Screening Room: Family Pictures by Alan Lightman (PDF)

Description

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • Alan Lightman’s grandfather M.A. was the family’s undisputed patriarch. It was his movie theater empire that catapulted the Lightmans, a Hungarian Jewish immigrant family, to prominence in the South; his triumphs that would both galvanize and paralyze his descendants. In this evocative personal history, the author chronicles his return to Memphis and the stifling home he had been so eager to flee forty years earlier. As aging uncles and aunts retell old stories, Alan finds himself reconsidering long-held beliefs about his larger-than-life grandfather and his quiet, inscrutable father.The result is an unforgettable family saga set against the pulsing backdrop of Memphis—its country clubs and juke joints, its rhythm and blues, its segregated movie theaters, its barbecue and pecan pie—including encounters with Elvis, Martin Luther King Jr., and E. H. “Boss” Crump. Both intensely personal and quintessentially American, Screening Room finely explores the tricks of light that can make—and unmake—a man and his myth.(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Yes, I get it.It’s a bit disappointing that two colorful characters in Alan Lightman’s book Screening Room never existed. Admittedly they were a compilation of characters in his life. But the writer was honest about it which I appreciated so that’s that. I too grew up in Memphis in the 60’s and 70’s and even worked for the Lightman empire in a very small way during high school. Although it’s not relevant to the review, I can still say to this day that it was, simply put, the most fun job I ever had. There’s just something about movie theaters. Their draw for us can’t be ignored. M.A. Lightman was a bigger than life man, whose love of movies, and dream of starting a theater, was truly an important part of Memphis history. I found him fascinating. But this is a book less about movie theaters and more about the author’s memories of family and growing up in his home town. We all have those dim visions that play like little movies in our heads. They can at once bring a smile or an ache so deep we can hardly breathe. Memories of people and places that no longer exist and will eventually seem as if they never did. Alan Lightman writes about his memories with a raw honesty that I feel, would appeal to anyone who ever had a family or a childhood or regrets. I happen to subscribe to the thoughts of Thomas Wolfe about going home. I doubt I’ll ever return to Memphis but I’m glad Alan Lightman did.

⭐Allan Lightman has a distinctive style of writing .which draws the reader into his family’s unique world, a world that was so radically different from the one I lived in. I was fascinated. Allan, you left so many things out!! You talked about some of the politics of the 1960s, and the impact that integration was starting to have on the South, yet you never mentioned that our high school class had no prom due to concerns over the imminent desegregation of the school system. Or that we were the most dignified graduating class ever! We had no choice in that matter. For our Senior Day our class had gone to the fake sand beach at Sardis, where we all ended up with 2nd and 3rd degree sunburns. Nobody could stand to have anything rub on those burns, not even our long awaited gowns. And, then, there was the matter of the boys picking up the assistant school principal, and tossing him into the lake at the end of our ‘beach’ day.

⭐Alan Lightman has written another remarkable book. This is both a beautiful love song to his father and his grandfather and a fascinating story of an American family, told with forthrightness, clarity, and so emotionally honest, sometimes I winced–especially atAlan’s recollection of the 1950s and 1960s as he came of age in Memphis, Tennessee. “What do we owe to a father or mother, to the soil of a place, to a moment in personl history, when an infinity o ftime preceded that moment and an infinity afterward?….On the other hand, perhaps the very fleetingness of that one gasp, before which lies an infinite cosmos of dumb bloodless matter and after which the same, bestows an extraordinary obligation, an imperative to make that second count, that flash of blood sing. As the planet of memory goes hurtling through space.” I could not put it down. I loved it.

⭐Of special interest to me, as a life long Memphian, roughly the same generation as the author. The places and many of the people were familiar to me and I can validate they were well depicted. Also of special interest was reading this work in conjunction with Lightman’s scientific/theological/whimsical story about the birth of the universe, “Mr. g.” Seemed to offer insights into how his thinking about cosmic themes has been shaped, at least in part, by his family and the Memphis of his formative years. Well written, graceful prose style. I gave this book to someone who knows nothing about Memphis and she found it a very good read.

⭐Being a true blue Memphian this book spoke to my heart and era! Just love the honesty of his writing. I felt it could’ve been our home growing Jewish in the ’50/’60’s! A wonderful read for one who lived it, or wants to know what it was like-with a bit of “shading” to it!Fabulous book. Passed on. And can’t stop talking about it!!! Great writer!!

⭐Very well written. Interesting period background and eccentric characters vividly recreated. Lots of atmosphere. But all in all, pretty light weight.

⭐An excellent read and moving work – many passages give you pause to think about the narrative of your own life. Underscoring all of this is a wonderful illustration of the Memphis of the middle twentieth century as well as the challenges faced as the nation’s “Old South” struggled to become the “New South.”

⭐Four stars becauseI was interested in Memphis. For other readers it is probably 3 stars/ The writing is good but the exact times and relationships are not always clear.

Keywords

Free Download Screening Room: Family Pictures in PDF format
Screening Room: Family Pictures PDF Free Download
Download Screening Room: Family Pictures 2015 PDF Free
Screening Room: Family Pictures 2015 PDF Free Download
Download Screening Room: Family Pictures PDF
Free Download Ebook Screening Room: Family Pictures