Books with author Steve Mardo

At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney's magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott's Berry Farm. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin's focus and daring his sheer tenacity are truly stunning. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy Dan Aykroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage. This book is a memoir, but it is also an illuminating guidebook to stand up from one of our two or three greatest comedians. Though Martin is reticent about his personal life, he is also stunningly deft, and manages to give readers a feeling of intimacy and candor. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read.

"Eleanor lived alone with two stepsisters in a skinny house that her father had left to her in his will. By all rights the house belonged to Eleanor, yet her stepsisters treated her very poorly." You and your child will read, enjoy and reread this modern retelling of the classic story. "Marvelously told, beautifully illustrated." —A.V. Club News "An excellent story and amazing illustrations… A lesson of inclusiveness that is subtle but profound." —Benjamin Franklin Award Committee Award-winning author and story performer Mark Binder has brought Cinderella into the present, with a powerful variation that will be enjoyed by all ages. NOTE:Cinderella Spinderella is the first book to come in different "seasons" so that any child can find a family that matches his or her own. This is the autumn/winter edition of the book. If you need more information about what that means, please visit cinderellaspinderella.com for details.

Wicked Stepsisters, a rocking fairy godmother, and a very unusual chauffeur, it's sure to be a family favorite for years to come. You and your children will enjoy the story that has enthralled thousands upon thousands of listeners of all ages and backgrounds for more than a decade! This 52 page illustrated book can be read to Kindergarteners or read by Third graders! Author Mark Binder began creating Cinderella Spinderella when he was telling stories to ethnically diverse audiences in Boston and disabled youngsters in Newport. In the award-winning ebook, there were 25 possible variations. In print, you will chose from one of five seasonal versions: Autumn/African American; Winter/Caucasian; Spring/Asian; Summer/Hispanic; and Monsoon/Indian Subcontinent. **This is the Winter/Caucasian! "Marvelously told, beautifully illustrated." -A.V. Club News "An excellent story and amazing illustrations... A lesson of inclusiveness that is subtle but profound." -Benjamin Franklin Award Committee Award-winning author and story performer, Mark Binder has brought Cinderella into the present, with a powerful variation that will be enjoyed by all ages. Awards for the ebook include: - Digital Book World Finalist - Mom's Choice Silver - Ben Franklin Silver

Wicked Stepsisters, a rocking fairy godmother, and a very unusual chauffeur, it's sure to be a family favorite for years to come. You and your children will enjoy the story that has enthralled thousands upon thousands of listeners of all ages and backgrounds for more than a decade! This 52 page illustrated book can be read to Kindergarteners or read by Third graders! Author Mark Binder began creating Cinderella Spinderella when he was telling stories to ethnically diverse audiences in Boston and disabled youngsters in Newport. In the award-winning ebook, there were 25 possible variations. In print, you will chose from one of five seasonal versions: Autumn/African American; Winter/White; Spring/Asian; Summer/Hispanic; and Monsoon/Indian Subcontinent. **This is the Summer/Hispanic edition! "Marvelously told, beautifully illustrated." -A.V. Club News "An excellent story and amazing illustrations... A lesson of inclusiveness that is subtle but profound." -Benjamin Franklin Award Committee Award-winning author and story performer, Mark Binder has brought Cinderella into the present, with a powerful variation that will be enjoyed by all ages. Awards for the ebook include: - Digital Book World Finalist - Mom's Choice Silver - Ben Franklin Silver

In the midseventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. This book is, in his own words, the story of "why I did stand-up and why I walked away." Emmy and Grammy Award winner, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Martin has always been awriter. His memoir of his years in stand-up is candid, spectacularly amusing, and beautifully written. At age ten Martin started his career at Disneyland, selling guidebooks in the newly opened theme park. In the decade that followed, he worked in the Disney magic shop and the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott's Berry Farm, performing his first magic/comedy act a dozen times a week. The story of these years, during which he practiced and honed his craft, is moving and revelatory. The dedication to excellence and innovation is formed at an astonishingly early age and never wavers or wanes. Martin illuminates the sacrifice, discipline, and originality that made him an icon and informs his work to this day. To be this good, to perform so frequently, was isolating and lonely. It took Martin decades to reconnect with his parents and sister, and he tells that story with great tenderness. Martin also paints a portrait of his times -- the era of free love and protests against the war in Vietnam, the heady irreverence of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late sixties, and the transformative new voice of Saturday Night Live in the seventies. Throughout the text, Martin has placed photographs, many never seen before. Born Standing Up is a superb testament to the sheer tenacity, focus, and daring of one of the greatest and most iconoclastic comedians of all time.

How can you murder those who are already dead?The Poppleham Ghosts is a Young Adult novel by UK author Steve Martin. Kevin Beeston is a 15-year-old on work assignment with his father's company. The company demolishes old buildings, replacing them with mass-produced buildings. In one of the buildings Kevin encounters a group of ghosts. He finds that these spirits are tied to the old buildings and once the building is destroyed, so are they. Kevin then begins a campaign to save the natural habitat of the Poppleham Ghosts.The Poppleham Ghosts is more than a ghost story and is more concerned with the manner in which the modern world is increasingly sterile and mass-produced and leaves no place for the imagination (symbolized by the ghosts).This is a book that will appeal to Young Adults making the transition from childhood to adulthood and battling with the pressures and realities of today’s world.