They Walked Like Men is an alien invasion novel. Simak sets up a puzzle where newspaper columnist Parker Graves finds himself confronted with shapeshifting aliens who can inhabit “dolls” that allow them to pass as humans. Another group of aliens enters the fray to take over the Earth, but Parker Graves is torn between trusting them or suspecting they are far worse than the original alien invaders. Clifford D. Simak was once considered the equal of Heinlein and Asimov. Sadly, Simak’s work has drifted into the “forgotten” category despite its excellence.

ARTISTS: Richard Powers
Robert McGinnis
Ed Emshwiller
Leo & Diane Dillon
Frank Frazetta

Just about everyone who follows this blog will want a copy of Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants. Steven Brower teaches conceptual design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He takes a historical approach to the development of the paperback. Examples of 19th Century works lead to the rise of penny dreadfuls and pulp fiction. The rise of paperbacks in the 1940s and the growing inventiveness of cover artwork grace the 304 color pages of Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants. Mysteries, science fiction, westerns, romance novels, fantasy, literature: examples of all these genres and their cover artwork fill these pages. Be prepared for hours of delightful browsing! GRADE: A

Small presses deserve plenty of praise. Lately, I’ve read several excellent small press books. Alan Jacobs’ Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant was a delight. It was published by William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I never heard of this publishing company, but I’ll be checking it out periodically if they keep publishing great books like Wayfaring. “NADA by Daniel Boyd came out from Casperian Books (never heard of them, either) but if you’re in the mood for a faux-Gold Medal adventure novel, ‘NADA delivers. Richard Stern talks about his writing profession and how he is going to wind down his writing career in his moving collection Still On Call. This was published by the University of Michigan Press (a little larger than the typical small press, but still tiny when compared to the commercial publishers). If we don’t support small presses, they will just go away. Small presses have most of the creative energy in publishing today. Buy a small press book and support their efforts.

Imagine my surprise when I checked out the video aisle at Sam’s Club the other day and found amid the box sets of Bonanza, Wagon Train, and Saved By the Bell the complete run of La Femme Nikta. AMAZON wants $165.99 (list price $409.98) for the complete series. Sam’s Club is asking a mere $15.88 per season. So, for around $80 I’m now the proud owner of 27 DVDs of this cool spy series. Action, explosions, gunplay, and spies who look like super-models. How can you resist?

Slow Death By Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things will disturb you. Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie explore all the chemicals in our kitchens and pantries and bathrooms that are finding their way into our bodies. NEVER microwave plastic. That just releases carcinogens. Some might call Smith and Lourie alarmists, but clearly something is causing increases in birth defects, childhood autism, attention-deficit disorder, hormonal imbalances, and cancers. I’m not giving much away when I say that the authors strongly suspect plastics as one of the big contributors to our health problems. If you’re concerned about the environment and your personal health and safety, Slow Death By Rubber Duck is worth your time and attention.

Roy Peter Clark’s The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English makes compulsive reading. Tips to improve your writing leap off every page. Clark has also written another useful manual, Writing Tools which I also recommend. I found both of these books vastly superior to books like Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. GRADE: A

E. C. Tubb died on September 10, 2010. He was 91. During his long and productive career, Tubb wrote in many genres. But, I suspect, Tubb will best be remembered for his science fiction novels. I picked Tubb’s ACE DOUBLE classic, The Space-Born (with Philip K. Dick’s The Man Who Japed on the other side), because it was the first E. C. Tubb book I ever read. You never forget your first time. Over the following decades, I read dozens of Tubb’s works. My favorites were the Dumarest series where an adventurer tries to find his way through the galaxy back to his home planet: Earth. However, Earth seems to have disappeared from the star charts and most people consider Earth as a mystical place. Dumarest’s Odysseus-like quest to get home filled 33 volumes of good old-fashioned space opera. If you’d like to see the wonderful cover artwork in the Dumarest series, click here.  I hope all of E. C. Tubb’s novels eventually become available as ebooks so new audiences can discover his entertaining stories.

Maybe I’m a teenager at heart, but I really like the music on this CD. Yes, it is pure fluff, but Katy Perry rocks in these songs. You’d have to be a cadaver not to react to this pop music. Katy Perry had a break-through hit last year with “I Kissed a Girl” (written by the underrated Cathy Dennis) and this summer Katy Perry’s hit song, “California Gurls” (NOT the Beach Boys classic), seemed to be on everybody’s car radio. Teenage Dream comes in two versions: the “Explicit” version and the “Clean” version. The music is the same, the lyrics vary. Critic Ken Tucker likes Teenage Dream, too. I included his review below. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST
1 Teenage Dream 3:47
2 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) 3:50
3 California Gurls 3:55
4 Firework 3:48
5 Peacock 3:51
6 Circle the Drain 4:32
7 The One That Got Away 3:47
8 E.T. 3:26
9 Who Am I Living For? 4:08
10 Pearl 4:08
11 Hummingbird Heartbeat 3:32
12 Not Like the Movies 4:01
13 California Gurls Bonus Track / Passion Pit Main Mix / Mix 5:12
14 Teenage Dream Bonus Track / Kaskade Club Mix / Mix 6:27

If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals, you’re going to want to read Patti LuPone’s tell-almost-all memoir of her adventures in Evita, Les Misérables, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy. I know LuPone can be a diva at times, but I’ve always found her to be a hard-working performer who gives it her all. I have her Evita soundtrack and Patti LuPone Live. They get played with some regularity. This memoir also provides insights into the business side of Broadway which I found fascinating. LuPone also gives her thoughts on the demise of the Broadway musical. All in all, I found Patti LuPone: A Memoir compelling reading. GRADE: A