Books: New histories show how politics shaped two classic films, a steller biography of Jonathan Swift and more

With the Academy Awards this weekend, it is the perfect time to look at some books about classic Hollywood. I’m Carolyn Kellogg, books editor of the L.A. Times.

THE BIG STORY

It’s the 75th anniversary of “Casablanca” and the 65th of “High Noon.” Two new books marking those occasions each look at the ways politics shaped the films’ production. In “We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood’s Most Beloved Movie” by Noah Isenberg, it was refugees fleeing Europe during World War II, both the text of the film and what was happening behind the scenes.

A scene from “Casablanca.”

(Donaldson Collection / Getty Images)

Ten years later and things had changed in Hollywood, Glenn Frankel writes in “High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic.” Screenwriter Carl Foreman had been on a roll when he came to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and for him — if not the cast and crew — the film became an allegory for the moral quandaries presented by the HUAC hearings and the Hollywood blacklist. Rebecca Prime reviews both books.

A TOWERING GENIUS

Jonathan Swift “had the most coruscating mind and enigmatic character of any writer in English,” writes Jeffrey Meyers in our review of “Jonathan Swift: The Reluctant Rebel” by John Stubbs. Swift was, in some ways, trapped between England and Ireland, not that the satirist particularly liked either one. He was the author of the indelible “Gulliver’s Travels,” as well as other satire, poetry and prose.

BESTSELLERS

Neil Gamain thunders to the top of our fiction bestseller list on Sunday with “Norse Mythology,” a riff on the ancient tales. Additionally, Gaiman was in the news this week — he’s been named a United Nations Goodwill ambassador for his work with refugees, and the premiere date of the screen adaptation of his beloved novel “American Gods” was announced (April 30 on Starz).

Neil Gaiman

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

NOT THE MOVIES

There’s still time to get to the L.A. Art Book Fair, happening all weekend. Now in its fifth year, the fair has become so established that it has spawned a nearby counter-fair. The LAABF traffics in all things at the intersection of art and books: high-end artist books, gorgeous books by independent presses, vintage zines and artist-created objects. Carolina Miranda gives us a preview.

Another bookish festivity: The L.A. Times Book Prizes. This week we announced the finalists for the prizes: 55 titles in 11 categories. If that sounds like more than you recall, you’re right — this spring we launch the Christopher Isherwood Prize, named for the famed writer, which will celebrate autobiographical prose. The prize ceremony will be held April 21 at USC; tickets go on sale March 16. See all the finalists here.

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

@paperhaus