Treat Yourself to a Double Featurestarring

NYRB CLASSICS

British mini-series

The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing978-1-59017-181-3 • Available

Made into a wonderful noir film starring Ray Millard, Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Sullivan, it then got the 1980s treatment with No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman.

Rogue Male by Gregory Household978-1-59017-243-8 • Available

The professional hunter becomes the hunted. German legend Fritz Lang directed the movie version which stars Walter Pidgeon, a cocky, Cockney Joan Bennett, and an unforget-table ending.

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham978-1-59017-348-0 • Available April 2010

The corrupt world of the carnival, a hustler (played by Ty-rone Power in the movie), scheming women and a whole new concept of the word “geek”.

+Classic Noir

Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

by Angus Wilson978-1-59017-142-4

Available

This novel was made into a wonderful adapta-tion starring Richard Johnson, Douglas Hodge and Tara Fitzgerald. Look for supporting roles from Daniel Craig and a very young Kate Wins-let. And just be glad that this family isn’t yours.

Troublesby J. G Farrell

978-1-59017-018-2 Available

Set after WWI in a politically troubled Ireland, this story fol-lows Major Archer and his adventures living in a deteriorating hotel full of eccentric guests, never mind its owner.

Art house/foreign filmsGreat books inspire the world’s top directors

Contempt by Alberto Moravia978-1-59017-122-6 • Available

Not only is this the story of a disintegrating marriage, but the subsequent film made by New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard, also pokes fun at the film industry. And it stars the sultry Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli and Jack Palance. Look for the cameo by Fritz Lang.

The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese 978-0-940322-85-1 • Available

The short story Among Women Only, about the loves, lust and despair of a group of dissatisfied women was the inspiration for the movie Le Amíche directed by the amazing Michelangelo Antonioni.

Mouchette by Georges Bernanos978-1-59017-151-6 • Available

This grim story of an angry adolescent was the basis for Rob-ert Bresson’s film of the same name. It’s a haunting master-piece.

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares978-1-59017-057-1 • Available

This wonderfully original and mind-blowing novella was the inspi-ration for Alain Resnais and Alain Robbe-Grillet’s equally strange but beautiful movie Last Year in Marienbad, which for any film buff is a must-see. Experience the book and movie together over a weekend and marvel at what words and images can accomplish.

The Unknown Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac

978-0-940322-74-5 • AvailableThis erotic tale about art and its creation inspired Jacques Rivette’s acclaimed four hour film La Belle Noiseuse starring Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin and Em-manuelle Béart.

And if you’ve seen this. . .

You Must Read This. . .

Love in a Fallen City

by Eileen Chang978-1-59017-178-3

Available

Ang Lee’s visually lush movie Lust, Caution was based on a short story by Eileen Chang. It isn’t included in this collection, but these stories cover a similar territory in examining the lives - passionate and desperate - of the ordinary Chinese peo-ple post-WWII.

DRAMA

Defeat: Napoleon’s Russian Campaign by Philippe-Paul de Ségur978-1-59017-282-7 • Available

Ségur’s eyewitness account of one the greatest military disasters of all time was a major source for Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace. There have been a few movie adaptations. Henry Fonda and Audrey Heburn star in the Hollywood version, but if you want to see incredibly filmed battle scenes, then you need to rent the epic seven hour Russian adaptation directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. It’s an astounding film.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim978-1-59017-225-4 • Available

Four very different women find their lives changed when they rent an Italian villa for a month. The movie is lovely - starring Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Polly Walker and Josie Lawrence. The perfect combination for a rainy weekend.

Adventure/For Kids

+ = +

A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes978-0-940322-15-8 • Available

A group of children find themselves at the mercy of a crew of pi-rates. Swashbuckling adventure ensues. The movie version stars Anthony Quinn and James Coburn.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi978-1-59017-289-6 • Available

You won’t find too many similarities between the original Italian fable and the Disney version of Pinocchio, but it’s fun to compare the two. Or for an Italian take, you could watch Roberto Benigni’s version.

The Long Ships by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson978-1-59017-346-6 • Available June 2010

A 10th century Viking adventure on the high seas as an abducted boy gets involved in the intrigues of Scandinavian kings and clans. The movie version stars Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier.

COMING ATTRACTONS. . .

Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams978-1-59017-198-1

AvailableJoe Penhall is currently writing the screenplay for this Western. He has previously adapted Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) is interested in directing.

Asleep in the Sun by Adolfo Bioy Casares

978-1-59017-095-3 Available

Look for an Argentinian film, Dormir al sol to be released in 2010, directed by Alejandro Chomski. It will be interest-ing to see how he tackles this surreal fable in which the main character’s wife turns into a dog.

Also of interest to film buffs

A Way of Life, Like Any Other

by Darcy O’Brien978-0-940322-79-0

AvailableIn this classic coming-of-age story, set in the film world of the late 1940s and 1950s, the teenage hero is a child of Hol-lywood whose life was once a glittery dream. But the careers of his movie star par-ents have crashed, and their marriage has broken up.The author is the son of movie stars George O’Brien and Marguerite Churchill.

Renoir, My Fatherby Jean Renoir

978-0-940322-77-6 Available

The great French director (Grand Illusion, Rules of the Game) tells the life story of his equally famous father, the talented Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Prisoner of Love by Jean Genet

978-1-59017-028-1 Available

Many of Jean Genet’s plays have been adapted to the screen and he himself directed the experimental art film Un chant d’amour. This is a memoir of the two years he spent in Palestian refugee camps in Jordan in the early 1970s.

Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel

Littínby Gabriel García Márquez

978-1-59017-340-4 Available April 2010

In 1973, film director Miguel Littín fled Chile after a U.S. sup-ported miltary coup brought the country under the rule of Augusto Pinochet. In 1985 Littín returned to Chile with a false name, false passport and false wife. Pretend-ing to be a Uruguayan business-man, he was bent on making a movie that told the truth about life under Pinochet. This is the story of Littín’s escapade, which was a journey to a risky and unexpected new country - and into his own complicated feelings as an exile.