Bücher von M. J. Moore

From Lowney Handy's scandalous small-town open marriage to author JamesJones's extraordinary apprenticeship with Maxwell Perkins, Star-Crossed Lovers illuminates an unforgettable lovestory. She was an eccentric small-town self-taught rebel, driven by creative zeal and anon-conformist streak. He was a distressed ex-GI (flat broke, without prospects,damaged by war), 17 years younger than she, consumed by visions of a writer's life.Advocating for Jones's "medical discharge" from the Army in the summer of 1944,Lowney and her husband invited Jones to live and write at their home in Robinson,Illinois. After years of struggle, Jones's From Here to Eternity wonthe National Book Award and profoundly transformed American literature. The 1953 filmadaptation swept the Academy Awards in 1954. Expanding their shared vision of life,the Handys and Jones incorporated a unique writers' colony in 1951 that was fundedmostly by Jones's Eternity royalties. This is their odyssey of love, passion, and conflict,which remains exceptional in literary history."Fascinating story-kept my interest throughout."-OLIVER STONE, Academy Award-winning writer/director " ... The downright surreal story of James Jones and Lowney Handy, and what they accomplished."-ERICA HELLER, author of Yossarian Slept Here and One Last Lunch "Oh, to be young and a writer and finding your way with an exotic older woman! M. J. Moore's Star-Crossed Lovers is an incredible tale...Indispensable!"-LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV, author of Dress Gray, Heart of War, and other novels; Village Voice staff writer; West Point graduate "In today's age of flimsy comic-book characters passing for superheroes, it is life-affirming-hell, it's vital-to recall the red-blooded humanity James Jones poured into his 1951 National Book Award-winning From Here to Eternity. At its core is an iconoclastic love story...all of which Moore soundly spells out in engaging and impressively researched detail."-STEPHEN M. SILVERMAN, author of The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America; and Dancing on the Ceiling: Stanley Donen and His Movies

The Los Angeles Times said it best: "Puzo [was] a man who . . . remained in the shadows throughout his long career as a novelist and screenwriter, only rarely speaking to the press." That may not seem like such an oddity until one is reminded that during the mid-1970s The Godfather sold more copies per year than any other book except the Bible...Puzo was also a writer who struggled for decades before any success occurred; and only after age 50 was he an author whose success was so prodigious that it affected, tainted, defined, and pigeonholed the artist who, out of economic desperation and romantic imagination (plus will power and the ability to follow through), created the single most recognizable of American protagonists.In the life of Puzo, all roads led to The Godfather. No other writer of his generationcreated such an internationally embraced, mythic, beloved tale. . . . Although Mario Puzo had received major critical praise for his first two novels (1955's The Dark Arenaand 1965's The Fortunate Pilgrim), sales were all but flat. Then: Badly indebted, with five children, pushing 50 and plagued by stress, he vowed to write a best-seller.His third novel was The Godfather. "Backed up by hard facts and filled with behind-the-scenes stories, M. J. Moore's book is a definititive guide for all fans of Mario Puzo who want to know more about his life, work, and personal achievements." -Carol Gino, author of The Nurse's Story, Rusty's Story, and Me & Mario "Puzo's fans will appreciate this warm portrait." -Kirkus Reviews "Moore begins by recounting Puzo's Hell's Kitchen upbringing, his Army service as a clerk during and after WWII, his persistent money troubles ... and his investigation by the FBI for selling draft deferments. Moore is at his best when using these details ..." -Publishers Weekly