#stanley cortez

[sesiondemadrugada]

The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942).

#the magnificent ambersons #orson welles #fredd fleck #robert wise #joseph cotten #dolores costello #anne baxter #tim holt #jack moss #mark robson #stanley cortez #jack mackenzie #Albert S. D'Agostino #Darrell Silvera

[citizenscreen]

Birthday remembrance - cinematographer Stanley Cortez #botd

#stanley cortez #the night of the hunter

[thefrontierfacade]

The Devil Wins Sometimes

Edit of the iconic ultima in The Night of the Hunter (1955)

TM & © MGM (1955)

#Shelly Winters #charles laughton #Stanley Cortez #night of the hunter #the devil wins sometimes #macarbe #creepy #gothic #practical effects #thalassophobia #black and white film #1950s #unsettling #ominus #horror #classic horror

[adscinema]

The Night of the Hunter - Charles Laughton (1955)

Poster

#the night of the hunter #charles laughton #1955 #1950s #poster #usa #robert mitchum #lillian gish #shelley winters #paul gregory #suspense #united artists #davis grubbs #stanley cortez #film noir

[elixir]

The Night of the Hunter — 1955 Dir. Charles Laughton DoP. Stanley Cortez

#cinema #art #illustration #portrait #abstract #graphic design #contemporary art #curators on tumblr #painting #aesthetic #college #landscape #photography #modern art #oil painting #the night of the hunter #classic films #classic movies #out of the past #cult film #old films

[lotf-hunger-games-au]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The LoTF Hunger games

Cause I'm evil >:]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're gonna just, ignore the one boy one girl thing from the books. Cause I ain't gender swapping only half of them. (And full disclosure, this is done with a wheel and at random. Don't come for me)

My main account is @that-other-fruity-emo, I'm Mod Vic/ Mod Toffee!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

District 1 (Luxury items)

• Roger Volkov

• Johnny Sampson

District 2 (Masonry and defense)

• Jack Merridew

• Stanley

District 3 (General electronics)

• Piggy (Peter) Curtis

• Phil Stevens

District 4 (Fishing)

• Bill

• Harold

District 5 (Power/ electricity)

• Wilfred

• Walter

District 6 (Transportation)

• Mulberry kid (Mildrew)

• Tony Morgan

District 7 (Lumber)

• Maurice Bellomo

• Mikey Carson

District 8 (Textiles)

• Sam Pinch

• Eric Pinch

District 9 (Grain)

• Simon Cortez

• Andy Jerhan

District 10 (Livestock)

• Ralph Allebach

• Robert Allebach-Sanchez

District 11 (Agriculture)

• John

• Steve

District 12 (Mining)

• Percival

• Henry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I previously stated, I will not be personally picking who dies, I got a wheel for that. Although, I cannot guarantee I will not laugh if Roger is one of the first to get eliminated. [Every district aside from 10 and 8 were selected randomly with said wheel]

When a character gets eliminated their name will show up like this, and they will no longer be able for asks. Although I have specific angst plans for certain character deaths >:].

{huge thanks to @toddreblogslotf for helping me with my little name situation 🥹😊}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rules are self explanatory

Be respectful and we're good! 😎👍

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#lotf hunger games #lord of the flies #lotf #lotf au

[vietgiorgio]

"It means "They couldn't help it.'"

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Director: Orson Welles

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez

#the magnificent ambersons #orson welles #joseph cotten #dolores costello #anne baxter #tim holt

[byneddiedingo]

Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, Shelley Winters, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden, Peter Graves, Don Beddoe, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, Gloria Castillo. Screenplay: James Age, based on a novel by Davis Grubb. Cinematography: Stanley Cortez. Art direction: Hilyard M. Brown. Film editing: Robert Golden. Music: Walter Schumann.

Is there another great film so inconsistent in tone and technique? For The Night of the Hunter is a great film for the most part -- certainly every part that features Robert Mitchum in one of the defining roles of his career. And the central section that deals with the river journey of the two children, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl Harper (Sally Jane Bruce), has a mythic resonance, enhanced by Lillian Gish's marvelously naive retelling of the stories of Moses in the bulrushes and the flight of the Holy Family from Herod's massacre of the innocents. Director Charles Laughton, cinematographer Stanley Cortez, and art director Hilyard M. Brown give us memorable images like that of the drowned Shelley Winters, hair floating like the underwater weeds, or the one of Mitchum on horseback silhouetted in the distance against the night sky as the terrified children cower in a barn. I particularly love one heart-stopping moment: Lillian Gish has been sitting on her screened porch, shotgun on her lap, protecting the children while Mitchum waits outside. Gish and Mitchum have both been singing the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" in an ironically peaceful duet. Then a child brings a candle to the porch and its light is reflected on the screen for a moment, hiding Mitchum from Gish's view. She quickly blows out the candle, but by the time she does, he has disappeared. If Laughton had been able to sustain this sort of tension throughout the film, it would be easier to call The Night of the Hunter a masterpiece. But some of his work is undone by the intrusive score by Walter Schumann. And Laughton, in his only film as director, isn't able to bring off what should be the film's climax: the capture, trial, and threatened lynching of Mitchum's character. As staged and edited, it proves anticlimactic. Nor does the Christmasy happy ending succeed in avoiding sentimentality. Some of the film's flaws no doubt result from the screenplay by James Agee, much revised by Laughton, which occasionally works too hard at being "poetic." But it's criminal that the poor initial reception of the film discouraged Laughton from trying his hand as director again.

#The Night of the Hunter #Charles Laughton #Robert Mitchum

[nine-frames]

“It’s a hard world for little things.”

The Night of the Hunter, 1955.

Dir. Charles Laughton | Writ. James Agee | DOP Stanley Cortez | Art Dir. Hilyard M. Brown

#the night of the hunter #charles laughton #1950s #thriller #us film #10 frames

[calledeitaca]

135 planos que harán que recuperes la fe en el cine

Un maravilloso vídeo ensayo de hace diez años que en su momento se hizo viral. En el verano de 2012, Flavorwire solicitó a sus lectores que sugirieran aquellas películas que consideraban eran las mejores de la historia del cine. El resultado, un montaje que la revista de cultura editó con los títulos propuestos por sus lectores y que rinde un hermoso homenaje al séptimo arte. Si eres amante del cine, seguro que disfrutarás de los magníficos ocho minutos que dura el montaje de Flavorwire. Las películas de las que se han extraído los planos, en orden de aparición:

Man with a Movie Camera (Mikhail Kaufman), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Roger Deakins), Baraka (Ron Fricke), Koyaanisqatsi (Ron Fricke), Days of Heaven (Nestor Almendros), Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda), What Dreams May Come (Eduardo Serra), Legends of the Fall (John Toll), Lawrence of Arabia (Freddie Young), El Topo (Rafael Corkidi), La Dolce Vita (Otello Martelli), The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki), Daughters of the Dust (Arthur Jafa), Chinatown (John A. Alonzo), Hero (Christopher Doyle), Kagemusha (Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda), The Night of the Hunter (Stanley Cortez), Ugetsu (Kazuo Miyagawa), Songs from the Second Floor (Istvan Borbas, Jesper Klevenas, Robert Komarek), The Black Stallion (Caleb Deschanel), Vertigo (Robert Burks), Manhattan (Gordon Willis), Apocalypse Now (Vittorio Storaro), Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Gonzalo F. Berridi), The Duellists (Frank Tidy), Powaqqatsi (Graham Berry, Leonidas Zourdoumis), Ran (Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda), Bombay Beach (Alma Har’el), 2001: A Space Odyssey (Geoffrey Unsworth), The Thin Red Line (John Toll), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Peter Zeitlinger), The New World (Emmanuel Lubezki), Solaris (Vadim Yusov), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Janusz Kaminksi), I Am Love (Yorick Le Saux), A Matter of Life and Death (Jack Cardiff), Onibaba (Kiyomi Kuroda), Blue Velvet (Frederick Elmes), No Country for Old Men (Roger Deakins), I Am Cuba (Sergei Urusevsky), The Fountain (Matthew Libatique), There Will be Blood (Robert Elswitt), The Human Condition (Yoshio Miyajima), The Proposition (Benoit Delhomme), Raise the Red Lantern (Lun Yang, Fei Zhao), The Godfather Part II (Gordon Willis), 2046 (Christopher Doyle, Pung-Leung Kwan), Beauty and the Beast (Henri Alekan), Melancholia, (Manuel Alberto Claro), Road to Perdition (Conrad L. Hall), Alexander Nevsky (Eduard Tisse), Sunrise (Charles Rosher, Karl Struss), Blade Runner (Jordan Cronenweth), Citizen Kane (Gregg Toland), House of Flying Daggers (Xiaoding Zhao), Wings of Desire (Henri Alekan), Atonement (Seamus McGarvey), The Last Emperor (Vittorio Storaro), Before Night Falls (Xavier Perez Grobet, Guillermo Rosas), The Last Picture Show (Robert Surtees), The Red Shoes (Jack Cardiff), Down by Law (Robby Müller), Amelie (Bruno Delbonnel), Chungking Express (Christopher Doyle, Wai-keung Lau), Children of Men (Emmanuel Lubezki), Black Orpheus (Jean Bourgoin), The Leopard (Giuseppe Rotunno), The Age of Innocence (Michael Ballhaus), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Frank Griebe), Raging Bull (Michael Chapman), The Fall (Colin Watkinson), The Pillow Book (Sacha Vierny), Martha Marcy May Marlene (Jody Lee Lipes), Nosferatu the Vampyre (Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein), The Third Man (Robert Krasker), Good Night and Good Luck (Robert Elswitt), The Scarlet Empress (Bert Glennon), The Man Who Wasn’t There (Roger Deakins), Talk to Her (Javier Aguirresarobe), In The Mood for Love (Christopher Doyle, Pung-Leung Kwan, Ping Bin Lee), The Man Who Cried (Sacha Vierny), Santa Sangre (Daniele Nannuzzi), The Passion of Joan of Arc (Rudolph Maté), In Cold Blood (Conrad L. Hall), 8 ½ (Gianni Di Venanzo), Brazil (Roger Pratt).

_________________ Fuente: Flavorwire.

#cine #películas #Youtube

[sesiondemadrugada]

Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974).

#chinatown #chinatown (1974) #roman polanski #jack nicholson #faye dunaway #robert towne #john a. alonzo #stanley cortez #sam o'steen #richard sylbert #w. stewart campbell #ruby r. levitt #anthea sylbert

[citizenscreen]

Orson Welles and Stanley Cortez making THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942)

#orson welles #stanley cortez #behind the scenes #the magnificent ambersons

[shadowworldwanderers]

Masterlist

Stories on AO3

Old Intros

Introductory Pages:

Morvant-Adjacent Babies:

Sunny ‘Rose’ Sonnshine

Lilah Reed Nyx Bloom Chuck Dourif Helena Reese Matheson-Adjacent Babies: Emilie Mayson Adelaide Dean Deanna Louis Ellie Sutton Marisol Swinton Delilah Symonds

Merrilees Marston Candice Castor Samantha Marston Calleigh Dean Amanda Matthews Judith Ellison Desmond/Desdemona Mercury Matilda Westwood Alexia Mill Hannah Hardstone Willow Walker Barbara Dean

Jessike ‘Sike’ Logan Elvie Ellory Cassidy Cole Elen Ellis Carlie/Carl Connor Essie Ellory Jenni Oriel  Jessamyn ‘Jess’ Oriel  Jessika ‘Sika’ Oriel  Josie Oriel Jodie Oriel  Jazz Oriel   Jemima ‘Jem’ Oriel Jemma Oriel Jade Oriel  Jasmine ‘Mina’ Oriel  Jo Oriel  Janine Oriel Juliet Oriel     Coralee ‘Cora’ Matthews Millie Meadows Joey Jackson Josh Jackson Gia Wolfe Darla Wolfe Arlene Wolfe Brigitta Wolfe Donna Amato Gina Amato Jeanne Amato Aria Amato Willow Amato Carla Amato Fiona Amato Fiamma Amato Isla Amato Inga Amato Anton Allegro Vincenzo Lombardi Solina Ramirez Lolita Sanchez Marisol Espinoza Jodeyne Morrison Ellory Masterson

Mallory McMichaels

Raffaela Romero Malina Ramirez Lina Markov Candida Crowe Adelaide Marconi Emilie Porter Dervla O’Brady Ava Viva DiLorenzo Jessica Dallas Melissa Madison Katrina Archibald Abigail Novak May Southerlyn April Meadows Julie-Anne Callas Pippa Galston Thea Tallis Kate Isles Lily McQueen Jewel Estella Richardson Alexia-Mae Cathstone Eliza-Beth Leigh Izzy ‘Six’ Sexton-Richards Alice Anais Andrews Britta Roslin Julie Dark Alexandra Jane Castle Jodie Noelle Richards Tallie Marx Michaela Philippa Kingsman Love Aniston Jessie Cole Tali Rice Hollie Mann Madison Mitchell-Mann Roslyn Hall Cariad Hall Joe-Lee Parton Bobby Parton Jim Parton Sonny Parton Lupa Wolfe Anne Rose

Belle Rose Jade Orton Jennifer Orton Jessica Orton Mirabelle Orton Judith Amato Angel Croft Brittany Walker Julietta Day Shadow World Babies: Angelike Kirk Eliana Olivier Marisol ‘Sunshine’ Corazon Annabella Sciorra Gianna Fioretti Rhiannon Ellis Cara Sutton Kat Trellis Kimber Bell Marisol Lees Ria Leigh Delilah Daae Hanna Weiss Mindie Swallows Kismet Christian Juliette Loomis Vanessa Myers Arielle Sea Ellie Dewey Lace Belle Esme Innocent Katie Rollins Cherie ‘Cherry’ Garcia Jessie Wolfe Erin Willows Suzannah Davies Emilia Loss Melanie Jeffries Meredith Greylek Kelly Greylek (No relation to Meredith) Cassidy Rubirosa Candice Banks Kendra Copper Ariadne Todd Desdemona Hex Raven Rose Candace ‘Candy’ Caine Angelina Haven Mina Schiff Callie Dennis Esme Ross Susanna Johnson Consuela ‘Connie’ Sanders Raffaela ‘Raffi’ Angeles Ariel Warton Syren Sirena Hela Helios Anne Dread Rose Rayes Hope Evans Faith Hopkins Elizabeth ‘Eliza’ Eames-Olivet Alexandria ‘Alex’ Eames-Olivet April Dawson June May May Engel Augusta Haim Billy Wolfe Savannah Stanley Stanley Cyprus Kellie Cyrano Bella Wolfe Mina Marston Nadiya Corazon Annalise Sciorra Samantha Southhall Amelia Borstein Elena Greenwood Elizabeth Preston Suella Randall Marienne Rubirosa Lilith Morningstar Saralee Rayes Destiny Dracula Martha Curatola Solina Dracula

Valentine Dracula Queenie Annabeth Queen Lily Sharpe Isobel Rubirosa Rose Wolfe Lily Marigold Savannah Rider Marigold Rose Baby Baker Mami Morrison Sugar ‘Sweet’ Sunshine Melody Eros Allie Gayson-Enders Pippa Gayson-Enders Michaela Orville-Hampton Janet Orville-Hampton Mariposa Shadows Lolita Mayhew Tamberlyn Alexara Sukila  Arielle Denver Suzanne Denver Thalin Chelsea Heart Jessica Brisbin Henna Jenkins Dora Jessop Kathleen Shore Samantha Carson Sarah Carson Karen Nielsen Belinda Andrews Amelie Ellis Sister Tatjana Nichols Madison ‘Sugar’ Fuller Daniel Rabebe Angelika Rabebe-Cortez

Lady Liandrin MacBeth Juliet MacIntosh John-Ross Croft Annchi ‘Angie’ Croft Morgana Addams Angeline ‘Angel’ Verna Lane Eulalie Tamerlane Poe

#opening masterlist #shadow world #original creations #morvant verse #rhiannon's angels #matheson-verse #diner crew #oriel wolves

[jubaunetwork]

L'excitation monte alors que la 66e cérémonie annuelle des GRAMMY Awards approche à grands pas. Cette année, l'auteur-compositeur/producteur acclamé, activiste et actuel nominé aux GRAMMY, Justin Tranter, animera l'événement. La cérémonie se déroulera en direct du Peacock Theatre de Los Angeles et sera diffusée à travers le monde. Pour lancer ce spectacle spectaculaire, un numéro d'ouverture époustouflant mettra en vedette certains des artistes les plus talentueux de l'industrie musicale. Une performance d'ouverture inoubliable Le numéro d'ouverture de cette année promet d'être mémorable, avec une collaboration extraordinaire entre J. Ivy, Larkin Poe, Pentatonix, Sheila E. et Jordin Sparks. Ces artistes talentueux prendront d'assaut la scène, offrant une performance qui captivera le public et préparera le terrain pour une soirée de célébration musicale éblouissante. Découvrez les artistes programmés Outre les incroyables artistes ouvrant le spectacle, une pléiade de talents est prévue tout au long de la cérémonie. Parmi les artistes programmés figurent les nominés actuels Adam Blackstone, Brandy Clark, Kirk Franklin, Robert Glasper, Bob James, Laufey, Terrace Martin et Gaby Moreno, ainsi que l'artiste/batteur nominé aux GRAMMY Harvey Mason Sr. Les performances de ces artistes hautement acclamés promettent d'électriser le public et de rendre cette soirée inoubliable. La présence de présentateurs de renom Les présentateurs de la 66e cérémonie annuelle de première des GRAMMY Awards ne sont pas en reste. Des personnalités talentueuses telles que Patti Austin, Natalia Lafourcade, Carly Pearce, Molly Tuttle, Rufus Wainwright et Jimmy Jam auront l'honneur de prendre le micro et de présenter les gagnants de plus de 80 catégories. Le discours d'ouverture sera prononcé par Harvey Mason jr, PDG de la Recording Academy, et Tammy Hurt, présidente du conseil d'administration. Un événement sponsorisé par City National Bank Pour la deuxième année consécutive, City National Bank sera le sponsor principal de la cérémonie de première des GRAMMY Awards. Partenaire officiel des GRAMMY Awards, la banque contribue à faire de cet événement exceptionnel une réalité. Voici une liste des nominés aux Grammy Awards dans les catégories Gospel et Musique Chrétiennes Contemporaines : Meilleure Performance/Chanson Gospel Ce prix est décerné à l'artiste(s) et compositeur(s) (pour les nouvelles compositions) de la meilleure chanson ou morceau gospel traditionnel chrétien, gospel roots ou gospel contemporain. - "God Is Good" par Stanley Brown en featuring avec Hezekiah Walker, Kierra Sheard & Karen Clark Sheard ; Stanley Brown, Karen V Clark Sheard, Kaylah Jiavanni Harvey, Rodney Jerkins, Elyse Victoria Johnson, J Drew Sheard II, Kierra Valencia Sheard & Hezekiah Walker, paroliers - "Feel Alright (Blessed)" par Erica Campbell ; Erica Campbell, Warryn Campbell, Juan Winans & Marvin L. Winans, paroliers - "Lord Do It For Me (Live)" par Zacardi Cortez ; Marcus Calyen, Zacardi Cortez & Kerry Douglas, paroliers - "God Is" par Melvin Crispell III - "All Things" par Kirk Franklin ; Kirk Franklin, parolier Meilleure Performance/Chanson de Musique Chrétienne Contemporaine Ce prix est décerné à l'artiste(s) et compositeur(s) (pour les nouvelles compositions) de la meilleure chanson ou morceau de musique chrétienne contemporaine (pop, rap/hip-hop, latin ou rock). - "Believe" par Blessing Offor ; Hank Bentley & Blessing Offor, paroliers - "Firm Foundation (He Won't) [Live]" par Cody Carnes - "Thank God I Do" par Lauren Daigle ; Lauren Daigle & Jason Ingram, paroliers - "Love Me Like I Am" par for KING & COUNTRY en featuring avec Jordin Sparks - "Your Power" par Lecrae & Tasha Cobbs Leonard ; Alexandria Dollar, Jordan Dollar, Antonio Gardener, Micheal Girgenti, Lasanna "Ace" Harris, David Hein, Deandre Hunter, Dylan Hyde, Christian Louisana, Patrick Darius Mix Jr., Lecrae Moore, Justin Pelham, Jeffrey Lawrence Shannon, Allen Swoope, paroliers - "God Problems" par Maverick City

Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine ; Daniel Bashta, Chris Davenport, Ryan Ellis & Naomi Raine, paroliers Meilleur Album Gospel Pour les albums contenant plus de 75% de musique vocale enregistrée récemment gospel traditionnel ou gospel contemporain/R&B. - "I Love You" par Erica Campbell - "Hymns (Live)" par Tasha Cobbs Leonard - "The Maverick Way" par Maverick City Music - "My Truth" par Jonathan McReynolds - "All Things New: Live In Orlando" par Tye Tribbett Meilleur Album de Musique Chrétienne Contemporaine Pour les albums contenant plus de 75% de musique vocale enregistrée récemment de musique chrétienne contemporaine, incluant pop, rap/hip-hop, latin ou rock. - "My Tribe" par Blessing Offor - "Emanuel" par Da' T.R.U.T.H. - "Lauren Daigle" par Lauren Daigle - "Church Clothes 4" par Lecrae - "I Believe" par Phil Wickham Meilleur Album Gospel Roots Pour les albums contenant plus de 75% de musique vocale enregistrée récemment de gospel traditionnel/roots, incluant country, Southern gospel, bluegrass et Americana. - "Tribute To The King" par The Blackwood Brothers Quartet - "Echoes Of The South" par Blind Boys Of Alabama - "Songs That Pulled Me Through The Tough Times" par Becky Isaacs Bowman - "Meet Me At The Cross" par Brian Free & Assurance - "Shine: The Darker The Night The Brighter The Light" par Gaither Vocal Band La cérémonie de première des 66e GRAMMY Awards s'annonce comme une soirée inoubliable. Les performances, les présentateurs et les nominés seront réunis pour célébrer une année musicale exceptionnelle. Ne manquez pas cette soirée incroyable, diffusée en direct le dimanche 4 février sur le réseau de la Recording Academy et sur live.GRAMMY.com. Préparez-vous à être éblouis et à applaudir les lauréats de cette cérémonie musicale légendaire. Source de l'information Suivez-nous sur Facebook Autres liens: Le premier livre de Tasha Cobbs Leonard: Do It Anywhere: Don’t Give Up Before It Gets Good #gospel #music #worship #praise #news #musique #évangélique #actualités #bgospelmagazine #bgospel

[timthemovieman]

Chinatown

Directed by Roman Polanski

Photographed by John A. Alonzo & Stanley Cortez

[wordflurries]

2022 in books

Attention Conservation Notice: I write about a bunch of stuff I read this year.

I read a whole lot of books this year, more than any year in the last twenty years where I've been keeping track (except for 2020, which was its own very special exception). I'm not going to list them all -- if you're interested in such a thing, I'm on Goodreads -- but there were a few things worth mentioning.

In 2021, I decided I was going to read all eleven volumes of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization. My girlfriend bought them for me off a clearance pile for Valentine's Day some 25 years ago (reader, I married her), and I've been carrying it around since with every intention of getting to it some day. I read one volume a month last year and enjoyed it immensely, so I decided to come up with a reading goal for 2022. Looking around, I landed on clearing out the to-read shelf.

Like most obligatory readers, I have a shelf of books that I buy to read eventually, and like most obligatory readers, that shelf tends to accrete books faster than I can read them. I've reduced it down to one shelf over the last few years, so I decided I'd clear it out in 2022. (I have an electronic equivalent that probably has more books than I could read in the rest of my life, but since that isn't visible when I walk in the front door, it's easier to dismiss.) This was an interesting project, comprising several fat volumes of history, some popular science, and a bunch of old Richard Hoyt books. I emptied the to-read shelf a couple of days before Christmas (although it now has some gifts on it). There will be no reading goal in 2023.

Here are some things worthy of note that I read in 2022.

John Steinbeck: We went to Monterey on vacation, and I ended up reading a bunch of Steinbeck. (I had read Sea of Cortez and Travels with Charley, but nothing else.) This year, I read Cannery Row (twice!) and Sweet Thursday, and East of Eden. Cannery Row is legitimately laugh-out-loud funny, and East of Eden is strange and twisted and ambitious and more affecting than I expected it to be. Steinbeck's auctorial voice hasn't aged in line with modern sensibilities, but his love of people large and small is admirable, even if he doesn't really know what to make of women.

Jack Kerouac: I went on a Kerouac bender after vacation as well. Kerouac is best read in great gulps, and I found that I enjoyed his voice more the further I got from On the Road. (I am vaguely curious if the recently published original manuscript of On the Road is significantly different.) Kerouac worked best in my head once I decided he was the holy fool he was writing about, and this world is not kind to holy fools.

Biographies of hippie heroes: Alec Nevala-Lee's Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller did an admirable job of separating Fuller and his accomplishments from his own relentless automythologizing, where Jonathan Keats' You Belong To The Universe gave up early. I looked forward to John Markoff's Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand, but found it superficial and unwilling to tangle with its subject.

New science fiction: I didn't read a lot of recent science fiction that I really enjoyed. I read Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning at the end of 2021 and loved it, but Seven Surrenders wore on me, and I barely made it through The Will to Battle. What started out as fascinating worldbuilding and a constantly mutating puzzle of a plot felt more like tiresome allegory and and an author more in love with her creation than I could ever be. The fourth book in the series is twice as long as the others, and I can't see myself getting to it. Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry of the Future was OK, although it seemed like one large exercise in being off by one or two orders of magnitude. I did not like Ruthanna Emrys' A Half-Built Garden, which suffered from painfully naive characters, aliens that weren't alien, and a ridiculously out of kilter sense of scale and emphasis.

Old science fiction: I reread John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, which is one of my favorite books. It's old enough to be nostalgia now. I also reread several Greg Bear books -- Queen of Angels is impossibly ambitious, Slant is entertaining but marks Bear's later focus on action thrillers, and Moving Mars was no better than when I disliked it twenty-odd years ago. (Forge of God and especially Anvil of Stars are Bear's best books, but I reread them a few years ago.)

Fantasy: I enjoyed Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet books. Walter Jon Williams' latest Quillifer book Lord Quillifer was entertaining, but I don't think Williams is capable of not being entertaining. RF Kuang's The Poppy War was good as well, but it didn't age well in my head after I was done reading it, and I haven't returned to the series (although I probably will). I find that as I get older, I become less willing to start long goatchoker fantasy series, and I'm even less likely to start anything that the author hasn't finished already.

History: I worked my way through some thick tomes this year. Peter Green's Alexander to Actium is a magnum opus and the largest physical book I read in the last few years, and it's probably essential if you're interested in the Hellenistic period. Xenophon's Anabasis was entertaining, but Julius Caesar's war commentaries were thick and chewy. I really wanted to enjoy ibn Khaldun, but didn't. Masudi felt like an Arabic Herodotus, which was just fine by me. I very much enjoyed the Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, at least the parts that Ulysses S Grant wrote (the annotations drove me bugnuts). David Graeber and David Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything was a fascinating read, but I'm not sure how much of it holds up to concerted skepticism. I slogged my way through Democracy in America, mostly out of a sense of duty that I now regret.

Things I haven't mentioned above: Ed Yong's An Immense World is a wonderful look at the manifold ways that animals sense the world and our human inability to understand those ways. Mark Arax's The Dreamt Land might be the book I enjoyed most this year -- part history, part journalism, part memoir about the Central Valley of California. Lawrence Weschler's Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder is a book-length interview with and exploration of the guy behind the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, and made an excellent follow-up to my visit this year. I can't imagine it would be as interesting if you haven't been to the Museum, and if you're reading this far, you really should check it out if you're in LA.