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.
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