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Fiction & Films
Business Fiction
(Agribusiness), Frank Norris (1901).
The Octopus; A Story of
California. (New York, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 652 p.).
Wheat farmers--Fiction; Railroads--Fiction; San Joaquin Valley
(Calif.)--Fiction; California--Fiction. First of a trilogy. Deals
with the production of wheat.
(Banking), A.E. Maxwell (1991).
Money Burns: A Fiddler Novel.
(New York, NY: Villard, 292 p.). Fiddler (Fictitious
character)--Fiction; Fiora (Fictitious character)--Fiction;
Private investigators--United States--Fiction; Women
bankers--Fiction; Women detectives--California--Fiction;
California, Southern--Fiction.
(Biotechnology), Robert A. Burton (1997).
Cellmates. (San Francisco, CA: Russian Hill Press, 271
p.). Genetics--Research--Fiction; Cloning--Fiction; San Francisco
(Calif.)--Fiction.
(Computers), Mona Simpson (1996).
A Regular Guy: A Novel.
(New York, NY: Knopf, 372 p.). Biological Sister of Steve Jobs.
Girls--Fiction; Inventors--Fiction; Fathers and
daughters--Fiction; California--Fiction.
(Computers), Clyde James Aragón (1997).
The PC
Affair: A Comic Mystery of Murder, Mayhem, and Data Processing.
(Albuquerque,. NM: Cliff Zone Books, 147 p.). Computer
industry--Fiction; California--Fiction.
(Computers), Ellen Ullman (2003).
The Bug: A Novel.
(New York, NY: Nan A. Talese, 355 p.). Computer software
developers--Fiction; Computer programmers--Fiction; Computer
industry--Fiction; Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County,
Calif.)--Fiction.
(Computers), Keith Raffel (2006).
Dot Dead: A Silicon Valley Mystery. (Woodbury, MN:
Midnight Ink, 280 p.). Founder, UpShot Corporation (sold to Siebel
Systems). Computer industry--Employees--Fiction;
Housekeepers--Crimes against--Fiction;
Murder--Investigation--Fiction; Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara
County, Calif.)--Fiction. Ian Michaels, hot Silicon Valley tech
executive,
discovers a young, beautiful woman stabbed to death in his house -
his maid. Far from the gray-haired, cookie-baking grandmother he
imagined her to be, Gwendolyn was a stranger to Ian, but her
family, old boyfriend, and the Palo Alto police seem to think they
were a couple. And despite his best efforts to prove otherwise,
the evidence against Ian is growing. It looks like someone is
framing Ian for murder, but who?
(Entertainment), Robert Cort (2003).
Action!: A Novel.
(New York, NY: Random House, 388 p.). Motion picture
industry--Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Fiction.
(Entertainment), Paul Goldstein (2006).
Errors and Omissions. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 320 p.).
Lillick Professor of Law (Stanford Law School). Intellectual
property lawyers--Fiction; Motion picture authorship--Fiction;
Blacklisting of authors--Fiction; Motion picture
industry--Fiction; Americans--Germany--Fiction; Polish
Americans--Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Fiction;
Munich (Germany)--Fiction. Michael Seeley, defender of artists’
rights, aggressive intellectual property litigator, is a
man on the brink of personal and career collapse. United Pictures
virtually demands that he fly out to Hollywood to confirm legally
that it owns the rights to its corporate cash-cow franchise of Spykiller films.
He has little choice but to comply.
What Michael
Seeley discovers in these gilded precincts will plunge him
headfirst into the tangle of politics of the blacklisting era and
then into the even darker world of Nazi-occupied Poland.
(Healthcare), David Kerns (2007).
Standard of Care. (Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications, 232
p.). Medical Director for the Center for Child Protection,
Department of Pediatrics, at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
(San Jose, CA). Physicians--Fiction; Patient advocacy--Fiction;
Medical care--Quality control--Fiction; Medical ethics--Fiction;
Hospital management companies--Fiction. Traditional healing values of doctors, nurses
collides with bottom-line demands of competition, survival in era of
corporate health care in America. Insider's look at the patient
rooms, board rooms, and back rooms of American hospitals today. Dr. Daniel Fazen becomes the
new senior medical executive, the guardian of quality patient
care, at his long-cherished community hospital, which is soon
acquired by the largest, most ruthless for-profit hospital
conglomerate in America. So begins a dramatic decline in the
quality of caregiving. Finally, frightened and overwhelmed with
guilt about a preventable death, due to a decision in the
company's financial interest, Dan confronts the ethical dilemma of
his life.
(High Technology), Pat Dillon (1996).
The Last Best Thing: A
Classic Tale of Greed, Deception, and Mayhem in Silicon Valley.
(New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 350 p.). Computer
industry--Fiction; Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County,
Calif.)--Fiction.
(High Technology), Po Bronson (1997).
The First $20 Million
Is Always the Hardest: A Silicon Valley Novel. (New York, NY:
Random House, 291 p.). High technology--Fiction; Computer
industry--Fiction; Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County,
Calif.)--Fiction.
(High Technology), Thomas Scoville (2001).
Silicon Follies:
A Dot.Comedy. (New York, NY: Pocket Books, 323 p.). High
technology industries--Fiction; Computer industry--Fiction;
California--Fiction.
(Hospitality), Michelle Cliff (2004).
Free Enterprise: A Novel of Mary Ellen Pleasant. (San
Francisco, CA: City Lights, 213 p. [orig. pub. 1993]). Pleasant,
Mary Ellen, 1814-1904 -- Fiction; African American women
abolitionists -- Fiction; African American businesswomen --
Fiction; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Fiction; Underground Railroad
-- Fiction; African Americans -- Fiction; Fugitive slaves --
Fiction; Hotelkeepers -- Fiction; Earthquakes -- Fiction; Hotels
-- Fiction. 1858 - two black women meet at a restaurant and begin
to plot a revolution. Mary Ellen Pleasant owns a string of hotels
in San Francisco that secretly double as havens for runaway
slaves. Her comrade, Annie, is a young Jamaican who has given up
her life of privilege to fight for the abolitionist cause.
Together they join John Brown's doomed enterprise and barely
escape with their lives.
(Intelligence), Michael Crichton (1992).
Rising Sun: A Novel.
(New York, NY: Knopf, 355 p.). Police--California--Los
Angeles--Fiction; Corporations, Japanese--California--Los
Angeles--Fiction; Business intelligence--Fiction; Los Angeles
(Calif.)--Fiction.
(Internet e-Commerce), Domenic Stansberry
(2006).
The
Big Boom. (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Minotaur, 272 p.).
Police, Private--Fiction; North Beach (San Francisco,
Calif.)--Fiction. Homicide-cop-turned-private
investigator Dante Mancuso investigates the disappearance of
Angela Antonelli, a young woman who recently quit her job at a
dot-com that was about to go public.
(M&A), Meredith Rich. (1994).
Tender Offerings. (New
York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 347 p.). Consolidation and merger of
corporations--Fiction; Businesswomen--Fiction; Rich
people--Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.)--Fiction.
(Mining), Louis L’Amour (1981).
Comstock Lode. (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 378 p.). Mines
and mineral resources--Nevada--History--Fiction.
(Mining), John Jakes (1989).
California Gold: A Novel.
(New York, NY: Random House, 658 p.). Gold mines and
mining--Fiction; California--Fiction.
(Oil), Upton Sinclair; foreword by Jules Tygiel (1997).
Oil!: A Novel. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,
527 p. [orig. pub. 1927]). Petroleum industry and trade--Fiction;
Motion picture industry--Fiction; California, Southern--Fiction.
(PR), Tim Paulson (1988).
The Real World. (New York, NY:
Dutton, 310 p.). West Coast Advertising Manager (Economist).
Public Relations. Ruthless world of big-time public relations.
(Railroads), Frank Norris (1901).
The Octopus; A Story of California. (New York, NY:
1994 Penguins Classic Edition, 688 p.). Mussel Slough Tragedy,
1880--Fiction; Wheat farmers--Fiction; Farmers--Fiction; San
Joaquin Valley (Calif.)--Fiction; California--Fiction.
War between
wheat growers and the railroad trust.
(Taxes), Susan Dunlap (1992).
Death and Taxes. (New
York, NY: Delacorte Press, 247 p.). Smith, Jill (Fictitious
character)--Fiction; Police--California--Berkeley--Fiction;
Policewomen--Fiction; Berkeley (Calif.)--Fiction.
Kurt Andersen (1999).
Turn of the Century. (New York,
NY: Random House, 659 p.). Married people--New York (State)--New
York--Fiction; Computer software industry--Fiction; Television
producers and directors--Fiction; Businesspeople--Fiction; New
York (N.Y.)--Fiction; Seattle (Wash.)--Fiction; Los Angeles
(Calif.)--Fiction.
Business Films
(Aircraft), Directed by Martin Scorsese (2004).
The Aviator
(DVD - 169 min.;
The Aviator
(VHS - 169 min.; Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers Entertainment). The early
years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career,
from the late 1920's to the mid-1940's.
(Banking), Directed by Frank Capra (1932).
American Madness
(VHS - 75 min.). Banker as hero - loosely based on A. P. Giannini,
founder of Bank of America.
(Beverages), Directed by Jonathan Nossiter (2003).
Mondovino
(DVD - 158 min.; New York, NY; Paris, FR: Goatwork Films/Films of the Crusades). Trained Sommelier. Globalization of the wine
industry. Three powerful Italian families and a powerful Napa
Valley newcomer struggle for winemaking dominance -
behind-the-scenes struggles of modern-day winemaking -
economic/cultural changes and disappearing traditions in today's
wine world. Criticizes Napa Valley and the "globalization" of fine
wines, Robert Mondavi Winery portrayed as corporate merchandiser.
(Corporate Culture), Directed by Philip Kaufman (1993).
Rising Sun (DVD - 129 min);
Rising Sun (VHS - 129
min). (Los Angeles, CA: Twentieth Century Fox). Corporations,
Japanese--California--Los Angeles--Drama;
Japanese--California--Los Angeles--Drama; Corporate
culture--Japan--Drama; Corporate culture--California--Los
Angeles--Drama; Business intelligence--California--Los
Angeles--Drama; Murder--California--Los Angeles--Drama;
Legislators--California--Los Angeles--Drama. At the offices of a
Japanese corporation, during a party, a woman, who's evidently a
professional mistress, is found dead, apparently after some rough
sex. A police detective, Web Smith is called in to investigate but
before getting there, he gets a call from someone who instructs
him to pick up John Connor, a former police Captain and expert on
Japanese affairs. When they arrive there Web thinks that
everything is obvious but Connor tells him that there's a lot more
going on. Connor discovers that the woman was kept by Eddie
Sakamura, the son of a man Connor knew in Japan. And while Web
thinks that they should bring Eddie in, Eddie asks Connor for some
time to prove his innocence. Connor gives it to him, cause he is
beholden to Eddie's father. But when evidence shows that Eddie's
the killer, Connor and Smith are in hot water with their
superiors, and when they try to get Eddie, a high speed chase
ensues with Eddie getting killed. But Connor still thinks that
there is something funny going on, especially when he discovers
that the evidence they were given is false.
(Disaster), Directed by Steven Soderbergh (2000).
Erin
Brockovich (DVD - 130 min.);
Erin
Brockovich (VHS - 130 min.). Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is an
unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job, but is having
no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit
against a doctor in a car accident she was in. With no
alternative, she successfully browbeats her lawyer to give her a
job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her
seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon
changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate
case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. What she
discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that
was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that
the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn,
poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin
finds herself leading point in a series of events that would
involve her lawfirm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in
American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.
(Entertainment), Directed by Barry Avrich (2004).
The Last
Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman. (Washington, DC:
(distributed by) ThinkFilm, Washington, DC). President, CEO (Echo
Advertising). 110 min. Documentary traces growth of entertainment
business from vaudeville roots through silent pictures, talkies,
radio and television to modern global entertainment conglomerates.
Based on original material and NOT on any previously published
books.
(High Technology), Written by Robert X. Cringely (1996).
Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires in Silicon
Valley (DVD - 165 min.);
Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires in Silicon
Valley (Boxset: VHS -165 min.). PBS. Two-part documentary of the birth and growth of
the personal computer industry - how it developed from big limited
box to small advance GUI based machine. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,
Xerox P.A.R.K researchers all speak about the PC.
(High Technology), Written by Robert X. Cringely (1996)
Triumph of the Nerds Vol. 1: Impressing Their Friends.
(VHS).
(High Technology), Written by Robert X. Cringely (1996).
Triumph of the Nerds Vol. 2. (VHS).
(High Technology), Written by Robert X. Cringely (1996).
Triumph of the Nerds, Vol. 3 - Great Artists Steal. (VHS).
(High Technology), Directed by Martyn Burke (1999).
Pirates
of Silicon Valley: The True Story of the Battle to Create the
Computer Age
(DVD - 95 min.);
Pirates
of Silicon Valley: The True Story of the Battle to Create the
Computer Age (VHS - 95 min.).History of
Apple and Microsoft. Semi-humorous documentary about the men who
made the world of technology what it is today, their struggles
during college, the founding of their companies, and the ingenious
actions they took to build up the global corporate empires of
Apple Computer Corporation and Microsoft Inc.
(High Technology), Directed and Produced by David Winton
(2000).
Code Rush: A Year in the Life of a Silicon Valley
Supernova, Netscape. (VHS - 60 min.). PBS film crew arrives at
Netscape's headquarters in 1998 to make hour-long documentary film
of Netscape's open-source-code strategy (underlying program
instructions to Netscape's browser) in hope of thwarting
competition from Microsoft's Internet Explorer - which Microsoft
was giving away). Netscape's goal - to get independent software
writers to create code for an irresistible version of Netscape's
browser which would become the industry standard. Film doesn't
answer question of how Netscape would benefit from giving away its
source code.
(Oil), Directed Paul Thomas Anderson (2007).
There Will Be Blood. (Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Vantage
and Miramax Films, DVD - 158 min.). Family, greed, religion, oil -
turn-of-the-century Texas prospector (Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel
Plainview, silver miner turned oilman) in early days of Southern
California business in late-18th, early 19th centuries. Based on novel by Upton Sinclair, 'Oil'. 1898 - Daniel Plainview (Daniel
Day-Lewis) is a determined prospector who strikes silver in Texas
and in subsequent searches discovers oil. By 1911 Plainview is a
self-proclaimed "oil man" who operates several wells with his
adopted son. When he's approached by Paul Sunday, who swears there
is oil literally seeping out of the ground on his father's ranch,
Daniel expands his business and begins buying up all of the
property in the area. Such aggression doesn't go unnoticed
however, and the ambitious businessman soon finds himself at odds
with larger oil companies and the fanatical local church led by
the guileful Eli Sunday (Paul Dano).
(Publishing), Directed by Orson Welles (1941).
Citizen Kane
(DVD - 119 min.);
Citizen Kane
(VHS -119 min.). Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore and Agnes Moorehead
star in the story of multimillionaire newspaper tycoon Charles
Foster Kane, one of the world's richest men, who dies alone in his
extravagant mansion, Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud".
Reporter tracks down the meaning of the word as Kane emerges as
sinister figure - a newspaper tycoon who tried to buy and sell
love, friendship, political influence. End of WW II: foreign
powers defeated , Nazism and fascism uprooted, film makers examine
evil within. Patterned after life of William Randolph Hearst.
(Railroads), Directed by Cecil B. DeMille (1939).
Union
Pacific (VHS -135 min.). Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea star in
effort to push Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to
California (as specified in one of the last bills signed by
President Lincoln) while a financial opportunist hopes to profit
from blocking construction.
(Real Estate), Directed by Roman Pulanski (1974).
Chinatown
(DVD -131 min.);
Chinatown
(VHS -131 min.). Los Angeles real estate mogul with dirty secrets - plot
to buy cheap, unwatered land for low prices, water the land, and
sell it for millions of dollars.
(Strategy), Directed by Jan Marlyn Reesman (1992).
California Hot Wax, 89 min.). Three Southern Californian woman
lose their successful business to their evil landlord. They team
up with a handsome hunk to start a competitive car wash, using
scantily-clad girls and guys to lure in customers. The ensuing
rivalry leads to various antics by the old landlord to put them
out of business.
(Wall Street), Directed by Daniel Gamburg (2003). I.P.O.
(San Francisco, CA: Barewitness Films, 110 min.). Riches-to-rags
dot-com saga - explores the dreams and dilemmas of dot-commers
during San Francisco’s second gold rush, evokes the hope, greed,
and disappointment that defined that era. Both a love letter to
San Francisco and a sympathy card to its dot com days, Daniel
Gamburg makes his feature directorial debut with this
all-improvised film chronicling the boom and bust of the one
start- up company.
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