Paul Fischer

An Amazon Best of The Year Nonfiction Selection

Library Journal Top Ten Book of the Year!

The Extraordinary True Story of Kim Jong-Il’s kidnapping of the golden couple of South Korean Cinema, The Movies They Were Forced to Make, and Their Daring Escape.

Before becoming the world’s most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea’s Ministry for Propaganda and all its film studios. Underwhelmed by the pool of talent available to him he took drastic steps, ordering the kidnap of Choi Eun-Hee (Madame Choi) – South Korea’s most famous actress – and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country’s most famous filmmaker. But as Madame Choi and Shin Shang-Ok begin to make North Korea’s greatest films, they hatch a plan of escape worthy of a blockbuster Hollywood ending. A Kim Jong-Il Production is that rarest of books: a wildly entertaining, cunningly told story that offers a rare glimpse into a nation still wrapped in mystery.

“Gripping… A Kim Jong-Il Production tells the absurd, harrowing, and true story of Choi and Shin's ordeal, which reveals the importance of film as propaganda to the North Korean regime.” ―Esquire.com
“The 1978 abductions of the South Korean actress Choi-Eun-He and her ex-husband, the director Shin Sang-Ok, in Hong Kong is the true crime at the center of Paul Fischer's gripping and surprisingly timely new book.” ―The New York Times
“An entertaining new book…details how [Shin and Choi] finally seized their chance to seek asylum…A stupefying, novelistic read.” ―The Boston Globe

“Fischer's entertaining narrative paints an arresting portrait of a North Korean "theater state," forced to enact the demented script of a sociopathic tyrant.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Paul Fischer's book A Kim Jong-Il Production is a highly illuminating deep dive on the middle Kim's cinematic obsessions and the film arms race between the two Koreas.” ―The Washington Post

“Exhaustively researched, highly engrossing chronicle of the outrageous abduction of a pair of well-known South Korean filmmakers by the nefarious network of North Korea's Kim Jong-Il.”―Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Texas

The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power

An Amazon Best of The Year Nonfiction Selection Library Journal Top Ten Book of the Year! The Extraordinary True Story of Kim Jong-Il’s kidnapping of the golden couple of South Korean Cinema, The Movies They Were Forced to Make, and Their Daring Escape. Before becoming the world’s most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea’s Ministry for Propaganda and all its film studios. Underwhelmed by the pool of talent available to him he took drastic steps, ordering the kidnap of Choi Eun-Hee (Madame Choi) – South Korea’s most famous actress – and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country’s most famous filmmaker. But as Madame Choi and Shin Shang-Ok begin to make North Korea’s greatest films, they hatch a plan of escape worthy of a blockbuster Hollywood ending. A Kim Jong-Il Production is that rarest of books: a wildly entertaining, cunningly told story that offers a rare glimpse into a nation still wrapped in mystery. “Gripping... A Kim Jong-Il Production tells the absurd, harrowing, and true story of Choi and Shin's ordeal, which reveals the importance of film as propaganda to the North Korean regime.” —Esquire.com “The 1978 abductions of the South Korean actress Choi-Eun-He and her ex-husband, the director Shin Sang-Ok, in Hong Kong is the true crime at the center of Paul Fischer's gripping and surprisingly timely new book.” —The New York Times “An entertaining new book...details how [Shin and Choi] finally seized their chance to seek asylum...A stupefying, novelistic read.” —The Boston Globe “Fischer's entertaining narrative paints an arresting portrait of a North Korean "theater state," forced to enact the demented script of a sociopathic tyrant.” —Publishers Weekly “Paul Fischer's book A Kim Jong-Il Production is a highly illuminating deep dive on the middle Kim's cinematic obsessions and the film arms race between the two Koreas.” —The Washington Post “Exhaustively researched, highly engrossing chronicle of the outrageous abduction of a pair of well-known South Korean filmmakers by the nefarious network of North Korea's Kim Jong-Il.”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

First Paperback Edition - A Kim Jong-Il Production

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Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Georgia

"The 1978 abductions of the South Korean actress Choi-Eun-hee and her ex-husband, the director Shin Sang-ok, in Hong Kong is the true crime at the center of Paul Fischer's gripping and surprisingly timely new book."
-The New York Times

Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi)-South Korea's most famous actress-and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker.

Madam Choi vanished first. When Shin went to Hong Kong to investigate, he was attacked and woke up wrapped in plastic sheeting aboard a ship bound for North Korea. Madam Choi lived in isolated luxury, allowed only to attend the Dear Leader's dinner parties. Shin, meanwhile, tried to escape, was sent to prison camp, and "re-educated." After four years he cracked, pledging loyalty. Reunited with Choi at the first party he attends, it is announced that the couple will remarry and act as the DearLeader's film advisors. Together they made seven films, in the process gaining Kim Jong-Il's trust. While pretending to research a film in Vienna, they flee to the U.S. embassy and are swept to safety.

A nonfiction thriller packed with tension, passion, and politics, author Paul Fischer'sA Kim Jong-Il Production offers a rare glimpse into a secretive world, illuminating a fascinating chapter of North Korea's history that helps explain how it became the hermetically sealed, intensely stage-managed country it remains today.

A Kim Jong-Il Production

New York

A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies

A "spellbinding, thriller-like" (Shelf Awareness) history about the invention of the motion picture and the mysterious, forgotten man behind it--detailing his life, work, disappearance, and legacy.

The year is 1888, and Louis Le Prince is finally testing his "taker" or "receiver" device for his family on the front lawn. The device is meant to capture ten to twelve images per second on film, creating a reproduction of reality that can be replayed as many times as desired. In an otherwise separate and detached world, occurrences from one end of the globe could now be viewable with only a few days delay on the other side of the world. No human experience--from the most mundane to the most momentous--would need to be lost to history.

In 1890, Le Prince was granted patents in four countries ahead of other inventors who were rushing to accomplish the same task. But just weeks before unveiling his invention to the world, he mysteriously disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. Three and half years later, Thomas Edison, Le Prince's rival, made the device public, claiming to have invented it himself. And the man who had dedicated his life to preserving memories was himself lost to history--until now.

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures pulls back the curtain and presents a "passionate, detailed defense of Louis Le Prince...unfurled with all the cliffhangers and red herrings of a scripted melodrama" (The New York Times Book Review). This "fascinating, informative, skillfully articulated narrative" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) presents the never-before-told history of the motion picture and sheds light on the unsolved mystery of Le Prince's disappearance.

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures

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A Kim Jong-Il Production : The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power

2015, Hardcover

Brand new and unread.

Item pictured is the actual item listed and what the buyer will receive. See photos for details.

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Publisher	‎Flatiron Books; First Edition (February 3, 2015)
Language	‎English
Hardcover	‎368 pages
ISBN-10	‎1250054265
ISBN-13	‎978-1250054265
Item Weight	‎1 pounds
Dimensions	‎5 x 1 x 8 inches #hardcover 

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Iowa

A Kim Jong-IL production

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Massachusetts

Antonio M. Battro

George Butterworth

Kurt W. Fischer

Patricia M. Greenfield

Paul Harris

Giyoo Hatano

Daniel Stern

Minnesota

The Story of Nico

Half a Brain is Enough is the extraordinary story of Nico, a three-year-old boy who was given a right hemispherectomy to control his severe intractable epilepsy. Antonio Battro, a distinguished neuroscientist and educationalist, describes his work with Nico over several years and explains how a boy with only half a brain has developed into a bright child with relatively minor physical and mental impairment. Eight years later, he runs and plays with only a slight limp. So far, there is no significant cognitive or affective disorder and it appears that Nico's so-called right-hemisphere skills--mathematics, visual arts, and music--have migrated to the left hemisphere. At school, he performs as a child of his age in arithmetic and music; only his draftsmanship and handwriting are poor for his age, but he has not lost his cognitive spatial ability. Battro and his colleagues have been studying and teaching Nico with computers and he is mastering written language with a word processor and is able to make good graphic designs with a computer. Nico performs well above average verbally, a left-brain skill. Battro charts what he calls Nico's "neuroeducation" with humor and compassion in a book that is part case history and part a study of consciousness and the brain. Filled with fascinating details about Nico's abilities, Half a Brain is Enough also includes the latest information about brain surgery, neuronal architecture, and the use of technology in education. Throughout the book, it is clear that Battro and his collleagues are delighted with Nico's progress and grateful for the opportunity to help him and learn with him. Antonio Battro received his MD from the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and his PhD in Psychology from the University of Paris. He has worked with Jean Piaget, Marvin Minsky, and others and is well known around the world for his publications in cognitive development. He lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Half a Brain Is Enough

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David Hackett Fischer

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Discusses the events leading up to Paul Revere's ride, and reinforces his importance in the history of the Revolutionary War

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Paul Fischer

First Paperback Edition - A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-IL production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Antonio M. Battro; George Butterworth; Kurt W. Fischer; Patricia M. Greenfield; Paul Harris; Giyoo Hatano; Daniel Stern

Half a Brain Is Enough

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

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Paul Fischer

First Paperback Edition - A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-IL production

Paul Fischer

A Kim Jong-Il Production

Antonio M. Battro; George Butterworth; Kurt W. Fischer; Patricia M. Greenfield; Paul Harris; Giyoo Hatano; Daniel Stern

Half a Brain Is Enough

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

Paul Revere's Ride