The Big Screen

<p>In this triumphant work David Thomson one of film's greatest living experts and author of <i>The New Biographical Dictionary of Film</i> tells the enthralling story of the movies and how they have shaped us.<br><br><b><i>Sunday Times</i> <i>New Statesman</i> <i>The Times</i> <i>Guardian</i> <i>Observer</i> and <i>Independent</i> BOOKS OF THE YEAR</b><br><br>Taking us around the globe through time and across multiple media Thomson tracks the ways in which we were initially enchanted by this mesmerizing imitation of life and let movies - the stories the stars the look - show us how to live. But at the same time he shows us how movies offering a seductive escape from the everyday reality and its responsibilities have made it possible for us to evade life altogether. The entranced audience has become a model for powerless citizens trying to pursue happiness by sitting quietly in a dark room. Does the big screen take us out into the world or merely mesmerize us? That is Thomson's question in this great adventure of a book. A passionate feat of storytelling that is vital to anyone trying to make sense of the age of screens - the age that more than ever we are living in.</p>