By BILLY HELLER
Last updated: 2:17 am
July 6, 2008
Posted: 2:00 am
July 6, 2008
Books: A Memoir
by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster)
The Pulitzer-winning author of "Lonesome Dove," "The Last Picture Show" and 26 other novels is a renowned book collector, with a 400,000 volume store in his Texas hometown. In his tale about his love for books, he grabs the reader right away, with the opening line: "I don't remember either of my parents ever reading me a story - perhaps that's why I've made up so many."
When We Get to Surf City
by Bob Greene (St. Martin's Press)
Columnist and NPR contributor Greene was invited to a Jan & Dean show in the early 1990s, and wound up singing backup onstage for the '60s duo. For 15 years, he joined the tour from time to time - a dream come true for him. Along the way, he discovered the America of places like Elko, Nev.; Cassopolis. Mich.; and Roanoke, Va. He met fans and music legends (Chuck Berry) alike, and made lifelong friends.
Golden Bones
by Sichan Siv (Harper)
Siv takes us through his heartbreaking, eclectic life. Originally from Cambodia, he is a survivor of the genocidal Khmer Rouge. He was also a flight attendant after high school, then went on to teach English and work for CARE - and finally, served as American ambassador to the UN from 1989-'93.
Vampyres of Hollywood
by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott (Thomas Dunne Books)
You have to admire actress Adrienne Barbeau's career choices: Films on her resume include "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" and the classic "Escape From New York." Now, she's turned to novel writing. When a Hollywood serial killer targets actors, scream queen/studio chief Ovsanna Moore and handsome LA cop Peter King team up to solve the case. Plus, Ovsanna is a vampire (who apparently can't spell).
Shining City
by Seth Greenland (Bloomsbury)
In this satire, family man Marcus Ripps has a Van Nuys mortgage to maintain, an upcoming bar mitzvah to finance, a marriage decaying from boredom and a job outsourced to China. When his estranged brother unexpectedly dies and leaves him a dry-cleaning store, Marcus finds it's a front for a West Hollywood "escort service" (paging Eliot Spitzer!) and falls comfortably into the role of "family values pimp
