Jonathan L. Howard takes us into an updated version of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE with After the End of the World. The world has been “folded” and this new Reality features the Nazis winning World War II and now embarking on a science project to make the alternations in Reality permanent. Who can stop the Nazis? The great-granddaughter of H. P. Lovecraft and a “dreamer” named Daniel Carter. Yes, these are the two characters from Howard’s first Lovecraft pastiche, Carter & Lovecraft from 2015 (you can read my review here).

The Necronomicon plays an important role in this thrill ride. If you put Raiders of the Lost Ark and At the Mountains of Madness in a blender, the result would be something very much like After the End of the World. GRADE: B

I found Phantom Thread to be a pretentious bore. Daniel Day-Lewis–who claims this is his final film performance–plays a obsessive-compulsive dress maker named Reynolds Woodcock. Woodcock meets a clumsy waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps) and transforms her into a model. Woodcock’s sister (Lesley Manville) runs the House of Woodcock with an iron fist. Alma falls in love with Woodcock, but Woodcock only has room in his life for his Art. So, Alma comes up with a surprisingly innovative strategy to earn Woodcock’s love. It felt like Phantom Thread was four hours long. If you love fashion and dress making maybe you’ll enjoy this movie. GRADE: C

Kevin Young’s brilliant expose, Bunk, shows that con-artists and tricksters have been with us as long as the United States has been around. I enjoyed the stories about P. T. Barnum and his clever shenanigans. Young describes dozens of different con games and hoaxes played with variations over the years. I enjoyed his chapter on Clifford Irving’s hoax about his book about Howard Hughes. And then there’s Bernie Madoff who ripped off billions of dollars from his trusting investors. Kevin Young’s meticulously researched material on the plagiarists and phonies and spin doctors presents the patterns of deception we’re contending with today. I found the stories fascinating and informative. If you’re interested in how we got into such a mess with Fake News and Alternative Facts, Hunk lays it all out in detail. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
BOOK ONE A HISTORY OF THE HOAX,
ONE The American Museum On the madness of crowds,
CHAPTER 1 The Age of Imposture, 7
CHAPTER 2 The Freaks of Dame Fortune, 17
CHAPTER 3 Splitfoot, 45
CHAPTER 4 Bearded Ladies, 63
TWO Neverland On race & other popular delusions,
CHAPTER 5 Cowboys & Aliens, 95
CHAPTER 6 Blood Nation, 117
CHAPTER 7 Lost Boys, 139
CHAPTER 8 The Time Machine, 161
THREE Mysteria A sideshow,
CHAPTER 9 The Heart Is Deceitful, 189
CHAPTER 10 Eve Black, 211
BOOK TWO THE HOAXING OF HISTORY,
FOUR The Vampire’s Mirror Of imposture, forgery & monsters,
CHAPTER 11 Butterfly Books, 233
CHAPTER 12 Spruce Goose, 253
CHAPTER 13 Bakelite, 271
CHAPTER 14 The Vampire’s Wife, 285
FIVE Hack Heaven Of the journalist & the liar,
CHAPTER 15 Glass Ceilings, 305
CHAPTER 16 The Gingerbread Man, 327
CHAPTER 17 In Bad Blood, 243
CHAPTER 18 Burning Down, 359
SIX Unoriginal Sin On plagiary, murder, bad poetry & other crimes,
CHAPTER 19 Blacker than Thou, 381
CHAPTER 20 Professor Plum, 391
CHAPTER 21 Ghostbusters, 397
CHAPTER 22 Michael Brown’s Body, 411
CODA The Age of Euphemism,
Acknowledgments, 449
Notes, 451
Annotated Bibliography, 509
Illustration Credits, 535
Index, 539

While watching Steven Spielberg’s The Post I thought about how fragile our democracy is. If Katherine Graham had listened to her male “advisors” and decided NOT to publish The Pentagon Papers, the Nixon Administration would have silenced the Press and become more malignant. I enjoyed the strong performances of Meryl Streep (Katherine Graham) and Tom Hanks (Ben Bradlee). I had not realized that while The Pentagon Papers crisis was occurring, The Washington Post was in a financial crisis of its own because The Post was going public and selling stock. That adds another stressor into the mix. I still think All the President’s Men is the best movie about journalism, followed closely by Spotlight. The Post is a good, solid movie about a crucial moment in U.S. history. GRADE: B+

I’m a big fan of Robin Williams’s 1995 movie Jumanji based on the Chris Van Allsburg children’s book of the same name. This new adventure movie, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is not a reboot or retelling of the original story. This version updates the concept and features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillian. As you can see from the cast, humor is a High Priority. There’s plenty of action, too. Based on a video game model, our characters have a quest to tackle and “levels” to beat. I loved it! If you’re looking for fun, laughs, and action you’ll find all three in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. GRADE: A-

In 2002, the New England Science Fiction Association Press published this wonderful anthology. Maybe it was supposed to be the beginning of a series, but this was the only volume published so far. I remember 1964 as a seminal year in Science Fiction. Plenty of great stories were appearing in SF digests. SF publishers will bringing out dozens of SF novels, so many I couldn’t keep up! In his “Forward” and “Introduction,” Robert Silverberg discusses the state of the Science Fiction world in 1964. Just looking at the Table of Contents you can see the strength of the genre by the great writers presented in this book. If you’re looking for a snapshot of one of the best year’s in SF history, read Robert Silverberg Presents the Great SF Stories. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword — Robert Silverberg
Introduction — Robert Silverberg
Norman Spinrad, “Outward Bound”
Jack Vance, “The Kragen”
Poul Anderson, “The Master Key”
Cordwainer Smith, “The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal”
Roger Zelazny, “The Graveyard Heart”
Leigh Brackett, “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon”
John Brunner, “The Last Lonely Man”
Gordon R. Dickson, “Soldier, Ask Not”
Wyman Guin, “A Man of the Renaissance”
Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Dowry of Angyar”
Fritz Leiber, “When the Change-Winds Blow”
Frederik Pohl, “The Fiend”
Fred Saberhagen, “The Life Hater”
Robert Silverberg, “Neighbor”
Norman Kagan, “Four Brands of Impossible”

TRACK LIST:
DISC ONE:
1-1 –The Angels (3) My Boyfriend’s Back 2:14
1-2 –The Shangri-Las Remember (Walking In The Sand) 2:19
1-3 –Connie Francis My Best Friend Barbara 2:19
1-4 –Diane Renay Navy Blue 2:28
1-5 –The Honey Bees She Don’t Deserve You 2:30
1-6 –Diane Ray Please Don’t Talk To The Lifeguard 1:44
1-7 –Sadina It Comes And Goes 2:32
1-8 –Lesley Gore Maybe I Know 2:33
1-9 –The Royalettes It’s Gonna Take A While 3:11
1-10 –The Secrets (9) The Boy Next Door 1:59
1-11 –Ginny Arnell I Wish I Knew What Dress To Wear 2:45
1-12 –The Pixies Three 442 Glenwood Avenue 2:10
1-13 –Ann D’Andrea Johnny’s Back In Town 2:15
1-14 –Dusty Springfield Stay Awhile 1:55
1-15 –The Nu-Luvs So Soft, So Warm 2:52
1-16 –Lesley Gore Look Of Love 1:59
1-17 –Gigi Parker & The Lonelies Beatles, Please Come Back 2:19
1-18 –The Pixies Three Summertime U.S.A. 2:16
1-19 –Kenni Woods Can’t He Take A Hint? 2:58
1-20 –The Angels (3) Wow Wow Wee (He’s The Boy For Me) 2:00
1-21 –The Paris Sisters Always Waitin’ 2:36
1-22 –Diane Renay Watch Out, Sally! 3:02
1-23 –Lesley Gore Wonder Boy 2:20
1-24 –The Secrets (9) Hey, Big Boy 2:14
1-25 –The Shangri-Las The Sweet Sounds Of Summer 3:18
DISC TWO:
2-1 –The Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack 2:51
2-2 –Dusty Springfield I Only Wanna Be With You 2:35
2-3 –Ginny Arnell Dumb Head 2:15
2-4 –The Pixies Three Cold, Cold Winter 2:40
2-5 –Connie Francis Don’t Ever Leave Me 2:45
2-6 –The Sham-Ettes You’re Welcome Back 2:14
2-7 –Sadina I Want That Boy 2:16
2-8 –The Angels (3) I Adore Him 2:45
2-9 –The Honey Bees One Wonderful Night 2:19
2-10 –Lesley Gore Sometimes I Wish I Were A Boy 2:05
2-11 –The Paris Sisters Dream Lover 2:39
2-12 –Diane Renay Kiss Me Sailor 2:51
2-13 –Kenni Woods Back With My Baby 2:23
2-14 –The Shangri-Las I Can Never Go Home Anymore 3:12
2-15 –Beverly Washburn Everybody Loves Saturday Night 2:20
2-16 –The Secrets (9) The Other Side Of Town 2:15
2-17 –The Pixies Three Birthday Party 2:06
2-18 –The Royalettes I Want To Meet Him 2:43
2-19 –The Bobbi-Pins Why Did You Go? 2:06
2-20 –Carole Quinn What’s So Sweet About Sweet Sixteen? 2:15
2-21 –The Whyte Boots Nightmare 2:53
2-22 –Lesley Gore That’s The Way Boys Are 2:14
2-23 –The Shangri-Las Footsteps On The Roof 2:23
2-24 –Diane Renay Growin’ Up Too Fast 2:43
2-25 –The Angels (3) Thank You And Goodnight 2:32

Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS talks about his Life and his career in this volume on power. Simmons grew up in poverty and managed to build a flamboyant career as a performer and cable TV star. It would be easy to dismiss Gene Simmons as a knucklehead (albeit, a Rich knucklehead). But On Power shows how Gene Simmons engineered his rise in wealth. He talks about the writers and personalities who inspired him. I found the Gene Simmons’s stories entertaining and enlightening. Are you a fan of KISS? GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. WHO AM I? 1
2. A BRIEF KISSTORY 19
3. THE CASE FOR POWER 25
4. POWER TOOLS 41
5. PERSPECTIVE 61
6. THE CLASSICAL-POWER PANTHEON79
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Realist 80
Napoleon Bonaparte: The Conquerer 95
Winston Churchill: The Orator 103
7. MODERN POWER PLAYERS 111
Oprah Winfrey: The Queen 114
Elon Musk: The Thrill-Seeker 118
Dave Grohl: the Rock Star 123
Michael Jordan: The Legend 130
Stan Lee: The Creator 134
Warren Buffett: The Soothsayer 139
Frank Underwood: The Manipulator 144
8. GO FORTH 149

Gary Oldman should win an Oscar for his performance as Winston Churchill. The problem with Darkest Hour revolves around the circumstances: British forces are about to be annihilated at Dunkirk. The German blitzkrieg heads for Paris. Churchill’s enemies are plotting to bring him down despite the threats to the UK. And, in May 1940, the U.S. is still in neutral mode while Europe democracies collapse under Hitler’s forces. Darkest Hour, indeed.

Directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten, Darkest Hour tries to capture Churchill’s key moments during the early crisis. However, Churchill is a cranky guy. He’s constantly shouting and raving. This was a movie I wish I had a CLOSED CAPTION option because Churchill mumbles a lot. Kristen Scott Thomas, as Churchill’s wife, tries to humanize her husband who is under crushing stress. Lily James plays Churchill’s secretary. The rest of the cast is solid. But, would I want to see Darkest Hour again? The answer is “No.” The times are grim and we were lucky to survive. GRADE: B

Hillary Chute’s enthusiastic history of comic books and “graphic novels” (Hillary doesn’t like that term) presents all the major players: DC Comics and MARVEL Comics, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman’s work about the Holocaust and 9/11 to Keiji Nakazawa’s work covering Heroshima to Alison Bechdel’s ground-breaking Fun Home. Hillary Chute explores all the various genres in the contemporary comic book world. Why Comics? provides plenty of artwork to illustrate Hillary Chute’s analysis. She makes some educated guesses about where comics are likely to go next. I found Why Comics? provocative and informative. If you have any interest in comic books and graphic novels, this book will delight you! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword: One Point of View By Gary Panter xi
Introduction: Comics for Grown-Ups? 1
Why Disaster? 33
Why Superheroes? 69
Why Sex? 103
Why the Suburbs? 141
Why Cities? 175
Why Punk? 207
Why Illness & Disability? 239
Why Girls? 275
Why War? 309
Why Queer? 349
Coda: Why Fans? 389
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 413
BIBLIOGRAPHY 417
INDEX 437