I first read Help I Am Being Held Prisoner when it was first published in 1974. Now, HARD CASE CRIME has reprinted this Westlake classic and provided it with a great cover by Paul Mann. Harold Albert Chester Kunt finds himself in prison as a result of a practical joke that went awry. While in prision, Kunt falls in with a group of convicts who secretly have a tunnel that leads out of the prison. They leave the prison on a regular basis without the guards knowing it. But, of course, they return to prison to keep up appearances. With this comic setup, Westlake creates a cunning comic caper novel where Kunt’s convict “friends” want to rob a bank in a nearby town. And they plan to include Kunt in the heist.

Help I Am Being Held Prisoner ranks up there with Westlake’s more famous and hilarious Dortmunder series. The plot is clever and the comic situations just keep you laughing. It doesn’t get much better than this! Highly recommended. GRADE: A

Somehow I missed A Big Hand For the Little Lady when it hit the theaters in 1966. This western has an amazing cast: Joanne Woodward, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Burgess Meredith, Charles Bickford, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Middleton and Paul Ford. The action centers on a high stakes poker game. Henry Fonda, a compulsive gambler, manages to get into the game with the money he and his wife saved over a decade. The money was supposed to go to buy a farm outside San Antonio, but Fonda can’t resist the call of the cards. At a critical moment in the game, Fonda suffers a heart attack. His wife, Joan Woodward, decides to play her husband’s hand–even though she doesn’t know how to play poker! There are some nifty twists and turns in A Big Hand For the Little Lady that will keep you guessing. I suspect A Big Hand For the Little Lady shows up on Turner Classic Movies from time to time. I borrowed this DVD from my local Library. Very entertaining! GRADE: B+

Andy Grammer is an entertaining pop singer whose music is light and frothy. The Good Parts is Grammer’s third album. Andy Grammer came out in 2011 and Magazines and Novels was released in 2014. I think The Good Parts is better than those two early albums. Grammer’s infectious “Fresh Eyes” hit Number Nine and his latest single, “Smoke Clears” is moving up the charts. There’s not a lot of contemporary pop music music I find enjoyable, but these songs are music to my ears. Check out the video below. GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:1
1. Smoke Clears 2:58
2. Freeze 3:07
3. The Good Parts 3:39
4. Spaceship 3:00
5. Fresh Eyes 3:18
6. 85 . 3:22
7. Always 3:02
8. Workin On It . 3:34
9. Grown Ass Man Child 3:08
10. This Ain’t Love 3:25
11. Civil War 3:25
12. Grow 3:07
13. Give Love (feat. LunchMoney Lewis) 3:27

I was born in 1949 so I thought it would be fun to see what the best Science Fiction stories in Bleiler and Dikty’s anthology revealed. I was familiar with Ray Bradbury’s “Mars is Heaven!” (part of his The Martian Chronicles. I was also familiar with “Ex Machina” by Lewis Padgett (aka, Henry Kuttner) which is one of the Gallagher stories about a genius who can solve any problem but only when he’s drunk. Henry Kuttner also wrote my favorite story in this anthology, “Happy Ending.” I also enjoyed “The Strange Case of John Kingman” by Murray Leinster about a man who has six fingers on each hand and has lived 162 years. All in all, I found Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949 a real treat. I’m tempted to review Best Science Fiction Stories: 1950 in a future FFB! GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Trends in Modern Science-Fiction, by Melvin Korshak
Preface, by Everett F. Bleiler & T. E. Dikty
“Mars is Heaven!”, by Ray Bradbury
“Ex Machina”, by Lewis Padgett
“The Strange Case of John Kingman”, by Murray Leinster
“Doughnut Jockey”, by Erik Fennel
“Thang”, by Martin Gardner
“Period Piece”, by J. J. Coupling
“Knock”, by Fredric Brown
“Genius”, by Poul Anderson
“And the Moon Be Still as Bright”, by Ray Bradbury
“No Connection”, by Isaac Asimov
“In Hiding”, by Wilmar H. Shiras
“Happy Ending”, by Henry Kuttner

British playwright Joe Orton, on August 10, 1967, had his brains bashed out with a hammer wielded by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. Halliwell then swallowed 22 sleeping pills and killed himself. I bring up these facts because Orton’s plays, with their violence and sex and contempt for authority, foreshadow Orton’s grim end. I read The Complete Plays because of a review of “What the Butler Saw” by Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal. For the 1960s, Joe Orton plays were Hot Stuff. Swearing, sex, mayhem, and railing against morality and religion. But Time has not been kind to these plays. The best ones, “Loot” and “What the Butler Saw,” resemble screwball comedies with wacky characters and dizzy plots. The other plays were a slog. If you’re interested in British drama from 50 years ago, Orton shows you what was trendy back then. GRADE: C
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by John Lahr
The ruffian on the stair
Entertaining Mr. Sloane
The good and faithful servant
Loot
The Erpingham camp
Funeral games
What the butler saw.

From James Brown Prince took a taskmaster’s precision. From George Clinton, he took an interest in empire building. From Duke Ellington, he took a mix of closely guarded personal privacy and musical expansiveness. From the Beatles, he took a visionary bravery regarding the possibilities of arrangement. From Joni Mitchell, he took a flinty intelligence and a delicacy that he could deploy when it was least expected. From Todd Rundgren, he took an understanding of the adrenaline rush that came form working as a one-man-band. From Little Richard, he took falsetto shriek and flamboyant androgyny. From Sly Stone, he took pop smarts and the benefits of an integrated band. From Carlos Santana, he took more guitar pyrotechnics. From Stevie Wonder, he took mastery. From David Bowie, he took mystery. (p. 44-45)

When Prince died in 2016 from a drug overdose (similar to Tom Petty a year later) one of the great innovators of rock & roll left the stage. I was a fan of the early Prince music and his underrated movie, Purple Rain. His 1999 (1982) album was my favorite. But, once the 1990s hit Prince went into a funk. He was fighting with his recording company, Warner Brothers. He started appearing on and off the stage with the word SLAVE on his face. He dropped his name and became a symbol (aka, “The Artist formerly known as Prince). Needless to say, Prince’s music suffered. Ben Greenman does an excellent job describing Prince’s music and recording process. He includes an annotated discography that is worth the price of the book. What Greenman doesn’t do is explain why Prince became addicted to the drugs that would take his life. Are you a fan of Prince? GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword: Questlove p. xi
Introduction: The End p. 1
Section 1 Man, Music
1 Life Can Be So Nice: His Life and Its Beginnings p. 11
2 Baby I’m a Star: His Music and Its Beginnings p. 27
3 Brand New Groove: His Music and Its Properties p. 44
4 Musicology: His Music and Its Imitators p. 54
Section 2 Meaning
5 Girls and Boys: Sex in His Music p. 69
6 Walk by the Mirror: Self in His Music p. 86
7 What Time is It?: Others in His Music p. 100
8 I Wish U Heaven: Virtue and Sin in His Music p. 120
9 America: Race and Politics in His Music p. 145
Section 3 Method, Madness
10 What’s My Name: Why He Changed His Name, and What That Wrought p. 167
11 MPLS: How His Hometown Made Him and How He, in Turn, Made It p. 189
12 Call the Law: How He Grew Frustrated with Fans and the Internet p. 198
13 It’s Gonna be a Beautiful Night: When He Was Onstage p. 211
14 The Work: How He Produced So Much for So Long p. 229
Section 4 Memory
15 Such a Shame our Friendship had to End p. 245
Appendix: Let’s Work: Annotated Discography and Song Index p. 263
Sources p. 281
Acknowledgments p. 285

I enjoyed Simon Pegg’s Man Up (Patti Abbott recommended it, my review is here). But Absolutely Anything is a completely different movie. A band of space aliens called the Galactic Council have to decide whether to destroy Humanity or allow it to develop (the aliens are voiced by the MONTY PYTHON team of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, amd Michael Palin). They have a “test” that allows how their decision should be made. The aliens choose one Earthly at random and give them the power to do absolutely anything.

Simon Pegg, a struggling teacher, discovers he suddenly has amazing powers. Simon is in love with Catherine West (Kate Beckinsale) who is struggling with her job at the BBC. Simon tries to win Catherine’s love by using his new powers, but he only messes things up. Simon also gives his dog, Dennis, the power to speak. The voice of Dennis is Robin Williams. This was Robin Williams’s last film role.

There’s a lot of silliness in Absolutely Anything. Kate Beckinsale is the best thing about this occasionally comic movie. But, set the bar low. GRADE: C+

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz studies millions of GOOGLE searches to come up with his conclusions. For example, Stephens-Davidowitz challenges the prediction that Kinsey made in the 1950s that 10% of the population were homosexuals. Based on GOOGLE searches, the estimate is closer to 5%. Stephens-Davidowitz shows why polling for the 2016 Presidential Election was off by about 2% and undercounting Trump supporters. The chapter on sex is an eye-opener. If you’re interested in what GOOGLE searches tell us about what people are really concerned about, Everybody Lies answers those questions. Brilliant book! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword Steven Pinker ix
Introduction: The Outlines of a Revolution 1
Part I Data, Big and Small
1 Your Faulty Gut 25
Part II The Powers of Big Data
2 Was Freud Right? 45
3 Data Reimagined 55
Bodies as Data 62
Words as Data 74
Pictures as Data 97
4 Digital Truth Serum 105
The Truth About Sex 112
The Truth About Hate and Prejudice 128
The Truth About the Internet 140
The Truth About Child Abuse and Abortion 145
The Truth About Your Facebook Friends 150
The Truth About Your Customers 153
Can We Handle the Truth? 158
5 Zooming In 165
What’s Really Going On in Our Counties, Cities, and Towns? 172
How We Fill Our Minutes and Hours 190
Our Doppelgangers 197
Data Stories 205
6 All the World’s a Lab 207
The ABCs of A/B Testing 209
Nature’s Cruel-but Enlightening-Experiments 221
Part III Big Data: Handle with Care
7 Big Data, Big Schmata? What It Cannot Do 243
The Curse of Dimensionality 246
The Overemphasis on What Is Measurable 252
8 Mo Data, Mo Problems? What We Shouldn’t Do 257
The Danger of Empowered Corporations 257
The Danger of Empowered Governments 266
Conclusion: How Many People Finish Books? 271
Acknowledgments 285
Notes 289
Index 319

This is the New England Patriot’s eighth Super Bowl and they’re 4 1/2 point favorites. The plucky Eagles, without their elite quarterback Carson Wentz, face a tough struggle today. Most Bills fans instinctively root against the Patriots. This game might have been truly compelling if the New Orleans Saints were in it instead of the Eagles. My heart will be rooting for the Eagles, but my head says the Patriots will win. Again. What do you think will happen at the Super Bowl today?

A couple guys playing grab-ass is not a plot for a movie. Elio (Timothee Chalamet) is a horny 17-year-old who falls for the graduate student his professor father hires to help him during the summer. Oliver is seven years older and “experienced.” Both men run around with their shirts off a lot. Elio specializes in giving Oliver smoldering glances. But, in these coming of age movies you know the drill. There’s nothing novel, no surprises, no suspense, and no unpredictability in Call Me By Your Name. Like the glacial Phantom Thread the pacing of Call Me By Your Name would be envied by snails. GRADE: D (for dull, dull, dull)