The Fabulous Sylvester

Author: Joshua Gamson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1466850167
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
A journey back through the music, madness, and unparalleled freedom of an era of change-the '70s-as told through the life of ultra-fabulous superstar Sylvester Imagine a pied piper singing in a dazzling falsetto, wearing glittering sequins, and leading the young people of the nation to San Francisco and on to liberation where nothing was straight-laced or old-fashioned. And everyone, finally, was welcome-to come as themselves. This is not a fairy tale. This was real, mighty real, and disco sensation Sylvester was the piper. Joshua Gamson-a Yale-trained pop culture expert-uses him, a boy who would be fabulous, to lead us through the story of the '70s when a new era of change liberated us from conformity and boredom. Gamson captures the exuberant life, feeling, energy, and fun of a generation's wonderful, magical waking up-from the parties to the dancing and music. The story begins with a little black boy who started with nothing but a really big voice. We follow him from the Gospel chorus to the glory days in the Castro where a generation shook off its shame as Sylvester sang and began his rise as part of a now-notorious theatrical troup called the Cockettes. Celebrity, sociology, and music history mingle and merge around this endlessly entertaining story of a singer who embodied the freedom, spirit, and flamboyance of a golden moment in American culture.

The Fabulous Sylvester

Author: Joshua Gamson
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780805072501
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
The story of the 1970s disco singer relates his humble origins, his early days as a chorus singer and member of the notorious Cockettes theatrical group, and the flamboyant energy and changing lifestyles that shaped his career.

The Fabulous Zed Watson!

Author: Basil Sylvester
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 1443460923
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FINALIST FOR THE OLA SILVER BIRCH AWARD The literary scavenger hunt of a lifetime, starring an endlessly endearing non-binary tween Zed Watson loves a few things: their name (which they chose themself!), their big rambunctious family, and—oh yeah—monsters. When Zed discovered the mystery surrounding an unpublished novel called The Monster’s Castle, they were completely hooked. Now Zed is a member of a small but dedicated legion devoted to finding the long-buried text. When a breakthrough discovery leads Zed to the route that they are sure will take them to the treasure, they know it’s time for a road trip. And with the help of their shy, flora-loving neighbour, Gabe, and his sister, Sam, a geologist who is driving back to college in Arizona, Zed and company are soon off on a wild adventure following cryptic clues. But it’s not all fun and games. Gabe doesn’t like Zed’s snacks, Sam is a bossy driver with total command of the ancient Impreza’s stereo, and Zed is often misgendered. It’s a good thing they also encounter kind strangers, potato-themed dance-offs and lots and lots of ice cream along the way. If Zed and Gabe can combine their strengths, survive Sam’s wrath and best the greedy historian who’s also hot on the book’s trail, they just might find the greatest treasure of all. Co-authored by child-parent duo Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester, this is a vibrant and enormous-hearted story about friendship, identity and belonging. It features illustrations by celebrated author and illustrator Kevin Sylvester, and an Own Voices perspective based on Basil’s experience.

Splinters

Author: Kevin Sylvester
Publisher: Tundra Books
ISBN: 1770490906
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 42

Book Description
Cindy Winters loves to play hockey. When her family's basement apartment is flooded and the floor freezes, she's even happy to skate on the concrete. Her parents are too poor to enroll her in a league, but she's resourceful and does odd jobs until she has earned enough money to play. Armed with her mother's old equipment, she is thrilled to join a team. But her happiness doesn't last long. Among her teammates are the horrible Blister Sisters. They make her life miserable. And worse, Cindy's sidelined by the coach, who just happens to be Mrs. Blister. It looks like she'll be spending the season cleaning equipment, instead of playing on the ice. Cindy's luck changes when her Fairy Goaltender appears and saves the day. With its great good humor and hilarious illustrations, Kevin Sylvester's Splinters is bound to become a favorite.

Neil FlambÃ© and the Aztec Abduction

Author: Kevin Sylvester
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1442446080
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
When Neil arrives in Mexico City to partake in the Battle of the Chefs, he learns that Isabella has been kidnapped and it will take a dose of Aztec history and knowledge of buried ruins to find her before time runs out.

Happy Accidents

Author: Jane Lynch
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 1401342752
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Book Description
In the summer of 1974, a fourteen-year-old girl in Dolton, Illinois, had a dream. A dream to become an actress, like her idols Ron Howard and Vicki Lawrence. But it was a long way from the South Side of Chicago to Hollywood, and it didn't help that she'd recently dropped out of the school play, The Ugly Duckling. Or that the Hollywood casting directors she wrote to replied that "professional training was a requirement." But the funny thing is, it all came true. Through a series of happy accidents, Jane Lynch created an improbable--and hilarious--path to success. In those early years, despite her dreams, she was also consumed with anxiety, feeling out of place in both her body and her family. To deal with her worries about her sexuality, she escaped in positive ways--such as joining a high school chorus not unlike the one in Glee--but also found destructive outlets. She started drinking almost every night her freshman year of high school and developed a mean and judgmental streak that turned her into a real-life Sue Sylvester. Then, at thirty-one, she started to get her life together. She was finally able to embrace her sexuality, come out to her parents, and quit drinking for good. Soon after, a Frosted Flakes commercial and a chance meeting in a coffee shop led to a role in the Christopher Guest movie Best in Show, which helped her get cast in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Similar coincidences and chance meetings led to roles in movies starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and even Meryl Streep in 2009's Julie & Julia. Then, of course, came the two lucky accidents that truly changed her life. Getting lost in a hotel led to an introduction to her future wife, Lara. Then, a series she'd signed up for abruptly got canceled, making it possible for her to take the role of Sue Sylvester in Glee, which made her a megastar. Today, Jane Lynch has finally found the contentment she thought she'd never have. Part comic memoir and part inspirational narrative, this is a book equally for the rabid Glee fan and for anyone who needs a new perspective on life, love, and success. WITH A FOREWORD BY CAROL BURNETT

Sylvester, Or, The Wicked Uncle

Author: Georgette Heyer
Publisher: Regency Romances
ISBN: 9781402238802
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Rank, wealth, and elegance are no match for a young lady who writes novels...

Breathe and Count Back from Ten

Author: Natalia Sylvester
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0358536782
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
A Pura Belpré Honor Book * A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body. Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body. Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor. She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.

Plaquemine

Author: Meghan C. Sylvester and Burke Devillier
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 146710714X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
The city of Plaquemine sits along the Mississippi River where it meets with Bayou Plaquemine. Famous French explorer Sieur d'Iberville was brought to the bayou in 1699 by the Bayogoula tribe, who inhabited land a few miles south. While trade boats and ferries began operating on the waterway during the early 1700s, it was not for another 100 years, in 1819, that the first foundations of a town began to appear at the mouth of the bayou. The cattle, sugarcane, and lumber industries brought English, French, Spanish, Italian, Irish, and German settlers and African slaves. After building the Plaquemine Lock in 1909, the city became a commercial hub for trade as it connected New Orleans with the western half of the state.

Freaks Talk Back

Author: Joshua Gamson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226280632
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Book Description
Using extensive interviews, hundreds of transcripts, focus-group discussions with viewers, and his own experiences as an audience member, Joshua Gamson argues that talk shows give much-needed, high-impact public visibility to sexual nonconformists while also exacerbating all sorts of political tensions among those becoming visible. With wit and passion, Freaks Talk Back illuminates the joys, dilemmas, and practicalities of media visibility. "This entertaining, accessible, sobering discussion should make every viewer sit up and ponder the effects and possibilities of America's daily talk-fest with newly sharpened eyes."—Publishers Weekly "Bold, witty. . . . There's a lot of empirical work behind this deceptively easy read, then, and it allows for the most sophisticated and complex analysis of talk shows yet."—Elayne Rapping, Women's Review of Books "Funny, well-researched, fully theorized. . . . Engaged and humane scholarship. . . . A pretty inspiring example of what talking back to the mass media can be."—Jesse Berrett, Village Voice "An extraordinarily well-researched volume, one of the most comprehensive studies of popular media to appear in this decade."—James Ledbetter, Newsday