Mark Twain by
Tells the story of Twain's extraordinary life, full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy, and almost unbearable tragedy.
Philip Roth Unmasked by
Explore the life of Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning novelist Philip Roth. He steadily earned his reputation as a man of letters, commanding ownership of the Jewish-American novel and making Newark, New Jersey, a literary destination, while practically inventing the genre of factual-fictional autobiography.
The Source by
Director Chuck Workman, who documented the life of pop culture icon Andy Warhol in his 1990 film Superstar, here explores the lives, works and influence of four leading lights of the "Beat Generation" of the 1950s: William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. Cutting back and forth between archive footage of his subjects, readings of selections from the three authors by Johnny Depp, Dennis Hopper and John Turturro (Cassady was an associate and inspiration to the Beats), and film clips that in both serious and farcical fashion document the impact the Beat culture had on American society, Workman creates a fast-paced collage of sounds and images that attempts to show how the Beats became the dominant counter-cultural movement of the last half of America's 20th Century. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Sylvia by
Born in Boston, MA, in 1932, Sylvia Plath developed a talent as a writer and published her first poem when she was eight years old. That same year, Plath was forced to confront the unexpected death of her father. In 1950, she began studying at Smith College on a literary scholarship. In 1955, she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study in England at Cambridge. There, Plath met Ted Hughes, a respected author. The two fell in love, and married in 1958. However, marriage, family, and a growing reputation as an important poet failed to bring Plath happiness.
Tennessee Williams' South by
The brutes and the belles. The gadflies and the good ol' boys. The taboos and the profound truths. They're all part of a Tennessee state of mind -- a realm of places, personalities and ideas.
Walt Whitman by
In this documentary exploring the life of Leaves of Grass author Walt Whitman, fans of the poet are invited to explore his life story from the days of his working-class childhood, through his time as a Brooklyn-based newspaper reporter, and his unending quest to ensure that his work gained the attention he felt it so rightly deserved. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
In Search of Shakespeare by
An intimate look at William Shakespeare and his world.
Last Will. & Testament by
It's the greatest literary mystery of all time: Who wrote the works of William Shakespeare? Although the official story of a Stratford merchant writing for the London box office has held sway for centuries, questions over the authorship of the plays and poems persists. Derek Jacobi leads an impressive cast featuring Vanessa Redgrave and Mark Rylance on a quest to uncover the truth behind the world's most elusive author, and discovers a forgotten nobleman whose story could rewrite history.
The Real Jane Austen by
... An extensive biographical and psychological profile of the author provides insight into what life was like for a woman in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Filmed at key locations, including Bath and Austen's later home in Chawton, the program also shatters the myth that she lived the elegant Regency life of one of her heroines"