Page 4 January 5, 2017 Reviewed by Roz Templin, Library Assistant, El Segundo Public Library An intriguing title is not the only thing that Gavin Edwards’ book on Bill Murray has to offer. The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment and Party Crashing, presents 10 principles of Bill’s philosophy of life, culled from dozens of interviews with friends, collaborators, acquaintances and even Bill Murray himself. The author also researched many previously published reports describing encounters “ordinary” people have had with Bill, as well as well-known persons, that may or may not end with Bill Murray murmuring, “No one will ever believe you.” Accompanied by whimsical illustrations by Robert Sikoryak, author Edwards gives us an introduction with a brief biographical sketch of Bill that discusses his early family life and his climb up the ladder of fame. A few fun facts about Bill Murray that Gavin Edwards reveals include: --Bill portrayed Johnny Storm, the human torch in the Fantastic Four on a radio show. --Bill was part of Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, which forced the iconic Saturday Night Live show to be known as Saturday Night to differentiate it from the Cosell show. --Bill attended Elvis Presley’s funeral in August 1977. Entertainment --Bill and Clint Eastwood performed a duet, singing “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl).” Written in no particular order, anecdotes range from memories of TV appearances as David Letterman reminisces about Bill’s 1982 appearance on his show and the hilarious visit Bill pays to the writing staff one afternoon… to the strange method of contact Bill insists upon when director Ted Melfi describes the procedure he followed to “pitch” his movie St. Vincent to Bill involving a 1-800 toll phone number, and writing several letters and sending them to various PO boxes in several states, among other things. Many amusing stories fill the pages about Bill and his beloved Chicago Cubs, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf tournaments in which he has participated in and won, baseball and basketball games played in various unlikely places and times, and some professional-style bowling during the making of the film Kingpin. No matter how you rate Bill as an actor or funnyman, there are passages in this book that are bound to make you smile, if not laugh out loud. And, if you want to explore his career further, there is a section at the back of the book called “The Films of Bill Murray” (59, so far). The El Segundo Public Library offers access to its collection of titles in a variety of formats, including traditional hardback, e-books and books on CD. To check out The Tao of Bill Murray by Gavin Edwards or any other title on your to-read list, please visit the library to apply for your library card, or please contact the reference staff for further assistance. • Check It Out Roz Templin. The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment and Party Crashing by Gavin Edwards. Film Review In Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, Life Americana is Lyrical By Ryan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com The thing about daily life, since it’s typically lived in such a familiar, repetitive and track-like fashion, is that we often miss the subtle, magical coincidences that are going on around us all the time. In his latest movie, Paterson, writer and director Jim Jarmusch sprinkles in these subtle surrealities that often go unnoticed into a week in the life of a bus driver who quietly drives his routes and more quietly writes his original poetry. All the while, coincidence washes over him and his community, making Paterson a film that speaks to the beauty of everyday life and the role of an artist in it. In this tone poem of a movie, which also plays more accessible than Jarmusch’s other films, Paterson operates more from the invisible structures of poetic stanzas than the freeform swirl that his last released film, the rock and roll-soaked vampire flick Only Lovers Left Alive, did. Like Lovers, which showed centuries-undead vampires suck up culture in arts, music and history only to live alone in their same unfulfilled lives, there’s a similarity here that Jarmusch explores. He follows an equally emotionless man who similarly takes in the pleasures of poetry without entertaining the thought of publishing his own or even the very poetry in motion around him. It’s this failure to dream in which Jarmusch sets up his main character, Paterson (Adam Driver)--the humble bus driver who coincidentally shares his name with the city where he drives his routes in Paterson, New Jersey, to show and study this noble pursuit of the artist as one that is only valid when it’s realized rather than romanticized. Following a day in the life from one Monday through the next in chapter-like fashion, Paterson is tuned to the rhythms of the day from sun-up to sundown. He wakes up every day to face a wristwatch that reads around 6:15, hunches over a bowl of cereal at home and scribbles some lines of poetry before setting off on his daily route. Then he returns to the home that he shares with girlfriend and bulldog (whom he walks to the local bar for a late night nightcap--a process that more or less repeats daily). But it’s in the moments in between the mundane where Jarmusch hones in, and where Paterson makes its message. Although he’s a poet who scribbles things like how love is like his favorite matchbook brand, he doesn’t tie together the coincidence that his bohemian girlfriend Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) shares with him--her dream about twins--and failing to see the many varied sets of twins that then populate the rest of the film. The rich tapestry of the city of Paterson hides its coincidences and meanings in plain sight. A young girl approaches Paterson with her original poetry about rain--a theme we see Paterson earlier write about in his poem about moving through trillions of molecules of water, showing the playful interconnected themes that link the things between the days. Instead, Paterson, the reluctant artist whose humility led him to follow his same life’s track of driving the bus and writing his poems in his secret notebook, goes about his day meekly while larger life meanings play out around him. Driver in the driver’s seat (pun intended) continues to shine in auteur-driven movies--of which this is the latest--delivering a finely controlled and nuanced performance. The quiet depth Driver brings forth in Paterson the character shows a man pondering the serious artistry of a mind stirring. It’s not that he’s an insecure artist. He’s just an egoless one, more content living a humdrum life writing his poems for an audience of one. His quiet but commanding performance anchors a film that is also as measured and patient--and within Jarmusch’s playfully dreamy movie, it’s not out of reason to think that Paterson himself is a physical embodiment (read: tour guide or ghost) of the blue-collar city. The light-hearted surreality throughout the movie offers much to unpack, making Paterson a more poetically enriching experience than the traditional film offers. Paterson will be most loved by those willing to experience the movie much like they would a literary work by actively unpacking the film for symbolism and themes like they would from an actual poem. Jarmusch’s ode to the quiet American artist, who in fact self-identifies as a poet over filmmaker, proves that there’s magic in the mundanities of real life, if only you choose to see it. Paterson is 118 minutes and rated R for some language. Now playing at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. • Adam Driver in Paterson. Courtesy of Amazon Studios. Visit us online : www.heraldpublications .com The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment and Party Crashing By Gavin Edwards
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