I have no special insights into this year’s OSCAR picks. I’ve seen most of the movies nominated so here’s what I think will win:
BEST MOVIE: HIDDEN FIGURES
BEST DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
BEST ACTOR: Denzel Washington, Fences
BEST ACTRESS: Emma Stone, La La Land
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, Fences
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Manchester by the Sea
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “City of Stars,” La La Land
Who do you think will win big at the OSCARS tonight?

Diane and I try to support local theater whenever we can. We saw a fun and silly play over the weekend, It Shoulda Been You, based on a 2015 Broadway play directed by David Hyde Pierce and starred Tyne Daly, features plenty of humor and complications. If you’re a fan of wedding comedies (like BRIDESMAIDS and FATHER OF THE BRIDE) you’ll love It Shoulda Been You. Of course, the two families involved don’t like each other. There’s an ex-boyfriend lurking around trying to disrupt the proceedings. Misunderstandings and bizarre behavior threaten the proceedings. The music isn’t memorable. It serves to advance the plot mostly. But the local group we saw had a lot of fun with this play. The mostly Senior Citizen audience enjoyed it, too. GRADE: B

One of the books I picked up at the BOUCHERCON in New Orleans was Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen 1947-1950. During this time period, four Ellery Queen novels were published: Ten Days’ Wonder (1948), Cat of Many Tales (1049), Double, Double (1950), and The Origin of Evil (1951). When I first discovered Ellery Queen back in the 1960s, i binged on the early mysteries reading about a dozen of them before moving on to Agatha Christie and “carter brown.” Afterwords, I read an Ellery Queen novel about every decade. So, in order to read Blood Relations I had to read the four books Frederic Danny and Manfred B. Lee (the cousins who worked together as “Ellery Queen”) discuss in these letters. I found them fascinating with the detail both men go into about their writing process. The letters share personal information: neither man was particularly healthy. Both seem to suffer from bouts of depression. And there’s a undercurrent of anger and antagonism in these letters. Money problems and family problems enter into the mix. I learned a lot about the approach these men took toward their work. GRADE: A

As far as the four novels, I found Ten Days’ Wonder very clever with multiple plots swirling under the surface. A friend of Ellery Queen fears he committed a crime while suffering from amnesia. Ellery accompanies his friend to Wrightsville and becomes involved in a blackmail plot. I found the conclusion surprising. GRADE: B+

A serial killer called the Cat sends New York City into a panic. Ellery Queen, in a funk over the events in Wrightsville in Ten Days’ Wonder, is reluctant to get involved, but when his father is put in charge of the investigation, Ellery plunges into solving the murders. The 10 murders seem completely unconnected and random, but Ellery finally discovers the common element. Cat of Many Tales is one of the best mysteries Dannay and Lee ever produced. GRADE: A

Ellery Queen finds himself back in Wrightsville for a series of deaths that follow the “rich man, poor man, begger man, thief” rubric. I found this mystery very very contrived. GRADE: B-

Origin of Evil is one of the Ellery Queen “Hollywood” mysteries. Ellery is in California to write a book, but he’s immediately drawn into a convoluted crime involving a dead dog, eels, dead frogs, and a guy who lives in a tree house. If you’re in the mood for a wacky puzzle novel, The Origin of Evil will fit the bill. GRADE: B

What’s your favorite Ellery Queen mystery?

I’m an obsessive Library Book Sale attendee. Usually, Library Book Sales around here occur in the Spring mostly. But, I found a January Library Book sale and rooted out these three CDs (for a quarter each!). The 1980s was a decade of Big Hair and Heavy Metal. These Rhino Records collections reflect a “softer side” of the Eighties music. How many of these songs do you remember?
BILBOARD TOP HITS: 1987
1. “With or Without You” — U2 5:00
2. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” — Kim Wilde 4:18
3. “C’est la Vie” — Robbie Nevil 3:27
4. “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” — Aretha Franklin & George Michael 4:02
5. “At This Moment” — Billy Vera & The Beaters 4:15
6. “I Heard a Rumour” — Bananarama 3:26
7. “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” — Belinda Carlisle 4:14
8. “Don’t Dream It’s Over” — Crowded House 4:00
9. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” — Starship 4:35
19. “The Lady in Red” — Chris DeBurgh 4:17
BILBOARD TOP HITS: 1988
1. Wishing Well – Terence Trent D’Arby
2. Shattered Dreams – Johnny Hates Jazz
3. Seasons Change – Expose
4. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car – Billy Ocean
5. Anything For You – Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine
6. Hold On To The Nights – Richard Marx
7. Wild, Wild West – The Escape Club
8. The Flame – Cheap Trick
9. Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby) – Will To Power
10. Don’t Worry, Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin
BILBOARD TOP HITS: 1989
1. When I See You Smile – Bad English
2. Eternal Flame – Bangles
3. Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Tears For Fears
4. Toy Soldiers – Martika
5. Heaven – Warrant
6. Don’t Wanna Lose You – Gloria Estefan
7. Soldier Of Love – Donny Osmond
8. Hangin’ Tough – New Kids On The Block
9. Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx
10. Lost In Your Eyes – Debbie Gibson

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is a wacky play and entertaining musical set in early 20th Century England. “Monty” D’Ysquith Navarro discovers his mother was cast out of the wealthy D’Ysquith Family because she married a penniless musician. Monty then realizes he’s only 8 successors away from being the Earl of Highhurst. So Monty decides to dispose of the members of the D’Ysquith Family who refused to help his mother in her poverty. The dispatching of arrogant D’Ysquiths is both funny and clever. Meanwhile, Monty’s girl friend, the greedy Miss Sibella Hallward, decides to marry the wealthy Lionel Holland (who owns a “motor car”). My two favorite scenes involve ice skating and Monty and Sibella in his apartment. If you’re in the mood for a snarky musical comedy, I recommend A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. GRADE: B+
Act I
MUSICAL NUMBERS:
“A Warning to the Audience” – Ensemble
“You’re a D’Ysquith” – Miss Shingle and Monty
“I Don’t Know What I’d Do” – Sibella
“Foolish to Think” – Monty
“A Warning to Monty” – Ensemble
“I Don’t Understand the Poor” – Lord Adalbert and Ensemble
“Foolish to Think (Reprise)” – Monty
“Poison in My Pocket” – Monty, Asquith Jr., and Miss Barley
“Poor Monty” – Sibella and Company
“Better With a Man” – Henry and Monty
“Inside Out” – Phoebe and Monty
“Lady Hyacinth Abroad” – Lady Hyacinth and Ensemble
“The Last One You’d Expect” – Company
Act II
“Why Are All the D’Ysquith’s Dying” – Lord Adalbert and Mourners
“Sibella” – Monty
“I’ve Decided to Marry You” – Phoebe, Sibella, and Monty
“Final Warning” – Ensemble
“Poison in My Pocket (Reprise)” – Monty
“Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” – Lord Adalbert
“Stop! Wait! What?!” – Monty
“That Horrible Woman” – Sibella, Phoebe, Detective, Magistrate, and Guard
“Finale” – Company

Neil Gaiman’s novel version of Stardust was published in 1999. This movie version came on in 2007. Stardust features an ensemble cast of Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Jason Flemyng, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Peter O’Toole, with narration by Ian McKellen. Tristran Thorn: loves Victoria Forester (the most beautiful girl in the world–according to Tristran). When they witness a falling star, Tristran promises Victoria he will bring her the falling star to seal their love. Victoria agrees and off Tristran goes into a land of Faerie beyond The Wall. Tristran, who finds he has an incredible sense of direction in this new land, finds the falling star,Yvaine–who looks a lot like Claire Danes–and binds her to him with a magic silver chain. But the falling star is being hunted by others: sons of the Lord of Stormhold who seek power and The Lilim–three witches who need the magic of the falling star to regain their Youth. I read Neil Gaiman’s clever novel. This movie follows it fairly closely, but the roles of Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) and his airship is greatly enhanced.

If you’re in the mood for High Adventure and fantastic Magic, Stardust has plenty of both! GRADE: B+

Gay Talese’s The Voyeur’s Motel is one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. Decades ago, Gay Talese, the famous non-fiction writer (Honor Thy Father and Thy Neighbor’s Wife, etc.) received a letter from a guy in Colorado saying he owned a motel that allowed him to observe the the people in their motel rooms unbeknownst to them. The man claimed he keeping detailed records of the sexual activities going on in those rooms. Gay Telese flew out to Denver, met the Voyeur (as he called himself), and actually witnessed a sex act performed in one of the motel rooms from the hidden vantage point.

Gay Talese insisted he could not write about the Voyeur’s experiences unless he could use the man’s real name. The Voyeur was reluctant to reveal his true identity to the world for fear of criminal prosecution and law suits. Over the 1980s and 1990s, Telese and the Voyeur kept up a sporadic correspondence. The Voyeur would send Talese his observations and sections of his detailed journal. Finally, Talese gained permission to reveal the Voyeur’s identity and The Voyeur’s Motel is the result. After reading this book, my opinion that Life and Other People are very strange was strongly reinforced. GRADE: B+

Jeanne Safer has been a psychoanalyst for 40 years. She’s counseled hundreds of clients over those years. What struck her was that many of the problems that plagued her clients centered around love and friendship. In a fascinating series of essay, Jeanne Safer shows how the quest for love by both male and female clients led to disaster and/or happiness. Safer discusses how relationships go wrong and what can be done (in many cases, you have to just walk away). Why we do the crazy things we do when we’re in love start to make sense with Safer’s analysis. If you’re interested in relationships and how they work (and don’t work), I recommend The Golden Condom. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I: HOPELESS LOVE
1. Leaving Unloving Lovers and Unfriendly Friends 7
2. Of Human Bondage: Obsessive Love 13
3. Vengeance Is Mine: The Dark Side of Rejected Love 57
4. Betrayal 74
5. Unrequited Love: My Golden One 89
PART II: DIFFICULT LVOE
6. The Man Who Could Not Love 125
7. The Tantalizing Mentor & the Passionate Protege 147
8. Traumatic Friendship 184
PART III: FULFILLED LOVE
9. Late First Marriage: The Triumph of Hope Over
Resignation 213
10. Love Is Tronger Than the Grave 241
11. Love Him, Hate His Politics: How a Liberal
and a Conservative Stay Married 257
12 Recovering the Good form a Love Gone Bad 266
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 271

After considering yesterday’s Friday’s Forgotten Book “Children Gone Wrong” selection of Shakespeare’s King Lear, I decided to read Northrop Fry’s informative Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy. Northrop Fry delivered thees three lectures as part of the Alexander Lecture series for 1965-19666 season at the University of Toronto. In this slim, 121-page book, Fry explores Shakespeare’s tragedies–not as a literary critic–but as an admirer of great drama. These lectures are aimed at a general audience (no deconstruction here!). In the first lecture, Fry discusses the tragedies of order: Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet. The second lecture on tragedies of passion enlighten Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Troilus and Cressida, and Cooriolanus. Finally, in the discussion of the tragedies of isolation, Fry delivers his insights into King Lear, Othello, and Timon of Athens. If you’re a fan of Shakespeare, you’ll enjoy this short and pithy exploration of these great plays. What is your favorite Shakespeare tragedy? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PREFACE AND DEDICATION v
My father as he slept:
The tragedy of order 3
The tailors of the earth:
The tragedy of passion 43
Little world of man:
The tragedy of isolation77

When Patti first proposed an FFB about “Children Gone Wrong” I immediately thought of Goneril and Regan, King Lear’s vicious daughters. King Lear, old and tired of ruling his kingdom, decided to divide it among his three daughters. But, Lear says he will give the biggest part to the daughter who loves him most. Goneril, the eldest, flatters the old man with sweet talk. Regan follows Goneril’s lead and praises her father lavishly. Only Cordelia, the daughter who truly loves Lear, declines to play this phony game. And, as a result, earns the anger of her father who thinks, falsely, that Cordelia doesn’t love him enough. Goneril and Regan slowly steal Lear’s kingdom and reduce him to a a madman. Then, not satisfied with the kingdoms they now rule, Goneril and Regan start a civil war which sends the kingdoms into misery. So there are my candidates for “Children Gone Wrong”: the greedy and violent Goneril and Regan.
King Lear by William Shakespeare at The National Theatre
Director Sam Mendes