“As a student, I realized that I had no aptitude for science, that foreign languages did not come easily to me, and that the study of economics turned my eyeballs to isinglass…. In literature, I adored much poetry but felt I could not draw intellectual breath for long on its high plateau; the drama…was for me a form that always felt a touch artificial. But, the novel, the novel from the very beginning…lit my fire and continues to light it today. The novel took me to places I hadn’t known existed, but in which I was delighted to find myself; it expanded my world like nothing else I had known, or, for that matter, still know.” (p. 19)

Joseph Epstein waxing poetic about his love of novels parallels my own love affair with books. Sure, I read some poetry and plays from time to time. But, my go-to delight is to sit down in a comfortable chair and read a wonderful novel.

Epstein examines dozens of novels in this slim volume. He notes that: “The novels of Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, and John Updike, so popular and widely written about in their day have already begun to lose interest. ” (p. 70). In the following chapters, Epstein adds Thomas Pynchon, Saul Bellow, and Vladimir Nabokov to that list. Then he turns to: “Here are six novelists and short-story writers whom I feel I do not need to read again:

• Graham Greene, whose combination of leftwing politics and Catholicism has never worked for me.
• Alice Munro, whose stories of infidelity in provincial Canada have always seem to me of limited interest.
• George Orwell, whose great work was in the essay, and whose novels, apart form the famous and politically useful Nineteen Eighty-Four, fail to come alvie
• Toni Morrison, with whose novels I have never had any luck, and have concluded are more for teaching than reading
• Jonathan Franzen, who seems in his fiction to write about people to whom he can feel superior
• S. Y. Agnon, four of whose novels I’ve read, always with high expectation, never with satisfaction, though I am told he is a writer who must be read in Hebrew in which he wrote. (p. 116)

As you can see from these examples from The Novel, Who Needs It? Epstein has some strong views on various writers. It might not come as a complete surprise to learn that Epstein considers Leo Tolstoy the greatest novelist (I disagree).

Reading a novel is a subjective experience. The huge variation in novels makes it practically impossible to generate a list of the Best Novels. Instead, we all have a list of our Favorite Novels, books that speak to us (but probably not everybody). The Novel, Who Needs It? has a simple answer: I do. And, I’m guessing…you do, too! Do you have a favorite novel? GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Novel, Who Needs It? — 1

Acknowledgements — 127

Bibliography — 129

Index — 133

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in 1995. Since that time I’ve used 5 different Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machines. About every 5 years, my health insurance company would tell me: “It’s time for a new CPAP machine.” And, I got to keep my old CPAP machines which were all in working condition. This was an annoyance to Diane who hates clutter. But, when the Pandemic hit and ventilators were in short supply, I called the Respiratory Unit at Memorial Hospital in Niagara Falls and asked if I could donate four working CPAP machines. They enthusiastically accepted my old, faithful CPAP machines.

A few months later a nurse from the Respiratory Unit called me to say those CPAP machines saved lives.

Sorry for the digression. On July 5, 2023 I got my 6th CPAP machine: the new Resmed Airsense 11. For the past 5 years I’ve used the Resmed Airsense 10–the best CPAP I’ve ever used. But now, after using the Airsense 11 for nearly a month, I have to say this new model is superior to the Airsense 10.

My first CPAP machine weighed over 20 pounds and the size of an old Macintosh computer. It was No Fun traveling around lugging such a heavy and awkward unit. It was also noisy: it had a vacuum cleaner motor. But, every CPAP machine since then grew lighter and smaller. The Airsense 11 is only 2 pounds, the size of a loaf of bread, and is whisper quiet. I love it!

My other sleep problem over the years was leaky CPAP masks. I’ve tried over a dozen different masks. The only one that didn’t leak (much) was the ADAM System nasal pillows by Puritan. Puritan was acquired years ago and doesn’t exist any more. I could still find parts online, but another problem attacked me: dry mouth. Even though I used a chin strap to keep my mouth closed, I’d wake up in the morning with my mouth feeling like the Sahara Desert!!

According to my CPAP advisor, Marcie, the answer to that problem was a full face mask. I’d used full face masks in the past, but they were heavy and uncomfortable. But, Fisher & Paykel just brought out a new full CPAP mask called the Evora. Once I got used to it, I found my dry mouth was a thing of the past and I had few leaks. I highly recommend the Resmed Airsense 11 and the Fisher & Paykel Evora Full CPAP Mask! There are few things more wonderful than a Good Night’s Sleep and now Airsense 11 and Evora are making that happen for me. How’s your sleep? GRADE: A+

The movie starts out, logically, with Barbie, played by Margot Robbie as “Stereotypical Barbie”—the gorgeous but feckless basic version of the doll who exists mainly to look pretty–which she does. When the Stereotypical Barbie starts experiencing thoughts of Death and cellulite, Greta Gerwig’s movie turns into a reverse of the Wizard of Oz. Barbie journeys to the Real World from the perfect pink Barbie Land and ends up at the Mattel headquarters in Los Angeles trying to solve her problems. Barbie is joined by her uninvited boyfriend, Ken (Ryan Gosling), to investigate a tear in the fabric between Fantasy and Reality. Critiques of capitalism and gender roles follow. I’m sure Gerwig’s references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Matrix will go over the heads of the younger members of the movie audience.

Barbie discovers the girl (America Ferrara) who played with her as a child–now grown up and working for Mattel. Meanwhile, Ken returns to Barbie Land with knowledge of male Patriarchy and transforms Barbie Land to Kendom where the Kens now rule. Despite the wackiness of Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel, and Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, the sluggish plot and insider references fail to make this a Fun Barbie movie. GRADE: B-

On this milestone of my 750th FFB post, I want to express my thanks to two people–no longer with us–who helped me in my quest for a doctorate.

Leslie Fiedler graciously accepted my request that he join my doctoral committee in the early 1990s. Five years later, he signed off on my dissertation: Smart Money: Business in American Literature, 1860-1929 and I was officially Dr. Kelley. Many of my fellow PhD. candidates were shocked that Fiedler agreed to join my committee. But, I told them, Fiedler was always interested in money in American Literature–just check out “Literature and Lucre” in What Was Literature? below.

Bill Crider also agreed to join my doctoral committee. Both Bill and I regard Leslie Fiedler as one of the premier literary critics ever. And…we both love Fiedler’s opus: Love and Death in the American Novel. Unlike most academic criticism written today, Love and Death in the American Novel can be read by the average reader. The same can be said for the dozens of essays Fiedler wrote over the years. They’re clever, incisive, and funny!

I’m taking this opportunity to express my thanks to Leslie Fiedler and Bill Crider for helping me achieve another milestone in my Life. After my Graduation Ceremony, I gave Leslie Fiedler a signed copy of Norman Spinrad’s The Iron Dream . “Leslie Fiedler proposed that Spinrad be considered for the National Book Award in 1973, but apparently won no support from his fellow award judges.” And I sent Bill Crider a signed copy of Love and Death in the American Novel. Bill told me he prominently displayed his signed copy of Love and Death in the American Novel to the envy of his colleagues! I highly recommend these wonderful books! And, of course, I want to thank Patti Abbott for inviting me to join her Friday’s Forgotten Books group in January 2009! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — Charles B. Harris — v

Preface to the Second Edition — 7

Preface to the First Edition — 9

PART ONE: PROTOTYPES AND EARLY ADAPTATIONS

The novel and America — 23

The novel’s audience and the sentimental love religion — 39

Richardson and the tragedy of seduction — 62

The bourgeois senitmental novel and the female audience — 74

The beginnings of the anti-bourgeois sentimental novel in America — 102

Charles Brockden Brown and the invention of the American gothic — 126

James Fenimore Cooper and the historical romance — 162

PART TWO: ACHIEVEMENT AND FRUSTRATION

Clarissa in America: Toward Marjorie Morningstar — 217

Good good girls and good bad boys: Clarissa as a juvenile — 259

The revenge on woman: From Lucy to Lolita — 291

The failure of sentiment and the evasion of love — 337

The blackness of darkness: Edgar Allan Poe and the development of the gothic — 391

The power of blackness: Faustian man and the cult of violence — 430

INDEX — 506

AA

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The death of old men — 9

War, exile, and the death of honor — 20

The beginning of the Thirties: depression, return, and rebirth — 32

The end of the Thirties: artificial paradises and real hells — 51

Zion as Main Street — 65

Jewish-Americans, go home! — 89

Indian or Injun? — 104

The jig is up! — 118

The war against the academy — 138

The alteration of consciousness — 155

The end of the novel — 170

Traitor or Laureate: the two trials of the poet — 179

The unbroken tradition — 192

Toward the suburbs: the fear of madness, and the death of the “I” — 216

Into the cafés: a kind of solution — 233

index — 250

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART ONE: Subverting the standards — 11

Who was Leslie A. Fiedler? — 13

Literature and lucre — 23

Toward Pop criticism — 34

How did it all start? — 38

What was the novel? — 53

 Literature as an institution — 57

What was the art novel? — 64

What was the death of the novel? — 73

What happened to poetry? — 83

Why was criticism? — 96

Is there a counter-tradition? — 108

What is to be done? — 115

From ethics and aesthetics to ecstatics — 126

PART TWO: Opening up the canon — 143

Home as heaven, home as hell — 145

The many mothers of Uncle Tom’s Cabin — 158

The anti-Tom novel and the coming of the first great war: from Thomas Dixon, Jr., to D.W. Griffith — 179

Gone with the wind: the feminization of the anti-Tom novel — 196

Alex Haley’s Roots: Uncle Tom rewrites Uncle Tom’s Cabin — 213

Afterword: “A backward glance o’er travelled roads” — 232

Index — 246

From young Michael Padgett and his girl friend sharing a soda at the Malt Shop on the cover of The Fabulous Fifties: Great Moments (2000) to Elvis singing one of his great songs, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” this compilation CD presents some of the hits that makes the Fifties one of Michael’s favorite musical decades.

I started listening to music on a radio on a regular basis around 1956 (I was 7 years old). And watching musical acts on the Ed Sullivan Show. But it would be years before I bought my first vinyl album.

To me, the best song on this CD is Nat King Cole’s iconic “Unforgettable.” I always liked Paul Anna’s “Diana.” I prefer the Righteous Brothers version of “Unchained Melody” to Al Hibbler’s.

50’s Sock Hop from 1991 features one of my favorite songs by the Everyly Brothers: “Wake Up Little Susie.” Other classics include the Dell-Vikings’s “Come Go With Me” and “To Know Him Is To Love Him.” “”To Know Him Is to Love Him” is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father’s tombstone, “To Know Him Was to Love Him.” It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958,^[4] while reaching No. 2 on the UK’s New Musical Express chart.  Peter & Gordon and Bobby Vinton later had hits with the song, with its title and lyrics changed to “To Know You Is to Love You”. In 1987, the song was resurrected by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, whose Trio recording topped the U.S. country singles chart. The song is in 12/8 time.” How many of these songs do you remember? Any favorites? GRADE: B+ (for both)

TRACK LIST for The Fabulous Fifties: Great Memories

1	Andy Williams–	Butterfly
2	Pat Boone–	April Love
3	Nat King Cole–	Unforgetttable
4	Elvis Presley–	Are You Lonesome Tonight?
5	Morris Stoloff–	Moonglow And Theme From “Picnic”
6	Al Hibbler–	Unchained Melody
7	Eddy Arnold–	Make The World Go Away
8	Paul Anka–	Diana
9	Perry Como–	Juke Box Baby
10	Eddie Fisher–	Dungaree Doll
11	Georgia Gibbs–	Dance With Me Henry (The Wallflower)
12	Lou Monte–	Lazy Mary (Luna Mezz ‘O Mare)
13	The Ames Brothers–	The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane
14	Jaye P. Morgan–	That’s All I Want From You
15	Jim Reeves–	Four Walls

TRACK LIST for 50’s Sock Hop:

1	The Everly Brothers*–	Wake Up Little Susie	1:59
2	Buddy Holly–	Peggy Sue	2:28
3	Big Bopper–	Chantilly Lace	2:22
4	Danny & The Juniors–	At The Hop	2:31
5	Frankie Avalon–	Venus	2:21
6	Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers–	Why Do Fools Fall In Love	2:17
7	Brenda Lee–	Sweet Nothin’s	2:21
8	The Dell-Vikings–	Come Go With Me	2:15
9	The Teddy Bears–	To Know Him Is To Love Him	2:18
10	Fats Domino–	I’m Walkin’	2:12

Izumi Suzuki, who died in 1986, wrote stories full of black comedy. In Hit Parade of Tears, just published by Verso Press, Suzuki delivers a series of mind-bending stories. I loved “Trial Witch” where a woman is given powers to transform people and things into radically different objects. I also liked “Full of Malice” which explores the possibility of a woman falling in love with an extraterrestrial.

That theme gets more play in “The Covenant,” a story about adolescent girls whose lack of emotions leads them to believe they may be extraterrestrial rather than human. The male characters in these stories are typically drones who cheat on their girlfriends and wives.

Suzuki’s misanthropic view of human relationships powers these narratives of women whose placid lives are impacted, sometimes comicly, sometimes disastrously, by weird or supernatural incidents. If you’re looking for something different, you’ll find it in Hit Parade of Tears. GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

My Guy 137	1
Trial Witch	25
Full of Malice	47
After Everything	113
THE COVENANT	117

The Walker	157
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise	163
Memory of Water	191
I’ll Never Forget	219
Hit Parade of Tears	255

After four seasons of biting humor, the vampires in What We Do In the Shadows return in Season 5 with several intriguing plot lines. Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) are back to their argumentative selves. Energy vampire (he sucks energy, not blood), Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), returns to normal after a season-long rebirth and is now working in the service industry. And all the vampires are ignoring Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), Nandor’s loyal familiar.

The Big Change is that Guillermo, after losing patience with Nandor who kept delaying his promise to make Guillermo a vampire, has a vampire friend bite him. However, the transformation to a vampire doesn’t go as planned for Guillermo. I do like Guillermo’s occasional bat ears! Dealing with a botched transformation should prove pivotal in these Season 5 episodes!

Nadja, whose vampire night club failed, is brooding over all the things going wrong in her Life. Then, Nadja discovers that her problems are being caused by a hex put on her. It will be fun to see how Nadja deals with that!

My favorite moment in the two opening episodes is the scene where Nadja’s ghost doll tries to get a new body she can have sex in — from a Build-a-Bear Workshop! Who saw that coming?

Are you a fan of What We Do In the Shadows? GRADE: B+ (so far)

Patti Abbott recently wrote that Tom Cruise is the last movie star. And, Cruise has done his share of action movies, especially the latest Mission Impossible–Dead Reckoning, Part One. But Nick de Semlyen’s focus is on the action heroes from decades ago in The Last Action Heroes.

“The Last Action Heroes opens in May 1990 in Cannes, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone waltzing together, cheered on by a crowd of famous faces. After years of bitter combat—Stallone once threw a bowl of flowers at Schwarzenegger’s head, and the body count in Schwarzenegger’s Commando was increased so the film would “have a bigger dick than Rambo”—the world’s biggest action stars have at last made peace.”

Nick de Semlyen describes the success of Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s carnage-packed movies. Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan brought their own unique styles of action to the screen., Tough guys like Dolph Lundgren and Steven Seagal developed loyal audiences of action movie fans. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis blended humor and action to differentiate their movies from the other action movies.

Nick de Semlyen argues the era of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts, or the perfect weapon to save the day began to fade in the 1990s. “When Jurassic Park trounced Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero in 1993, the glory days of these macho men—and the vision of masculinity they celebrated—were officially over.”

I’m a fan of action movies. One of my favorites is Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Do you enjoy action movies? Do you have a favorite action hero? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue — 3

1. The Stallion — 11

2. The Tank — 27

3. Tooling up — 42

4. The cowboy and the cannonball — 58

5. Maximalism — 72

6. Knock knock — 88

7. The Alien — 105

8. Foreign policies — 117

9. The Great One — 134

10. Welcome to the party, pal — 147

11. Supercops — 161

12. Funny or die — 174

13. Double impact — 188

14. Planet Arnold — 202

15. Old habits — 218

16. Born again — 232

17. Oil and water — 245

18. The ice age — 260

Epilogue — 277

Acknowledgements — 287

NOTES — 289

INDEX — 319

I’ve been a fan of Andrew Cartmel’s Vinyl Detective series for years (you can read my reviews here, here, here, here, here, and here). The Vinyl Detective hunts down rare and expensive vinyl records and solves crimes along the way. In the new Death in Fine Condition, Cartmel introduces a new character, Cordelia, who loves vintage paperbacks. Cordelia searches for rare paperbacks in charity shops, thrift stores, and jumble sales in suburban London looking for treasure.

And, Cordelia finds it: a complete collection of rare and valuable Sleuth Hounds. But, somebody else owns them. So Cordelia steals them!

Cordelia, The Paperback Sleuth, gives the reader a whole different sensibility as to what a paperback addict will do or say. Of course, a couple of deaths complicate things and Cartmel mixes in some surprises to accelerate the action. If you love paperback books and wacky crime novels, you’ll love Death in Fine Condition! I sure did! Perfect Summer reading! GRADE: A

Christopher McQuarrie directs the seventh installment of the franchise which like many Hollywood movies is presented in two parts to make more money (the new Spider-Man movie is another  example). In the past Mission Impossible movies, Tom Cruise and his team fought terrorists and evil geniuses. This time–and possibly prophetic–the IMF team takes on Artificial Intelligence. “The Entity,” a powerful AI program that has already infested all of the world’s online security systems and can not be stopped–except for the movie’s MacGuffin: a key that can turn the Entity off.

The U.S. government, and all others interested parties in World Domination, believes they can form an alliance with the Entity and control the entire world. But Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) vows to use the key to destroy the Entity. It’s always fun when Cruise and his techie teammates–Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg)-use their computer trickery to stay one step ahead. Hunt’s sometime friend, sometime rival from the British secret service, Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), who also joins the action, as does a new character, a gorgeous pickpocket named Grace (Hayley Atwell).

As usual, the action moves around the world from Africa to Venice to a ride on the Orient Express. The new Indiana Jones movie features a fight on top of a moving train. But the deadly ballet on the top of the runaway train in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One puts that to shame! Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part Two is scheduled for June 2024. I’ll be there! GRADE: Incomplete…but trending towards a B+