`Being there . . . if you sincerely believe as this reviewer that the greatest gift that can be placedunder anyone’s Christmas tree, or find placed under your own, is the gift of two good bookspackaged as a “special” one. Perhaps you, and millions of Americans like you, have alreadyassisted as Santa’s helpers buying and packaging good literature for bestowing the beloved. . . Ifso, you can not only add to America’s centuries old Happy Christmas Heritage, but also, as anavid reader, feel the fulness with which you live your own life. Endorse by purchasing thefollowing two brilliant titles that follow . . . highly recommended, without reservation orqualification by Don DeNevi . . .For the 1,000%, and then some, cinephiles:“FALLING IN LOVE AT THE MOVIES – – Rom-Coms from the Screwball Era to Today”, by EstherZuckerman. Running Press/Hachette Book Group, NY 10104 – – Turner Classic Movies (TCM):First Edition, pub date, December 2024, 242 pages, hardcover, 6 ¾” x 8 ¼”, heavily illustrated,$24. Visit, www.runningpress.com and www.tcm.com.Esther Zuckerman, an admired, highly respected entertainment journalist whose writingsappear regularly in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GQ, Vanity Fair, the HollywoodReporter, and author of “BEYOND THE BEST DRESSED”, “A FIELD GUIDE TO INTERNETBOYFRIENDS”, has given us cinema buffs, enthusiasts, and aficionados an afore Xmas surprise,sudden and sterling in its makeup – – a series of critique zeroing in on the best, utter superior,romantic comedies from the 1920s (i.e., “Girl Shy”, 1924), through the 1930s (i.e., “It HappenedOne Night”, 1934, “Design For Living”, 1933), etc., right down to the rom-com craze of the1980s and 90s especially a focus upon “When Harry Met Sally” (1989), then concluding with anin-depth glance at “Crazy Rich Asians”. Purchasing in DVD format of all films mentioned byEsther are easy enough to accomplish (TCM, Amazon, Movie Detective, etc., for the fledglinghome cinematic library adjacent your growing stack of World War II titles, you’ll appreciateappetite indeed grows upon what it feeds, and, wait until you taste Chapters 1 and 2, then aspoonful of Chapter 14, “Roll Credits”, the thankful Bibliography (to die for – best in public printdecades after needless neglect, heart-felt Acknowledgments, and extraordinarily helpful Index,before returning to Chapter. No sleep that night, if “Falling in Love at the Movie” is picked upand started after supper. Note: Sadly, this reviewer’s favorite love feature, a movie he’s somuch in love with he is so crazy about and must watch every 4 to 6 months is British (Powelland Pressburger, 1945, “I Know Where I’m Going”, currently streaming on BritBox. Esther, wholives and writes in New York City, a tip for Volume 2, a thorough study of our brothers andsisters, the Brits, falling in love at the movies. Thanks, Esther, although pretty enough for yourown first cinematic leading role, but equally important, nonpareil prose in fiction, perhapsromantic fiction. Echoing Carl Sandburg, “Anything that brings you to tears by way drama, evencomedy, does something to the deepest roots of your personality. Films of that quality canprovide insights to personal problems, helping you discover personality They enter yourconscious at all levels and help you understand yourself.”
Meanwhile, for the 1,000%, and then some, military-minded,
“THE FIGHTING FATHERS – CIA-Backed Catholic Militia in South Vietnam”, by Alessandro Giorgi.Schiffer Military History, Ltd. Atglen, PA 19310: 80 pages, hardcover, 6 ¼” x 9 ¼”, well-illustrated with personal unseen photographs, $24.99. Visit, www.schifferbooks.com, Email:Info@schifferbooks.com.What Esther has given cinephiles, Alessandro has introduced to even the mostknowledgeable military-minded a subject virtually unknown- – the South Vietnam gritty Catholiccommunity’s tough fathers at war, or “Fighting Fathers”. These fathers usually fought alongsidetheir parishioners to defend their localities from the Communist insurgency.Italian military historian, Alessandro Giorgi has been intrigued and fascinated in clandestinemilitary attacks from World War II through the end of the Cold War. Acknowledged as one ofthe world’s few authorities on the subject, he is not only on call to speak and lecture on suchoperations, but also, he has written four books via his expertise. Unprecedented detail in all hisunique writings signal meticulous, finically scrupulous, unduly careful work, i.e., the kind ofresearch work only high-ranking university research professors teach future research majorswhat must be learned to move forward. Alessandro shares, “The case that piqued my interestthe most, and not by accident given my character as a historical researcher, was the mostmysterious one of them all. He was a certain Father Bosco, or Brother Bosco. The second wasDon Cesare Bullo. The third was Father Augustine Nguyen Lac Hoa. All three commingle tomake up the core of this book.”Thus, it was them and other militant Catholic priests in South Vietnam, at the head of theirparishioners, transforming them into armed militiamen, training them in guerrilla andcounterguerrilla warfare. He continues, “In my book we will look at the history of most of theseunits, and three of the better-known priests who were involved in those activities. In order topresent a wider picture, I first examine the various religions found in a country that was andwould remain predominantly Buddhist, as well as the role that Vietnamese President Diem andhis clan played in the historical context I offer that we are looking at”.In short, the book’s three main objectives have been met: (1) a refreshing new spin on theVietnam War history focusing on the efforts of the South Vietnamese Catholic Communities todefend their country; (2) having readers learn about guerrilla warfare and the secret role playedby the American CIA; (3) and focus upon as many personally taken Catholic militia photographsnever-before-shared of these little known fighting forces and their heroes in the historical
context we’re looking at.
