Richard S. Prather’s Find This Woman was published in 1951, the third book Prather had published that year (the other two were Bodies in Bedlam and Everybody Had a Gun).. This is Shell Scott’s fourth adventure and Prather is still experimenting with his formula. A rich man hires Shell Scott to find his daughter. The search leads to Vegas where Victor Dante operates a night club called–what else–The Inferno. Bodies are found, Shell Scott gets roughed up, and there’s a tiny bit of sex thrown into the mix. The elements that the Shell Scott series will be famous for–clever one-liners and convoluted plots–are understated in this book. But, if you want to see how Prather started to tweak his creation, Find This Woman can be revealing.

I’ve had an up-and-down relationship with The Pushcart Prize series. The early books were great with wonderful short stories and essays and poetry from small presses too obscure for most of us to find. But gradually, the yearly Pushcart Prize books grew in size. I found more and more mediocre work in those pages. Now, after 40 years, the Pushcart Prize collection has swollen to 654 pages. The best essay is Joyce Carol Oates’s “The Childhood of the Reader,” in praise of libraries. The best short story is “Map-Reading” by Richard Bausch. The most terrifying piece in this swollen anthology is “Food and Worker Safety Across the Globe: A Nervous and Incomplete Case Study” by Windy Rawlings. I’m still dubious (as I have been from Day One) about their poetry selections. I can’t recommend any of them. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
NTRODUCTION, Bill Henderson
MISS ADELE AMIDST THE CORSETS, Zadie Smith
SINGER, Maxine Scates
VISION, Tiffany Briere
SNOW WHITE, Chloe Honum
YELLOW CLAW, Lucia Perillo
TELREF, Edward McPherson
SNAPSHOT, Kurt Brown
THE AGE OF SKIN, Dubravka Ugresic
MUDFEST, Marianne Boruch
THE BRANCH WAY OF DOING, Wendell Berry
ADVERTISING, John Challis
SH’KHOL, Colum McCann
BROKEN CUP, Margaret Gibson
WANDERLUST, Laleh Khadivi
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, Morgan Parker
JESUS RAVES, Jordan Kisner
LOVE POEM, Michael Marberry
ARTIST’S STATEMENT, James Hannaham
THE AUTISTIC SON, Scott Morgan
MAP-READING, Richard Bausch
PORN, Dorothea Lasky
FOUR-WAY STOP, George Singleton
MY FATHER’S LAUNDRY, Sue Ellen Thompson
FATHER JUNIPERO ADMONISHES A BIRD, Poe Ballantine
TEMPLE GAUDETE, Lisa Russ Spaar
THE WEAVE, Charles Johnson
VERNACULAR OWL, Thomas Sayers Ellis
FEAR ITSELF, Katie Coyle
FIRST SNOW, Andrea Hollander
THING WITH FEATHERS THAT PERCHES IN THE SOUL, Anthony Doerr
PICTURE OF A RIVER, Julia Story
PARADISE COVE, Lisa Lee
THE JOINS, Chana Bloch
THE KNOWLEDGE GALLERY, Joanna Scott
WAIST, Afaa Michael Weaver
THE CHILDHOOD OF THE READER, Joyce Carol Oates
from A TILT IN THE WONDERING, Nicole Brossard
BURY ME, Allegra Hyde
WHITE LILIES, Rachel Rose’
PAST THE ECONOLODGE, Brandon Hobson
A SINGLE DELIBERATE THING, Zebbie Watson
HOLI: EQUINOX APPROACHES, Raena Shirali
A RING OF BELLS, Catherine Jagoe
SONG FOR PICKING UP, Tony Hoagland
MEZZO, Kate Petersen
THE SOLDIER OF MICTLAN, Rigoberto Gonzalez
TRAIN TO HARBIN, Asako Serizawa
WAITING FOR RAIN, Ellen Bass
FOOD AND WORKERS SAFETY ACROSS THE GLOBE:
A NERVOUS AND INCOMPLETE CASE STUDY, Wendy Rawlings
EVERY MACHINE HAS ITS PARTS, Bob Hicok
HOLLYWOOD AND TOADVINE, Christian Kiefer
BOMB, Daniel Lusk
VARIATIONS ON A PSALM, Edward Hirsch
WHAT HAPPENED TO US?, Dan Chaon
MIGRATION INSTINCT,Keetje Kuipers
CONSTANCE BAILEY IN THE YEAR OF MONICA LEWINSKY, Sarah Vallance
HOLY NIGHT, Dan Albergotti
LONG BRIGHT LINE, Josh Weil
A COTTONY FATE, Jane Hirshfield
THE ORANGE PARKA, E. A. Durden
IMMIGRATION, Kevin Prufer
HELL, Meghan O’Gieblyn
THE CLOUD, Ann Beattie
DEATH DEFIANT BOMBA…, Lilliam Rivera
WINTER, 1965, Frederic Tuten
PROJECT FUMARASE, April L. Ford
THE TRUE SEER HEARS, Barbara Hurd
NIGHTMOVERS, Perry Janes

Maybe it was watching The Big Short where everyone thought a group of canny investors were crazy when they said the housing market (and many of the securities based on mortgages) was going to tank. Maybe it’s my skeptical nature. Maybe it’s Saudi Arabia manipulating the energy market to punish Iran. But, whatever the reason, I went out and bought more oil stocks. Yes, it seems like lunacy. Gas prices are down, oil companies are going out of business. The Energy Sector is depressed. But like the guys in The Big Short who saw the flaws of the banking system, I see a world dependent on oil. When Saudi Arabia stops pumping cheap oil, there will be another Oil Shock similar to the one we had in the 1970s. I bought Marathon Oil (MRO) and Devon (DVN). They are domestic producers so there’s no Middle East exposure. If you’re thinking about what to do with that Tax Refund, maybe a few oil stocks might brighten your future.

You would think a movie about credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations would make your eyes glaze over. But Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, and the other members of this ensemble cast show how a few very smart investors saw how corrupt and dysfunctional our financial system was back in 2007 and tried to expose the facts. Along the way, they got rich by being right. The Big Short follows Michael Lewis’s brilliant book while pulling some cinematic tricks to keep the audience on their toes. I highly recommend this movie. Sadly, not that much has changed so our economy could implode again sometime soon. GRADE: A

Amid the turmoil of 2015, your comments provided an island of calm and reason in a sea of disruption. Anyone who’s gone through the End-of-Life process knows what I’m talking about. New comers Maggie and Wolf joined our band of cyber companions. The intelligence and wit of Patti, Jeff, Deb, Rick, Beth, Todd, Art, Bill, Bob, Prashant, Sergio, Carl, Lauren, Steve, Jerry, Stan, Dan, Scott, Jim, John, Randy, James, Kent, and Mathew as well as all of you who make this blog a part of your day raised my spirits during some very Dark Hours. So I want to say thank you.

Thank you very much.

The temperature at kickoff in Minnesota will be around 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the Seahawks are favored by 5 1/2 points, the cold might change the odds. If Adrian Peterson has a big day, this game could be an upset. The Green Bay Packers haven’t looked like the Green Bay Packers of old lately. Their QB, Aaron Rodgers, has been pummeled by opposing teams. Scoring is down. And Washington is favored by a point. Still, I’m picking the Packers to win in a close game. Who do you think will win these Playoff games?

Alex Smith, QB of the Kansas City Chiefs, has run for 500 yards this season. That surprising statistic might be the difference in the first Playoff game. The Chiefs are favored by 3 1/2 points. That sounds about right. In the second game, Andy Dalton (Bengals QB) is out with a fractured thumb. I’m guessing the Steelers will win this close game (they’re favored by 2 1/2 points). Who do you think will win?

I’m a fan of Hank Davis’s science fiction anthologies. I’ve reviewed his A Cosmic Christmas (Volumes 1 & 2) here, The Baen Big Book of Monsters here, As Time Goes By here, and Future Wars here. Now, to kick of the New Year, we have Hank Davis’s latest SF anthology, Worst Contact. It’s a mix of classic stories of First Contact gone wrong as well as a few original stories. I liked “Puppet Show” by Fredric Brown and “The Flat-Eyed Monster” by William Tenn a lot. If you’re looking for entertaining science fiction with plenty of surprises, this new anthology delivers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FROM FIRST TO WORST by Hank Davis
PUPPET SHOW by Fredric Brown
CONTACT! by David Drake
THE FLAT-EYED MONSTER by William Tenn
THE POWER by Murray Leinster
EARLY MODEL by Robert Sheckley
HER SISTER’S KEEPER by Sarah A. Hoyt
PLAYTHING by Larry Niven
RANDOM SAMPLE by T. P. Caravan
NO LOVE IN ALL OF DWINGELOO by Tony Daniel
FIRST CONTACT, SORT OF by Karen Haber and Carol Carr
FORTITUDE by David Brin
THEY’RE MADE OUT OF MEAT by Terry Bisson
ALIEN STONES by Gene Wolfe
PICTURES DON’T LIE by Katherine MacLean
BACKWARDNESS by Poul Anderson
DODGER FAN by Will Stanton
NO SHOULDER TO CRY ON by Hank Davis
HORNETS’ NEST by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
PROTECTED SPECIES by H. B. Fyfe
THE CAGE by A. Bertram Chandler
SHADOW WORLD by Clifford D. Simak

As a diabetic, I’m always looking for yummy low-carb foods. I discovered True North’s Almond Pecan Cashew Crunch at Sam’s Club. A 20-ounce bag lasted for over a week. These tasty nut clusters are satisfying and filling. With only 9 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, this fits the glucose-friendly profile. No artificial colors, no preservative, no trans fat, and no cholesterol. Other varieties include CHOCOLATE NUT CRUNCH and CASHEW CRUNCH. Tasty!
NUTRITION FACTS:

Serving Size: 5 clusters

Calories 170K cal 10%
Calories from Fat 110K cal 17%
Total Fat 12g 19%
Saturated Fat 1g 6%
Trans Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 30mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 9g 4%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 5g 12%
Added Sugars 5g 21%
Protein 5g 10%
Vitamin A 0IU 0%
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 40mg 4%
Iron 0.72mg 4%

Ingredients: almonds, brown rice syrup, pecans, cashews, organic sugar, sea salt and sunflower oil.

Steve Silberman’s NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Best Non-Fiction book of the year. It deserves it! Silberman not only provides a fascinating history of autism, but also suggests that neurodivesity is more common than anyone thought. Each chapter in this book has wonderful nuggets of information. The chapter on the making of the film Rain Man for example floored me. I had no idea Steven Spielberg planned to direct Rain Man but dropped out to make Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade instead. Rain Man gave movie audiences the first sympathetic look at an autistic character and changed the entire approach to autism. I can’t over-praise NeuroTribes. It’s a tremendous achievement! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword by Oliver Sacks
Introduction: Beyond the Geek Syndrome
1. The Wizard of Clapham Common
2. The Boy Who Loves Green Straws
3. What Sister Viktorine Knew
4. Fascinating Peculiarities
5. The Invention of Toxic Parenting
6. Princes of the Air
7. Fighting the Monster
8. Nature’s Smudged Lines
9. The Rain Man Effect
10. Pandora’s Box
11. In Autistic Space
12. Building The Enterprise: Designs for a Neurodiverse World
Epilogue: The Mayor of Kensington
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index