ENJOY OUR "SNAX"--SHORT BYTES--IN BETWEEN ISSUES OF FEAST!
For FALL 2010's delicious offerings of books, art, food, film, and unique travel--check out the NEW ISSUE of our online magazine FEAST--you will not go away hungry-- http://www.feastofbooks.com/
Between issues, read our blog posts as we and our special guests share thoughts, ideas, and recommendations about books, art, food, film, and travel. We love to hear from our readers, so please post a comment! Thanks-- Rosemary Carstens, editor
SNAX ONLINE is moving during the first quarter of 2011 -- stay tuned!
Snax Online is undergoing a redesign and will be moving to a new location. Check back from time to time for a link. In its new format, this blog will cover a wider range of topics but also its usual five. In the meantime, keep up with what's happening in the world of books, art, food, film, and travel at http://www.FEASTofBooks.com --
See you in 2011!!
SUNSHINE CLEANING, written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeff, is an off-beat comic drama about an unlikely road to happiness. Starring academy-award nominee Amy Adams and Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt as sisters Rose and Norah, who have fallen on hard times, plus Alan Arkin as their dad Joe, this is a story for all who are suffering in this economy and need diversion to bring them hope. Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene cleanup business with her to make some quick cash. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it, and the sisters find ways to make their way through a maze of murders, suicides, and other freaky situations to find new respect and love for one another.
The film opened last weekend in LA and NY and will be opening nationwide over the next two weeks.
JUST OUT! A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, Molly Wizenberg. (Simon & Schuster March 2009). Here’s a narrative cookbook coming directly from the hugely successful, award-winning blog Orangette (http://orangette.blogspot.com/) straight to your heart!
Overwhelmed by the death of her father, Molly Wizenberg feels unable to return to graduate school in Seattle after the funeral. She heads instead for Paris, the scene of so many wonderful memories of being there with her father. Instead of working on her dissertation, she finds herself mooning around chocolate shops, perusing and sampling cheeses in outdoor markets, reading cookbooks for hours. She soon realizes she is called NOT to the academic life, but to the kitchen. Food is her destiny. Returning home, she creates a blog named Orangette after the French treat, chocolate-dipped candied orange peels. What begins as a pastime develops a loyal following and a book deal soon follows.
In this delightful story/cookbook, Molly shares childhood adventures, a developing new romance, and a wedding—all interspersed by recipes guaranteed to find new fans! The lovely, red-headed chef has a down-to-earth way of sharing her cooking adventures and I've tried out a couple mouthwatering choices already-- a flourless deep-chocolate cake that I mean to share after only a small slice for myself--but, oh, what can I say! Gluttony got the best of me--
-- Rosemary Carstens
One of the unique pleasures of enjoying and treasuring books is the now and then discovery of a wonderful book you missed when it first came out. In today’s publishing world, books frequently enter with a bang and then disappear without a whimper. Recently I had the pleasure of stumbling upon GEOFFREY HOLDER: A Life in Theater, Dance, and Art, by Jennifer Dunning (Harry N. Abrams 2001). What better way to commemorate Black History Month that with this glorious book about the amazing creative life of Geoffrey Holder, a man who has imbibed life with lusty enthusiasm—fully, richly focused on cultural pursuits in a way that is quite unusual today. As he says about his growing up years in Trinidad, “If you played under this tree as I did as a child, you too would believe in fairytales.”
Holder is a larger-than-life figure in every way. His whole philosophy is that “you should do everything” regardless of age. Born in 1930 on the cusp of one of America’s most creative moments yet one of its most economically deprived times, Geoffrey grew up “dancing, singing, painting, and designing clothes . . . danced his way out of Trinidad and on to New York City.” A tall black man with a magnificent body and ready, joyful smile, Holder’s style in everything he does is bold and colorful, from his dancing to his design and choreography for such productions as The Wiz, to his dynamic, masterful portraits and imaginative art works. This book inspires us all to grab life, hold on tight, but let your feet fly out behind you as the ride begins!
CARMEN & GEOFFREY, a documentary directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob about Geoffrey and his fabulous wife of more than fifty years opens March 13th at New York’s Quad Cinema, DVD release summer 2009. Now available for educational purchase at http://firstrunfeatures.com/ .
Rosemary Carstens
SUNSHINE CLEANING, written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeff, is an off-beat comic drama about an unlikely road to happiness. Starring academy-award nominee Amy Adams and Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt as sisters Rose and Norah, who have fallen on hard times, plus Alan Arkin as their dad Joe, this is a story for all who are suffering in this economy and need diversion to bring them hope. Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene cleanup business with her to make some quick cash. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it, and the sisters find ways to make their way through a maze of murders, suicides, and other freaky situations to find new respect and love for one another.
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