. Also provided is a comprehensive filmography of his work.

Film is a Battleground : a Critical Study, with Interviews, a Filmography, and a Bibliography

Sam Fuller

The American paperback went through a brief but gloriously subversive era during the 1940s and '50s when publishers wooed post-World War II veterans with cheap, pocket-sized paperbacks sporting lurid covers and shocking titles. But this era also spawned such great writers as Mickey Spillane, Philip K. Dick and Jack Kerouac. 100 photographs.

Another well illustrated (color and bandw) work on popular culture. Subtitled: An Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines: 1896-1953. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Danger Is My Business

A rich biography of the legendary figure at the center of the century’s darkest secrets: an untold story of golden age Hollywood, modern Las Vegas, JFK-era scandal and international intrigue from Lee Server, the New York Times bestselling author of Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing... A singular figure in the annals of the American underworld, Johnny Rosselli’s career flourished for an extraordinary fifty years, from the bloody years of bootlegging in the Roaring Twenties--the last protégé of Al Capone—to the modern era of organized crime as a dominant corporate power. The Mob’s “Man in Hollywood,” Johnny Rosselli introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the biggest extortion plot in history. A man of great allure and glamour, Rosselli befriended many of the biggest names in the movie capital—including studio boss Harry Cohn, helping him to fund Columbia Pictures--and seduced some of its greatest female stars, including Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe. In a remarkable turn of events, Johnny himself would become a Hollywood filmmaker—producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s. Following years in federal prison, Rosselli began a new venture, overseeing the birth and heyday of Las Vegas. Working for new Chicago boss Sam Giancana, he became the gambling mecca’s behind-the-scenes boss, running the town from his suites and poolside tables at the Tropicana and Desert Inn, enjoying the Rat Pack nightlife with pals Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In the 1960s, in the most unexpected chapter in an extraordinary life, Rosselli became the central figure in a bizarre plot involving the Kennedy White House, the CIA, and an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. Based upon years of research, written with compelling style and vivid detail, Handsome Johnny is the great telling of an amazing tale.

The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin

Handsome Johnny

Provides an introduction to American pulp fiction during the twentieth century with brief author biographies and lists of their works.

Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers

Photographs and text profile the power and majesty of lions, exploring its origins and history, its use as a symbol in literature and art, and its behaviors and characteristics.

Lee Server

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