Today I begin a thread of 2020 books I like with my close personal friend @Glenn__Kenny's MADE MEN: THE STORY OF GOODFELLAS. I *love* to read a smart, detailed production history. It's meticulously researched and written with Glenn's characteristic wit and verve.

Next up, @sydney_stern's THE BROTHERS MANKIEWICZ. This one packed an emotional wallop I wasn't expecting. The career detail is aces, but it's also so sensitive about sibling dynamics, alcoholism, and how hard it is to escape family patterns.

SCOUNDRELS AND SPITBALLERS by Philippe Garnier is about lesser-known (but gifted) Golden Age screenwriters like John Bright, Wilson Mizner, or A.I. Bezzerides (of THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT). NOT on Amazon; find it at @EddieMuller's Black Pool Productions. http://blackpoolproductions.com/scoundrels1.html

Garnier spoke to many of the writers while they were still alive, as well to their friends and family. It's such a fun book and I recommend it to all my classic-film peeps. Read this rave from John McElwee of Greenbriar Picture Shows: https://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/2020/07/excellent-book-alert.html

While I'm at this, let me also recommend the extensive set of book reviews at @RaquelStecher's Out of the Past blog, and links to her 2020 Summer Reading Challenge (which I should have done if both I and this year were less catastrophically disorganized): http://www.outofthepastblog.com/search/label/Book%20Reviews

Back to book matters and one of my half-dozen gets at the McFarland sale. @JimLNeibaur is a prolific film historian and a friend. This film-by-film appreciation focuses on Jean Harlow's acting talent and gives careful attention even to obscurities.

Today's book recommendation: @donnarifkind's biography of the magnetic and talented Salka Viertel. Donna shows that Viertel's aid to artists and intellectuals fleeing Hitler went well beyond her celebrated parties.