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BOOK REPORT
In April 2020, Gabriel Rhenals ordered a copy of the book 'Solitude: A Return to the Self' by Anthony Storr to help pass the time while sequestered at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he's continued reading book after book in an unbroken chain of habit. Mostly non-fiction selections, the topics for Gabriel's reading journey have spanned writing, film, art, philosophy, history and psychology but he's always looking to expand the scope whenever possible.
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Below is each entry in Gabriel's series along with a link to compilations of brief reviews prepared for each book at time of completion; all part of what he calls... his Book Report!
51. Music Theory for Dummies by Michael Pilhofer and Holly Day
50. Orientalism by Edward W. Said
49. Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
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48. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
47. Filmmakers and Financing: Business Plans for Independents by Louise Levison
46. Kuleshov on Film: Writings of Lev Kuleshov by Lev Kuleshov
45. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
44. Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
43. The 'Star Wars' Heresies: Interpreting the Themes, Symbols and Philosophies of Episodes I, II and III by Paul F. McDonald
42. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan
41. On Writing by Stephen King
40. Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
by Kay Redfield Jamison
39. Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc
38. The Vibrational Actor: A Heart-Centered Approach to Acting by Shaun Grant
37. Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifen and Gregory White Smith
36. Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts by Terry Burnham, Ph.D. and Jay Phelan, Ph.D.
35. Sergei Eisenstein: A Life in Conflict by Ronald Bergan
34. Richard Wagner: A Life in Music by Martin Geck
33. The Road Ahead: Completely Revised and Up-to-Date by Bill Gates
32. Murder in Deer Park: An Historical Mystery Novella by Gary Alan Ruse
31. The Iliad by Homer
30. The Frying Pan by David Bush
29. Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez
28. Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino
27. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
26. The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
25. Scribbles on the World and Me: A Collection of Poetry by Christopher Sanchez
24. Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin
23. Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T.E. Lawrence
22. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Dr. Ed Catmull
21. The Sociology of a Miami Girl by Kelsey Milian Lopez
20. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
19. The Film Sense by Sergei Eisenstein
18. The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron by Rebecca Keegan
17. Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows
16. On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky
15. Isaac Newton by James Gleick
14. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician by Christoph Wolff
13. Film Form: Essays in Film Theory by Sergei Eisenstein
12. Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life by J.W. Rinzler
11. The Art of Pure Cinema: Hitchcock and His Imitators by Bruce Isaacs
10. Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Janaway
09. Process: The Writing Lives of Great Authors by Sarah Stodola
08. Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Tanner
07. The Odyssey by Homer
06. Jung: A Very Short Introduction by Anthony Stevens
05. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
04. Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece by Michael Benson
03. Freud: A Very Short Introduction by Anthony Storr
02. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
01. Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr
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