Books from Jack Nicholson

The Murder of Napoleon

The history books say that Napoleon died of natural causes. Napoleon himself, expiring at 51 after a lifetime of robust health, suspected otherwise and ordered a thorough autopsy. His suspicions were well-founded. So clever was the crime, however, that until recent developments in forensic science, it was impossible to prove a case of murder, let alone name the killer. Now, the authors of this fascinating book assert, it has been done-by a brilliant man whose 20-year inquest, a feat of detection, has produced one of history’s greatest surprises. What the critics say: "History at its most electrifying" - Newsweek "A nonfiction whodunit based on modern scientific technique" - New York Times "A spellbinding whodunit about one of history's greatest crimes" - History Book Club "Sensational ... as gripping as a detective novel yet scrupulously observant of historical fact" - Publishers Weekly "Thoroughly convincing... A major Odyssey in historical research" - Harold C. Deutsch, professor of military history, U.S. Army War College
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
Nicholson himself paid a quarter-million dollars for rights to a book called ''The Murder of Napoleon.'' He says he hasn't decided if he wants to play the role or just produce and direct the film. ''I've invested a lot in the subject,'' he says, meaning more than money. ''I sort of look at it like Shaw, Nietzsche, those kind of thinkers did, who consider Napoleon the man.
Books from Jack Nicholson

Dante's Inferno

This new critical edition, including Mark Musa's classic translation, provides students with a clear, readable verse translation accompanied by ten innovative interpretations of Dante's masterpiece.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
Take a look at this,'' he demands, shoving a huge, musty tome into my hands. He takes it back and opens it up. ''It's Dante's 'Inferno,' and these are the original Gustave Dore illustrations. Look at that,'' he says pointing to an etching of a bat-winged demon tormenting a soul in some lower circle of hell. He's been immersing himself in the subject: ''Aquinas and all those people discuss this, but they never arrive at a definition of evil, which I found interesting. The only thing they could come up with was that you couldn't define the principle because it was always a paradox of opposites.'
Books from Jack Nicholson

Humboldt's Gift

'I think it A Work of genius, I think it The Work of a Genius' John CheeverFor many years, the great poet Von Humboldt Fleisher and Charlie Citrine, a young man inflamed with a love for literature, were the best of friends. At the time of his death, however, Humboldt is a failure, and Charlie's life has reached a low point: his career is at a standstill, and he's enmeshed in an acrimonious divorce, infatuated with a highly unsuitable young woman and involved with a neurotic mafioso. And then Humboldt acts from beyond the grave, bestowing upon Charlie an unexpected legacy that may just help him turn his life around.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
I only wish the world would listen to me more, instead of bothering about my teeth and eyebrows. It reminds me of a character in a Saul Bellow story who's been in a hit show on a Broadway for a year, attracting a huge public, yet he's taught them nothing.'
Books from Jack Nicholson

Henderson the Rain King

Bellow evokes all the rich colour and exotic customs of a highly imaginary Africa in this comic novel about a middle-aged American millionaire who, seeking a new, more rewarding life, descends upon an African tribe. Henderson's awesome feats of strength and his unbridled passion for life earns him the admiration of the tribe - but it is his gift for making rain that turns him from mere hero into messiah. A hilarious, often ribald story, HENDERSON THE RAIN KING is also a profound look at the forces that drive a man through life.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
There’s nothing I’d like more creatively than to make a film on, say, the tone of My Old Sweetheart by Susannah Moore. It’s a tremendous first novel by someone I’ve known forever. If this were the period we keep talking about—the late Sixties, early Seventies—I could scheme that movie onto the screen. That, or Lie Down in Darkness, or Henderson the Rain King
Books from Jack Nicholson

Lie Down in Darkness

This portrait of a Southern family’s downfall was the literary debut of the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Sophie’s Choice. A finalist for the National Book Award, Lie Down in Darkness centers on the Loftis family—Milton and Helen and their daughters, Peyton and Maudie. The story, told through a series of flashbacks on the day of Peyton’s funeral, is a powerful depiction of a family doomed by its failure to forget and its inability to love. Written in masterful prose that “achieves real beauty” (The Washington Post), William Styron’s debut novel offers unflinching insight into the ineradicable bonds of place and family. The story of Milton, Helen, and their children reveals much about life’s losses and disappointments. Lie Down in Darkness, poignant and compelling, is a classic of modern American literature from the author who went on to earn high critical acclaim—with a Pulitzer Prize for The Confessions of Nat Turner and a National Book Award for Sophie’s Choice—and a place at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
There’s nothing I’d like more creatively than to make a film on, say, the tone of My Old Sweetheart by Susannah Moore. It’s a tremendous first novel by someone I’ve known forever. If this were the period we keep talking about—the late Sixties, early Seventies—I could scheme that movie onto the screen. That, or Lie Down in Darkness
Books from Jack Nicholson

My Old Sweetheart

Susanna Moore displays a naturalist's eye for the landscape of her native Hawaii and an uncanny sensitivity to the despairing love between mothers and daughters. Lily Shields grows up amid the heady atmosphere of her mother's madness. For if Anna Shields is an island unto herself - fragile, glamerous, and fearfully needy - lily is the bridge that connects her to reality. But now Lily is a young woman and a mother herself, self exiled from Hawaii but still attached to Anna's tragedy. And as she tries to untangle those threads of love and loyalty, Moore gives us a novel of shimmering beauty and sadness. MY OLD SWEETHEART is a small classic, perfectly formed and mysteriously wise.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
There’s nothing I’d like more creatively than to make a film on, say, the tone of My Old Sweetheart by Susanna Moore. It’s a tremendous first novel by someone I’ve known forever.
Books from Jack Nicholson

Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Nietzsche famously regarded Thus Spoke Zarathustra as his greatest work. However, despite Nietzsche's pervasive influence upon the philosopher and non-philosopher alike, and his own intense regard for Zarathustra, there has been relatively little serious study of Nietzsche's magnum opus.This book seeks to address this gap in the available literature by taking Thus Spoke Zarathustra seriously, not only with respect to its impact on the interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy, but also in light of the broader questions of the relationships between poetry, philosophy and existence. Fifteen leading Nietzsche scholars examine the structure, method, style and sources of Zarathustra as a philosophical text and its relationship to methodological and metaphilosophical questions amid the broader discussions of philosophy. The book also explores the implications of the philosophical questioning, interventions and teachings of Zarathustra with respect to both its negative engagement with the tradition and its attempt to set forth something new under the sun in its affirmative overcoming of nihilism.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
I kind of believed what Nietzsche said, that nothing not written in your blood is worth reading; it’s just more pollution of the airwaves. If you’re going to write, write one poem all your life, let nobody read it, and then burn it. This is very young thinking, I confess, but it is the seminal part of my life.
Books from Jack Nicholson

The Collected Poems of Kenneth Patchen

From the appearance in 1936 of Kenneth Patchen's first book, the voice of this great poet has been protesting war and social injustice, satirizing the demeaning and barbarous inanities of our culture--entrancing us with an inexhaustible flow of humor and fantasy. With directness and simplicity, he has restored the exaltation of romantic love to its ancient bardic place beside an awareness of God's living presence among all men. For this collection, assembled in his fifty-fourth year, Kenneth Patchen has drawn from the contents of twelve of his books. It provides the reader in many cases with the texts of poems no longer available even in rare editions.
Jack Nicholson
Actor, Producer, Screenwriter
In that theoretical period of my life I began to think that the finest modern writer was the screen actor. This was in the spirit of the Fifties where a very antiliterary literature was emerging—Kenneth Patchen and others