Mike Nichols Libri

"We all perform. It's what we do for each other all the time, deliberately or unintentionally. It's a way of telling about ourselves in the hope of being recognized as what we'd like to be."--Richard Avedon, 1974The preeminent stars and artists of the performing arts from the second half of the 20th century offered their greatest gifts―and, sometimes, their inner lives―to Richard Avedon. More than 200 are portrayed in Performance, many in photographs that have been rarely or never seen before. Of course, the great stars light the Hepburn and Chaplin, Monroe and Garland, Brando and Sinatra. But here too are the actors and comedians, pop stars and divas, musicians and dancers, artists in all mediums with public lives that were essentially performances, who stand at the pinnacle of our cultural achievement. The celebrated author and critic John Lahr offers an elegant assessment of Avedon’s achievement. Four supremely talented artists from the performing arts―Mike Nichols, André Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp―contribute lively and moving memoirs about their collaborations with Avedon.

From the humble beginnings of a frontier army camp, Fort Worth transformed into a city as cattle drives, railroads, oil and national defense drove its economy. During the tremendous growth, the landscape and cultural imprint of the city changed drastically, and much of Cowtown was lost to history. Witness the birth of western swing music and the death of a cloud dancer. See mansions of the well-heeled and saloons of the well-armed. Meet two gunfighters, one flamboyant preacher, one serial killer and one very short subway carrying passengers back in time to discover more of Fort" "Worth. Author Mike Nichols presents a colorful history tour from the North Side to the South Side's Battle of Buttermilk Junction.