L.A.
CONFIDENTIAL
G
aze at the stars of Hollywood
past through the intimate
lens of their letters and librar-
ies. In The Hollywood Book
Club: Reading With the Stars (Chronicle), by Steven
Rea, candid photos and publicity stills showcase
the literary interludes of Golden Age actors, from
Shirley MacLaine (above) on the set of What a Way
to Go! to Dennis Hopper brushing up on technique
with An Actor Prepares between takes. Letters From
Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic Ameri-
can Moviemaking (Abrams), compiled and edited by
Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall, comprises private cor-
respondences between titans of the silver screen—
Cecil B. DeMille to Adolph Zukor in 1923; Hedda Hop-
per to Katharine Hepburn in 1964.—keziah weir
of you weekending at
the Kaufmans’: one bad one of
you playing tennis, one
good one of you knitting, so I guess
you’re more the domestic type.”
—Dashiell Hammett,
catching Lillian Hellman up
on town gossip, 1937,
from Letters From Hollywood
GREEN IS THE
NEW BLACK
Three books take on the fashion
industry’s environmental impact:
Fashionopolis and Inconspicuous
Consumption investigate
consumerism and climate
change, while The Conscious
Closet offers insight on personal
sustainability decisions.
- Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion—and the
Future of Clothes (Penguin Press), by Dana Thomas
- Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental
Impact You Don’t Know You Have (Grand Central), by
Tatiana Schlossberg 3. The Conscious Closet:
The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing
Good (Plume), by Elizabeth L. Cline
ADMIRATION
Society
We asked novelists to tout their
September must-reads—and indulge
in a little peer promotion
V. F.
RECOMMENDS
Red at the
Bone
by Jacqueline
Woodson
As teenage Melody
takes part in
a coming-of-age
ceremony, the
history of her New York
family unfurls, and
three generations
of longing and ambition
come into razor-
sharp focus. —vf
JACQUELINE
RECOMMENDS
Dominicana
by Angie Cruz
Enter the world
of Ana, an immigrant
and child bride from
the Dominican
Republic who is trying
to make a life in
America. Through a
novel with so much
depth, beauty, and
grace, we, like Ana, are
forever changed. —jw
ANGIE
RECOMMENDS
Cantoras
by Carolina
De Robertis
It’s impossible not
to fall in love with these
fierce “girlwomen”—
queer, courageous, and
adventurous—as
they find freedom in
their relationships
with each other while
living under a ruthless
dictatorship. —ac
Vanities Books
CAROLINA
RECOMMENDS
Delirium
by Laura Restrepo
This 2007 Colombian
novel explores
connections between
political upheaval
and intimate life. It’s
also a mystery, a
hunt to decode a woman’s
descent into madness.
The resulting tapestry is
luminous and keenly
relevant today. —cdr
42 VANITY FAIR
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