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Difficult Men
- Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
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Publisher's summary
A riveting and revealing look at the shows that helped cable television drama emerge as the signature art form of the twenty-first century.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the landscape of television began an unprecedented transformation. While the networks continued to chase the lowest common denominator, a wave of new shows, first on premium cable channels like HBO and then basic cable networks like FX and AMC, dramatically stretched television’s narrative inventiveness, emotional resonance, and artistic ambition. No longer necessarily concerned with creating always-likable characters, plots that wrapped up neatly every episode, or subjects that were deemed safe and appropriate, shows such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood, The Shield, and more tackled issues of life and death, love and sexuality, addiction, race, violence, and existential boredom. Just as the Big Novel had in the 1960s and the subversive films of New Hollywood had in 1970s, television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the American Dream at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
This revolution happened at the hands of a new breed of auteur: the all-powerful writer-show runner. These were men nearly as complicated, idiosyncratic, and “difficult” as the conflicted protagonists that defined the genre. Given the chance to make art in a maligned medium, they fell upon the opportunity with unchecked ambition.
Combining deep reportage with cultural analysis and historical context, Brett Martin recounts the rise and inner workings of a genre that represents not only a new golden age for TV but also a cultural watershed. Difficult Men features extensive interviews with all the major players, including David Chase (The Sopranos), David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire), Matthew Weiner and Jon Hamm (Mad Men), David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood), and Alan Ball (Six Feet Under), in addition to dozens of other writers, directors, studio executives, actors, production assistants, makeup artists, script supervisors, and so on. Martin takes us behind the scenes of our favorite shows, delivering never-before-heard story after story and revealing how cable TV has distinguished itself dramatically from the networks, emerging from the shadow of film to become a truly significant and influential part of our culture.
Critic reviews
"Following what the journalist Brett Martin identifies as a first burst of literary energy in the 1950s (when the medium was young) and a second in the 1980s (when the forward-thinking television executive Grant Tinker’s MGM Enterprises begat the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues), this moment of ascendancy has become television’s 'Third Golden Age.'” And in ‘Difficult Men,’ Martin maps a wonderfully smart, lively and culturally astute survey of this recent revelation—starting with a great title that does double duty….Martin writes with a psychological insight that enhances his nimble reporting."—New York Times Book Review
"Martin is a thorough reporter and artful storyteller, clearly entranced with, though not deluded by, his subjects… In between the delicious bits of insider trading, the book makes a strong if not terribly revelatory argument for the creative process."—Los Angeles Times
"Martin offers sharp analysis of the advances in technology and storytelling that helped TV become the 21st century's predominant art form. But his best material comes from interviews with writers, directors, and others who dish about Weiner's egomania, Milch's battles with substance abuse, and Chase's weirdest acid trip ever."—Entertainment Weekly
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Story
The media of the 1950s and 1960s promoted an idealized version of American life sustained by the nuclear family and bolstered by a booming consumer economy. The seemingly wholesome and simple lifestyles portrayed on television screens, however, belied a torrent of social, economic, and political struggles occurring at the time. By the late 1950s, television writers were increasingly constrained to distract audiences from confronting counternarratives to the Dream.
By: David J. Brokaw
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Pandora's Box
- How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
- By: Peter Biskind
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Instead of focusing on one service, like HBO, Pandora’s Box asks, “What did HBO do, besides give us The Sopranos?” The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth into maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending up with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.
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The rise and fall of peak TV
- By AlexBenBlock on 02-16-24
By: Peter Biskind
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There Was Nothing You Could Do
- Bruce Springsteen's “Born in the U.S.A.” and the End of the Heartland
- By: Steven Hyden
- Narrated by: Steven Hyden
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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On June 4, 1984, Columbia Records issued what would become one of the best-selling and most impactful rock albums of all time. An instant classic, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. would prove itself to be a landmark not only for the man who made it, but rock music in general, and even the larger American culture over the next 40 years.
By: Steven Hyden
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U.S. Naval Power in the 21st Century
- A New Strategy for Facing the Chinese and Russian Threat
- By: Brent Droste Sadler, J. William Middendorf II - Foreword by
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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This nation's Cold War and Global War on Terror defense structures need an update. U.S. Naval Power in the 21st Century provides such a framework for the changed world we live in, offering a roadmap that shows how the U.S. can field a war-winning fleet that can also compete aggressively in peacetime against dangerous competitors.
By: Brent Droste Sadler, and others
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The Object at Hand
- Intriguing and Inspiring Stories from the Smithsonian Collections
- By: Beth Py-Lieberman
- Narrated by: Leanne Woodward
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Py-Lieberman reflects on the profound connections between even outwardly dissimilar objects and offers insight and stories from Smithsonian experts. The book explores artworks, scientific specimens, historical artifacts, airplanes, spacecraft, plants, and so much more, contemplating how each item represents different facets of humanity and resonates with cultural meaning in surprising ways. Whimsical, affecting, and insightful, The Object at Hand offers an intimate and exclusive tour of the Smithsonian collections.
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God Gave Rock and Roll to You
- A History of Contemporary Christian Music
- By: Leah Payne
- Narrated by: Leah Payne
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In this book, Leah Payne traces the history and trajectory of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) in America and, in the process, demonstrates how the industry, its artists, and its fans shaped—and continue to shape—conservative, (mostly) white, evangelical Protestantism.
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History can hurt, but the truth can set you free.
- By Jimmy_C on 04-16-24
By: Leah Payne
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I Am the Law
- How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future
- By: Michael Molcher
- Narrated by: Keval Shah
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Judge, jury, and executioner, Judge Dredd is the brutal comic book cop policing the chaotic future urban jungle of Mega-City One, created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra and launching in the pages of 2000 AD in 1977. But what began as a sci-fi action comic quickly evolved into a searing satire on hardline, militarized policing and "law and order" politics, its endless inventiveness and ironic humor acting as a prophetic warning about our world today—and with important lessons for our future.
By: Michael Molcher
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Illiberal America
- A History
- By: Steven Hahn
- Narrated by: Mitch Crawford
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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If your reaction to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol was to think, 'That's not us,' think again: in Illiberal America, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian uncovers a powerful illiberalism as deep seated in the American past as the founding ideals.
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Excellent and important Am history
- By CommentDante on 04-28-24
By: Steven Hahn
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Chill
- The Cold Water Swim Cure: A Transformative Guide to Renew Your Body & Mind
- By: Dr. Mark Harper MD PhD
- Narrated by: Dr. Mark Harper MD PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, people from all over the world have immersed themselves in cold water for its healing properties. Leading expert in cold water therapy Dr. Mark Harper offers long-awaited evidence that cold water swimming can achieve powerful, tangible health benefits in his revolutionary debut work, Chill. Dr. Harper illuminates the ways in which cold water can positively impact us physiologically and psychologically.
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The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years
- By: Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman, Seth MacFarlane - foreword
- Narrated by: Helen Litchfield, Alex Hyde-White, Jason Olazabal, and others
- Length: 23 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The original Star Trek series debuted in 1966 and has spawned five TV series spin-offs and a dozen feature films, with an upcoming one from Paramount arriving in 2016. The Fifty-Year Mission is a no-holds-barred oral history of five decades of Star Trek, told by the people who were there. Hear from the hundreds of television and film executives, programmers, writers, creators, and cast as they unveil the oftentimes shocking story of Star Trek's ongoing 50-year mission.
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Best book I've ever heard on making pop culture
- By Chris Smith on 07-13-16
By: Edward Gross, and others
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Adventures in the Screen Trade
- By: William Goldman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the best-selling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and more.
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Stone cold Hollywood classic with one of the better Narrations you’ll ever hear
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-22
By: William Goldman
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Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions
- My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
- By: Ed Zwick
- Narrated by: Ed Zwick
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Though there are many factors behind such success, including luck and the contributions of his creative partner Marshall Herskovitz, he’s known to have a special talent for bringing out the best in the people he’s worked with, notably the actors. In those intense collaborations, he seeks to discover the small pieces of connective tissue, vulnerability, and fellowship that can help an actor realize their character in full.
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Authentic, Sobering & Full of Grace
- By David_Leah Wiley on 02-17-24
By: Ed Zwick
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Strange Religion
- How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling
- By: Nijay K. Gupta
- Narrated by: Nijay K. Gupta
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on today's believers. Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. They practiced a whole new way of thinking about and doing religion that would have been seen as bizarre and dangerous when compared to Roman religion and most other religions of the ancient world.
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EXCELLENT book for anyone seeking to understand how early Christianity stood out from Roman religions
- By David on 06-13-24
By: Nijay K. Gupta
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One Person, One Vote
- A Surprising History of Gerrymandering in America
- By: Nick Seabrook
- Narrated by: Reynaldo Piniella
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A redistricting crisis is now upon us. This surprising, compelling book tells the history of how we got to this moment—from the Founding Fathers to today’s high-tech manipulation of election districts—and shows us as well how to protect our most sacred, hard-fought principle of one person, one vote. Nick Seabrook has written an illuminating, urgently needed book on how our elections have been rigged through redistricting, beginning with the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, and extending to today’s high-tech manipulations of districts.
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Meticulous history of gerrymandering
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 04-07-24
By: Nick Seabrook
What listeners say about Difficult Men
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kevin Walters
- 05-21-24
Difficult Men, Fantastic Book
For all of us who gave so many hours to watching, rewatching, and obsessing over the Crown Jewels of the Peak TV “revolution” this book is a dishy, juicy, trip down TV memory lane. At the end of the day, they were *just* TV shows and they were works of sustained brilliance.
Having said that, that Vince Gilligan (who ran the happiest writers’ room) was also the showrunner to have the biggest success after his main show (Breaking Bad) ended while all of the ruthless, selfish, cut-throat showrunners all had their days in the sun and haven’t come close to repeating their feats again might speak to being nice to people on the way up because you’re gonna see them on the way down (Matthew Wiener.)
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