I’m a sucker for books like Must Read: Rediscovering American Best Sellers. If you glance at the Table of Contents below, you’ll see the essays that explore the best sellers of the past. My favorite essay was on The Godfather which I’ve always thought was undeservingly dismissed as “trash.” The essays with the most surprises (for me, at least) was the publishing history of Peyton Place. If you’re interested in the history of publishing, Must Read will delight you. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Must Read: Rediscovering American Bestsellers
Sarah Churchwell and Thomas Ruys Smith
2. Missing Numbers: The Partial History of the Bestseller
Sarah Garland
3. The History of Charlotte Temple (1791) as an American Bestseller
Gideon Mailer
4. ‘Like Beads Strung Together’: E.D.E.N. Southworth and the Aesthetics of Popular Serial Fiction
Rachel Ihara
5. Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (1854) and the Visual Culture of Temperance
William Gleason
6. ‘The Man Without a Country’ (1863): Treason, Expansionism, and the History of a ‘Bestselling’ Short Story
Hsuan Hsu
7. Exhilaration and Enlightenment in the Biblical Bestseller: Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ (1880)
James Russell
8. ‘Absolutely Punk’: Queer Economies of Desire in Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
J. Michelle Coghlan
9. Ornamentalism: Desire, Disavowal and Displacement in E.M. Hull’s The Sheik (1919)
Sarah Garland
10. Small Change? Emily Post’s Etiquette (1922-2011)
Grace Lees-Maffei
11. Blockbuster Feminism: Peyton Place (1956) and the Uses of Scandal
Ardis Cameron
12. Crimes and Bestsellers: Mario Puzo Path to The Godfather (1969)
Evan Brier
12. Master of Sentiment: The Romances of Nicholas Sparks
Sarah Churchwell
13.The Kite Runner Transnational Allegory: Anatomy of an Afghan-American Bestseller
Georgiana Banita
14. The Fiction of History: The Da Vinci Code (2003) and the Virtual Public Sphere
Stephen Mexal

Todd Mason and Patti Abbott raved about Orphan Black so I finally binged using On Demand. I watched all 10 episodes in three days. Yes, this Canadian science fiction series about clones compels you to watch. Tatiana Maslany plays all the clones with impressive versatility. Why do these clones exist? Who is doing the cloning? Why are the clones being hunted and murdered? We don’t get all the answers to these questions in Season One, but Season Two is being filmed in Toronto as you read this. Orphan Black is head-and-shoulders above other Summer series like Under the Dome (which I’m also watching). Nothing is quite what you think it is. The producers and writer throw in plenty of plot twists and surprises. I can’t wait for more Orphan Black in April 2014! Highly recommended! GRADE: A

Bill Crider, another big Max Schulman fan, wrote about I Was a Teenage Dwarf here. Inspired by Bill, I read Max Schulman’s very funny Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! and watched the DVD of the 1958 comedy based on Schulman’s very funny book. Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Joan Collins in a comical love triangle: what more could you ask for?

I’ve read all of Richard Ford’s novels and short story collections. Ford is a gifted writer. Canada was published in 2012 to mixed reviews which explains why I hadn’t gotten around to reading it until now. Canada is narrated by Dell Parsons, a college professor in his sixties. Parsons story starts when he was 15 and living in Montana in the Fifties. Dell’s parents decide to rob a bank. You can guess the result. Dell’s sister, Berner, runs away to California with her boyfriend. Dell is taken to Canada by a family friend. That ends Part One. Part Two concerns Dell’s life n Canada where violence also changes his life. Part Three brings us back to the present. I found the three stories really didn’t jell very well. Ford tells three very different stories and tries to blend them. Taken individually, the stories are compelling. But this fragmented novel didn’t work for me. GRADE: C+

Our internist, who had taken very good care of Diane and me for 30 years, died suddenly a month ago. He was 75. Diane and I decided to stay with the same medical group (to avoid all the paperwork and prescription hassles). Diane was assigned to Dr. Patricia O’Donnell (who Diane really likes) and I was assigned to Dr. Eric Koch (pronounced “Cook”) who I’ve only met once, but he impressed me with his thoroughness. I have to go in for blood work before our October appointment. And, I also need an echo cardiogram. Dr. Koch wants his patients to have an echo cardiogram every two years. Diane and I asked both of our new doctors for the Shingles shot. Those ominous ads on TV have freaked us out. And many of our friends have come down with shingles (very painful they report!). So Diane and I both got the Shingles shot and the pneumonia shot. You might consider getting these shots if you’re in your sixties.

The talented Hugh Jackman plays the mutant Logan the Wolverine for the sixth time in this latest installment in the Marvel franchise. The twist in this movie is that the Wolverine, tired and frustrated with his immortal life, becomes mortal. Bullet wounds now don’t heal instantly, arrows and swords can now kill the Wolverine. My quibble with The Wolverine is the absence of a villain with enough gravitas to make the story interesting. Although there’s plenty of action, I never really thought that the Wolverine was at risk. Hugh Jackman carries this movie with his moody presence. This movie is worth seeing, but go in with low expectations. GRADE: B

I’ve been a fan Marvin H. Albert’s work for decades. Albert wrote westerns, suspense fiction, movie novelizations, and mysteries with plenty of panache. The Reformed Gun was published as an paperback original by Gold Medal in 1950. Concho Reynolds takes a bullet during a botched bank robbery in Texas. His partner is killed by the Texas Rangers who start hunting him. Concho heads for Mexico, but his wound worsens. Concho is near death when he’s rescued by a rancher named Grant. Grant and his former partner, Cooley, have had a falling out. Now Cooley wants to kill Grant. Concho has to choose which side to be on and accept the consequences while Concho’s past rushes up to meet him. I found The Reformed Gun enjoyable. Good action, entertaining characters, and an unpredictable plot. A typically fine novel by Marvin H. Albert.

I’ve always liked Huey Lewis & The News. This 30th Anniversary CD of Sports is totally remastered and sounds great! This is not a “Greatest Hits” CD although Sports includes some of this group’s biggest hits. Back in 1983, Sports sold 10 million copies! The whole business model for pop music has changed now. It’s rare when a CD sells that many copies now with iTunes changing listening habits. But if you’re a fan of Eighties music, Sports will feed your nostalgia. Check out Hyey and Gwyneth singing “Cruisin'” below.
TRACK LIST:
Disc 1
1 The Heart of Rock & Roll (5:01)
2 Heart and Soul (4:10)
3 Bad Is Bad (3:46)
4 I Want a New Drug (4:46)
5 Walking On A Thin Line (5:08)
6 Finally Found a Home (3:42)
7 If This Is It (3:46)
8 You Crack Me Up (3:39)
9 Honky Tonk Blues (3:16)
10 The Heart of Rock & Roll (5:12)
11 Walking on a Thin Line (5:3912 If This Is It (4:25)
13 Heart And Soul (4:25)
14 I Want A New Drug (5:27)

Our local newspaper solicited suggestions for Summer Reading and one of the contributors mentioned that Mukoma Wa Ngugi’s Nairobi Heat starts in Madison, Wisconsin. Since I spent many pleasant years in Madison, I was immediately attracted to this thriller. The book opens with the murder of a white teenager at the doorstep of an African activist who teaches courses in Genocide at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The narrator is an African-American detective employed by the Madison Police Department. The investigation leads the detective to Nairobi and a chaotic search for clues in Africa. The body count mounts up. If you’re in the mood for an unusual thriller (with echoes of Le Carre’s The Constant Gardener) give Nairobi Heat a try. It’s a quick read. GRADE: C+

Borgen 2 electrified me even more than BROGEN 1 did. These 10 episodes show the talented Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg, the first woman Prime Minister of Denmark, facing political and personal crises. No CGI, no elaborate sets, no spectacular effects. Just a great cast and solid scripts. Borgen 2 builds on the plots from BORGEN 1 so to appreciate the drama, you’ll need to start the series with the first season. If you’re a political junkie like me, dramas like House of Cards and BORGEN are like crack. I highly recommend BORGEN. GRADE: A