Hollywood: A Third Memoir
By: Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster (August 16, 2011)
160 pages

Hollywood, as the title says, is the third memoir of Larry McMurtry. Books and Literay Life came first, and this last one ties the bow on it all. McMurtry eulogises old Hollywood and seems found of the opportunities he found there. If anything, it seems to pay well. I – for the life of me – would not be able to get past losing $15 million.

Two of my favorite quotes:

In my case, particularly, his carelessness cost me millions. Though he always claimed to be a lawyer, in fact law bored him. Thus when Quintex, the multinational that initially set up the Lonesome Dove deal, went bankrupt, Irving did not bother to follow the proceedings, costing me millions in royalties. And the money stream that is Lonesome Dove is still flowing now. I figure Irving Lazar cost me at least $15 million, a sum that would always be useful. But I loved him anyway and so did many others.

ONE THING THAT continues to amaze me about the movie business is the haphazard way people in it go about hiring screenwriters. A particularly intriguing aspect of this practice is the hiring of scriptwriters who have not the slightest intellectual or emotional link to the project in question. I don’t think there are many screenwriters who are qualified to write a script about just anything. Eric Roth, who adapted Forrest Gump, can do certain things, Diana and I can do some things, but none of the above can successfully do just any old thing.

Buy this book.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
By: Adele Fabre and Elaine Mazlish
Scribner; Updated edition (February 7, 2012)
370 pages

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk is a classic parenting book. Much of this book is about showing a learning child that you understand what they are feeling. Honestly, this can have a calming impact on all of us, no matter our age. My favorite tip shared was the idea of granting wishes in fantasy. So, for example, if your child is upset that X is not an option, you say – “I wish that too.” – and spend five minutes elaborating on every awesome thing you would do together if you did X.

Two of my favorite quotes:

We’ve heard many stories about angry children who have felt calmer after punching pillows, hammering old grocery cartons, pounding and kneading clay, roaring like a lion, throwing darts. But the one activity that seems most comfortable for parents to watch, and most satisfying for children to do, is to draw their feelings.

Of the four skills you’ve just seen illustrated, perhaps the most difficult is to have to listen to a child’s emotional outpourings and then “give a name to the feeling.” It takes practice and concentration to be able to look into and beyond what a child says in order to identify what he or she might be feeling. Yet it’s important that we give our children a vocabulary for their inner reality. Once they have the words for what they’re experiencing, they can begin to help themselves.

Buy this book.