Books with author David W Thompson

Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto are The Furies: Motorcycle riding Goddesses of Revenge, strong women kicking ass and celebrating the feminine divine. They track and kill those who’ve murdered and have escaped justice, killing them in as bloody a fashion as possible. Morbidly funny.A primordial demon, Sorath, AKA "The Beast", has escaped the bonds of the underworld, hopped a ride on an unsuspecting human…and is on a warpath, determined to bring about Armageddon, killing every god he can find along the way. Becoming a small-town serial killer is just the power-up he needs.Detective Dan Lanahan doesn’t believe in gods. He certainly doesn’t believe in dragons and demons. All he knows is that someone just left his niece tied to a tree, eyes gouged out, mysterious symbols carved into her flesh, and now they’re on a murderous rampage through his town. He’s going to stop this killer if it’s the last thing he does…even if that means going face to face with the impossible.To make matters worse, now Megaera is in love with him.Meanwhile, Hades and his domain, the Underworld, are embroiled in a Civil War. The Dragon Demon, Bune, was left in command when Sorath escaped and is busy killing innocent young women on the surface. The Demon Bune has teamed up with Nazi Germany’s mastermind of tactics, Rommel.Once Sorath returns, they’ll launch their war against Hades, the Underworld, and the surface.Only one thing is standing in their way: The Furies.Angels of Vengeance is a fantasy adventure full of violence, morbid humor, an unsuspecting detective, and three sister goddesses out for revenge.

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film studio, where four immigrant brothers transformed themselves into the moguls and masters of American fantasyWarner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early twentieth century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood. David Thomson provides fascinating and original interpretations of Warner Brothers pictures from the pioneering talkie The Jazz Singer through black-and-white musicals, gangster movies, and such dramatic romances as Casablanca, East of Eden, and Bonnie and Clyde. He recounts the storied exploits of the studio’s larger-than-life stars, among them Al Jolson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Doris Day, and Bugs Bunny. The Warner brothers’ cultural impact was so profound, Thomson writes, that their studio became “one of the enterprises that helped us see there might be an American dream out there.”About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent." –New York Times "Exemplary." –Wall Street Journal "Distinguished." –New Yorker "Superb." –The Guardian

To the west of the Great Forest the gray waves of the Atlantic hurl themselves onto the shimmering beaches of Gabon, West Africa. And under the 100,000-square mile canopy of the Great Forest live millions of creatures, including dozens of tribes with strange-sounding names. Mwiri and Bwiti live there too- Mwiri claiming to be the "Guardian of the Forest" and Bwiti, the more powerful god, holding the people of the Great Forest in his cruel and enslaving grip. Into this dark kingdom came young Donald and Dorothy Fairley in 1930. They plunged into the forest, befriended its peoples, engaged the evil powers, preached, and taught. They also constructed homes and churches from raw materials, built a hydroelectric plant and turned 177 acres of the Great Forest, once known as "the place of death," into a place of both spiritual and physical healing. That place is now known as Bongolo. Today, the self-supporting and self-governing Gabon Christian Alliance Church, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has spread into every province. And what about Mwiri and Bwiti? Their kingdom has been penetrated, their fearsome grip loosened, their dreadful power dispelled in Jesus' name. A riveting, never-to-be-forgotten story of raw human courage and the love of God for all peoples!

Behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film studio, where four immigrant brothers transformed themselves into the moguls and masters of American fantasyWarner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early twentieth century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood. David Thomson provides fascinating and original interpretations of Warner Brothers pictures from the pioneering talkie The Jazz Singer through black-and-white musicals, gangster movies, and such dramatic romances as Casablanca, East of Eden, and Bonnie and Clyde. He recounts the storied exploits of the studio’s larger-than-life stars, among them Al Jolson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Doris Day, and Bugs Bunny. The Warner brothers’ cultural impact was so profound, Thomson writes, that their studio became “one of the enterprises that helped us see there might be an American dream out there.”

In 1975, David Thomson published his Biographical Dictionary of Film, and few film books have enjoyed better press or such steady sales.Now, thirty-three years later, we have the companion volume, a second book of more than 1,000 pages in one voice—that of our most provocative contemporary film critic and historian.Juxtaposing the fanciful and the fabulous, the old favorites and the forgotten, this sweeping collection presents the films that Thomson offers in response to the question he gets asked most often—“What should I see?” This new book is a generous history of film and an enticing critical appraisal written with as much humor and passion as historical knowledge. Not content to choose his own top films (though they are here), Thomson has created a list that will surprise and delight you—and send you to your best movie rental service.But he also probes the question: after one hundred years of film, which ones are the best, and why?“Have You Seen . . . ?” suggests a true canon of cinema and one that’s almost completely accessible now, thanks to DVDs. This book is a must for anyone who loves the silver screen: the perfect confection to dip into at any point for a taste of controversy, little-known facts, and ideas about what to see. This is a volume you’ll want to return to again and again, like a dear but argumentative friend in the dark at the movies.

"She could look demure while behaving like an empress. Blonde, with eyes like pearls too big for her head, she was very striking, but marginally pretty and certainly not beautiful . . . But it was her edge that made her memorable--her upstart superiority, her reluctance to pretend deference to others."Bette Davis was the commanding figure of the great era of Hollywood stardom, with a drive and energy that put her contemporaries in the shade. She played queens, jezebels, and bitches; she could out-talk any male costar; she warred with her studio, Warner Bros., worked like a demon, got through four husbands, was nominated for seven Oscars, and--no matter what--never gave up fighting. This is her story.

More than one thousand pages in the voice of our most provocative contemporary film critic and historian—a generous history of film and an enticing critical appraisal written with as much humor and passion as historical knowledge.Juxtaposing the fanciful and the fabulous, the old favorites and the forgotten, this sweeping collection presents the films that Thomson offers to answer the question he gets asked most often—“What should I see?” Not content to choose only his own top films, Thomson has created a list that will surprise and delight you—and send you to your DVD player. But he also probes the question: After one hundred years of film, which ones are the best, and why?“Have You Seen . . . ?” suggests a true canon of cinema and is a must for anyone who loves the silver screen: the perfect confection to dip into for a taste of controversy, little-known facts, and ideas about what to see. You’ll want to return to this volume again and again, like a dear but argumentative friend in the dark at the movies.

The Furies are back, and this time, they've brought motorcycles...Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto are The Furies: motorcycle riding Goddesses of revenge, kicking ass and celebrating the feminine divine. They track and kill those who've murdered and have escaped justice, killing them in as bloody a fashion as possible. Morbidly funny.But the Furies aren’t the only mythological creatures walking the streets of Earth. A primordial demon has escaped the bonds of the underworld, hopped a ride on an unsuspecting human…and is on a warpath, determined to bring about Armageddon, killing every god he can find along the way. Becoming a small-town serial killer is just the power-up he needs.Detective Dan Lanahan doesn’t believe in gods. He certainly doesn’t believe in dragons and demons. All he knows is that someone just left his niece tied to a tree, eyes gouged out, mysterious symbols carved into her flesh, and now they’re on a murderous rampage through his town. He’s going to stop this killer if it’s the last thing he does…even if that means going face to face with the impossible.To make matters worse, now a Fury is in love with him.Angels of Vengeance is a fantasy adventure full of violence, morbid humor, an unsuspecting detective, and three sister goddesses out for revenge.

To the west of the Great Forest the gray waves of the Atlantic hurl themselves onto the shimmering beaches of Gabon, West Africa. And under the 100,000-square mile canopy of the Great Forest live millions of creatures, including dozens of tribes with strange-sounding names. Mwiri and Bwiti live there too- Mwiri claiming to be the "Guardian of the Forest" and Bwiti, the more powerful god, holding the people of the Great Forest in his cruel and enslaving grip. Into this dark kingdom came young Donald and Dorothy Fairley in 1930. They plunged into the forest, befriended its peoples, engaged the evil powers, preached, and taught. They also constructed homes and churches from raw materials, built a hydroelectric plant and turned 177 acres of the Great Forest, once known as "the place of death," into a place of both spiritual and physical healing. That place is now known as Bongolo. Today, the self-supporting and self-governing Gabon Christian Alliance Church, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has spread into every province. And what about Mwiri and Bwiti? Their kingdom has been penetrated, their fearsome grip loosened, their dreadful power dispelled in Jesus' name. A riveting, never-to-be-forgotten story of raw human courage and the love of God for all peoples!