Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Update
Things could change, but I suspect this will be my final post on the blog. I met with some doctors at M. D. Anderson today, and they suggested that I enter hospice care. A few weeks, a few months is about all I have left. The blog has been a tremendous source of pleasure to me over the years, and I've made a lot of friends here. My only regret is that I have several unreviewed books, including Lawrence Block' fine new anthology, Alive in Shape and Color, and Max Allan Collins' latest collaboration with Mickey Spillane, The Last Stand, which is a collection of two novellas, "A Bullet for Satisfaction," an early Spillane manuscript with an interesting history, and "The Last Stand," the last thing that Spillane completed. It saddens me to think of all the great books by many writers that I'll never read. But I've had a great life, and my readers have been a big part of it. Much love to you all.
Monday, December 04, 2017
Blog Hiatus
Don't know for how long. I just know I no longer have the energy or the will to carry it on. Thanks to all for support and encouragement. Love to all.
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Mitch Margo, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mitch Margo, a member of the group behind the hit song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in the early 1960s, has died at his California home. He was 70.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Friday, December 01, 2017
The Aero-Nuts of 1785
The Aero-Nuts of 1785: From our “Dustbin of History” files, here’s the harrowing tale of a little-known milestone in aviation history.
Forgotten Books: Prime Sucker -- Harry Whittington
That's the opening paragraph, and right away you know things aren't going to end well. You also know that when it comes to writing a novel about sexual obsession, Harry Whittington knew what he was doing.
Hank, the sucker, is George's boss. Amy is George's wife. Hank's own wife, Ethel, is cold and a little twisted. Amy's twisted in a different way: "I want whatever you want, her eyes had said, and he knew in his sickness that they also said, I want what any man wants. Any man." George has used Amy for the old badger game before, but this time something happens. Amy really does fall for Hank.
Will Hank be able to break away from Ethel and find happiness with Amy? This was the '50s. That should answer the question. Whittington puts Hank his characters through the wringer and there's raw emotion on every page. This isn't one of Whittington's noir classics, but it's worth your time.
Another rerun.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Jim Nabors, R, I. P.
The New York Times: Jim Nabors, a comic actor who found fame in the role of the amiable bumpkin Gomer Pyle in two hit television shows of the 1960s while pursuing a second career as a popular singer with a booming baritone voice, died on Thursday at his home in Honolulu. He was 87.
Hat tips to John Duke and Jeff Meyerson,
Hat tips to John Duke and Jeff Meyerson,
WWI food propaganda forever changed the way Americans eat
How WWI food propaganda forever changed the way Americans eat � For Our Consideration: Meatless Mondays. Local is best. Eat less wheat. These sound like food fads plucked from 2017’s buzziest blog headlines but are in fact from 100 years ago. Each was a campaign from the U.S. Food Administration during World War I, and the food propaganda it represented was as important to the war effort as Uncle Sam’s “I want YOU for the U.S. Army.”
Some nice vintage ads with the essay, too.
Some nice vintage ads with the essay, too.
The Author of ‘Frankenstein’ Also Wrote a Post-Apocalyptic Plague Novel
The Author of ‘Frankenstein’ Also Wrote a Post-Apocalyptic Plague Novel: ‘The Last Man’ was derided in its time for being too grim, but today it would fit in with a growing genre of dystopian fiction
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
A New Story by the Master of Hardboiled Detective Fiction
A New Story by the Master of Hardboiled Detective Fiction: “The Glass That Laughed” by Dashiell Hammett
Hat tip to John Duke.
Hat tip to John Duke.
An (Almost) Comprehensive History of Rat Kings
Mental Floss: A ball of furry fury, a rat king occurs when the tails of rodents become twisted, wrapped, and warped into a knot so impossible that not even the world's most loyal Boy Scout could untangle it. Rat kings have been reported since the mid-16th century (almost entirely within Germany), and everything about them—from their name, to their cause, to their very existence—remains suspended in mystery.
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Overlooked Movies -- Passengers
On a starship with everyone in suspended animation for 120 years, Pratt is awakened early because of a glitch. He learns that he still has 88 years to go, with only a robot bartender (Sheen) for company. In that situation, I'd probably do just what Pratt does. He wakes another passenger (Lawrence). The critics found this creepy and stalkery. Maybe it is, but facing 88 years of loneliness, I'd probably do the same. Of course he doesn't tell Lawrence the truth, which causes trouble later, but there's a lot more serious trouble to come. Saying what that is would spoil things, so I'll keep mum.
Pratt and Lawrence are charmers, and Sheen just about steals the movie. The movie looks great, and there's action and romance aplenty. No need to go out of your way to see it, but there's no need to overlook it, either.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Judy Crider, November 5, 1943 - November 27, 2014
Worst day of my life. There were so many good days before this one, so many great days, that I try not to dwell on this one. It's still a source of awe and wonder to me that someone as beautiful, smart, and kind as Judy would fall for a goober like me, but I guess everybody deserves one fantastic stroke of luck in his life, and Judy was mine. The blog will remain dark the rest of the day in loving memory.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Friday, November 24, 2017
FFB: Campus Doll -- Edwin West (Donald E. Westlake)
A repeat and late, but it keeps the string going.I don't know if Donald E. Westlake used the Edwin West name often, but he used it on at least five books for Monarch in the early '60s. One of them was Campus Doll.
Westlake and Lawrence Block wrote a lot of books like this for various sleaze publishers, and they (and others) shared a few in-jokes. For example, the setting of this book is Clifton College, which figures in many of Block's novels from around the same time. If you can believe these books, Clifton was indeed a swinging campus. There's also a mention of a lousy movie called A Sound of Distant Drums, which turns up all the time. Charles Ardai even pays homage to it in his recent Fifty-to-One. [It's mentioned in The Comedy is Finished, too.]
The plot here is similar (very similar) to numerous other books from this period by Westlake and Block. Jackie's a not-so-nice girl whose parents can suddenly not afford to send her to Clifton. Her date for the evening, the rascally Rick Marshall, suggests that she start charging for what she used to give for free. "That'll be ten dollars, Rick," she says, and her new career has begun.
Jackie is quite the businesswoman, and Rick turns into a brutal pimp. When the business expands, Jackie takes in another woman, Rita, and Jackie suddenly realizes that all her trouble is caused by men. She decides that what she needs is a good woman. Before long (this is a short book, and nothing takes long), Jackie has a house full of women, one of whom is working with Rick to sell (gasp!) marijuana. One of the profs from Clifton falls for Jackie. Then things start to go wrong all at once. Jackie decides that the way out is to have the prof kill Rick. And so on. There's no happy ending here, folks. It reminded me of nothing so much as the ending of a hot-rod novel by Henry Gregor Felsen.
It's always interesting to read something by a favorite writer from the period when he was starting out. Campus Doll isn't going to win any literary prizes, and it's not going to do a thing to increase Westlake's reputation. It was probably written very quickly. Maybe over the weekend. But it's slick and short and fun to read as a literary and cultural artifact. It has a nice cover, too.
Update
Dear blog friends and family, I spent Wednesday in the ER and Thanksgiving in a Observation Room. I'm not sure what they observed, but they couldn't find anything to explain my deep fatigue. So I'm back home and will try to keep the blog going in abbreviated for for as long as I can. Thanks for all your encouragement. A friend of mine reminded me not long ago of an old song we both loved when we were kids, and I'm seeing those blue shadows on the trail.
How Not to Avoid a Murder Charge
Neatorama: Reverend Jacob S. Harden was only 22 years old and trying to establish himself as the pastor in Andersontown, New Jersey. He had married Louisa Dorland under pressure from her parents and rumors about him that Harden suspected they started. It was not a happy marriage, and they weren't even living together. But Louisa visited her husband at a parishoner's home where he was staying, and there died after a short illness. An autopsy revealed she had ingested arsenic, and suspicion turned to the young pastor. So he fled.
FFB: Among the Gently Mad
Rerun alert!Nicholas Basbanes' A Gentle Madness is one of the best books about book collecting ever written. If you haven't read it, you should just stop reading this, find Basbanes' book, and read it right now.
Among the Gently Mad isn't a sequel, but a complementary volume. It appears to be out of print, which amazed me and which I think qualifies it for the Forgotten Books post. Like all Basbanes' books, it's wonderful.
As you might be able to see in the photo on the left, the subtitle is "Perspectives and Strategies for the Book Hunter of the Twenty-First Century." And that's what it is. Every bit of advice in the book seems to me first-rate. Basbanes is not fond of on-line selling, and he's even less fond of eBay, but he loves Google's search engine, and he's fond of any number of my own favorite Internet sites, like Abebooks.com.
But the book has a lot more than just good advice to offer. One thing I particularly liked was the phrase "a gathering of books." It sounds so much better than "an accumulation." There are wonderful descriptions of book collections Basbanes has seen and of his own collections. There are great book-finding stories. Stories about the collecting habits of many famous and lesser-known book lovers. I found something to like on every single page of this book, and on almost every page felt the shock of recognition.
If you love books, you just can't pass this one up. My highest recommendation.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Denver Airport Conspiracy: Theories, Rumors & Facts
Denver Airport Conspiracy: Theories, Rumors & Facts: HOW THE DENVER AIRPORT BECAME AN ICON OF THE ILLUMINATI
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Away for a while
I'll be away from the computer for a while. I'll have a few posts, but not many, as I'm feeling rotten. I hope to be back and better in a few days.
Happy Birthday, Frances Crider!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
I Talked to 150 Writers and Here's the Best Advice They Had
I Talked to 150 Writers and Here's the Best Advice They Had: JOE FASSLER ON SEVEN OF THE MOST COMMON WRITING TIPS
Overlooked Movies: CHiPS
The plot is chaotic, the alleged humor is crass and sometimes downright repulsive. The trailer (see below) is bad enough, but the movie is worse. And while there are lots of explosions and violent episodes, they don't really advance the plot. The movie seemed interminable. I wish I'd overlooked it.
So why did I watch it? I blame my daughter. She's the one who turned it on and watched. I was trapped in the same room. Next time I'll find the exit.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Della Reese, R. I. P.
CBS News: LOS ANGELES — Della Reese, best known for her work on "Touched by an Angel," has died at age 86. The actress and gospel-influenced singer found her greatest fame as Tess, the wise angel in the long-running television drama, when she was in her 60s.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The National Book Award Archives: The Best American Fiction Since 1950
The National Book Award Archives: The Best American Fiction Since 1950: The National Book Awards began in 1950 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City when The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren was named America’s premier piece of fiction from the previous year. Today, it’s the most important event on the American literary calendar and continues to recognize the best in American writing.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Mel Tillis, R. I. P.
Fox News: Country music singer Mel Tillis, whose six-decade career included hits such as “I Ain’t Never” and “Coca Cola Cowboy” and who never let his stutter get in the way of him becoming a legend, died on Sunday, his publicist confirmed. He was 85.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
After 100 Years, This Entire Forest Will Be Turned into Mystery Manuscripts
After 100 Years, This Entire Forest Will Be Turned into Mystery Manuscripts: Hike through Norway’s future library, currently in the form of baby trees
The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar
The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar: In the United States, the decade of the 1920’s, aka the ‘Roaring Twenties’, was the time of the Jazz Age, Art Deco, flappers, the Charleston, the Scopes Monkey Trial, a runaway bull stock market, birth of the NFL, Babe Ruth, first widespread use of the automobile, the beginning of airline aviation, Prohibition, bootleg liquor, Al Capone, speakeasies, gangsters, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, and what was perhaps the single most iconic object of that era – the Thompson Submachine Gun (TSMG).
The Real Frank James
The Real Frank James The glorified outla...: The glorified outlaw, and why he shed his criminal skin after the death of his younger, and more famous, brother.
2017 National Toy Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
2017 National Toy Hall of Fame Inductees Announced: ROCHESTER, New York—The mystery has been solved! The simple, soaring paper airplane; game-changing Wiffle Ball; and murder-mystery favorite Clue today became the latest inductees to The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame. The honorees were selected from a field of 12 finalists that also included: Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox Cars, My Little Pony, PEZ Candy Dispenser, play food, Risk, sand, Transformers, and Uno.
Andy Weir: By the Book - The New York Times
Andy Weir: By the Book: The author of “The Martian” and, most recently, “Artemis” has never read Frank Herbert’s “Dune”: “Yes, I know. I’m the worst sci-fi fan in the universe.”
Friday, November 17, 2017
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