Saturday, October 28, 2017
Ron Chernow: By the Book
Ron Chernow: By the Book: The author of “Hamilton,” “Titan” and most recently “Grant,” is a slow reader: “It’s a shameful thing to admit for someone who writes such long books.”
Friday, October 27, 2017
History of Trick-or-Treating
History of Trick-or-Treating: Trick-or-treating—going from house to house in search of candy and other goodies—has been a popular Halloween tradition in the United States and other countries for an estimated 100 years. But the origins of this community-based ritual, which costumed children typically savor while their cavity-conscious parents grudgingly tag along, remain hazy.
Donald Bain, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Donald Bain, the pseudonymous author of the “Murder, She Wrote” novels, Margaret Truman’s “Capital Crimes” mysteries and “Coffee, Tea or Me?,” the supposed memoir of two saucy airline stewardesses, died on Saturday in White Plains. He was 82.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
FFB: Four Ugly Guns (Buffalo Hunter #2) -- Ralph Hayes
Ralph Hayes wrote a lot of books for the low-rent paperback houses back in the '60s and '70s, both westerns and adventure series. He wasn't a great prose stylist, and his storytelling was pretty straight ahead, as it is in Four Ugly Guns. The buffalo hunter is a man named O'Brien, and in this book he stops off his wandering to pay a visit to his friend Tobias. When he arrives at Tobias's house, he finds Tobias, his wife, and his sons dead, murdered by a Mexican bandit called Diablo and the three other members of his gang.
After that, it's a simple affair. O'Brien goes after the killers to get revenge. He gets it, killing one after another of the gang members. There's no swerving from the plotline, no twists, no unexpected thrills. I don't know why I picked this book up to read, but it was fast going if mediocre. I doubt I'll be reading another one in the series, although I have a couple.
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