The Bootleg Series offers plenty of uneven performances, but by and large the tracks on the just released Travelin’ Thru sparkle with alternate versions of familiar songs. For Johnny Cash fans, the songs on DISC 2 and DISC 3 will bring plenty of delight. Sure, some of the songs are rough takes as Dylan and Cash try to get into sync with the lyrics. At one point–after fumbling around–Cash asks someone to write down the lyric to the song they’re struggling with.

Dylan and Earl Scruggs develop chemistry as their music tickles your ears on DISC 3. The tracks were recorded on May 17, 1970 with Grammy Award-winning bluegrass banjo legend Earl Scruggs for the PBS television special, “Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends” (originally aired January 1971). In addition, the package includes a 54 page booklet with photos and reproductions of handwritten lyrics. There’s also an Introduction from Ben Rollins plus two pages of thoughts on the music from Rosanne Cash. Music writer Colin Escott supplies an essay which includes information on the sessions with a complete track list with personnel. If you’re a hardcore Dylan fan, this is a must-buy. If you’re a casual Dylan fan, you can safely skip this one. GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. Drifter’s Escape – Bob Dylan
2. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – Bob Dylan
3. All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan
4. John Wesley Harding – Bob Dylan
5. As I Went Out One Morning – Bob Dylan
6. I Pity the Poor Immigrant – Bob Dylan
7. I Am a Lonesome Hobo – Bob Dylan
8. I Threw It All Away – Bob Dylan
9. To Be Alone with You – Bob Dylan
10. Lay, Lady, Lay – Bob Dylan
11. One More Night – Bob Dylan
12. Western Road – Bob Dylan
13. Peggy Day – Bob Dylan
14. Tell Me That It Isn’t True – Bob Dylan
15. Country Pie – Bob Dylan
Disc: 2
1. I Still Miss Someone – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
2. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right / Understand Your Man – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
3. One Too Many Mornings – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
4. Mountain Dew – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
5. Mountain Dew – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
6. I Still Miss Someone – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
7. Careless Love – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
8. Matchbox – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
9. That’s All Right, Mama – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
10. Mystery Train / This Train Is Bound for Glory – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
11. Big River – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
12. Girl from the North Country – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
13. Girl from the North Country – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
14. I Walk the Line – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
15. Guess Things Happen That Way – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
16. Guess Things Happen That Way – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
17. Five Feet High and Rising – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
18. You Are My Sunshine – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
19. Ring of Fire – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
Disc: 3
1. Studio Chatter – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
2. Wanted Man – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
3. Amen – Bob Dylan
4. Just a Closer Walk with Thee – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
5. Jimmie Rodgers Medley No. 1 – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
6. Jimmie Rodgers Medley No. 2 – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
7. I Threw It All Away (Live on The Johnny Cash Show) – Bob Dylan
8. Living the Blues (Live on The Johnny Cash Show) – Bob Dylan
9. Girl from the North Country (Live on The Johnny Cash Show) – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
10. Ring of Fire – Bob Dylan
11. Folsom Prison Blues – Bob Dylan
12. Earl Scruggs Interview – Bob Dylan with Earl Scruggs
13. East Virginia Blues – Bob Dylan with Earl Scruggs
14. To Be Alone with You – Bob Dylan with Earl Scruggs
15. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance – Bob Dylan with Earl Scruggs
16. Nashville Skyline Rag – Earl Scruggs & Bob Dylan

I love these Library of America volumes! Of course, Gary K. Wolfe should prepare for some quibbles about his choices. I’ll start with Volume 1. I like Poul Anderson’s The High Crusade (1960), but I like Anderson’s Tau Zero (1970) better for this decade. Simak’s Way Station (1963) won a Hugo Award and is one of my favorite Simak novels. Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon (1966) is the expanded version of the classic SF short story. Roger Zelazny’s …And Call Me Conrad (aka, This Immortal) (1965-1966) tied with Frank Herbert’s Dune for the 1966 Hugo Award for Best Novel. But I would have gone with Zelazny’s brilliant Lord of Light (1967) instead.

In Volume 2, Lafferty’s The Past Master (1968) quirky novel is the weakest link in this collection. I can think of dozen better SF novels from the 1960s than Lafferty’s work. Lafferty’s short stories range from incredible to silly. His novel tends more toward silly in this case. Joanna Russ’s Picnic on Paradise (1968) features a strong woman character in a dicey situation. Samuel R. Delany’s Nova (1968) blends cyborgs and tarot cards in a satisfying mix. Wolfe could have gone with Jack Vance’s Hugo Award winning The Dragon Masters (1965) or The Last Castle (1967), but he wisely chose Emphyrio (1969) a more obscure masterwork.

All in all, these Library of America volumes offer an excellent representation of SF novels of the 1960s. The Sixties were a time of change and these novels certainly reflect those changes. Recommended! How many of these SF novels have you read? GRADE: A

AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION: EIGHT CLASSIC NOVELS OF THE 1960s (two volumes) Library of America #321 & #322
Gary K. Wolfe, editor

Volume 1: Four Classic Novels 1960–1966
Poul Anderson, The High Crusade
Clifford D. Simak, Way Station
Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
Roger Zelazny, . . . And Call Me Conrad [This Immortal]

Volume 2: Four Classic Novels 1968–1969
R. A. Lafferty, Past Master
Joanna Russ, Picnic on Paradise
Samuel R. Delany, Nova
Jack Vance, Emphyrio

I’ve been a fan of Caitlin R. Kiernan’s stories with H. P. Lovecraft elements for years. Subterranean Press has just published this wonderful collection bringing Kiernan’s Mythos Tales together in one place. I enjoyed Kiernan’s essay “Lovecraft and I” where Kiernan explains how she first became obsessed with Lovecraft and his works. It all began when Kiernan found a copy of Lovecraft’s stories on her school bus. She read it and was hooked.

My favorite story in this collection is “Pickman’s Other Model (1929)” where a struggling painter tracks down a mysterious woman who once modeled for the infamous Pickman. And “Pickman’s Madonna” will keep you up at night, too. Some stories only have tangential Mythos elements like “The Thousand-and-Third Tale of Scheherazade” but are fun to read. If you’re a Lovecraft fan, Houses Under the Sea is a must-read. If you’re a casual fan, you’ll find plenty of stories here to like. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
Lovecraft and I by Caitlin R. Kiernan 11
Valentia (1994) 17
So Runs the World Away 29
From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6 47
The Drowned Geologist (1898) 75
The Dead and the Moonstruck 89
Houses Under the Sea 103
Pickman’s Other Model (1929) 131
The Thousand-and-Third Tale of Scheherazade 155
The Bone’s Prayer 167
The Peril of Liberated Objects, or the Voyeur’s Seduction 183
At the Gate of the Deeper Slumber 189
Fish Bride (1970) 205
The Alchemist’s Daughter (A Fragment) 215
Hounwife 231
Tidal Forces 247
John Four 263
On the Reef 273
The Transition of Elizabeth Haskings 281
A Mountain Walked 289
Love is Forbidden, We Croak & Howl 303
Pushing the Sky Away (Death of a Blasphemer) 309
Black Ships Seen South of Heaven 315
Pickman’s Madonna 331
The Peddler’s Tale, or Isobel’s Revenge 339
The Cats of River Street (1925) 357
M is for Mars 379
The Dandridge Cycle
A Redress for Andromeda (2001) 419
Nor the Demon Down Under the Sea (1957) 431
Study for The Witch House (2013) 443
Andromeda Among the Stones 449
Publication History and Acknowledgments 477

As Marv Lachman said during the DEADLY PLEASURES panel at BOUCHERCON #50, “It’s had to pick the right book to read on a plane.” My go-to books for trips that involve flying are Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books. I find them easy reading and involving page-turners. Perfect for a cramped plane with crying children, intermittent announcements on the loudspeakers, and roaring engines.

Personal (2014) is the 19th book in the Jack Reacher series. It takes Reacher until page 190 to beat the crap out of a Bad Guy…a record of restraint for Jack. Reacher decides to assist some old Army colleagues in tracking down a rogue sniper who failed to kill the President of France only because of some new bullet-resistant glass. The scenes in France, and later England, show that Lee Child must have visited the crime scenes because they ring true with richness of detail. Child links Reacher with a young, anxious State Department rookie who Reacher decides to mentor during the mission. As I mentioned above, the pages fly by and I happily filled the time in the air to Dallas and the flights back to Buffalo with the exciting hunt for the sniper before he can assassinate the leaders of the G-8 (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Russia). If you’re looking for a fast, satisfying read, I recommend Personal. GRADE: B+

As you might know by now, I love these silly LEGO animated films. Justice League vs. Bizarro League features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg…and their Bizarro World counterparts. Together, they have to find a way to work together to defeat Darkseid and save the galaxy! GRADE: B+

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Batman Be-Leaguered Animated TV Special
ME AM Bizarro Featurette
BE-LEAGUERED Bloopers

THE GOOD:
1. Having fun with Art Scott, Patti Abbott, Jeff and Jackie Meyerson, Angela Crider Neary (and her husband, Tom), Marv and Carol Lachman, Rick Ollerman, Ted Hertel, Beth Fedyn, Ted Fitzgerald, Gary Warren Niebubr, Thom Walls, Maggie Mason, Richard Moore, James Reasoner, Scott Cupp, Joe R. Lansdale, Paul Bishop, Janet Rudolph, and George Easter.
2. Art Scott’s incredible “The Art of the Paperback Mystery” slide show (more on that later)
3. The Hyatt Regency provided a wonderful venue for BOUCHERCON #50. Spacious rooms, quick elevators, and numerous (though sometimes cavernous) meeting rooms.
4. All the panels that celebrated our friend, Bill Crider. Bill got a lot of love at BOUCHERCON #50. Angela hosted a wonderful remembrance event, too!
THE BAD:
1. The BOUCHERCON #50 folks decided to go with a third party to provide for equipment needs instead of using the Hyatt Regency A/V staff. BIG MISTAKE! Despite the fact that Art Scott and I made our equipment needs known months ago–and were assured everything would be ready for our presentations–both Art and I found no equipment in our meeting room a half hour before our events were supposed to start! I alerted some BOUCHERCON staff when I found no projector or screen for my POWERPOINT representation. With minutes to spare, the A/V guys delivered a projector and the smallest screen I’ve ever seen. But, I also needed an HDMI-C chord to connect the laptop with the POWERPOINT presentation to the projector. The A/V guys didn’t have a HDMI-C chord! I was in despair, but my son, Patrick figured out a work-around as my panel was about to begin. My daughter, Katie ran the POWERPOINT presentation never missing a cue!
2. The next day, Art Scott encountered the same lack of equipment problem. I could have moderated my panel without my POWERPOINT presentation, but there’s no way Art could have simulated his presentation of paperback artwork without a projector. But, just in time, a projector and a miniature screen were found and set up. Art decided the mini-screen was just too small so he just projected the images on the wall of the meeting room and that worked fine. The audience loved it!
3. Poor Ted Hertel’s panel, “BOUCHERCON Reminiscences,” confronted a huge meeting room where people were eating lunch, no table on the dias, no microphones, and mass confusion when he tried to straighten things out. The panel was delayed about 10 minutes while a crew of burly men lugged tables in and set them up on the stage and hooked up some hand-held microphones. Not elegant, but it allowed the panel to get started.
THE UGLY:
This might be my last BOUCHERCON.

The 5-2 Buffalo Bills take on the 1-7 Washington Redskins. After being trounced by the Philadelphia Eagles 31-13, the Bills should be eager to resume their winning ways over an NFC East doormat. But, this is the NFL so the Bills better not play down to the quality of their opponent today. We’ll be watching the game in Airports today as we fly home from BOUCHERCON #50. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

This Bruce Springsteen documentary captures The Boss singing all 13 songs from his 19th album, Western Stars (my review of the CD can be found here). Springsteen filmed this astonishing performance in a 140-year old barn on his property in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Springsteen is backed by a 30-piece orchestra, his wife–vocalist/guitarist Patti Scialfa, four harmony singers, and a quintet featuring drums, bass, pedal steel, piano, and electric guitar. The sound is fabulous!

Springsteen introduces each song with some thoughts on how he wrote it and the circumstances that fueled the emotions the song evokes. As I pointed out when I reviewed the CD, the songs are more mellow than you’ll find on most Springsteen albums. Some reviewers claim Western Stars is a homage to classic California pop songs from the late 1960s and 1970s. Clearly, Springsteen was influenced by Jimmy Webb.

The beauty of Western Stars depends on Emmy Award winner Thom Zimny who captures the complexity of the film’s subject. If you’re a Bruce Springsteen fan, this is a must-see. If you like music documentaries, Western Stars is one of the best. GRADE: A

The most famous story in The Great SF Stories #15 is Arthur C. Clarke’s classic “The Nine Billion Names of God.” But the best story is Jerome Bixby’s chilling “It’s a Good Life.” Theodore Sturgeon’s “A Saucer of Loneliness” is one of the early SF stories with a homosexual theme. And Theodore R. Cogswell’s “The Wall Around the World” made a big impression on me when I first read it decades ago. Do you see any of your favorite SF stories here? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Martin H. Greenberg 9
“The Big Holiday” by Fritz Leiber (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, January 1953) 13
“Crucifixus Etiam” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1953) 24
“Four in One” by Damon Knight (GALAXY, February 1953) 48
“A Saucer of Loneliness” by Theodore Sturgeon (GALAXY, February 1953) 86
“The Liberation of Earth” by William Tenn (FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION, May 1953) 102
“Lot” by Ward Moore (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, May 1953) 123
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke (STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, 1953) 155
“Warm” by Robert Sheckley (GALAXY, June 1953) 164
“Impostor” by Philip K. Dick (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, June 1953) 176
“The World Well Lost” by Theodore Sturgeon (UNIVERSE SCIENCE FICTION, June 1953) 194
“A Bad Day for Sales” by Fritz Leiber (GALAXY, June 1953) 216
“Common Time” by James Blish (SCIENCE FICTION QUARTERLY, August 1953) 224
“Time is the Traitor” by Alfred Bester (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, September 1953) 250
“The Wall Around the World” by Theodore R. Cogswell (BEYOND, September 1953) 277
“The Model of a Judge” by William Morrison (GALAXY, October 1953) 308
“Hall of Mirrors” by Fredric Brown (GALAXY, December 1952) 322
“It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby (STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES 2, 1953) 331