"Factual" Movies and Books

[hwarang745]

Okay,

So I just finished reading "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich, which is the book that "21" is based on. And I loved it (the movie... not so much). I love books, films, etc. that have a lot of facts in them, whether or not they're real. So other than books written by Ben Mezrich (starting to read "Rigged"), I love heist films and films Lord of War. Do you guys (or ladies) have any recommendations?

[acidburn]

Come Back Alive by Robert Pelton Young. How to survive various scenarios, kidnappings, plane crashes, etc. Written like a travel book with stories.

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer survival story on Mt. Everest.

Touching the Void - Joe Simpson a survival story in the Peruvian Andes

[comhcinc]

all the president's men

[heyseuss]

Actor Frank Whaley's directorial debut is Joe The King, a tale of his childhood.

[ariastar]

I have two. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt is my all-time favorite, read to the point of near-memorization. It's the book I read when I'm feeling down or hopeless. As hard and down as some of my past is (which includes a stint living in a car) and as hopeless as I feel sometimes, that guy had it worse. It's the story of his childhood in Ireland.

The other isn't a story, but it gives a new perspective on service industries and how people scrape by. It's called Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. She's got a PhD, but spent a year working the jobs a lot of people have no choice but to work. She couldn't use her degree to get the better-paying jobs and living and eating what she could on those salaries while trying to save enough for the next month's rent, which was sometimes hotels that sounded scarier than where I'd be willing to live. She did retail at WalMart, waitressing, and house cleaning. I think the house cleaning one was especially heart-breaking, and I haven't been willing to go through a company for the occasional cleaning since reading that book. I don't want to be the one to put someone through that.


So these may not be exciting action stories, but they are real and they are the two books that have impacted my life more than any others.

[heyseuss]

The other isn't a story, but it gives a new perspective on service industries and how people scrape by. It's called Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. She's got a PhD, but spent a year working the jobs a lot of people have no choice but to work. She couldn't use her degree to get the better-paying jobs and living and eating what she could on those salaries while trying to save enough for the next month's rent, which was sometimes hotels that sounded scarier than where I'd be willing to live. She did retail at WalMart, waitressing, and house cleaning. I think the house cleaning one was especially heart-breaking, and I haven't been willing to go through a company for the occasional cleaning since reading that book. I don't want to be the one to put someone through that.

That's a movie now !?!?!?!?!?!!?!?11 I read the book years ago. I had nothing to read and was in an airport with a layover and more flying time ahead. I found that and a Dennis Miller book . . Oh! Oh! . another book I read on a flight was the Million Dollar Baby book - Rope Burns. The book is 4 (?) short stories. It's written by the guy who was represented by Clint Eastwood (F.X. Toole) and there are even better stories in the book. Read that, amazing book.

[ariastar]

That's a movie now !?!?!?!?!?!!?!?11 I read the book years ago. I had nothing to read and was in an airport with a layover and more flying time ahead. I found that and a Dennis Miller book . . Oh! Oh! . another book I read on a flight was the Million Dollar Baby book - Rope Burns. The book is 4 (?) short stories. It's written by the guy who was represented by Clint Eastwood (F.X. Toole) and there are even better stories in the book. Read that, amazing book.

Um, Angela's Ashes is a movie.