Celebrity Writing in America A Thematic Reader for Composition

by Vesterman, William

• ISBN13: 9780321328908
• ISBN10: 0321328906
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-16
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

With a mixture of serious and light-hearted works by celebrities in fields such as television, film, music, stage, sports, and print-personalities who may not be known as writers-Celebrity Writing in America is a reader with a unique angle. Authored by successful people from diverse backgrounds, these compelling selections are accompanied by chapter introductions to set context, brief biographies of the writers to provide background, and questions at the end of each reading and thematic section to prompt critical thinking and insightful writing. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Rhetorical Contents	xv
Preface	xxi
To the Student	xxv
PART I Constructing and Representing a Private Self	1	(128)
1. Origins and Turning Points	3	(143)
1. Whoopi Goldberg
Christmas in New York	6	(5)
"Christmas was it around our house." Whoopi tells how the rituals involved in the celebration of her holiday made for a family tradition that endures to this day, including her lifelong love affair with Alastair Sim.
2. Sissy Spacek
Homemade in Texas	11	(4)
I've always had a deep sense of pride about being a Texan, and I remember thinking as a little kid, Oh, how lucky I am to be born in Texas, in this little town.'"
3. Joe Piscopo
It's a Jersey Thing	15	(3)
"Here in jersey, we've always been second-class citizens; we're the Rodney Dangerfield of states...but you can joke about it. It's part of who we are."
4. Margaret Cho
Friendless in Frisco	18	(5)
Her Korean name meant peony, but it sounded like the English word "moron." Even in Sunday school she was hounded; children who had known her all her life were cruel.
5. Sammy Sosa
Growing Up Poor in Consuelo	23	(4)
As one of a large family whose father died when Sammy was very young, the boy knew what it was to work and work hard. He also learned about something that was worth more than money.
6. Tom Cruise
My Struggle to Read	27	(4)
"I was a functional illiterate," says the actor who hid his problem with dyslexia for years and finally learned to read only as an adult when he discovered Scientology.
7. Joan Rivers
Responding To Suicide	31	(5)
"Even with that evidence, I still needed time to believe what I was hearing. And these days, as I travel around the country giving my lectures, I learn over and over again that disbelief is an almost universal initial reaction to bad news."
8. Sting
The Mystery and Religion of Music	36	(110)
"It's very hard to talk about music in words. Words are superfluous to the abstract power of music. We can fashion words into poetry so that they are understood in the way music is understood, but they only aspire to the condition where music already exists."
2 Becoming and Overcoming
1. Queen Latifah
Being a Queen	146
"But how do fear, pride, and determination make Dana Owens a queen, you ask? And what right does anyone have to call herself a queen without sounding like one helluvan arrogant sista?"
2. Bill Murray
Caddy Shot	51	(4)
Mr. Caddyshack was once a real-life caddy and learned to play golf at odd moments in odd ways. "To me the scariest words in all of golf are, 'It's a straight putt.'"
3. Fran Drescher
"Now I'm Concerned"	55	(7)
The first biopsy said one thing, but a follow-up said another. A cancer victim tells what it's like to get the bad news.
4. Lance Armstrong
Back in the Saddle	62	(3)
After recovering from cancer, this world-class athlete thought he should enjoy himself until his then wife asked him, "Are you going to be a golf-playing, beer-drinking, Mexican-food-eating slob for the rest of your life?"
5. Toni Morrison
Cinderella's Stepsisters	65	(4)
I want not to ask you but to tell you not to participate in the oppression of your sisters." The award-winning novelist uses an old fairy tale to teach some modern lessons.
6. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Weight Training	69	(6)
The Governor of California, once Mr. World and five-time Mr. Universe, tells everyone how to make the most of his or her own physical resources one step at a time.
7. P.J. O'Rourke
On First Looking Into Emily Post's Etiquette	75	(6)
As a boy he found a world of tact and kindness when he looked into a book on etiquette. The author of many books of humor and the foreign affairs editor for Rolling Stone remembers what it was like to grow up in Toledo in a house with very different manners from those he read about.
8. Melissa Etheridge
My First Album	81	(5)
A singer tells what it is like to be produced—or overproduced—before learning to insist on doing things her own way.
9. Dr. Joyce Brothers
Procrastination	86	(11)
Dr. Joyce makes a confession and offers a cure: "I have had to fight against my own tendency to procrastinate, and over the years I have devised a system of priorities that works for me."
3 Significant Others	95	(34)
1. Mick Jagger
George Harrison	97	(3)
One giant figure in the revolution of rock and roll remembers another when he hears of his death. Harrison was a complex person in many ways; Jagger tells us how and why.
2. Mia Farrow
With Woody Allen, a House Is Not a Home	100	(4)
"I watched him take a white rubber shower mat (for germs) out of his bag and carry it into the bathroom. But seconds later he emerged with the mat still rolled under his arm. 'What happened?' I asked. 'What's wrong?' 'The drain is in the middle,' he said, shaking his head dismissively as if I should have known."
3. Patti LaBelle
Don't Block the Blessings	104	(7)
What she did—and didn't do—for her dying sister. We see the other side of the outrageous diva who will do anything on stage without guilt. This time the tears were real.
4. Dan Aykroyd
Michael O'Donoghue	111	(4)
The writer, actor and comedian describes the man who met and mentored him on his arrival for the start of Saturday Night Live.
5. LL Cool J
Impotent Demon	115	(4)
When his mother was at work, her boyfriend tortured her young son. "There is nothing worse than being hungry and staring into an empty refrigerator because your mother's man ate all the food after taking a pound of weed—and then getting a beating for being hungry."
6. Marc Anthony
Eulogy for Tito Puente	119	(2)
Mentor, friend, and pioneer of Latin music, Tito Puente receives a tribute from the singer he helped early on.
7. Alice Walker
Do it for Someone You Love	121	(2)
Helping someone to eat right can be an act of love. A visual essay in the form of a public service advertisement by a leading African American author
8. Chaka Khan
Personnel: Up Close and Personal	123	(10)
It took this pioneer of music a long time to learn some home truths. Other people were often helping themselves when they were supposed to be helping her, so she finally made her mother her business manager.
PART II Constructing a Public Persona	129	(128)
4 Finding a Language and a Style	131	(40)
1. Andy Rooney
A Text for Textbook Writers	133	(6)
An editor wants to make changes to one of his essays for use in a text book, "so that the readability will be closer to the seventh grade. In paragraph five I deleted references to cookies, which are junk food and therefore may not be mentioned in textbooks." Andy explains his problem with her problem.
2. Charles Osgood
%@&#	136	(3)
"Gosh! I just found out the doggondest thing! Did you realize that obscene language is on the way out? I sure as heck didn't."
3. Miss Manners
Rudeness Can Be Lethal	139	(3)
The arbiter of American etiquette takes on the dangers of "dissin'." Not least among them is a danger to your health and well being.
4. Chris Rock
Rockology	142	(3)
"Rap is to black people what country music is to whites." With the aid of a chart, Chris explains how our popular culture explains who we are, reflecting "our values, morals, interests, obsessions, ethics, hopes, and dreams."
5. James Brown
On the One	145	(5)
The Godfather of Soul tells us how he created the rhythmic aspects of the sound that brought him fame, fortune, and (all too often) misfortune as well. James Brown takes us through the story of a beat and the beat goes on—on the ONE.
6. John Madden
My Favorite Guys	150	(4)
'By nature, some offensive linemen are more aggressive than others, but I love 'em all. They're my guys." Coach Madden tells how he brings out the best of the worst in his linemen in order to teach them what their business is all about—in a businesslike but amusing way.
7. Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Got Milk?	154	(2)
He made it big and tall. Find out his secret in this visual argument.
8. Steve Martin
Writing Is Easy!	156	(6)
"If you are going to write about disease, I would suggest that California is the place to do it. Dwarfism is never funny, but look at the result when it was dealt with out here. Seven happy dwarfs."
9. Stephen King
On Writing	162	(11)
The King of Horror gives advice to aspiring fictionists based on examples from his own career. King has found that reading books—both had ones and good ones—has been the basis of his own relation to writing and he explains how reading can help your own writing to improve.
5 Self-Presentation	171	(38)
1. Jon Stewart
Commencement Address at William and Mary	173	(6)
"I am honored to be here to receive this honorary doctorate...As a person I am honored to get it; as an alumnus, I have to say I believe we can do better."
2. Pamela Anderson
Give Fur the Cold Shoulder	179	(2)
A public service advertisement gives this actress a chance to support visually the cause of animal rights for PETA—People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
3. Mary-Louise Parker
On Nudity	181	(6)
The Red Dragon Lady reveals numerous nuances in nakedness after agreeing to pose again for Esquire magazine, whose editor somehow preferred that suggestion to all her other story proposals.
4. The Reverend Jesse Jackson
Rainbow Imperative	187	(5)
Why are minorities so invisible in public media? According to this activist, Wall Street is the next civil rights battlefield. The mission: demanding respect for minorities as consumers and getting the share of advertising media money that goes with it.
5. Jenny McCarthy
Where in the Hell Can I Find a Muumuu?	192	(5)
"When you are first pregnant, you try to keep fitting into your own clothes. Not for long."
6. Russell Simmons
White People	197	(5)
One of the most successful black entrepreneurs in America tells how he has learned to deal with white people.
7. Phillip McGraw, Ph.D.
We Teach People How to Treat Us	202	(11)
Dr. Phil tells us that we ourselves control how others respond to us.
6 A Business-like Manner	209	(48)
1. Ben Stein
Let's Talk About Dollars and Cents	213	(4)
Ferris Bueller's teacher and a giver away of money on TV talks about his father's financial history and his own in a heart-to-heart talk that tries to teach his son what to expect in life from money.
2. Donald Trump
The Art of Negotiation	217	(4)
"The Donald" tells us how he makes his deals. Signing the contract is just a mopping up exercise after the real battle has been won by knowing what you want and how to have the other side give it to you.
3. Diane Von Furstenberg
Fashioning Sales	221	(6)
"With malls taking over America, home shopping essentially brought a television mall into everybody's home, store by store. The audience seemed to take to it. In only five years of operation this home shopping channel had amassed forty-two million viewers."
4. Michael Jordan
The Nike Deal	227	(4)
He loved Adidas. Yet he tells us how he got the biggest sneaker endorsement contract in history and managed to get free advertising on TV, all for wearing banned shoes.
5. Cokie and Steve Roberts
Problems of a Two-Career Family	231	(4)
"The schools don't take responsibility for the fact that the world has changed. At the first hint of a snowflake, they close at one o'clock in the afternoon and send children home to empty houses and there's no way for parents to know unless they've listened to the radio all day at the office. And how was a mother on the factory line supposed to get the information?"
6. Spike Lee
Art and Money in Movies	235	(3)
"I have to film and market and act accordingly. I want my films to be seen by as many people as possible, and I know a lot of that comes down to not only the quality of the product—which of course has to be good—but marketing."
7. Chuck D
"Free" Music Can Free the Artist	238	(3)
Public Enemy's lead rapper takes on file sharing from the point of view of a producer rather than a consumer of popular music.
8. Bill Gates
Adopt the Web Lifestyle	241	(4)
The Web is not simply a "tool," says the sometime richest man in the world. Rather, it is a metaphor for a way of thinking and living that you need in modern business to avoid being left behind by the competition.
9. Oprah Winfrey
Bringing Beloved to the Screen	245	(17)
A case history that combines artistic performance with business enterprise. Oprah tells how she came to produce and act in the movie version of a famous novel.
PART III Making a Lasting Contribution	257	(140)
7 Serving Your Country and Your World	259	(60)
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Black Tankers of World War II	262	(4)
The basketball legend shares comes the story of how black soldiers made up one of General Patton's best tank units in an armed forces still segregated by race.
2. Ralph Nader
The Duties of Citizenship	266	(8)
The founder of consumer activism lays down a plan for making citizenship into what it should be, and bringing citizens to a sense of their duties that goes far beyond voting.
3. Angelina Jolie
Mission to Ecuador	274	(8)
"On June 6, 2002, I undertook a mission to learn about and assist refugees under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ecuador."
4. Rush Limbaugh
Conservatives Promote Independence	282	(6)
"Conservatives have always believed that blacks and other minorities would be better served in the long run by programs that foster independence, rather than those that foster dependency on government."
5. Jane Fonda
Use the Media For Public Health!	288	(4)
"We need the media today (in rich countries as well as poor) to serve as a channel to inform a growing public about healthy practices, sensible lifestyles..."
6. Rudolph Guiliani
The Big Apple's Big Blowup	292	(3)
"The City University of New York's standards are declining. Only 32 percent of incoming freshmen at CUNY senior colleges pass the basic CUNY skills test in math and writing and reading." The most famous mayor in America argues that open admission has been a mistake.
7. Rosie Perez
Why Does Rosie Perez Wear the Bracelet?	295	(2)
Actress, dancer, choreographer—Rosie wears the bracelet to support HIV/AIDS research in this visual public service essay,
8. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Letter from Birmingham Jail	297	(25)
A famous martyr to the civil rights movement defends his tactics and the justice of his technically illegal methods. He responds to some of his critics in one of the most famous essays of modern times.
8 Classic Performers	319	(3)
1. Regis Philbin
True Tales of the Miss America Pageant	322	(7)
"People are yelling, Hey, Regis! REGIS!.' I wave back and continue to wait. Then a couple of guys come over to keep me company. One of them wants to know if I think he looks like Dustin Hoffman. I tell him Miss New Hampshire looks more like Dustin Hoffman than he does."
2. Gloria Steinem
Sex, Lies, & Advertising	329	(21)
A co-founder and long-time editor of Ms. magazine explores the difficulties involved in finding advertisers for a women's magazine and the pressures they can exert on editorial policies and contents.
3. Roger Ebert
Steven Spielberg: The Moviemaker	350	(4)
"Spielberg's most important contribution to modern movies is his insight that there was an enormous audience to he created if old-style B-Movie stories were made with A-level craftsmanship and enhanced with the latest developments in special effects.'
4. Julia Child
A Slice of History	354	(4)
Refrigerators, fast food, microwaves—The doyenne of American cooking and pioneering tastemaker reflects on all that has changed in American eating over the past century.
5. Alfred Hitchcock
My Most Exciting Picture	358	(12)
The master of suspense tells us how he managed to shoot a movie about thrill killers with "wild" sets and a nonstop camera. The joys of technique explained by a famous technician.
6. Frank Zappa
In Defense of Rock and Roll	370	(10)
A pioneer rocker with the Mothers of Invention defends his art against the attacks of philosopher and social critic Allan Bloom who called rock and roll "a junk food for the soul."
7. Celia Cruz
Changing Times	380	(1)
"The Queen. of Salsa" was so busy with her own performance that she hardly noticed what was going on with the music video being made to support hey She was quite shocked when she did find out, but finally had to acknowledge that times really were changing.
8. Mel Brooks
Springtime for the Music Man in Me	381	(8)
The composer of "Springtime for Hitler" and other witty ditties describes the shape of a career that led to the movie, The Producers, and to a smash hit musical version of that movie.
9. Hank Aaron
Race and the Record	389	(4)
During the summer in which he broke Babe Ruth's home run record, Hammering Hank was on the receiving end of a lot of hate mail. It didn't change his performance but ii did change his mind about some hometown fans and their hometown.
10. Barry Bonds
Why Does Barry Bonds Wear the Bracelet?	393	(4)
Compare the classic slugger's visual argument to that on the same topic by Rosie Perez in Chapter 7.
Celebrity Web Sites	397	(4)
Index	401