Inspirations for Wes Anderson's Asteroid City: a collection of new and classic writing on mid-century cinema and the American West
** Includes an exclusive interview with Wes Anderson in which the director details how the pieces collected here influenced the characters, stories, and settings in the film **

Featuring 8 newly commissioned pieces alongside more than 20 classic essays from the likes of François Truffaut and Jonas Mekas, DO NOT DETONATE explores key influences on celebrated director Wes Anderson's new film Asteroid City. Together they form a detailed, captivating portrait of the mid-century film world and the enduring myths of the American West.

A Conversation Between Wes Anderson and Jake Perlin

A Life excerpt – Elia Kazan

The Celluloid Brassière – Andy Logan

Rainy Day – Lillian Ross

The Outskirts: Other Men’s Women – Gina Telaroli

The Petrified Forest – Jorge Luis Borges

Ace in the Hole: Noir in Broad Daylight – Molly Haskell

What Makes a Sad Heart Sing: Some Came Running – Michael Koresky

One False Start, Never Wear the Same Dress Twice – Durga Chew-Bose

Maigret at the Coroner’s excerpt – Georges Simenon

Sunbelt Noir: Desert Fury – Imogen Sara Smith

The Voyage Down and Out: Inferno – Kent Jones

Bad Day Near The River’s Edge – Nicolas Saada

Watching Fail Safe at the End of the World – K. Austin Collins

Black Desert, White Desert – Serge Toubiana

Marilyn Monroe and the Loveless World – Jonas Mekas

Beyond the Stars – Jeremy Bernstein      

Coming: “Nashville” – Pauline Kael

Coming Around the Mountain: Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Matt Zoller Seitz

Selections from Close Encounters of the Third Kind Diary – Bob Balaban

Introduction to Small Change: A Film Novel – François Truffaut

By The Time I Get to Phoenix – Thora Siemsen

My Guy – Hilton Als

Wild to the Wild – Sam Shepard