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Difficult Men
- Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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Publisher's summary
A riveting and revealing look at the shows that helped cable television drama emerge as the signature art form of the twenty-first century.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the landscape of television began an unprecedented transformation. While the networks continued to chase the lowest common denominator, a wave of new shows, first on premium cable channels like HBO and then basic cable networks like FX and AMC, dramatically stretched television’s narrative inventiveness, emotional resonance, and artistic ambition. No longer necessarily concerned with creating always-likable characters, plots that wrapped up neatly every episode, or subjects that were deemed safe and appropriate, shows such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood, The Shield, and more tackled issues of life and death, love and sexuality, addiction, race, violence, and existential boredom. Just as the Big Novel had in the 1960s and the subversive films of New Hollywood had in 1970s, television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the American Dream at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
This revolution happened at the hands of a new breed of auteur: the all-powerful writer-show runner. These were men nearly as complicated, idiosyncratic, and “difficult” as the conflicted protagonists that defined the genre. Given the chance to make art in a maligned medium, they fell upon the opportunity with unchecked ambition.
Combining deep reportage with cultural analysis and historical context, Brett Martin recounts the rise and inner workings of a genre that represents not only a new golden age for TV but also a cultural watershed. Difficult Men features extensive interviews with all the major players, including David Chase (The Sopranos), David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire), Matthew Weiner and Jon Hamm (Mad Men), David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood), and Alan Ball (Six Feet Under), in addition to dozens of other writers, directors, studio executives, actors, production assistants, makeup artists, script supervisors, and so on. Martin takes us behind the scenes of our favorite shows, delivering never-before-heard story after story and revealing how cable TV has distinguished itself dramatically from the networks, emerging from the shadow of film to become a truly significant and influential part of our culture.
Critic reviews
"Following what the journalist Brett Martin identifies as a first burst of literary energy in the 1950s (when the medium was young) and a second in the 1980s (when the forward-thinking television executive Grant Tinker’s MGM Enterprises begat the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues), this moment of ascendancy has become television’s 'Third Golden Age.'” And in ‘Difficult Men,’ Martin maps a wonderfully smart, lively and culturally astute survey of this recent revelation—starting with a great title that does double duty….Martin writes with a psychological insight that enhances his nimble reporting."—New York Times Book Review
"Martin is a thorough reporter and artful storyteller, clearly entranced with, though not deluded by, his subjects… In between the delicious bits of insider trading, the book makes a strong if not terribly revelatory argument for the creative process."—Los Angeles Times
"Martin offers sharp analysis of the advances in technology and storytelling that helped TV become the 21st century's predominant art form. But his best material comes from interviews with writers, directors, and others who dish about Weiner's egomania, Milch's battles with substance abuse, and Chase's weirdest acid trip ever."—Entertainment Weekly
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- The Life of an American President, George Herbert Walker Bush
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In honor of the one hundredth anniversary of George H. W. Bush’s birth, this visually stunning chronicle features never-before-published photos and memories celebrating the forty-first president’s vision of leadership as service to country—curated by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham.
By: Jon Meacham
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Our Man in Panama
- The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega
- By: John Dinges
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Written by a prize-winning NPR veteran who spent years covering Latin America, this blend of biography, history, and political reporting details the events that lead to the American invasion of Panama.
By: John Dinges
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The Object at Hand
- Intriguing and Inspiring Stories from the Smithsonian Collections
- By: Beth Py-Lieberman
- Narrated by: Leanne Woodward
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Py-Lieberman reflects on the profound connections between even outwardly dissimilar objects and offers insight and stories from Smithsonian experts. The book explores artworks, scientific specimens, historical artifacts, airplanes, spacecraft, plants, and so much more, contemplating how each item represents different facets of humanity and resonates with cultural meaning in surprising ways. Whimsical, affecting, and insightful, The Object at Hand offers an intimate and exclusive tour of the Smithsonian collections.
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Illiberal America
- A History
- By: Steven Hahn
- Narrated by: Mitch Crawford
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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If your reaction to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol was to think, 'That's not us,' think again: in Illiberal America, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian uncovers a powerful illiberalism as deep seated in the American past as the founding ideals.
By: Steven Hahn
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Best Seat in the House
- An Assistant Director Behind the Scenes of Feature Films
- By: David McGiffert
- Narrated by: David Mcgiffert
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing from over three decades as an assistant director, McGiffert charts a revealing and informative journey through the making of many major films working with noted directors such as Robert Zemeckis, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe, Sydney Pollack, Milos Forman, Peter Weir, Steve Zaillian, Jon Avnet, and Terry Gilliam. This behind-the-scenes book is a must-listen for casual moviegoers and committed film lovers alike.
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Welding Was His Life
- By ARochester on 04-01-24
By: David McGiffert
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Can't Be Satisfied
- The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
- By: Robert Gordon
- Narrated by: Keb' Mo'
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The epic, rollicking, up-and-down life of Muddy Waters—who went from Mississippi farmhand to musical legend, invented electric blues, and created the template for the rock-and-roll band and its wild lifestyle—is chronicled with rare vividness in Robert Gordon’s widely praised biography.
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The delivery was pretty bad
- By Rodney Combs on 04-27-24
By: Robert Gordon
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Johnny Carson
- By: Henry Bushkin
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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“Here’s Johnny!” Probably everyone in America knows the phrase, whether they watched every episode of The Tonight Show or none because they had to go to bed early on school nights. From 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show dominated the American consciousness. Henry Bushkin was Carson’s best friend and lawyer during that period, and his book is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why.
By: Henry Bushkin
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The Jazzmen
- How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.
By: Larry Tye
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Chill
- The Cold Water Swim Cure / A Transformative Guide to Renew Your Body & Mind
- By: Dr. Mark Harper MD PhD
- Narrated by: Dr. Mark Harper MD PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The belief that swimming in cold water can improve one's health is hardly new. For centuries, people from all over the world have reported that immersing themselves in cold water alleviates their pain and improves their overall well-being. Even Katharine Hepburn famously claimed to treat her winter colds by swimming in the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean. But until now, the practice has been treated lightly by the scientific community, the curative effects all but dismissed by doctors seeking medicine-centered solutions for their patients' illnesses.
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The Making of the Movie Leprechaun
- “I Need Me Gold!”
- By: B. Harrison Smith
- Narrated by: B. Harrison Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Think you know everything about Leprechaun? Think again. It’s more than Jennifer Aniston’s first movie. Follow director-writer Mark Jones’s journey from his early days in TV animation through The A-Team, The Fall Guy, Hunter (If you grew up watching '80s TV, you likely saw Mark’s work) and so many more. This is a story of how a unique group of people came together to make an indie film under grueling pressure in a day before streaming and DVD.
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Pandora's Box
- How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
- By: Peter Biskind
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Instead of focusing on one service, like HBO, Pandora’s Box asks, “What did HBO do, besides give us The Sopranos?” The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth into maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending up with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.
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The rise and fall of peak TV
- By AlexBenBlock on 02-16-24
By: Peter Biskind
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On Locations
- Lessons Learned from My Life On Set with The Sopranos and in the Film Industry
- By: Mark Kamine, Mike White - Foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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This must-listen account of starting at the lowest rung on the production ladder among enormously famous and outrageously demanding people will be devoured for its insights, gossip, humor, and storytelling. Married and with a child, the author takes unpaid gigs to get a foot in the door and eventually ends up working on all seasons of The Sopranos, often named the best TV show ever.
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Extremely boring
- By Stephanie Rhea on 02-16-24
By: Mark Kamine, and others