PEAKY BLINDERS: The Immortal Man delivers everything you could want in a Peaky Blinders movie. If you’re looking for angst, violence, sex, suspense, explosions, and the unexpected, it’s all here. Cillian Murphy returns as Tommy Shelby which shows in part why he won the Best Actor Oscar back in 2023.

“Written by series creator Steven Knight, the film reunites Cillian Murphy with co-stars including Sophie Rundle (Ada Thorne), Packy Lee (Johnny Dogs), Ned Dennehy (Charlie Strong), and Stephen Graham (Hayden Stagg). New cast members include Barry Keoghan, Rebecca Ferguson, and Tim Roth.”

I will watch anything with Rebecca Ferguson in it! GRADE: A

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1996)  includes a Who’s-Who, an A-Z of Science Fiction characters, a reference guide to writers, actors, directors, an in-depth glossary, listing of the seminal sf movies and much more.

This book is a browser’s delight! David Pringle managed to provide both information and fun in this encyclopedia. If you’re a fan of the genre, this is a handy tool. And, copies are available online at reasonable prices. GRADE: A

The 1980s was a decade of change. The impact of MTV cannot be over-estimated. Katrina and the Waves’ “Talking on Sunshine” became used in TV commercials for 40 years–it makes about a million dollars per year.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” still gets airplay on our local Oldies radio station. And, so does Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” I never hear the Miami Vice Theme anymore. But I do hear one of Trump’s favorite songs: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears.

I’m a big fan of The Honeydrippers’ “Sea of Love.” Do you remember these songs from the mid-Eighties? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

I really enjoyed Loren D. Estleman’s “A Hatful of Ralph,” where Ralph Poteet, a private eye with plenty of problems, is reduced to playing Santa in a department store where he’s supposed to find out who is stealing plenty of items. Of course, on top of the thefts, there’s a murder to spice things up.

I also liked Michael Collins and Gayle Lynds’ “A Delicate Mission” where two spies need to find a diary with sensitive information. The mission runs into trouble that changes the entire outcome.

John Lutz gives a whole new meaning to Hopper’s Nighthawks with his haunting story of the same name.

Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin (2003), is as Max Allan Collins says on the cover, “This is the stuff of Literary Viagra.” GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION: Sinful Streets by Max Allan Collins and Jeff Gelb —xi
Low Tide / Dick Lochte — 1

Back o’ town blues / David Fulmer — 26

Dalliance at Sunnydale / Barbara Collins — 36

The Iberville mistress / O’Neil de Noux — 52

Service / Gary Lovisi — 72

The last reel / Gary R. Bush — 88

A delicate mission / Michael Collins, Gayle Lynds — 110

Perfection / Jeff Gelb — 127

Walking to Paris / Rex Miller — 136

Feel the pain / Michael Bracken — 141

Sex crimes / Michael Garrett — 160

Money-back guarantee / Marthayn Pelegrimas, Robert J. Randisi — 166

A hatful of Ralph / Loren D. Estleman — 182

Bank job / Thomas S. Roche — 199

The Windsor ballet / Deborah Morgan — 214

Good career moves / Robert S. Levinson — 236

Dicks are blind / James L. Traylor — 157

Lie beside me / Max Allan Collins, Matthew V. Clemens — 270

Mirror, mirror / Catherine Dain — 285

A Dick and Jane story / Jack Kelly — 294

The raiders / Gary Phillips — 303

The daffodil / Annette Meyers, Martin Meyers — 318

Nighthawks / John Lutz — 339

Contributors — 355

“By the end of 2020, Newsweek reported that videos of people burning Harry Potter books were spreading like wildfire across TikTok. Historically, Harry Potter has been burned by right-wing fundamentalists who accuse J. K. Rowling of promoting witchcraft.” (p. 2)

“When Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, gave the Tanner Lectures at the Univserity of Michigan in 1988, she placed William Shakespeare, Henry James, and Herman Melville on the list of authors she could never live without.” (p. 47)

“Ray Bradbury’s 1953 masterpiece [Fahrenheit 451] was itself silently rewritten by his publisher, without his knowledge, because it, too, offended some readers. His publisher was ‘fearful of contaminating the young.’ For six years, the censored edition was the only paperback edition in print.” (p. 84)

Adam Szetela’s That Book is Dangerous! explores the pressures exerted by groups on publishers to “modify” or simply not publish books that “offend” them. Szetela’s cites a dozen examples of books dropped by publishers because of social media hostility. And, we’re all too familiar with groups that attack books in school libraries that they claim are pornography or ideological.

I learned that most publishers today employ “sensitivity” readers to advise them on which books might generate negative reaction on TikTok or other social media platforms. Publishers are willing to go to great lengths to satisfy those “sensitive” readers–and to avoid confrontations. The result, of course, is censorship, thought-policing, and blatant editing of themes, characters, and situations that might be “provocative.”

Publishers are under intense pressure and scrutiny by groups threatening boycotts, public exhibitions like book burnings, and social media trashing. I knew publishers faced a lot a problems but That Book is Dangerous! shows in detail just how bad the situation is for authors, publishers…and readers today. Plus, if William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Herman Melville are considered “Dangerous” by these wacky groups, we are in deep shit. GRADE: A

Adam Szetela earned his Ph.D. in English from the Department of Literatures at Cornell University. Before that, he was a visiting fellow in the Department of History at Harvard University. He writes for The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, and other publications.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Welcome to the Sensitivity Era — 1
1 The Ideas of the Sensitivity Era — 9
2 The Behavior of the Sensitivity Era — 65
3 The Political Economy of the Sensitivity Era — 123
4 The Future of the Sensitivity Era — 169

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS — 197

NOTES — 206

INDEX — 259

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be broadcast on ABC. Sadly, Diane and I have seen NONE of the nominees for Best Picture–a first.

BEST PICTURE:

The Secret Agent

Bugonia

Marty Supreme

Train Dreams

F1

Sinners

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Diane and I used to watch the entire Oscar ceremony from start to finish. Most years, we had seen ALL the nominees for Best Picture. Those days are gone and the motion picture industry is in deep trouble. Are you going to watch the Oscars this year? The Oscar broadcast moves from ABC to YouTube in 2029.

As you have figured out, I am a Star Trek fan. The first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy just aired its finale and I wanted more Star Trek content. Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated series but it’s aimed at true hardcore Star Trek fans. Plenty of Easter Eggs and inside jokes. I delayed watching this series because I thought it might be targeting much younger audiences, but I was wrong. The series has the Star Trek vibe and even some snarky humor. I certainly should have embraced this sooner! GRADE: Incomplete but trending towards a B+

I’ve read a couple dozen books by Loren D. Estleman–both mysteries and Westerns–and enjoyed them all. Steve Lewis’s blog post about a down on his luck private eye, Ralph Poteet (you can read Steve’s post here), triggered my searching for Estleman’s Peeper and the two anthologies with Ralph Poteet stories in my cavernous basement.

Peeper is a 1989 loopy detective novel, featuring an overweight Detroit PI named Ralph Poteet who has a drinking problem (among other personal problems). When the hooker in the apartment above his calls Ralph in the middle of the night and offers him a $100 to help her, Ralph reluctantly agrees (since he’s broke).

Ralph finds a monsignor dead in the hooker’s bed. That leads to Ralph getting entangled in a conspiracy involving church corruption, Vatican politics, and murder. The hooker gets caught in an explosion as someone bombs her apartment. She survives, but is gravely injured.

Estleman uses Peeper to satirize the detective genre as the reader follows Ralph as he gets sucked into blackmail attempts and assassination attempts which leads to a conspiracy that reaches both Washington D.C. and the Vatican. 

Ralph Poteet shows up in short story form in two anthologies. The first is An Eye For Justice: The Third Private Eye Writers of America Anthology Edited by Robert J. Randisi (1988)–you can read my review here). “State of Grace” is basically the first couple chapters of Peeper.

The final Ralph Poteet story shows up in Flesh & Blood: Guilty As Sin Edited by Max Allan Collins and Jeff Gelb (2003). “A Hatful of Ralph,” where Ralph Poteet, as a result of his many problems, is reduced to playing Santa in a department store where he’s supposed to find out who is stealing plenty of items. Of course, on top of the thefts, there’s a murder to spice things up.

If you’re in the mood for some sardonic private eye stories with a noirish twist–a change of pace from traditional P.I fiction–I recommend Loren D. Estleman’s Ralph Poteet series. GRADE: B

Some rock critics describe Early Rock ‘n Roll as Pre-Beatles and Post-Beatles. But, back in 1963, the British Invasion started with a number of groups that dominated the radio airwaves. Gerry & The Pacemakers, Freddie & The Dreamers, Peter & Gordon, Chad & Jeremy, The Seekers and many more groups rode on the coat-tails of The Beatles to success in America.

I’m especially fond of The Spencer Davis Group. When I hear “Gimme Some Lovin'” I just have to get up and dance!

Sadly, this compilation CD doesn’t include my favorite British Group, The Rolling Stones. No Who either. But listening to this CD took me back to the Sixties and the new music from overseas. Are you a fan of the British Invasion? Do you have a favorite singer or group? GRADE: B+

TRACKLIST: