{"product_id":"a-sudden-flicker-of-light-a-revisionist-history-of-movies-9781668205730","title":"A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom one of cinema's wisest and most penetrating observers, an arresting new perspective on the sweep of film history.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDavid Thomson has been called \"the greatest living writer on the movies.\" Here is a career capstone of sorts--a one-volume history of film and screens as illuminating and provocative as his classic \u003ci\u003eBiographical Dictionary of Film\u003c\/i\u003e. In tracing the progress, from the Lumiere Brothers to the Coens, Thomson glories in the great movies, but admits to increasing unease over what the medium has done to us--promoting fantasy, misleading models of sexual identity, the cult of authority, power, and happy endings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis revisionist history is as alert to technology and business as it is to art and fun in tracing our pursuit of the lifelike instead of life. By turns trenchant, lyrical, and comic, Thomson uncovers our addiction to voyeurism and villainy, and a habit of passivity that has betrayed our political and cultural identity. In a survey that reaches from \u003ci\u003eMetropolis\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eRear Window\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eAnora\u003c\/i\u003e, this will redirect ideas about film everywhere. As \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e has put it, \"Thomson proves anew that he is irreplaceable.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Thomson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/07\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781668205730\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/04\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid Thomson is the author of more than twenty books, including biographies of David O. Selznick and Orson Welles, and \u003ci\u003eThe New Biographical Dictionary of Film\u003c\/i\u003e. His writing and his books have been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian, \u003c\/i\u003e the\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSlate, \u003c\/i\u003eand many more. He lives in San Francisco.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"David Thomson \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":48641313636509,"sku":"9781668205730","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_2e96f3ad-c94c-47a5-bb58-cdc43fa1f838.jpg?v=1784106342","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/a-sudden-flicker-of-light-a-revisionist-history-of-movies-9781668205730","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}