Television adaptation: ‘Einstein: His Life and Universe’ by Walter Isaacson

einsteinlife — The television adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s ‘Einstein: His Life and Universe’ premieres on Tuesday April 25, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Walter Isaacson is a writer, journalist, the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, the chairman and CEO of CNN and Managing Editor of Time. As an author, he has written biographies of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger. His best-selling biography of Albert Einstein, “Einstein: His Life and Universe” has been adapted into a ten-episode series for National Geographic making it the network’s first scripted series. It premieres on Tuesday April 25 and is executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and stars Johnny Flynn as a young Einstein, Emily Watson as his second wife and Geoffrey Rush as the older Einstein. This series takes viewers beyond the academic life of Einstein and focuses on his struggles to be a good husband and father and a man of principle during an era of global unrest.

According to Amazon, in “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” the author writes about how Einstein’s scientific imagination was born out of his rebellious personality. It is the story of how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk and struggling father became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos. His success was the product of his constant questioning of conventional wisdom and an appreciation of the mundane. His work led him to embrace a lifestyle based on respect for free minds, free spirits and free individuals.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Circle’ by Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is an American author, editor and publisher whose work includes “Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?” “Heroes of the Frontier” and “The Circle.” He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company in San Francisco that publishes books, a quarterly journal of new writing and a monthly magazine. The movie adaptation of “The Circle” starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson will be out on theaters on Friday April 28, 2017. It is the bestselling dystopian novel about surveillance, privacy and the growing intrusions of technology in everyday life.

According to Amazon, “The Circle” tells the story of tech worker Mae Holland who after college starts a new job at a powerful internet company called The Circle. The Circle’s work links users’ personal emails, social media, banking and purchasing with their universal operating system resulting in one online identity. Employees enjoy open plan office spaces, impressive glass dining facilities, dorm rooms for those who spend nights at work, parties and other ammenities. Soon her life beyond the job gets smaller and her experiences at work get weirder by the day as she must deal with questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy and the limits of the human knowledge. At first, she sees it as the opportunity of a lifetime but the longer she works there the more things start to fall apart.

Television adaptation: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood

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Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist and environmental activist. Even though she has published several poetry books she is best known for her 1985 novel “The Handmaid’s Tale.” It is a dystopian novel set in a near-future New England in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government. Winner of the 1985 Governor General’s Award, it was also nominated for the Nebula Award, the Booker Prize and the Prometheus Award. Previous adaptations include the cinema, television, radio, opera and stage. Now it has been adapted into a television series on Hulu and will premiere on Wednesday April 29, 2017. It stars Elizabeth Moss as Offred the Handmaid and Samira Wiley as Moira, Offred’s college friend.

According to Amazon, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is set in the near future and describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead. The government is now a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by going back to the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. Those in charge now make the rules according to the book of Genesis with bizarre consequences for its citizens. Environmental contamination had led to infertility so now young fertile women are assigned to the homes of the rich where they are supposed to have children for those men and their wives. It is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids, who remembers happier times when she was married with a daughter and her own name. Considered a satire, it can also be viewed as a dire warning.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot

immortalhenrietta — The movie adaptation of ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot will air on HBO on Sunday April 22, 2017. Photo: Amazon

Rebecca Skloot is a science writer who specializes in science and medicine and whose articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine and others. Her first book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was on the best seller list for over two years on The New York Times. It has been translated into more than twenty languages and has been adapted into an HBO produced movie by Oprah Winfrey. Set to air on Sunday April 22 it stars Oprah Winfrey as Deborah Lacks and Rose Byrne as Rebecca Skloot.

According to Amazon, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is a nonfiction book about Henrietta Lacks and the immoral cell line known as HeLa that came from her cancer cells in 1951. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors. Her cells were taken without her knowledge and became one of the most important tools in modern medicine. They are the first “immortal” human cells grown in culture and even though she has been dead for more than sixty years these cells are still alive today. HeLa cells were vital in developing the polio vaccine and helped paved the way to such medical advances as in vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping. Despite all this she remains virtually unknown and is buried in an unmarked grave. The author covers everything from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to Henrietta’s family’s lives as they struggle with the legacy of her cells. Themes include the drama of scientific discovery, the ethics of experimentation and all its human consequences.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Lost City of Z’ by David Grann

lostcityofzpic — The movie adaptation of ‘The Lost City of Z’ by David Grann will be out on Friday April 21, 2017. Photo: Barnes & Noble

David Grann is an American journalist, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and The New York Times’ best-selling author. His stories have appeared in several anthologies and he has written for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard. “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” is his debut non-fiction book and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. It tells the story of the British explorer Percy Fawcett who disappeared with his son in 1925 while looking for an ancient lost city. The movie adaptation starring Charlie Hunnam as Fawcett, Robert Pattinson as his fellow explorer Henry Costin and Sienna Miller as his wife Nina Fawcett will be released on Friday April 21, 2017.

According to Amazon, “The Lost City of Z” is a narrative nonfiction that centers around the legendary British explorer who went into the Amazon jungle in search of a fabled civilization and never returned. In the decades that followed, explorers and scientists have tried to find any evidence of his party and the Lost City of Oz and as many as 100 people have died or disappeared. Eventually Grann did his own investigation and discovered new evidence about how Fawcett died and the location of the missing city. He combines stories the stories about Fawcett’s quest for the city and his own journey into the deadly jungle as he unravels one of the twentieth century’s biggest mystery.

Television adaptation: ‘The White Princess’ by Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory is an English historical novelist best known for her novel “The Other Boleyn Girl” which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Her first novel “Wideacre” became an instant bestseller and gave way to her first trilogy, The Wideacre Trilogy. Since then she has written stand-alone novels, short stories, children’s books and non-fiction books. Her other series of novels include Earthly Joys, The Tudor Court Series and The Cousins’ War Series. “The White Princess” is part of The Cousins’ War Series, now known as The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels and has been adapted into a television miniseries for Starz that will premiere on Sunday April 16. It is a sequel to The White Queen, the BBC produced miniseries that adapted the novels “The White Queen,” “The Red Queen” and “The Kingmaker’s Daughter.”

According to Amazon, The White Princess” is the story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville and later the wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII. After Henry Tudor kills the man she loves and becomes the new king of England, she must marry him to end the long running War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York and guarantee the safety of her family. But Henry knows that she is still in love with his dead enemy and that her mother and half of England remain loyal to her brother, the missing heir. His greatest fear is that somewhere the rightful prince is waiting to claim his throne. When a young man who would be king invades England, Elizabeth must choose between the husband she has grown to love and the young man who claims to be her long-lost brother.

Television adaptation: “The Son” by Philipp Meyer

Philipp Meyer is an American writer known for writing short stories and the novels “American Rust” and “The Son.” His short stories have been published in McSweeney’s Quarterly, The Iowa Review and Esquire UK and “The Son” has been adapted into a television series. It will premiere on AMC on Sunday April 7 and will star Pierce Brosnan as Eli McCullough, Henry Garrett as Pete McCullough, Zach McClarnon as Toshaway and Paola Nuñez as María García.

According to Amazon, “The Son” is a family saga of land, blood and power and follows a Texas family from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the oil booms of the 20^th century. The main character is Eli McCullough who at the age of twelve is taken as captive after a marauding band of Comanche storms his Texas home and kill his mother and sister. During the years that he is kept captive he adapts to life with the Comanche by learning their ways and their language and after taking on a new name he eventually accepts his place as the chief’s adoptive son. Even though he fights alongside them he is conflicted by his sense of loyalty and vengeance. When the Comanche are annihilated by disease, starvation and westward expansion he finds himself in a world where he does not feel like he belongs. His story as an adult tells of his ruthlessness and his drive to power despite his status as an outsider. The McCullough family becomes one of the richest in Texas fueled by ranching and oil.

Television adaptation: Midnight Texas Trilogy

midnightcrossroad — The television adaptation of The Midnight Texas Trilogy will premiere on NBC on July 25. Photo: amazon.

Fans of True Blood might recognized the name Charlaine Harris as the author of “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” which was later adapted into the highly popular HBO series. She is The New York Times’ best-selling author of mysteries that includes several series of books with the most recent being The Midnight Texas Trilogy. The series includes “Midnight Crossroad,” “Day Shift” and “Night Shift.” It has been adapted into a television series and will premiere on NBC on July 25, 2017 and will star François Arnaud as Manfred Bernardo, Dylan Bruce as Bobo Winthrop and Parisa Fitz-Henley as Fiji Cavanaugh.

According to Amazon, Midnight, Texas is a small quiet town where most of its inhabitants have chosen to live there because it is one of the best places to hide. Being normal is strange and only outsiders fit in. “Midnight Crossroad” is the first book in the series and introduces the characters. In this small town it citizens are stranger than usual. Bobo Winthrop is the proprietor of the local pawn shop and knows something about everyone because everyone has secrets. The new tenant in the pawn shop’s basement only comes out after dark and Fiji Cavanaugh claims to be a witch. When Bobo’s girlfriend Aubrey disappears, people start to ask too many questions and that leaves everyone concerned that their own pasts will be exposed along with Aubrey’s.

Television adaptation: ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Jay Asher

thirteenreasonspic — ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Jay Asher is coming to Netflix on March 31. Photo: google

The New York Times’ 2007 bestselling novel “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher is coming to Netflix on March 31 starring Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker and Dylan Minnette Clay Jensen. Aside from writing several picture books and middle school humor novels, Jay Asher writes contemporary novels for young adults including “The Future of Us” and “Thirteen Reasons Why.” The latter has won several awards and has received five stars from Teen Book Review. It is the story of Hanna Baker, a girl who commits suicide and then reveals her reasons why in a series of audio tapes mailed to a classmate.

According to Amazon, in “Thirteen Reasons Why” Clay Jensen is a high school student who comes home from school and finds a mysterious box with his name on it lying on the porch. Inside the box he finds cassette tapes recorded by Hanna Baker, a girl who committed suicide two weeks ago who also happens to be his classmate and crush. In those tapes she explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to make the hard decision about ending her life with Clay being one of those reasons. He spends the rest of the night going around town with Hannah as his guide being a witness to Hannah’s daily struggles and pain. Along the way, what he discovers changes his own life forever.

Movie adaptation: ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes is an English writer who has published collections of essays, short stories, non-fiction works and nine novels. His works have been translated into more than forty languages and three of his novels have been finalists for the Booker Prize including “Flaubert’s Parrot,” “England, England” and “Arthur & George.” His book “The Sense of an Ending” won the Man Booker Prize and has been adapted into a movie which is now in limited release. It stars Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Dockery.

According to Amazon, “The Sense of an Ending” is narrated by a retired man named Tony Webster who is reminiscing about how he and his friends met Adrian Finn and vowed to remain friends for life. He thought he had left his past behind until those friends return, one from the grave and another from the present. His career has provided him a comfortable retirement and he has a stable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter who now has a family of her own. When presented with a mysterious legacy he is forced to confront his past and reflect on the path he and his friends have taken as well as his place in the world.

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