Dr Thomas A. Christie is a Scottish author with research interests in popular culture, literary analysis, interactive fiction and modern cinema. His books include "John Hughes and Eighties Cinema: Teenage Hopes and American Dreams", "Mel Brooks: Genius and Loving It!", "The James Bond Movies of the 1980s", and "Notional Identities: Ideology, Genre and National Identity in Popular Scottish Fiction Since the Seventies".
Tom has many years of experience as a literary professional, working in collaboration with several publishing companies including Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Crescent Moon Publishing and Robert Greene Publishing. His full-length works to date have focused upon subjects such as cinema history and literary criticism, as well as the production of original prose fiction.
A passionate advocate of the written word and literary arts, over the years Tom has produced original writing for respected organisations such as the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum and the Dementia Services Development Centre, a leading independent higher education research unit based at the University of Stirling. Additionally, he is regularly involved in public speaking events and has delivered guest lectures and presentations about his work at many locations around the United Kingdom.
Tom holds a PhD in English Studies, on the subject of Scottish Literature, from the University of Stirling. He has also been awarded a first-class Honours degree in Literature and a Master's degree in Humanities, specialising with distinction in British cinema history, from the Open University in Milton Keynes.
For more details about Tom and his work, please visit his website at www.tomchristiebooks.co.uk.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF: POCKET MOVIE GUIDE

One of John Hughes's most charmingly offbeat films, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is certainly among the most overtly humorous of his canon of teen movies. It is also one of his best-remembered, its profile challenged only by the acclaimed The Breakfast Club which was released the year beforehand. Contrasting perfectly with the more serious, issue-based tone of Pretty in Pink which immediately preceded it in the same year, Hughes's wittily incisive dialogue was never as razor-sharp as when delivered by the smart-mouthed high school slacker Ferris Bueller.

Today Hughes is just as well known for the scripts he created for hugely popular family films throughout the 1990s, including Chris Columbus's blockbuster Home Alone (1990), Brian Levant's Beethoven (1992) and Nick Castle's Dennis the Menace (1993), written under his pen-name of Edmond Dantès. But even these accomplishments couldn't compare to the artistic diversity of his output throughout the eighties. Although it is easy to remember Hughes for his meteorically successful teen movies right the way through the including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day (1986), he was every bit as adroit in his handling of suburban satires such as Mr Mom (1983) and Uncle Buck (1989), his wry observations of the great American holiday in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and The Great Outdoors (1988), the trials of an exasperated everyman commuter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and the expectation of anxious new parents in She's Having a Baby (1988). Throughout the course of Hughes's career, there has rarely been a lack of variety in his choice of subject matter.

REVIEW OF THE AUTHOR'S BOOK JOHN HUGHES AND EIGHTIES CINEMA ON AMAZON

If like me, you were fortunate enough to live through and grow up during the 80's and early 90's, you'll remember just how rich comedy was back then. This book on it's own puts most comedies of the modern era to shame as it is a homage to one of the most talented minds in the game. I am of course speaking of none other than the late great John Hughes. This is a great book for getting into the details of how a master of his art came about and created such cinematic gems. Hughes will be sorely missed which is why books like this keep his spirit and work alive!

I'd say this book is for people who are nostalgic 20-somethings or cinema buffs, but all-round a good book for just about anyone who would like to know what made one of the funniest minds of Hollywood tick.