Beth Fedyn, with wonderful generosity, sent me an Advanced Reading Copy of Writers on Literature & Literary Life From The New York Times Book Review. I love books like this! For those of you who are regular readers of The New York Times Book Review, you’ll recognize many of these “By The Book” interviews. However, I noticed that the interviews in this book seem to be the “expanded” versions that are available online. The format of “By the Book” is Q&A: “What is your favorite book?” and “What books are you currently reading?” are some of the standard questions. My favorite interview in this collection is with Neil Gaiman. Gaiman defends his love of the quirky writer Harry Stephen Keeler. Gaiman persuaded me to dig out a HSK novel and read it. If you’re curious about what other writers and celebrities are reading, you’ll find out in this book. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreward by Scott Turow
Introduction by Pamela Paul
1. David Sedaris
2. Lena Dunham
3. Neil Gaiman
4. Mary Higgins Clark
5. Drew Gilpin Faust
6. Carl Hiaasen
7. John Irving
8. Elizabeeth Gilbert
9. Richard Ford
10. Colin Powell
11. David Eggers
12. Sylvia Nasar
13. Ira Glass
14. Junot Diaz
15. Joyce Carol Oates
16. Nicholson Baker
17. Emma Thompson
18. Michael Chabon
19. Jeffrey Eugenides
20. J. K. Rowling
21. David Mitchell
22. John Grisham
23. P. J. O’Rourke
24. Anne Lamott
25. Ian McEwan
26. Lee Child
27. Arnold Schwarzenegger
28. Francine Prose
29. Jared Diamond
30. Alain de Botton
31. Dave Barry
32. Katherine Boo
33. Marilynne Robinson
34. Sheryl Sandberg
35. Caroline Kennedy
36. Isabel Allende
37. Anna Quindlen
38. Jonathan Franzen
39. Hilary Mantel
40. Walter Mosley
41. Khaled Hosseini
42. Jeannette Walls
43. Dan Brown
44. Dan Savage
45. Christopher Buckley
46. Curtis Sittenfeld
47. James McBride
48. James Patterson
49. Jonathan Lethem
50. Jhumpa Lahiri
51. Richard Dawkins
52. Sting
53. Andrew Solomon
54. Malcolm Gladwell
55. Scott Turow
56. Donna Tartt
57. Ann Patchett
58. Amy Tan
59. Bryan Cranston
60. Michael Connelly
61. Neil DeGrassse Tyson
62. E. L. Doctorow
63. Chang-Rae Lee
64. Gary Shteyngart
65. Rachel Kushner
Index

Bills fans are still reeling from the Overtime victory over the Chicago Bears and the purchase of the team by local billionaire Terry Pegula. What a week! And now the Home Opener features the Bills’ long-time AFC East rival: the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins stunned the New England Patriots last Sunday with a second half rally. The weather here at Ralph Wilson Stadium will be sunny with a temperature of 63 degrees. Perfect football weather! Will all this week’s distractions cause the Bills to lose their focus? Can they build on all the good news this week and overcome the Dolphins? Stay tuned. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Harry Potter–er–Daniel Radcliffe plays a med-school drop-out named Wallace. Wallace goes to a party at his former roommate’s apartment and meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan). Sparks immediately fly. But, Chantry lives with her boyfriend, Ben. So Wallace and Chantry agree to “just be friends.” Can men and women “just be friends” was a question at the heart of the classic romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally. In fact, What If seems like a remake of When Harry Met Sally. The main problem with What If is that Nora Ephron did not write the script. I found myself wincing at some of the dialogue. But there’s on-screen chemistry between Radcliffe and Kazan to generate enough magic for me to recommend this movie. GRADE: B

Joe R. Lansdale completed a story about Tarzan that Edgar Rice Burroughs left unfinished. The completed story was published in four parts by Dark Horse Comics before this single volume was issued in 1995. If you’re an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and a Tarzan fan, you’ll want this adventure. Many people think the Tarzan series ended when Fritz Leiber’s authorized Tarzan and the Valley of Gold was published in 1966 as the 25th Tarzan novel. But, no. There were more! This Lansdale collaboration was followed by two further novels authorized by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.. R. A. Salvatore’s 1997 Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, and Philip José Farmer’s 1999 The Dark Heart of Time are also worth reading. I haven’t seen the 21st Century Tarzan novels…yet.
THE TARZAN SERIES:
1 The twenty four main books
1.1 Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
1.2 The Return of Tarzan (1913)
1.3 The Beasts of Tarzan (1914)
1.4 The Son of Tarzan (1914)
1.5 Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916)
1.6 Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1919)
1.7 Tarzan the Untamed (1920)
1.8 Tarzan the Terrible (1921)
1.9 Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922/23)
1.10 Tarzan and the Ant Men (1924)
1.11 Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1927/28)
1.12 Tarzan and the Lost Empire (1928)
1.13 Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (1929)
1.14 Tarzan the Invincible (1930/31)
1.15 Tarzan Triumphant (1931)
1.16 Tarzan and the City of Gold (1932)
1.17 Tarzan and the Lion Man (1933/34)
1.18 Tarzan and the Leopard Men (1935)
1.19 Tarzan’s Quest (1935/36)
1.20 Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1938)
1.21 Tarzan the Magnificent (1939)
1.22 Tarzan and the Foreign Legion (1947)
1.23 Tarzan and the Madman (1964)
1.24 Tarzan and the Castaways (1965)
2 Other official works
2.1 The Eternal Lover and The Mad King (1914–15, 1925, 1926)
2.2 The Adventures of Tarzan (1921, 2006)
2.3 Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins (1927/1936)
2.4 Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)
2.5 Endless Quest Books
2.6 Tarzan: the Lost Adventure (1995)
2.7 Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996)
2.8 The Dark Heart of Time (1999)
2.9 Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy (2011)
2.10 Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior (2012)
2.11 “Tarzan: The Savage Lands” (2013)

Local billionaire, Terry Pegula, just purchased the Buffalo Bills. He spent a reported $1.1 billion. Terry Pegula also owns the Buffalo Sabres, our NHL team. The other bidders to buy the Bills were Donald Trump and the Jon Bon Jovi Group. If The Donald had bought the Bills, he would have moved them to Los Angeles. If the Jon Bon Jovi Group–which was basically Canadian money interests–bought the Bills, they would have moved the team to Toronto.

With Terry Pegula and his wife Kim in charge now, the Buffalo Bills will be here for a generation. The headline on the front page of our local newsper, Buffalo News, said it all: THANKS A BILLION!

Told through documents, transcripts, letters, and cryptograms The Supernatural Enhancements masquerades as a haunted house novel. It’s not. Yes, the house has a ghost, but there’s more to this story than that. There’s a secret room, a garden maze (that hides some secrets), a strange energy that affects lights and beds and the inhabitants of the house. If you like codes and puzzles, this is the book for you. I liked The Supernatural Enhancements but I wish it were more spooky. GRADE: B

Babette’s Feast won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It’s also the first Danish film to win an Academy Award. Basically, the story is straight-forward: an inspirational minister and his two beautiful daughters live in a rural Danish town in the 19th Century. The movie then shows what happens when the minister dies and his sect dwindles. The beautiful daughters, who had opportunities to live and marry, are now old and white-haired–and alone. Through a twist of fate, a French woman joins their small community. The French woman, Babette, shows the community what Real Life and real French cooking are like. I enjoyed this story of decisions made and opportunities lost. Many viewers will consider Babette’s Feast too slow, but its leisurely pace is part of its charm. GRADE: B

Greil Marcus’ new book, The History of Rock’N’Roll in Ten Songs, is basically a device to allow Marcus to riff about other artists and other songs. I found the book entertaining, but I came up with my own list of 10 songs to tell the story of Rock’N’Roll:
MY 10 SONGS:
1. “Return to Sender”–Elvis (1962)
2. “She Loves You”–The Beatles (1963)
3. “Come See About Me”–The Supremes (1964)
4.”Like a Rolling Stone”–Bob Dylan (1965)
5. “Tumblin’ Dice”–The Rolling Stones (1972)
6. “Bad Girls”–Donna Summer (1979)
7. “Hey Nineteen”–Steely Dan (1980)
8. “Live to Tell”–Madonna (1986)
9. “Genie In A Bottle”–Christina Aguilera (1999)
10. “Just Dance”–Lady Gaga (2008)

GREIL MARCUS’ 10 SONGS:
1.”Shake Some Action”–Flamin’ Groovies (1976)
2. “Transmission”–Joy Division (1979)
3. “In the Still of the Nite”–The Five Satins (1956)
4. “All I Could Do Was Cry”–Etta James (1960,) Beyonce (2011)
5. “Crying, Waiting, Hoping”–Buddy Holly (1959)
6. “Money (That’s What I Want)”–Barrett Strong (1960), Beatles (1963)
7. “Money Changes Everything”–Cyndi Lauper (1984)
8. “This Magic Moment”–The Drifters (1960)
9. “Guitar Drag”–Christian Marclay (2006)
10. “To Know Him Is To Love Him”–Amy Winehouse (2006)

What 10 songs would you choose to tell the history of rock & roll?

The Buffalo Bills enter this First Game of the season with plenty of question marks. Can QB E. J. Manuel stay healthy and develop? Can the Bills defense overcome the losses of Kiki Alonso (best defensive player, he blew out his ACL working out in the pre-season) and All-Pro free safety Jairus Byrd (who signed with New Orleans)? The Bills have never won a game at Chicago. Their prospects look dim this time, too. How is your favorite NFL team going to fare today?

Jon Favreau plays a volatile, but talented chef. After a public fight with a food critic (it’s captured on cell phone video and goes viral on the Internet), he quits his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant. At a loss about what to do with his career in shambles, the chef returns to his home town of Miami. His ex-wife, played by Sofía Vergara, convinces him to fix up a food truck and start a new business. The chef repairs some of his relationship with his ex-wife. Their son wants to join him in the journey of driving the food truck back to L.A. Father and son renew their relationship as well. While on the road trip, the food truck stops and sells Cubanos in cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Austin along the way to L.A. The essence of the movie is to “get back to basics.”

Favreau, who directed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Cowboys and Aliens, wrote the script to Chef wanting to “get back to basics” and to create a movie celebrating cooking and family. I enjoyed the film with its talented cast and uncomplicated plot. No surprises here. I really liked Emjay Anthony’s performance as the chef’s 11-year-old son. So much of this film is about the father/son relationship. It could all have gone wrong with a bad casting choice. But, it didn’t. GRADE: A-