Books
I Buried Paul
Jimmy Kozlowski has a regular gig playing Paul McCartney in the Beatles tribute band, Help! The band is part of a cottage industry grounded in mimicry, with each group striving to be the ultimate Fake Fab Four. And none strives harder than Help! thanks to its John Lennon and leader, Gene Klein. Gene's just gotten his Medicare card and spends much of his time caring for his ailing mother, but he hasn't lost a step on guitar or vocals. He is determined to take Help! to the top, the goal being to perform in Liverpool one day. Though the notion of the UK clamoring for a group of Long Islanders with fake British accents seems far-fetched, Gene has a plan.
Jimmy, unlike his boss, has limited bandwidth for high-quality Beatle wigs or bespoke Nehru jackets. He works a straight job, entertains at a nursing home, and yearns to connect with the daughter he's never met. He also wants a shot at recording and performing his own original material, even if it means "burying Paul" in the process.
I Buried Paul is a love letter to the power of music, a humorous yet moving exploration of the sacrifices its disciples are willing to make in service to its magic.
Edited by Bruce Ferber
Contributions from Chris Rock, J.J. Abrams, Gabrielle Union, Robert Towne, and more.
Despite increasing corporate mergers and bottom-line thinking, the entertainment business will never function like a bank or an insurance company because it is an industry rooted in imagination. Rules are meant to be broken. The best work is often produced in an environment where plans change by the minute, and nothing seems to make sense. To wit, those who choose this profession must alter preconceived notions of work itself, sometimes discovering that fantasy and horror describe both movie genres and life on the job. The phenomenon crosses class lines: From the writers, directors, and producers to the lawyers, agents, studio executives, and crew and right down to the porta-potty suppliers.
The Way We Work provides a window into the skill sets and the insanity that make movies and television tick. Essays by award-winning writers, directors, and producers chronicle the process and the obstacles facing those at the top of the creative food chain. Oral histories from executives to “below-the-line” workers describe life in the trenches, which often present as Studs Terkel's Working―on acid.
The Way We Work: On The Job In Hollywood
Reviews for The Way We Work: On The Job In Hollywood
"...A powerful addition that surveys the skills, processes, and interactions that comprise a Hollywood creative endeavor."
— Midwest Book Review
“An essential piece of non-fiction for aspiring and active filmmakers of all job titles.”
— Readers’ Favorite
Cascade Falls explores the failed promise of the American Dream. Raised to believe that with hard work, anything is possible, a staggering number of Americans hate their jobs and see little chance of ever escaping the grind. In his tragicomic followup to the laugh-ridden Elevating Overman, Bruce Ferber asks the question: "How does giving up our dreams affect our relationships and our psyches?"
Danny Johnson, a writer whose career never materialized, moves with his wife and children to Cascade Falls, a water-filled, golf community in the bone-dry desert outside of Phoenix. Grudgingly going to work for his father Ted, the Elmer Gantry of home development, Danny's quest for stability ultimately comes up short. His marriage begins to fray and the housing market goes bust, forcing him and those around him to examine their lives anew. Cascade Falls exposes the desperate price paid for sacrificing who we are for how and where we live.
Cascade Falls
Reviews for Cascade Falls
“A story about rising from the ashes, just as the setting suggests, and redemption through honesty and forgiveness.”
— Foreword Reviews
“Poignant, moving and ridiculously funny.”
— Dan Zevin, Humorist
Elevating Overman is a funny and painful story of redemption that explores the complex ramifications of what it means to get a second chance. The novel follows the journey of Ira Overman, veteran of multiple botched careers and a singularly botched marriage, as he makes one last attempt to rise above the guilt, weakness, and self-hatred that have been hard-wired into his soul since birth. Through an unlikely side effect from a seemingly routine surgery, Overman suddenly finds himself trying to reconcile newfound powers with the man he used to be, determined not to repeat the poor choices of his past. Overman succeeds at righting some of his former wrongs, fails miserably at others, but, most importantly, gains a small yet significant window into a life that matters.
Elevating Overman
Reviews for Elevating Overman
“A brilliantly written novel with a cast of full-bodied characters that are so ridiculous, they come across as truly authentic.”
— San Francisco Book Review
“Clever, endearing, intelligent and searching.”
— Book Pleasures
“Frailty abounds in this searing examination of our lesser selves. With hints of Philip Roth, the cultural byplay will bring out the self-hatred in us all - and turn it on its head. Elevating Overman deserves a place in the Jewish-American canon.”
— Roy Teicher, former Tonight Show writer, LA Times columnist