film

A new documentary explores the life and work of Lorraine Hansberry; PEN pulls YA novelist’s nomination for literary award; Tom Clancy’s widow sues estate over rights to Jack Ryan character; and other news.

A simple film about the solitary pleasures of reading has turned into a successful campaign to revive a short-lived literary career. Dow Mossman’s only novel, The Stones of Summer, was originally published in 1972 by the now-defunct press Bobbs-Merrill. After being lauded by John Seelye in the New York Times Book Review as “a marvelous achievement” that offered “fulfillment at the first stroke, which is so often the sign of superior talent,” the book went out of print and its author faded into obscurity. Last month it was reissued by Barnes & Noble Books.

The latest documentary film about Hunter S. Thompson, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson, coming to theaters this month, features rare home videos, film clips, and interviews with Johnny Depp, Pat Buchanan, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Buffet, George McGovern, and others.

The story of the Paris Review cofounder Harold Louis "Doc" Humes is at once sad, fascinating, funny, and tragic. Doc, a new documentary by his daughter Immy Humes, which, to use her father's words, "puts a frame around the wreckage" of the story, will premiere on the PBS series Independent Lens on December 9.

A still from Howl, a new film centered on the drama of the obscenity trial brought against Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights for publishing Allen Ginsberg's controversial poem, which is slated for release in New York City and Los Angeles on September 24.

Iconic author David Foster Wallace is the subject of the recently released film The End of the Tour, in which actor Jason Segel stars as Wallace. The film is an adaptation of David Lipsky’s Of Course You End up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace, which chronicles Lipsky and Wallace’s 1996 road trip during Wallace’s promotional tour for Infinite Jest.

Upcoming screen adaptations of popular novels; Medium changes business model and cuts jobs; Central and South American books to read this year; and other news.