AMERICANWAY

ITINERARY TOP LEFT: PETER PHILLIPS 3 8 D EC E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY { B O O K S } No Book Like the Present Searching for just the right gift? THIS TRIO OF NEW, NOTEWORTHY BOOKS will make the holidays bright for the music, movie and travel aficionados on your list. F O R M U S I C L O V E R S : Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain By Alan Light (Atria Books, $26) Music superstar Prince has a lways been noto- riously evasive about his life and music, but es- pecia lly so dur ing his complete silence a f ter the release of his groundbrea k ing film Purple Rain in 1984. Journalist Alan Light, former senior editor of Rolling Stone, pieces together this rockin' backstage look at not only how The Purple One de- fi ed tremendous odds to make his passion project but also how the fi lm and its soundtrack redefi ned the musical landscape. Prince fans will relish the candid on-set accounts from such Prince protégés as guitarist Wendy Melvoin. Any music lover will appreciate how Light masterfully places Purple Rain within the context of its time, a year he calls a "fascinating, unprecedented moment in our culture." F O R M O V I E B U F F S : Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life By Sophia Loren (Atria Books, $28) Like many of the characters she has so memo- rably portrayed throughout her six decades in fi lm, legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren has endured her share of hardship and heartbreak. The desperate privations of her childhood in war- torn Pozzuoli, just outside Naples, and the neglect of her absent father instilled in her a streng th and resolve that transformed a shy "toothpick " of a g irl into a n Osca r-w inning internationa l superstar. In this warm, heartfelt memoir, Loren speaks not as a glamour icon but instead as simply "Nonna Sophia," a grandmother refl ecting back on her life, her career and the love — husband and producer Carlo Ponti — who occupied center stage in both. F O R T H E A R D E N T T R A V E L E R : An Innocent Abroad: Life-Changing Trips From 35 Great Writers (Lonely Planet, $16) Call it innocence, naïveté or plain foolishness. It's those unplanned, unwitting moments while traveling that often make the most enduring im- pression on us. In this stellar collection, the best voices in travel writing recollect with great insight and humor how their respective "age of innocence" abroad — whether in a shark-infested Australian bay or the tranquil French countr yside — lef t them all the humbler and wiser. —Kristin Baird Rattini In Short Ted and I: A Brother's Memoir By Gerald Hughes (Thomas Dunne Books, $26) Gerald Hughes, older brother to renowned English poet Ted Hughes, traces the duo's life together, from childhood adventures through the countryside to stints in the Royal Air Force to adulthoods spent on different continents. Most vibrant are Hughes' razor-sharp memories about fishing, camping and hunting in and around their town of Mytholmroyd, England, during the 1930s. Hughes paints an idyllic upbringing, where he doted on his brother, serving as both mentor and field guide, while informing Ted's poetry on the natural world. Told in sparse prose, this memoir offers a unique glimpse into the early childhood and life of a British poet laureate. —JAC LY N T R O P The Kindness Diaries: One Man's Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World By Leon Logothetis (Readers Digest, $25) Genuine and inspiring, The Kind- ness Diaries conveys the true story of author Leon Logothetis' journey from depression and ennui in Los Angeles to apparent enlightenment as he travels the world on a mission of anonymous generosity. Astride his trusty horse — er, motorcycle, dubbed "Kindness One" — the author gal- livants from India to Canada to Cambodia, discovering profound connections with an indelible cast of characters. A true eccentric with an irresistible narrative voice, Logothetis is utterly transformed by the power of giving. The resultant tale may ruffle the quills of die-hard cynics, but his journey may motivate some readers to be more mindful in their own lives. —J . R EN T I L LY

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