The critics unanimously agree that brilliant, award-winning reporter and bestselling author Steven Brill has written a powerful and sweeping narrative of the country in the first year of the September 12 era. As "the pages flutter" -- marvels one critic -- "in a race to learn the rest of the story we thought we knew so well," Brill takes us from the White House Situation Room to the living rooms of victims' families, from courtrooms to boardrooms, from border crossings to airport tarmacs. We watch as a Customs inspector struggles to protect New York harbor from a dirty bomb; a storekeeper at Ground Zero rebuilds his shoe repair shop; a Silicon Valley entrepreneur lobbies to get his baggage screening systems into every airport; Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge battles the bureaucratic minefields of Washington; a New Jersey widow struggles to help her three children cope with the loss of their father; and John Ashcroft seizes the moment to become the most powerful and controversial attorney general in a generation, while the head of the ACLU tries to block him. The result is a gritty narrative -- and trailblazing journalism -- that inspires us all as it tells the real story of how Americans moved to defend and rebuild their lives and their country.

In this unprecedented, all-encompassing, and thoroughly entertaining account of the movie business, acclaimed writer Edward Jay Epstein reveals the real magic behind moviemaking: how the studios make their money. Epstein shows that in Hollywood, the only art that matters is the art of the deal: Major films turn huge profits not from the movies themselves but through myriad other enterprises, from video-game spin-offs and soundtracks to fast-food tie-ins, and even theme-park rides. The studios may compete for stars and Oscars, but their corporate parents view wth one another in less glamorous markets such as cable, home video, and pay-TV. Money, though, is only a small part of the Hollywood story; the social and political milieus–power, prestige, and status–tell the rest. Alongside its remarkable financial revelations and incisive profiles of the pioneers who helped build Hollywood, The Big Picture is filled with eye-opening insider stories. If you are interested in Hollywood today and the complex and fascinating way it has evolved in order to survive, you haven’ t seen the big picture until you’ve read The Big Picture .