NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS FOR SUMMER 2023

THE LAST ACTION HEROES: THE TRIUMPHS, FLOPS AND FEUDS OF HOLLYWOOD’S KINGS OF CARNAGE by Nick De Semlyen (Crown) There was a time, not so many years ago, when certain names were a guarantee of box-office gold. Stallone and Schwarzenegger led the pack, soon to be joined by Van Damme, Norris, Seagal, Dolph Lundgren, Jackie Chan, and the unlikely Bruce Willis. Author De Semlyen traces each individual’s career trajectory and more important, places it within the fabric of audience fervor for simplistic action moviemaking. As a longtime contributor to Empire, the world’s best movie magazine (which he now edits) he had mano a mano experiences with most of these outsized personalities and blends his observations with those of writers, directors, producers and others who made their films. He seasons…