If you scour the course descriptions and syllabi at SUNY at Buffalo or any other elite university English Department you’re not going find any mention of John Cheever. John Cheever was once considered the best American short story writer. He captured the essence of life in suburbia. The Stories of John Cheever won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. Cheever was a mainstay at The New Yorker for decades. Although not known as a great novelist, Cheever’s first novel, The Wapshot Chronicle, won a National Book Award. I consider Cheever’s penultimate novel, Falconer, to be a Forgotten Book of the first rank in quality. Cheever’s demons–alcoholism, depression, sexual obsession–destroyed him in 1982. His fame had slipped away year by year since then until Cheever and his works were nearly forgotten. Now, with these two just released, wonderful Library of America volumes, Cheever’s brilliant short stories and clever novels are available again. Don’t miss the delights in these pages!

Last week I was disappointed by Alice Russell’s Pot of Gold and this week I’m disappointed by Anthony Hamilton’s The Point of It All. Why can’t anybody sing good R&B any more? Like Alice Russell, Anthony Hamilton has a great voice. Once again, it’s weak songs. Of the 14 songs on this CD, only two of them, “Diamond in the Rough” and “Her Heart” are worth listening to again. GRADE: C.

Who the Hell is Pansy O’Hara? The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 of the World’s Best-Loved Books by Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy is the kind of book I find irresistible. It answers questions like: “What manuscript when stacked up was taller than its author?” Answer: Gone With the Wind AND 4 foot 9 inch Margaret Mitchell. Bond and Sheedy supply plenty of cool, quirky facts about their 50 books. You’ll find this book addicting.

I really need to stay out of Sam’s Club. I found this set for $49.88. AMAZON wants $107.99 for the same thing. Now I just have to find time to watch all 117 episodes!

It’s hard to believe there hasn’t been a definitive history of American Women Writers written until this volume by Elaine Showalter. A Jury of Her Peers is a mixed bag. The strongest chapter for me was “Against Women’s Writing: Wharton and Cather.” The weakest chapters are the last few on women writers of the 1970s to the 1990s. It seemed to me that Showalter just ran out of gas in her 600 page tome.

These three adventures are basically low-rent Indiana Jones movies. Noah Wyle plays Flynn Carsen, an obsessive/compulsive nerdy student with 22 college degrees. Carsen is hired by the Library to retrieve the powerful mystical artifact, The Spear of Destiny. Of course, Carsen has to battle the Serpent Brotherhood, the Bad Guys who want to rule the world with the power of the Spear. In his second adventure, Carsen searches for King Solomon’s mines and clues to his father’s past. In the latest adventure, The Judas Chalice Carsen takes on vampires and former KGB operatives who want to form an army of the undead. These made-for-TNT movies are escapist fluff. GRADE: C+ (for all three)

Watchmen takes place on an alternate Earth where it’s 1985, Richard Nixon is President, and caped crime fighters are “retired” by legislation. But suddenly, one of the former crime fighters, The Comedian, is murdered. The murder is somehow connected to the growing prospect of nuclear war. Three of the crime fighters, Rorschach, Night Owl II, and Silk Spectre II, attempt to solve the mystery. Meanwhile, the only super hero, Dr. Manhattan, leaves Earth for Mars which triggers a global crisis. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, the movie is too long. Director Zach Snyder gets credit for making a movie based on a book that was thought unfilmable. But Snyder also gets demerits for being a little too slavish to the book. This is not so much a movie as a documentary. GRADE: B-.

Back in the 1980s, Donald E. Westlake signed a four-book contract with a publisher with the condition that his true identity not be revealed. In his Introduction, Westlake relates what went wrong and why there are only four books in this series. The books were supposed to be written by “Samuel Holt,” an actor who plays the TV-detective, Packard. When a Sam Hold look-alike is murdered, the real Sam Holt is the prime suspect. To convince the police of his innocence, Sam Holt needs to find the real killer. I’ve read almost everything Donald E. Westlake ever wrote. He never wrote a bad book. The folks at Felony & Mayhem should be praised for returning these obscure Westlake titles back to print. The first three Sam Holt books are One of Us is Wrong, I Know a Trick Worth Two of That, and What I Tell You Three Times is False. If you’re a Westlake fan, don’t miss these blends of mystery and humor mixed with sly critiques of the television industry.

This is another bargain: three movies for $13.99. I’m a fan of Scarlett Johansson. After you watch The Girl With the Pearl Earring, A Good Woman, and An American Rhapsody you’ll be a fan, too.

I’m a fan of R&B so when I read positive reviews of Pot of Gold (“Alice Russell is the new Amy Winehouse!” blah, blah) I picked up a cheap copy at Best Buy. However, it took me to Song 10 (of 11) on this CD to find a song I liked. There’s no doubt that Alice Russell has the pipes, but the choice of material is very weak. The most annoying song is a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s exuberant “Crazy.” Alice Russell sings it as if it were a funeral dirge. I’ll be looking for Alice Russell’s next CD. Hopefully, the material will be as strong as her voice. This Pot of Gold is mere dross. GRADE: C.