With scholarship underlying the quips this biography by McGurk, curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, OH, showcases the work of the hilarious feminist cartoonist. Like Dorothy Parker (another influential early female contributor), and as one of the first cartoonists for the New Yorker, Shermund brought her streetwise blonde ditzes and outspoken women characters to life with a distinctive wit and flowing style that helped shape the magazine’s visual brand. It’s an entertaining and long-overdue credit to the trailblazer.

The renowned Los Angeles historian, now 77, began collecting materials in 1971 and soon, founded the legendary Bison Archives (now a leading repository of research and photographs for motion picture history). This impressive book draws on the Bison’s rich holdings to tell the story of a bygone industry through ephemera (scripts and production notes but also maps, menus, manuscripts, even matchbooks). It’s an illuminating artefact of the city and its main industry, especially for TCM viewers.

Remember when air travel was fun and—dare we recall—glamorous? Before the death of transcontinental civility and decorum, people dressed for travel. This Rolling Stone photo editor’s coffee table tome documents the sense of occasion and exuberance that civilians and celebrities alike brought to the jet-set golden age. Think Pan Am airstairs as runway and red carpet arrivals. with a who’s who in music, movies and pop culture.

For Halloween in 1938, 22-year-old wunderkind Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) aired his Mercury Theatre’s radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’s 1898 tale The War of the Worlds—and since many didn’t realize they were listening to science fiction, caused mass hysteria. This book is a minute by minute account of both that infamous broadcast and the scope of the panicked aftermath, which included families evacuating to the mountains to escape poisonous gas and a Martian invasion, and looks at the way the panic it burnished the filmmaker’s reputation and catapulted his burgeoning career to the next level.

The historic preservationist gives the midcentury phenomenon of the social and leisure sport (and its visually distinct bowling alley locales) a fresh spin, documenting not only the retro-futurist Googie architecture and Atomic Age design of lounges with gorgeous vintage photography but also dissecting what made the quirky postwar pastime so widely popular.

Several engrossing new books retrace the fraught journey to screen of iconic pictures such as Brian de Palma’s 1983 Scarface (critic Glenn Kenny’s oral history The World is Yours) and Edna Ferber’s Texas epic and James Dean hit Giant (Giant Love by Julie Gilbert). Journalist and screenwriter Rebello’s anatomy of Elia Kazan’s 1954 crime drama On the Waterfront, the gripping Marlon Brandon vehicle about corruption in the New Jersey dockworkers union, stands out. It probes the the political drama of anticommunist paranoia that created an American classic—its genesis, creation and afterlife of this significant

“The goodwill really was our sanctuary,” the celebrated actress recalls as she shares a lifetime of outfit photos. Keaton has a distinct style of big skirts, wide belts, coats and hats that was honed early on but refined (complete with big mistakes) over the years. It’s a joy to read because of her unsparingly entertaining critique of her horrible fashion mistakes (like rolled up cut-offs over tights with knee socks and sandals, bangs, or her ‘polka dots’ phase, or a chicken leg brooch). Friends and collaborators like Nancy Myers, Kris Jenner, Miley Cyrus and Sarah Jessica Parker weigh in. It goes beyond the closet to become a chronicle of delightful diary of pop culture moments.

Even accounting for different eras and taste, there’s probably a book-length cultural biography of your favourite musical act out this season (c.f. Bruce Songs and The Name of the Band is R.E.M.). But Fleetwood Mac arguably transcends taste and genre. 

Instead of a traditional band biography, British music journalist Blake offers a guide to the cast of characters (like a play) in the ongoing drama of band creativity (and feuds) and 100 short, loosely chronological sketches of the group. It’s a kaleidoscope that dissects the dynamics behind the chart-topping 1977 album Rumours and unpacks its enduring appeal.