Diane and I saw the play version of Jersey Boys a couple years ago. The movie version is very similar. Basically, it’s the story for four guys who form a group and become successful. Very, very successful. Of course, there are problems. But the music and the money seems to solve everything. No surprises here. If you grew up on the Four Seasons’ music like I did, this will be a fun trip down Memory Lane. GRADE: B+
Black Dog Books has just published another winner: Race Williams’ Double Date and Other Stories. The stories were selected by Stephen Mertz who also provides a savvy Foreward showing that Race Williams stories launched the hard-boiled detective genre. Our own Evan Lewis provides an informative Introduction to Carroll John Daly’s career and the Race Williams legend. The stories in this volume were published between 1947 and 1954. My favorite piece in this collection is Carroll John Daly’s advice to would-be writers, “The Ambulating Lady.” If you’re a fan of hard-boiled detectives, this book is a must-buy. If you’re a casual reader of the genre, you’ll find plenty of entertainment and excitement between these covers!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Evan Lewis
Forward by Stephen Mertz
“This Corpse One Me”
“Avenging Angel”
“Race Williams’ Double Date”
“Murder Yet to Come”
“”This Corpse is Free!”
“Gas”
“Manhunter”
“You’ll Remember Me”
“I’ll Feel Better When You’re Dead”
APPENDIX A
“The Ambulating Lady”
Back in the 1990s, I read George Gilder’s monthly newsletter. It was aimed at investors in the stock market and it was filled with Gilder’s ideas of a technological future. When Gilder went “all in” on the troubled company Global Crossing…and Global Crossing went bankrupt that was pretty much the end of Gilder as an investment adviser. Gilder’s latest book, Knowledge & Power, presents many of Gilder’s favorite themes: information technology will change everything including politics, capitalism works best with few restrictions or rules, and those who follow Gilder’s ideas will benefit materially. I found Gilder’s book provocative. If you have an interest in economics and technology, you’ll find Knowledge & Power thought-provoking. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Forward By Andy Kessler
PART ONE: THE THEORY
1. The Need for a New Economics
2. The Signal in the Noise
3. The Science of Information
4. Entropy Economics
5. Romney, Bain, and the Curve of Learning
6. The Extent of Learning
7. The Light Dawns
8. Keynes Eclipses Information
9. Fallacies of Entropy and Order
10. Romer’s Recipes and Their Limits
11. Mind Over Matter
PART TWO: THE CRISIS
12. The Scandal of Money
13. The Fecklessness of Efficiency
14. Regnorance
15. California Debauch
16. Doing Banking Right
17. The One Percent
PART THREE: THE FUTURE
18. The Black Swans of Investment
19. The Outsider Trading Scandal
20. The Explosive Elasticities of Freedom
21. Flattening Taxes
22. The Technology Evolution Myth
23. Israel: InfoNation
24. The Knowledge Horizon
25. The Power of Giving
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index
Graham Weber, successful businessman, is appointed by the President as the new Director of the CIA. Weber immediately gets embroiled in a tangled plot involving James Morris, the former hacker who runs the CIA’s Internet Operations Center. Morris has his own agenda. Weber finds he has to play an intelligence game as well as a political game. Ignatius captures the paranoia and deception of the spy services. My complaint is that Ignatius spends too much time on the details of hacking computer systems. A year from now, all of those protocols will be Ancient History. In this post-Snowden world, The Director shows the implications of a world without secrets. GRADE: B
Fargo is the best series on cable right now. Casting Billy Bob Thorton as a stone-cold hitman was brilliant casting. But casting Allison Tolman as Deputy Sheriff Molly Solverson (an echo of the great role of Frances McDormand as a pregnant Minnesota police chief in the movie version) was an act of genius. Martin Freeman, of Sherlock and The Hobbit fame, starts out as a mousey insurance agent but evolves into something very creepy. Every episode of Fargo had a surprise (which I loved!). Tonight’s finale on FX is 90-minutes. I’ll be staying up to watch it in Real Time. If you haven’t been watching Fargo you’ve been missing a great program. GRADE: A
I’ve been a fan of Kenneth Turan for years. Turan shows up on CBS SUNDAY MORNING from time to time and he’s a regular on NPR’s Morning Edition. His insights into movies are enlightening. In Not To Be Missed, Turan chooses the 54 favorite movies that he’s reviewed over the decades. After each essay, Turan recommends movies in the same genre and books about the novie if you want to learn more. If you love movies as much as I do, Not To Be Missed is a must-buy. For casual movie fans, you might want to request this book from your local public library. After reading each essay in Not To Be Missed I wanted to drop everything and see the movie! How many of these movies have you seen? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
IN THE BEGINNING
Fantomas, 1913-1914
Silent Comedy Double Feature:
Sherlock Jr., 1924 and Pass the Gravy, 1928
THE THIRTIES
Introduction
I Am a Fugitive form a Chain Gage, 1932
Bombshell, 1933
The Dybbuk, 1937
Leo McCarey Double Feature:
Make Way for Tomorrow, 1937 and Love Affair, 1939
the forties
Introduction
Pride and Prejudice, 1940
Ernst Lubitsch Double Feature:
The Shop Around the Corner 1940 and To Be or Not to Be 1942
The Lady Eve, 1941
Strawberry Blonde, 1941
Casablanca, 1942
Random Harvest, 1942
Children of Paradise, 1945
Great Expectations, 1946
Bicycle Thieves, 1948
The Third Man, 1949
THE FIFTIES
Introduction
All About Eve, 1950
The Asphalt Jungle, 1950
Sunset Boulevard, 1950
Casque d’Or, 1952
The Importance of Being Earnest, 1952
Singin’ in the Rain, 1952
The Earrings of Madame De…., 1953
Seven Samurai, 1954
Kiss Me Deadly, 1955
Seven Men from Now, 1956
Sweet Smell of Success, 1957
Vertigo, 1958
THE SIXTIES
Introduction
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, 1962
The Gospel According to St. Matthew, 1964
Point Blank, 1967
Le Samourai, 1967
Kes, 1969
THE SEVENTIES
Introduction
The Godfather, 1972
Chinatown, 1974
THE EIGHTIES
Introduction
The Day After Trinity, 1981
First Contact, 1983
Distant Vocies, Still Lives, 1988
THE NINETIES
Introduction
Howard’s End, 1992
Leolo, 1992
Unforgiven, 1992
THE NEW CENTURY
Spirited Away, 2001
The Best of Youth, 2003
The Five Obstructions, 2003
Documentary Double Feature:
Stranded 2007 and Senna 2010
A Prophet 2009
Of Gods and Men , 2010
Footnote, 2011
Orson Welles Double Feature:
Touch of Evil, 1958 and Chimes of Midnight, 1965
The Fifty-Fifth Film
A Second Fifty-Four
Acknowledgements
Index
Sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm), facing business disaster, decides to go to India and find young men who have the potential to pitch in Major League Baseball. And, sure enough, through a competitive process J.B. finds two young men who fit the bill. He brings them back to the U.S. to work with a USC baseball coach (Tom Paxton). The young men from India develop, but cultural problems intrude. J.B. finds himself falling in love with his renter, Brenda Fenwick (Lake Bell). Based on a true story, Million Dollar Arm is entertaining and diverting during this summer of blockbusters and super-hero movies. A nice change of pace. GRADE: B+
I found a copy of this Revised Edition of Mystery Writer’s Handbook in a thrift store. It was published in 1982 so some of these essays are dated. But many of the essays are still relevant today like John D. MacDonald’s “How a Character Becomes Believable.” I liked Richard Martin Stern’s essay on “Suspense.” Rex Stout tells us “What To Do About a Watson.” Michael Avallone explains “The Narrative Hook.” I found Gregory Mcdonald’s “On Dialogue” thought-provoking. This book was a bargain at a quarter! You can find Mystery WRiter’s Handbook at the usual online booksellers, but I doubt you’ll get it for 25 cents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface, By Lawrence Treat
1. Why Do You Write?
2. Into Something Rich and Strange, By Bruce Cassiday
3. Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
4. Where Do You Get Your Plot? By Fredric Brown
5. How to Achieve Story Structure, By Pauline Bloom
6. Why I Don’t Outline, By Hillary Waugh
7. Plotting from a Situation, By Dana Lyon
8. When and How Do You Write?
9. The Series vs. the Non-Series Detective, By Hillary Waugh
10. Homicide and Other Investigations, By Thomas M. McDade
11. How to Please and Editor, By Eleanor Sullivan
12. How to Make It Authentic, Barbara Frost
13. The Narrative Hook, Michael Avallone
14. How a Character Becomes believable, By John D. MacDonald
15. Deciding on Viewpoint, By Janet Gregory Vermandel
16. What to Do About a Watson, By Rex Stout
17. Suspense, Richard Martin Stern
18. Background and Atomosphere, By Dorothy Salisbury Davis
19. On Dialogue, By Gregory Mcdonald
20. Style, Aaron Marc Stein
21. The Ungentle Art of REvision, By Stanley Ellin
22. Once Over–Not Lightly, By Lawrence Treat
23. Cutting: Surgery or Butchery? By Helen McCloy
24. Avoiding Cliches Like the Plague
25. How Do You Handle Stumbling Blocks?
26. What Do You Mean, “Gothic”? By Phyllis A. Whitney
27. The Softcover Original, By Dan Marlowe
28. The Pleasure of the Short Story, By Edward D. Hoch
29. Writhing the True Crime Story, By William T. Brannon
30. Writing for Television and Movies, By William P. McGivern
31. On Agents, By Bill Pronzini
32. Legal Aspects, By Harold Q. Masur
33. Tricks of the Trade
Index
Ethan Gage is an adventurer and one-time assistant to Benjamin Franklin. Gage wins a medallion in a card game and then finds himself framed for murder. He flees Paris amid the turmoil of the French Revolution and joins Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt. Gage finds clues that his medallion may hold the secret to the treasure of a pyramid. More fighting and adventures propel the plot of Napoleon’s Pyramids to a high-flying conclusion. This is fun summer reading! Think Indiana Jones at the end of the 18th Century. There are seven more books in the Ethan Gage series and I plan to read them all. GRADE: B+