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30.5 (PJ Reads' Task - As Suggested By Tanja - Six Degrees of Separation)
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Fiona (Titch)
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Feb 23, 2010 08:07AM
Tanja, does it matter which book of the Krays I read that they wrote? Cos I was wondering if I could read read Murder, Madness and Marriage?
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Tanja wrote: "Lis Julianna - Absolutely! That works! Kathryn - I don't know much myself but the power of wikipedia and its links helps! Try it by randomly picking a book and clicking on the author."
Oh, I found some books I wanted to read, but that is based off direct contact. lol, I am just amazed by some of the connections people have made!
I want to read one of the Nora Roberts books I have just bought- so I looked her up on Wikipedia. Janet Dailey was taken to court for plagarism of her work- can I use her as my second author?
Fiona - That one is fine. Ronnie is related!Kim - That is FANTASTIC! Great research! Approved.
Let's try this:David O. Relin, the co-author of Three Cups of Tea, attended the Iowa Writer's workshop, as did John Irving.
John Irving, was nominated for the 1979 Book Award for fiction, as was Tim O'Brien.
Tim O'Brien was a reporter.
John Fasman's main character in the Geographer's Library is a reporter.
I'm going to use two books from my TBR shelf.Woza Shakespeare! by Antony Sher
Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a Dramatic Battle
Degrees of Separation = 2:
- Peter Hall was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) 1960-1968
- When Antony Sher played Richard III at the RSC in 1984 his dresser was
- Black Mac whose 21 years at the RSC started in 1963
That Black Mac knew Peter Hall is confirmed on p. 232 of Sher's Year of the King: An Actor's Diary:
"But there’s always Black Mac, swearing and cursing, but gentle as a lamb. Strapping me into the false back: ‘This is an evil contraption, Animil. You’ve gotta be a martyr to be a Mark One (= star), either that or fokking daft! Mark One spastic more like.’ Never has my nickname, Animil, been more apt than it is for me as Richard. He goes through some of the other names he’s coined over the twenty-one years he’s worked here: Peter Hall was Chief Sitting Bull; Ian Holm was the Dwarf; Norman Rodway was the Bog Hopper; Patrick Stewart was Bald Eagle; Richard Griffiths was Hippo; John Wood was Two-b’One (‘If he stood sideways he’d be marked absent’); Blessed the Gorilla; and Nureyev, whom he dressed one year (a mind-boggling thought) when the Ballet was up here, was Big Balls. ‘Vy you callst me Beeg Ballst?’ Rudi had asked. ‘Cause that’s a canny set of tackle you’ve got there,’ came the answer, causing the great dancer to send out immediately for a dictionary of Newcastle slang."
I'm starting to think John Irving is our Kevin Bacon.
Kim wrote: "I want to read one of the Nora Roberts books I have just bought- so I looked her up on Wikipedia. Janet Dailey was taken to court for plagarism of her work- can I use her as my second author?"BWAH!!! That's hilarious. It would be like linking Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. Somehow it always cracks me up when it is a connection that the parties themselves would prefer to avoid ;)
Tanja wrote: "Sarah - You have that correct - same award, same year, same category! Better check on the Edgar Allen Poe one for category.Jenna - Great connection! Approved.
Angela - You have the right ide..."
The Help fits in because I am putting it where I had my Foer book for another task. It was just a side comment that I was excited because this task made it possible for me to fit in another book I wanted to read. I was just sharing.
Nicole - OH! K. No wonder I was confused :PPJ Reads - Approved. Nice work on finding a co-worker connection!
Belinda - Did John Irving attend the same workshop at the same time?
I don't mean to be annoying but can someone help me with a connection to Sara Shepard?
I don't know for sure, but I doubt it.
Sara Shepard wrote Pretty Little Liars, which is being turned into a TV series, starring Lucy Hale, who was also in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants – (so you could read that – or any Ann Brashares novel). Blake Lively co-starred in SotTP and was in Gossip Girls, based on the books by Cecily von Ziegesar (you can read any of hers. Blake also starred in the ensemble cast of New York, I love you with the following actors:
Shia LeBouf (Holes; I, Robot – any Asimov, Disturbia, which is a version of Rear Window, so any Hitchcock,
Natalie Portman who also starred in: (Romeo & Juliet – so any Shakespeare; Cold Mountain (or any Dennis LeHane; V for Vendetta (or you could read any Alan Moore like Watchmen); The Other Boylen Girl (or any Phillipa Gregory)
Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings)
Hayden Christiansen (Star Wars; The Virgin Suicides; )
You can also easily get to any book a Brad Pitt movie was based on through Orlando Bloom in Troy, any book a Samuel L Jackson movie was based on through Hayden in Star Wars or tons of others through the movies listed above.
Wow Bridgit thank you so much!!!
Regarding co-authors: I'd Kill For That was written by Gayle Lynds, Rita Mae Brown, Marcia Talley, Lisa Gardner, Linda Fairstein, Kay Hooper, Kathy Reichs, Julie Smith, Heather Graham, Jennifer CrusieTina Wainscott, Anne Perry, and Katherine Neville.So as I understand it I could read a book each by any two of these authors?
Kay - Yes!Belinda - Then your connection stops at the workshop. The two never met, interacted or knew of the other.
this is a hopping thread
Book A The Island by Victoria HislopVictoria Hislop in 2009, she donated the short story Aflame in Athens to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Fire' collection.
Also in the Fire' collection was published a short story by Mark Haddon writer of the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Mark Haddon was born in Northampton of Englang where Joan Hickson was also born.
Joan Hickson starred on the film Great Expectations which was based on the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
so Book B A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tanja is this ok or I 'm totally wrong???
Sarah wrote: "I don't mean to be annoying but can someone help me with a connection to Sara Shepard?"Pretty Little Liars is being made into a tv show. Lucy Hale is an actress in it. She was also in Privileged (which was on the CW). Privileged was based on the book How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls.
I have to say...this is my favorite tasks of all time..and I've done about 5 of these challenges!
Petra--This might be random..BUT..with the Neil Gaiman and Audrey Niffenegger connection..what about Lori..the mod from TNBBC? I know she has met Audrey and she has corresponded with Neil...does that work?
Thanks Tanja both of those are on my TBR list :~)
The Color of Money, which was directed by Martin Scorsese who directed the film adaptations of Revolutionary Road. would this connection work?
Jamie wrote: "Petra--This might be random..BUT..with the Neil Gaiman and Audrey Niffenegger connection..what about Lori..the mod from TNBBC? I know she has met Audrey and she has..."That's a brilliant connection, Jamie....I think. If a correspondence is a strong enough connection, that is. What a fun way of bringing Goodreads into this Task!
I'm sticking with Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls for the first part and a Roald Dahl book for the second; most likely Charlie and the Chocolate Factory since I've never read it and I hear it's quite brilliant.
Rhiannon wrote: "The Color of Money, which was directed by Martin Scorsese who directed the film adaptations of Revolutionary Road. would this connection work?"I thought Sam Mendes directed Revolutionary Road?
Jamie wrote: "Petra--This might be random..BUT..with the Neil Gaiman and Audrey Niffenegger connection..what about Lori..the mod from TNBBC? I know she has met Audrey and she has..."Nice one! Lori has met Christopher Moore and David Maine too.
Cait wrote: "Rhiannon wrote: "The Color of Money, which was directed by Martin Scorsese who directed the film adaptations of Revolutionary Road. would this connection work?"I thought Sam Mendes directed Rev..."
yup your right
would this way work for the connection
Tom Cruise was in The Color of Money, which was directed by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese has collaborated with Leonardo DiCaprio in a number of films. Leo has starred in the following film adaptation: Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Hi Tanja, could you check the number of connections in this list- I'm still a little iffy on how to count the degrees, so I wasn't totally sure if I have six or not! Book 1: The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson
In 1989 Patterson was on an episode of the Simpsons (Yorkel Chords) which also starred Meg Ryan in the same episode.
Meg Ryan starred in Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks starred in the Da Vinci Code, based on the book by Dan Brown.
Dan Brown also wrote Angels and Demons.
Second book: Angels and Demons
Jamie - That is so true of Lori! She DID meet them both. CONNECTION!Angeliki - Were they born there around the same time?
Rhiannon - Yes. That updated connection works!
Rebecca - 3 degrees and what a cute way to combine them by the Simpsons in the same episode!
I hope this helps some of you YA readers...Libba Bray is friends with a LOT of the New York YA authors. The ones she has tagged on her blog (http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/tag/) are: Maureen Johnson, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, David Levithan, Lauren Myracle, Cynthia Leitich Smith, E Lockhart, Shannon Hale, and Robin Wasserman.
And I'm pretty sure they're tied to John Green... and I'm pretty sure they made him a birthday video on YouTube a couple years back, but I can't find it. Actually, a bunch of those guys are represented by Libba's husband, who is a literary agent.
Also, the book Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd has a TON of YA authors connected to it, including some of those guys, plus Garth Nix, Scott Westerfeld, Wendy Mass, Sara Zarr, etc.
And, unrelated, Meg Cabot and Michele Jaffe have a whole series of YouTube videos they do together.
Book 1 - The First RuleRobert Crais wrote screenplay for L.A. Law on which John Spencer was an actor.
John Spencer was also an actor on the West Wing which was created by Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin wrote Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks
Tome Hanks was in The DaVinci Code which was written by Dan Brown.
My Book 2 will be The Lost Symbol.
Crais - Spencer - Sorkin - Hanks - Brown
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this task.
Tammy - Glad you're having fun! I didn't know that about Crais writing a screenplay.Catherine Gilbert Murdock's sister is Elizabeth Gilbert. Catherine writes YA and Elizabeth wrote Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia and Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage plus some other books.
Let's try again:David O. Relin, the co-author of Three Cups of Tea was a student of Marilynne Robinson at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.
Marilynne Robinson graduated from Brown.
John Fasman the author of the Geographer's Library graduated from Brown
Belinda - The two didn't attend Brown at around the same time. Marilynne was 66 and Fasman was born in 75. You might have to dig more but here's some links I can quickly provide.
This is from Jon's Blog (which I cannot access the whole thing):
Let me first admit that I am not a disinterested observer here: I write for "The Second Pass"; its founding editor, John Williams, is a close friend; and the redoubtable Penguin Press has published both of my novels. Having said all of that I would say this anyway: the trailer for Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice" is perfect.
So here's the link to the blog website and you might peek into John Williams for other links. http://thesecondpass.com/
This interview: http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/bl... reveals he has just been named as one of the finalists for the ninth annual Young Lions Fiction Award for his latest novel, "The Unpossessed City".
2009 Finalists:
Salvatore Scibona, The End
Jon Fasman, The Unpossessed City
Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric Disturbances
Sana Krasikov, One More Year
Zachary Mason, The Lost Books of the Odyssey
You could link Fasman to any of those authors listed above and try to link back to Three Cups of Tea.
Thanks Tanja...this is starting to give me a headache.
I have a whole bag of books by Laurell K Hamilton that a friend lent me so I am trying to fit some into this challenge. So I was going to use The Killing Dance which is in the Anita Blake series. The Anita Blake series is in the process of being made into a Marvel comic series with the first illustrator being Brett Booth. Brett Booth also illustrated some of the Spider Man series which was made into several movies starring Tobey Maguire. Tobey Maguire was in Cider House Rules by John Irving. So for my second book I was thinking I would read Last Night in Twisted River. Would this work?
Kathleen - Yup! And I thought the graphic novel was already released!
Tanja wrote: "Kathleen - Yup! And I thought the graphic novel was already released!"Yeah...I think the first 8 are out but they just got a new illustrator for some more issues.
I am having a hard time figuring out what counts, so I am just going to try this. F.Scott Fitzgerald is famous for novels, but made his living by writing for a couple of newspapers, including the Saturday Evening Post, which is famous for its illustrations by Norman Rockwell that were featured in the movie Empire of the Sun which is based on the book of the same name by JG Ballard
(I would read The Beautiful and Damned and Empire of the Sun)
Just want to check if this works ...Book 1 - Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda. The film of which stars Audrey Tatou, who co-starred with Tom Hanks in The Da Vincie Code. Tom Hanks co-starred with Kevin Bacon (hurrah!) in Apollo 13, Kevin Bacon was in Mystic River which was written by Dennis Lehane ...
Book 2 - Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Have I got it right?! Great task by the way!
Sara ♥ wrote: "I hope this helps some of you YA readers...Libba Bray is friends with a LOT of the New York YA authors. The ones she has tagged on her blog (http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/tag/)..."
Along those YA lines, I was trying to link to Scott Westerfeld so I could read Pretties, and found out that his agent is Jill Grinberg, who is also the agent for Garth Nix and Daniel Pinkwater, among others.
Also, Westerfeld is married to Justine Larbalestier who wrote Liar. Justine Larbalestier is friends with Sarah Rees Brennan, according to her blog.
And a third possible route, John Davis bought the rights to Westerfeld's Uglies. Davis also produced Eragon which featured Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Rachel Weisz, which could lead to some good connections.
On a totally different note, I was thinking of starting with The Magicians by Lev Grossman. According to Wikipedia, Grossman has conducted interviews with Neil Gaiman, Joan Didion, Jonathan Franzen, and Salman Rushdie among others.
Is this okay?Book A: P.S. I Love You
This book was the basis for the movie "P.S. I Love You," which starred actress Hilary Swank. Hilary Swank bought the rights to the movie "Something Borrowed," which is based on the book by Emily Giffin. Emily Giffin also wrote the sequel "Something Blue."
Book B: Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Manday - The F.Scott Fitzgerald & Norman Rockwell would only have worked if Rockwell did illustrations for Fitzgerald's articles. And then saying his illustrations were featured in The Empire movie doesn't work either. It would have to be Rockwell himself.Suzie R - YOu have it down!
Katy - Great research. People can connect Lev Grossan to the people listed BUT Gaiman couldn't be connected to Didion UNLESS they were in the same interview.
Amanda - I didn't know that about Swank! Huh. I think I saw that Something Borrowed was going to become a film. Approved on your choices!
Also The Undomestic Goddess is set to become a film. A director has been selected! Andy Flickman will be directing the project. The director behind kid-friendly projects like "The Game Plan" and "Race to Witch Mountain" as well as the Amanda Bynes' 2006 hit "She's The Man" just recently wrapped the Disney film "You Again," which stars Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kristen Chenoweth.
Aline Brosh McKenna, the mastermind behind the "The Devil Wears Prada" film adaptation, has written the script for the film. Spyglass is producing the project along with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's Tribeca Prods.
Ok, I clearly need help. Can anyone help me link Fitzgerald to someone?
I've never been good at this game so I just want to make sure I have the concept down. I can read a book by Megan Crane and then read a book by E. Lockhart as the two authors sat down and discussed their experiences at Vassar and writing in general. As an FYI, this interview is posted at Beatrice.com. I would have one degree of separation. Does this work?
Manday wrote: "Ok, I clearly need help. Can anyone help me link Fitzgerald to someone?"Fitzgerald was friends with Hemingway. Hemingway's mentor was Ezra Pound. 1967 Ezra did an interview with Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg was friends with Jack Kerouac & William S. Burroughs and Ken Kesey.
Fitzgerald's editor was William Maxwell Evarts Perkins who was also the editor for Thomas Wolfe and Alan Paton (He helped publish Cry, the Beloved country).
Fitzgerald wrote The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The short story was turned into a movie in which Brad Pitt played. Pitt produced the movie Running with Scissors and is producing Eat, Pray, Love.
Hope that was a good starting point at least.
Manday wrote: "Ok, I clearly need help. Can anyone help me link Fitzgerald to someone?"In addition to what Jamie wrote,
Sherwood Anderson and Ford Madox Ford were also in the same circle of writers and poets in 1920s Paris.
Frances Ford Coppola directed The Great Gatsby. He also directed The Outsiders and produced The Virgin Suicides.
Robert Redford played Jay Gatsby in the movie. He voiced a character in the film version of Charlotte's Web, which has a ton of actors you could explore.
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