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cbendixe's review against another edition
3.0
The mashup of pop culture and literary quotes seems a little gimmicky at first, but I kept feeling pulled in by the aptness of so many pairings, even for shows or movies I haven't seen. One example shows a photo from the series "Friday Night Lights," which I never watched, but it came highly recommended to me for its portrayal of small town life, high school, and complicated yet solid family relationships. The accompanying quote is from Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin" [swoooooon]: "I guess this is what marriage is, or was, or could be, if you drop the mask. You allow the fatigue in. You lean across and kiss the years because they're the things that matter."
Another good one, in which the protagonist from the quote doesn't exactly match the experience of the character in the photo, but the language from the quote fits the spirit: from WB series "Felicity" which takes place in NYC, with a quote from Toni Morrison's Jazz: "How soon country people forget. When they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. As though there never was a time when they didn't love it. The minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves." As a country kid who moved to the city (multiple cities), this is so completely perfect.
Probably my favorite is a quote from Wallace Stegners's Crossing to Safety (thank you, Ms. Smith, for making us read that in high school), that accompanies a photo of Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack from "Working Girl" (great 80s movie, look it up Millennials). "It is love and friendship, the sanctity and celebration of our relationships, that not only support a good life, but create one. Through friendships, we spark and inspire one another's ambitions." YES.
My takeaway from this book is that I need to revisit some of my old favorites and read/watch some new ones I haven't tried. For that humorous and necessary reminder, I give four stars.
Another good one, in which the protagonist from the quote doesn't exactly match the experience of the character in the photo, but the language from the quote fits the spirit: from WB series "Felicity" which takes place in NYC, with a quote from Toni Morrison's Jazz: "How soon country people forget. When they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. As though there never was a time when they didn't love it. The minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves." As a country kid who moved to the city (multiple cities), this is so completely perfect.
Probably my favorite is a quote from Wallace Stegners's Crossing to Safety (thank you, Ms. Smith, for making us read that in high school), that accompanies a photo of Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack from "Working Girl" (great 80s movie, look it up Millennials). "It is love and friendship, the sanctity and celebration of our relationships, that not only support a good life, but create one. Through friendships, we spark and inspire one another's ambitions." YES.
My takeaway from this book is that I need to revisit some of my old favorites and read/watch some new ones I haven't tried. For that humorous and necessary reminder, I give four stars.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
As a fan of the Tumblr I'm so glad many of the cross-cultural pieces were new to me. Spot on comparisons. (And there's an appendix so if you can't immediately place the photograph it helps)0
soulpopped's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the coolest books I own. Anyone who loves pop culture or classic literature (or longs for a combination between the two) should buy this book and enjoy flipping through it forever and ever.
pagesofpins's review
5.0
I picked this book up for some relaxing, no-more-effort-than-flipping-through-a-magazine reading, and was surprised by how whip smart the pairings of pop culture photos and quotes from literature were. Whether it's Dan Chaon's musings about how a person's most vulnerable failings can eclipse their greatest accomplishments paired with Lindsay Lohan passed out in the back of a car, or Wodehouse's quote about how girls develop a poise at about 11 that most men never equal at 70 next to a photo of young Hermione and Ron, each page brings new meanings to the works represented, and made me long for my days of writing papers as I watched television in my dorm room.
tlvz721's review
4.0
If you love pop culture and literary quotes, look no further. In the lovingly assembled compilation, Maris Kreizman matches snapshots from popular stars, shows, and events with their utterly appropriate pairs of quotations from literary masterpieces. The perfect conversation piece of a coffee table book!
cynthiabemisabrams's review
5.0
This beautiful, accessible book is the perfect intersection of great literature and our vast vault of TV and film knowledge. For those who can't quite connect the dots between the quote from a famous novel or thinker and an image from modern memory, like Bruce Springsteen or Claire Danes from "My So-Called Life." the Appendix offers pithy insights.