Reading with Style discussion

10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon-Ed's Task-
Read a book that you can connect to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less. For example - Kevin Bacon appeared in the movie - Mystic River- the book by Dennis Lehane would be just one step removed and easily qualifies - as would any of Lehane's other works (2 steps). Laura Linney appeared in that movie with Kevin Bacon and she also appeared in the film version of the Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - so that would also qualify (3 steps).

Please post your connections in the help thread for 10.9 prior to claiming the books for points (or combos). Your chains do not need to be re-posted in the completed task thread.

A few guidelines/rulings that have been made during the course of this discussion.

Post 181 Ownership of a production company would be similar to the attempt to link through publishers....just too broad.

Post 192 we're looking for more of a person to person link... not characters.

Post 199 Sorry...afterwards and introductions aren't close enough links.

Post 201 connections through awards (or Halls of Fame) aren't a close enough link.

Post 231 Future movie productions do not qualify

Post 240 not going to accept friendships as a link..... significant professional links and relatives only.

Post 273 appearing on the same awards show is not a close enough connection.



Approved Authors (Please include the post # when claiming books by theses authors for points or combos)


This list has been moved to this thread

Read more about how the parlour game works at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Deg...

This website may also help you find a link.- https://oracleofbacon.org/

Thanks, Ed.

For The Town and The Mansion

1. The Town and The Mansion are novels authored by William Faulkner
2. The Sound and the Fury is a novel by William Faulkner
3. The Sound and the Fury is a movie based on a novel by William Faulkner
4. Tim Blake Nelson appeared in the 2014 film The Sound and the Fury
5. Zoe Kravits and Tim Blake Nelson appeared in the film Yelling in the Sky
6. Kevin Bacon and Zoe Kravits appeared in the film X-Men.

Question: Do I need Step 2 or could I go straight from 1 to 3?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "For The Town and The Mansion

1. The Town and The Mansion are novels authored by William Faulkner
2. The Sound and the Fury is a novel by William Faulkner
3. The Sound an..."

Kate asked me to be the key person on this thread for any questions... i think you did it perfectly.

Thank you. This is going to be such a *fun* task.

Who is Kevin Bacon?

an actor, this is one of those weird American culture trends. Read the link about it in Post #3. Can you imagine being known most famously for a game named after you? (smile)

Coralie wrote: "Who is Kevin Bacon?"

Coralie, I didn't know who he was either. I needed major hand-holding to get started.

Googling something like "Paul Newman Bacon Number" will get you an answer that you can perhaps work with. I sort of did it backwards. I looked at my list and Googled "Faulkner filmography" and came up with a 2014 movie that I thought might provide a short link to Kevin Bacon. Sure enough.

Can we link to his birthplace or only movies for example he was born in Philadelphia, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787 takes place there.
or
Kevin Bacon was born in Pennsylvania
David McCullough was born in Pennsylvania
David McCullough is the author of 1776

David McCullough works.

David McCullough wrote 1776.
David McCullough wrote John Adams
Laura Linney starred in John Adams
Laura Linney and Kevin Bacon appeared in Mystic River

As for books set in Kevin Bacon's birthplace, I am going to let Ed weigh in on that. We discussed a few alternatives to the original game, but not all of them. I think book setting might be stretching too far.

I'm reading The Three Musketeers

1. Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland starred in the movie Flatliners in 1990.

2. Kiefer Sutherland starred in the movie version of The Three Musketeers in 1993.

Any movie with Meryl Streep works because she was in a movie with Kevin Bacon.

I'm on my phone app, so I will post the actual books and progression I'm using tomorrow.

I'll also be reading The Girl in the Spider's Web

1. The Girl in the Spider's Web is the 4th book in a series that began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

2. Robin Wright starred in the 2011 movie version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

3. Robin Wright was once married to Sean Penn.

4. Sean Penn starred with Kevin Bacon in the 2003 movie Mystic River.

Rebekah wrote: "Can we link to his birthplace or only movies for example he was born in Philadelphia, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787 takes ..."

Hi Rebekah.... I agree with Kate....although I wanted the rules to be looser for this task than they probably would be for the parlor game.... I think birthplace is a bit too tenuous. And I see that Kate has found a sturdier connection for you already. Have fun.

I'm reading Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

1. Swann's Way was filmed as Swann in Love in 1984 featuring Jeremy Irons.
2. Jeremy Irons was a voice actor and Kevin Bacon played himself in the animated movie The Magic 7.

OK, can this work :

1. Kevin Bacon was in End of The Line with Mary Steenburgen.
2. Mary Steenburgen was in Trumprt of the Swan with Reese Witherspoon.
3. Reese Witherspoon narrated the audiobook of Go Set a Watchman

1. Stephen King aka Richard Bachman was in Thinner (1996) with Time Winters

2. Time Winters was in Murder in the First (1995) with Kevin Bacon

So will any book by Stephen King qualify, or do I need to re-read Thinner? (Not that I would mind; it's one of my favorite King titles.)

Fun and unusual task, Ed!

D wrote: "1. Stephen King aka Richard Bachman was in Thinner (1996) with Time Winters

2. Time Winters was in Murder in the First (1995) with Kevin Bacon

So will any book by Stephen King quali..."

Yes D...based on that connection..any book by Stephen King would qualify.

Amanda wrote: "OK, can this work :

1. Kevin Bacon was in End of The Line with Mary Steenburgen.
2. Mary Steenburgen was in Trumprt of the Swan with Reese Witherspoon.
3. Reese Witherspoon narrated the audiobook ..."

Yes..that works.

Ed wrote: "Yes..that works."

Thinks will be playing more games tonight to figure out some more books.

When we post these in the completed thread would you like us to give the post number where the link is made (i can imagine that there will be a lot of posts later on)?

I'm just going to assume that I can utilize links others make. For example I can now post any book by William Faulkner for this task (based on the Elizabeth's post #5)

1. Kevin Bacon was in Mystic River with Laura Linney
2. Laura Linney was in Love Actually with Emma Thompson
3. Emma Thompson was in Remains of the Day
4. The book of Remains of the Day was written by Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Kazuo Ishiguro wrote The Buried Giant

Phew!

1. Kevin Bacon was in Criminal Law with Gary Oldman.
2. Gary Oldman was in Bram Stoker'sDracula

Lagullande wrote: "1. Kevin Bacon was in Mystic River with Laura Linney
2. Laura Linney was in Love Actually with Emma Thompson
3. Emma Thompson was in Remains of the Day
4. The book of Remains of the Day was written..."

Stealing this to back track to The Remains of the Day ;)

You're welcome, Amanda ;-)

In return, I'm taking Dracula!

1. Kevin Bacon was in Footloose with John Lithgow.
2. John Lithgow was in The World According to Garp, which was based on the book written by John Irving.
3. John Irving wrote The 158-Pound Marriage

Rebekah wrote: "an actor, this is one of those weird American culture trends. Read the link about it in Post #3. Can you imagine being known most famously for a game named after you? (smile)"

It is because Kevin Bacon rhymes with Separation, as in Six Degrees of Separation. Turned out lots of people could be linked to Kevin Bacon in 6 degrees or less.

The problem with having a movie buff of a husband is he can make the connection very very quickly ...

1. Kevin Bacon and Dustin Hoffman were in Sleepers together.
2. Dustin Hoffman was in the movie version of Billy Bathgate

1. Kevin Bacon was in Sleepers with Brad Pitt.
2.Brad Pitt was in Troy with Julie Christie
3.Julie Christie was in The Return of the Soldier

I can't read everything, but I will keep posting for as long as it entertains my husband ...

1. Kevin Bacon was in A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson
2. Jack Nicholson was in Five Easy Pieces with Karen Black
3. Karen Black was in The Grass is Singing

Kevin Bacon was in Sleepers with Robert De Niro.
Robert De Niro was in Stone with Edward Norton
Edward Norton co starred in The Grand Budapest Hotel with Harvey Keitel.
Harvey Keitel was in Dangerous Game with Madonna.
Madonna was in Who's That Girl with John Mills.
John Mills starred in the 1946 film of Great Expectations.

Kevin Bacon was in A Few Good Men with Demi Moore.
Demi Moore was in Bobby with Anthony Hopkins.
Anthony Hopkins was in Howards End.

Amanda wrote: "Kevin Bacon was in Sleepers with Robert De Niro.
Robert De Niro was in Stone with Edward Norton
Edward Norton co starred in The Grand Budapest Hotel with Harvey Keitel.
Harvey Keitel was in Dangero..."

Thanks, Amanda. I just deleted Great Expectations from a too long list for another task. Now I have a place to plug it into. Yeah!

I have a shorter list for Great Expectations but I don't need to post it now :)

Lijmen / Het Been is written by Willem Elsschot
Elschot also wrote Villa Des Roses
Villa Des Roses was made into a film staring Julie Delpy
Julie Depy was in The Air I Breathe with Kevin Bacon


1984 (George Orwell) was made into a film
John Hurt was in the film
John Hurt was in Jayne Mansfield's Car with Kevin Bacon.

A Clockwork Orange was made into a film
Malcolm McDowell was in this film
Malcolm McDowell was in Milk Money with William John Murphy
Murphy was in Pyrates with Kevin Bacon

Eleanor wrote: "I have a shorter list for Great Expectations but I don't need to post it now :)

Lijmen / Het Been is written by Willem Elsschot
Elschot also wrote Villa Des Roses
Villa Des Roses w..."

A shorter list would be interesting.

Our Souls at Night was written by Kent Haruf (a groupread)
Kent Haruf also wrote Plainsong
Plainsong was made into a film
Aidan Quinn starred in Plainsong
Quinn was in Cavedweller with Kevin Bacon

The Keeper of Lost Causes (by Jussi Adler-Olsen) was made into a film
Nikolaj Lie Kaas starred in this film
Nikolaj was in Mad Ship with Rachel Blanchard
Blanchard was in Where the Truth Lies with Kevin Bacon

The Red and the Black (Stendhal) was made into a film (1954 version)
Gerard Philipe was in this film
Philipe was in Si Paris nous etait conte with Irene Tunc
Tunc was in Vivre pour vivre with Candice Bergen
Bergen was in Starting Over with Kevin Bacon

Bea wrote: "Eleanor wrote: "I have a shorter list for Great Expectations but I don't need to post it now :)

A shorter list would be interesting.


Great Expectations was made into a miniseries by BBC (1981) starring Gerry Sundquist
Sundquist was in Blind Date with James Daughton
Daughton was in Animal House with Kevin Bacon

Amanda wrote: "1. Kevin Bacon was in Footloose with John Lithgow.
2. John Lithgow was in The World According to Garp, which was based on the book written by John Irving.
3. John Irving wrote [book:The..."


Thanks, Amanda! I was going to read Garp this session, and now I have a place for it - in 2 degrees of separation!

I love this task idea! :)

1. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride was written by Cary Elwes
2. Cary Elwes was in The Princess Bride with Christopher Guest.
3. Christopher Guest was in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

The original game is linking actors - do we have to link books to Bacon via films/actors or can we use other person-person connections?

for example (and I think I'm pushing the limits on the first one)

The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin
Boorstin was interviewed on Booknotes by Brian Lamb
Lamb also interviewed Bob Schieffer (same show)
Schieffer was in State of Play which had Debra Hayward as executive producer
Hayward was executive producer of Frost/Nixon which starred Kevin Bacon

Dune (book by Frank Herbert) the movie was directed by David Lynch
Lynch wrote the film Inland Empire, William Maier was in this film
Maier was in The Air I Breathe with Kevin Bacon

A Thousand Splendid Suns was written by Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini also wrote The Kite Runner which was filmed
Cabran E. Chamberlain was in The Kite Runner
Chamberlain was in Murder in the First with Kevin Bacon

Ford County was written by John Grisham
Grisham was in Waking in Mississippi(documentary) with Sandra Bullock
Bullock was in Loverboy with Kevin Bacon

one last one for today:
Tigana was written by Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay helped edit The Silmarillion by Tolkien
Tolkien also wrote LOTR which was turned into a film trilogy
Elijah Wood starred in the trilogy
Elijah Wood was in Beyond All Boundaries with Kevin Bacon

Eleanor wrote: "The original game is linking actors - do we have to link books to Bacon via films/actors or can we use other person-person connections?

for example (and I think I'm pushing the limits on the first..."

I think that works Eleanor...as would links with Directors, and relatives (Bacon's wife is an actress too!).

I'm waiting for a parcel to arrive so I thought I'd do some of the groupreads

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein was in This Brave Nation: Tom Hayden and Naomi Klein with Tom Hayden
Hayden was in Emma and Elvis with Margo Martindale
Martindale was in Rails & Ties with Kevin Bacon

The Music of Chance by Paul Auster
Paul Auster also wrote and directed Blue in the Face which starred Giancarlo Esposito
Esposito was in Enormous Changes at the Last Minute with Kevin Bacon

Near to the Wild Heart
Clarice Lispector wrote A Vida Intima de Laura which was filmed starring Margarida Carpinteiro
Carpinteiro was in Assim assim with Dmitry Bogomolov
Bogomolov was in Linhas de Wellington with John Malkovich
Malkovich was in Queens Logic with Kevin Bacon

The Inimitable Jeeves
P.G. Wodehouse also wrote The Girl on the Boat which was filmed starring Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom was in The Night They Raided Minsky’s with Elliott Gould
Gould was in The Big Picture with Kevin Bacon

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Erik Larson also wrote Isaac’s Storm which was filmed starring Edward Herrmann
Herrmann was in Walking Across Egypt with Patrick Mickler
Mickler was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon

By God...I think you've got it, Eleanor and Amanda! LOL

Amanda wrote: "I can't read everything, but I will keep posting for as long as it entertains my husband ...

1. Kevin Bacon was in A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson
2. Jack Nicholson was in Five Easy Pieces with..."

I'm loving it! Keep posting, keep posting. :-)

1. I would like to verify all books by Charles Bukowski as being eligible.

Charles Bukowski was in Barfly (1987) with J.C. Quinn.
J.C. Quinn was in Digging to China (1997) with Kevin Bacon.

2. Do we need to wait for approval of each chain, or just mention our post number when we claim the task or combo points?