Dan Aykroyd

The definitive biography of John Candy—a heartwarming portrait of one of comedy’s most beloved and enduring stars. INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Vulture's #1 Comedy Book of 2025 • A Globe and Mail, National Post, and CBC Best Book of 2025 "Reading this book was like reconnecting with an old friend. I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end.” —Judd Apatow “A thoughtful, thorough and entertaining portrait of one of the funniest people ever.” —Marc Maron From his humble beginnings in sketch comedy with the Toronto branch of Second City, to his rise to fame in SCTV and Hollywood film classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck, John Candy captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humour, emotional warmth, and gift for improvisation. Now, for the first time since Candy’s tragic death, bestselling biographer Paul Myers tells the full story of the man behind the laughs. Drawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with many of Candy’s closest friends and colleagues, including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and many more, John Candy: A Life in Comedy celebrates the comedian’s unparalleled talent, infectious charm, and generosity of spirit. Through ups and downs, successes and failures, and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt, Candy faced the world with a big smile and a warm demeanour that earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world.

From the bestselling author of Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy, the definitive biography of John Candy—a heartwarming portrait of one of comedy’s most beloved and enduring stars. From his humble beginnings in sketch comedy with the Toronto branch of Second City, to his rise to fame in SCTV and Hollywood film classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck, John Candy captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humour, emotional warmth, and gift for improvisation. Now, for the first time since Candy’s tragic death, bestselling biographer Paul Myers tells the full story of the man behind the laughs. Drawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with many of Candy’s closest friends and colleagues, including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and many more, John Candy: A Life in Comedy celebrates the comedian’s unparalleled talent, infectious charm, and generosity of spirit. Through ups and downs, successes and failures, and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt, Candy faced the world with a big smile and a warm demeanour that earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world.

Named one of one of Time’s best photobooks of 2019, this portrait of spiritualist communities across the US and Europe is now redesigned with additional archival images American photographer Shannon Taggart’s fascination with spiritualism, the belief in deceased individuals’ ability to communicate with the living, began during her adolescence when a medium revealed additional information about the circumstances of Taggart’s grandfather’s death. A decade later, Taggart, then a practicing photojournalist, found herself obsessively drawn to Lily Dale, New York—the world’s largest spiritualist community. Her transformative experiences there catalyzed an 18-year odyssey documenting spiritualist communities throughout the world in search of “ectoplasm”—an emanation exorcised from the body of the medium, believed to be both spiritual and material. Named one of Time’s best photobooks of 2019, and now revisited by Atelier Éditions, Séance offers readers a remarkable series of supernatural photographs exploring spiritualist practices and beliefs within communities found across the US, the UK and Europe. The photos are accompanied by Taggart’s commentary on her experiences, a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, creator of the Ghostbusters franchise and fourth-generation spiritualist, and illustrated essays by Andreas Fischer and Tony Oursler. Atelier Éditions’ reissue also features new commentary by writer and filmmaker J. F. Martel, additional archival images and a new design. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Shannon Taggart (born 1975) has contributed to Time, Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, Discover, New York, Wall Street Journal and Reader’s Digest. Her first monograph, Séance (Fulgur Press), was published in 2019. She is currently working on an illustrated book about the Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT), one of the most exotic cases within the history of psychical research.

The film Ghostbusters was released in June 1984 and became a cultural phenomenon and an instant classic, reaching No. twenty-eight in the American Film Institute’s top 100 comedies of all time and voted funniest film of the past twenty-five years by Entertainment Weekly in 2008. The release of the film marked the beginning of a franchise that would include a sequel (with a third film being released in 2016, more than thirty years later), comics, television series and action figures. In this book, author and collector Matt MacNabb takes a look at the best of Ghostbusters collectables, including action figures of the four Ghostbusters themselves, some of the most famous ghosts from the films and models of Ecto-1. The book also looks at some of the most unusual collectables as well as looking at what might be collectable in the future. Covering collectables from 1984 to the present day, including many of the superb toys produced by Kenner, this is an essential read for anyone looking to own their very own iconic jumpsuit, Slimer or Ecto-1.

Who you gonna call? This deluxe book celebrates three decades of ghostbusting fun, exploring all aspects of the ever-popular phenomenon. Covering the production of the first two Ghostbusters movies in great detail, including rare behind-the-scenes pictures and in-depth commentary from cast and crew, the book will also take in the expanded Ghostbusters universe, from cartoons to comics, toys, and video games. The last word on the Ghostbusters franchise.

Get your mojo working as you take a musical trip from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago's gritty South Side and points beyond with Blues For Dummies, an insightful, toe-tappin', music lovers' guide to the blues. Popular blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks serves as your tour guide through the life and times of the blues, from the acoustic mystique of Robert Johnson and Son House to the urban blues men and women of today: John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, B. B. King, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and, of course, Brooks himself. Blues For Dummies travels from sad to glad, with stops along the way at heartache and despair, hope and joy, on the road to great music. Get hip to the different styles and eras of the blues; discover what makes the blues so blue; find out "Who's Who" among four generations of blues musicians; and make tracks to the best blues clubs on the planet with this great, easygoing reference.