The Amazing Spider-Man 2 disappointed me on several levels. There’s the sub-plot about Peter Parker’s parents. There’s Peter’s Aunt (Sally Field) and her problems. But the element that brings the movie almost to a halt is Peter (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen’s (Emma Stone) “relationship.” Too much angst. I like both actors, but none of their love scenes seem convincing. Even with three villains–the Green Goblin, Electro, and Rhino–the action quotient seemed way down after last month’s excellent Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Unless you’re a hype Spider-Man fan, you can skip this lame movie. GRADE: C

Yes, this is the third FFB in a row featuring Milton Lesser’s work. Lesser legally changed his name to Stephen Marlowe. In the past two FFBs, I reviewed Milton Lesser’s science fiction stories. After a decade of writing SF, Lesser switched to crime and suspense in the 1960s writing under the Stephen Marlowe pseudonym that was to become his name. Marlowe’s Chester Drum series featured a unique private eye. Where many private eyes were based in a single city–Michael Shayne in Miami, Philip Marlowe in L.A., Sam Spade in San Francisco–Marlowe gave Drum an international beat. Cases in France, Spain, and Italy are included in this book. Bill Pronzini’s detailed Introduction explores the Stephen Marlowe oeuvre. I’d never seen this book before because it was published by Five Star, a publisher who specialized in selling its books to libraries. But Drum Beat is available at the usual Internet sources at reasonable prices. This collection is well worth it especially because it includes what Marlowe considered his best Chester Drum novel, Dominique.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Prelude: A Fast Drumroll by Bill Pronzini
“Drum Beat”
“Baby Sister”
Chester Drum Takes Over
Wanted–Dead and Alive
A Place to Visit
Drum Beat–Dominique

I’ve been delighted by the previous three collections of Jack Vance’s early science fiction stories. Subterranean Press and Dowling and Strahan should be praised for bringing this work to a new audience. This 376-page collection contains
Table of Contents
◦ Introduction
◦ Nogpalgarth
◦ Telek
◦ Four Hundred Blackbirds
◦ Alfred’s Ark
◦ Meet Miss Universe
◦ The World Between
◦ Milton Hack from Zodiac
◦ Parapsyche

Gross Deomestic Product (GDP), the unemployment rate, inflation, consumer sentiment, and a dozen other indicators of the economy are explained in clear detail by Zachary Karabell. Karabell shows that “the economy” wasn’t a major topic until 1940. During the Great Depression, the key indicators that we take for granted today were developed. “The economy” lacked the measurements and structure that it has today. And the U.S., the World Bank, and the U.N. imposed these economic measurements on the entire world. I knew a few of these stories from the economics courses I took, but Karabell’s comprehensive picture of the various indicators and how they were developed makes for fascinating reading. GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
The ripples of domesday
Unemployment
National income and the man from Pinsk
The invention of the economy
The economic gestalt
Inflation: from leading indicator to government con
Diminishing returns
Where’s Waldo?
Gross national happiness
The avatars.

Dune by Frank Herbert is one of Science Fiction’s classic novels. Neither David Lynch’s version or the old Sci-Fi Channel’s version did justice to the book. Alejandro Jodorowsky conceived a legendary cinematic treatment of Dune back in the 1970s. Salvador Dali, Orson Wells, and Mick Jagger all signed on for the film. Jodoroswky’s Dune shows the treatment that was taken to Hollywood. Artwork by Chris Foss, Moebius, and H.R. Giger. Special effects by Dan O’Bannon. But the movie was never made. It was too radical, too far ahead of its time. When the creative team broke up, all these talented people went in different directions. Dan O’Bannon and H.R. Giger got involved with the movie Alien. George Lucas and Star Wars have aspects of the never-made Dune. Blade Runner and Prometheus by Ridley Scott includes elements from Dune. I loved this wonderful documentary. GRADE: A

I’m a sucker for books like The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950. Carman Callil and Colm Toibin present a fascinating mix of books (as you can see by their selections below). After the list, Callil and Toibin provide a 1-page description of each book. On top of this, The Modern Library also lists award winners (National Book Award, Man Booker, Pulitzer, etc.) which is handy. The Modern Library was first published in England in 1998. Running Press reprinted it for the U.S. market in 2011 and I just found it by chance on AMAZON and ordered it. Now I have plenty of new novels and new writers to explore! How many of these books have you read? GRADE: A
List of titles in order of publication
1950
A Murder is Announced Agatha Christie
Nothing Henry Green
Power Without Glory Frank Hardy
The Grand Sophy Georgette Heyer
1951
December Bride Sam Hanna Bell
My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier
The West Pier Patrick Hamilton
The Ballad of the Sad Café Carson McCullers
A Dance to theMusic of Time (1951–75) Anthony Powell
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
1952
Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
The Natural Bernard Malamud
The Financial Expert R. K. Narayan
Wise Blood Flannery O’Connor
East of Eden John Steinbeck
The Sword of Honour Trilogy (1952–61) Evelyn Waugh
1953
Private Life of an Indian Prince Mulk Raj Anand
Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin
The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow
The Long Good-Bye Raymond Chandler
The Go-Between L. P. Hartley
The Echoing Grove Rosamond Lehmann
The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutuola
1954
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Lord of the Flies William Golding
The Tortoise and the Hare Elizabeth Jenkins
The Flint Anchor Sylvia Townsend Warner
1955
The Molloy Trilogy (1955–58) Samuel Beckett
The Recognitions William Gaddis
The Talented Mr Ripley Patricia Highsmith
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
1956
A Legacy Sybille Bedford
Train to Pakistan Khushwant Singh
1957
Owls Do Cry Janet Frame
On the Road Jack Kerouac
Angel Elizabeth Taylor
The Fountain Overflows Rebecca West
1958
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen
From the Terrace John O’Hara
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Alan Sillitoe
1959
Naked Lunch William Burroughs
A Heritage and its History Ivy Compton-Burnett
The Little Disturbances of Man Grace Paley
1960
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
The Balkan Trilogy (1960–65) Olivia Manning
The Rabbit Quartet (1960–90) John Updike
Jeeves in the Offing P. G. Wodehouse
(US: How Right You Are, Jeeves)
1961
Catch-22 Joseph Heller
A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark
Riders in the Chariot Patrick White
1962
That’s How it Was Maureen Duffy
The Reivers William Faulkner
The Golden Notebook Doris Lessing
The Lonely Girl Edna O’Brien
(renamed Girl with Green Eyes 1964)
Ship of Fools Katherine Anne Porter
1963
The Little Girls Elizabeth Bowen
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold John Le Carré
The Group Mary McCarthy
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
1964
Herzog Saul Bellow
Heartland Wilson Harris
Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby Jr.
1965
Memoirs of a Peon Frank Sargeson
The Interpreters Wole Soyinka
1966
The Magus John Fowles
A Jest of God Margaret Laurence
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
The Jewel in the Crown Paul Scott
Cotters’ England Christina Stead
(US: Dark Places of the Heart 1967)
1967
The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron
A Grain of Wheat Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
1968
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass
The Nice and the Good Iris Murdoch
1969
The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson
Happiness Mary Lavin
The Godfather Mario Puzo
1970
Fifth Business Robertson Davies
Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian
1971
The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth
St Urbain’s Horseman Mordecai Richler
Black List, Section H Francis Stuart
1972
The Optimist’s Daughter Eudora Welty
1973
The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell
Gravity’s Rainbow Thomas Pynchon
1975
Ragtime E. L. Doctorow
Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Changing Places David Lodge
1976
The Lost Salt Gift of Blood Alistair MacLeod
Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice
Saville David Storey
1977
Injury Time Beryl Bainbridge
Falconer John Cheever
A Book of Common Prayer Joan Didion
The Ice Age Margaret Drabble
1978
Tirra Lirra by the River Jessica Anderson
Plumb Maurice Gee
The Human Factor Graham Greene
The Murderer Roy A. K. Heath
The Cement Garden Ian McEwan
1979
The Year of the French Thomas Flanagan
From the Fifteenth District Mavis Gallant
Burger’s Daughter Nadine Gordimer
Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick
The Executioner’s Song Norman Mailer
A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul
1980
Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess
The Transit of Venus Shirley Hazzard
Riddley Walker Russell Hoban
Lamb Bernard MacLaverty
So Long, See You Tomorrow William Maxwell
Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson
A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
Puffball Fay Weldon
1981
Lanark Alasdair Gray
Red Dragon Thomas Harris
Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
A Flag for Sunrise Robert Stone
1982
On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin
Schindler’s Ark Thomas Keneally
(US: Schindler’s List)
The Color Purple Alice Walker
A Boy’s Own Story Edmund White
1984
Money Martin Amis
Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard
Flaubert’s Parrot Julian Barnes
In Custody Anita Desai
The Children’s Bach Helen Garner
Nation of Fools Balraj Khanna
Machine Dreams Jayne Anne Phillips
1985
Family and Friends Anita Brookner
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry
Black Robe Brian Moore
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson
1986
The Sportswriter Richard Ford
An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro
A Summons to Memphis Peter Taylor
A Dark-Adapted Eye Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
1987
Ellen Foster Kaye Gibbons
Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen
Misery Stephen King
Beloved Toni Morrison
In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje
The Other Garden Francis Wyndham
1988
Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey
Where I’m Calling From Raymond Carver
Paris Trout Pete Dexter
The Sugar Mother Elizabeth Jolley
Forty-Seventeen Frank Moorhouse
Ice-Candy-Man Bapsi Sidhwa
Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler
The Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe
1989
The Book of Evidence John Banville
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Oscar Hijuelos
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan
1990
Possession A. S. Byatt
Age of Iron J. M. Coetzee
A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham
The Snapper Roddy Doyle
Get Shorty Elmore Leonard
Amongst Women John McGahern
The Great World David Malouf
Friend of My Youth Alice Munro
1991
The Regeneration Trilogy (1991–95) Pat Barker
Wise Children Angela Carter
A Strange and Sublime Address Amit Chaudhuri
American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis
The Redundancy of Courage Timothy Mo
Mating Norman Rush
Downriver Iain Sinclair
A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley
Reading Turgenev William Trevor
Cloudstreet Tim Winton
1992
Death and Nightingales Eugene McCabe
The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe
The Secret History Donna Tartt
1993
The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides
Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
A River Sutra Gita Mehta
The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx
My Idea of Fun Will Self
A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
Trainspotting Irvine Welsh
1994
What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe
(US: The Winshaw Legacy)
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernières
(US: Corelli’s Mandolin)
The Folding Star Alan Hollinghurst
Original Sin P. D. James
How Late it Was, How Late James Kelman
1995
The Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghessan Boyle
The Blue Flower Penelope Fitzgerald
A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
1996
Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
Asylum Patrick McGrath
Last Orders Graham Swift
The Night in Question Tobias Wolff
1997
Quarantine Jim Crace
Underworld Don DeLillo
Cold Mountain Charles Frazier
American Pastoral Philip Roth
1998
The Lady From Guatemala V. S. Pritchett

I was in love with Linda Ronstadt and her music for much of the 1960s and 1970s. But today, Linda Ronstadt is suffering from Parkinson’s and can no longer sing. She’s also in dire financial straits. That’s one of the reasons I bought this uneven collection of duets. You can read Bill Crider’s fine review of Duets here. You can’t beat Linda Ronstadt’s duets with J.D. Souther and Aaron Neville. “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram won two Grammys. It still sounds great to these ears. If you want to support a struggling artist, buy a copy of Duets. GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
1 Adieu False Heart – Ann Savoy (3:34)
2 I Can’t Get Over You – Ann Savoy (3:06)
3 Walk Away Renee – Ann Savoy (3:24)
4 The New Partner Waltz – Carl Jackson (2:50)
5 I Never Will Marry -Dolly Parton (3:13)
6 Pretty Bird – Laurie Lewis (2:38)
7 I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You) – Emmylou Harris (2:46)
8 Hasten Down the Wind – Don Henley (2:42)
9 Prisoner In Disguise – J.D. Souther (3:53)
10 I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine – James Taylor (4:01)
11 Don’t Know Much -Aaron Neville & Skywalker Symphony Orchestra (3:34)
12 All My Life – Aaron Neville & Skywalker Symphony Orchestra (3:31)
13 Somewhere Out There – James Ingram (3:59)
14 Sisters – Bette Midler (2:54)
15 Moonlight In Vermont -Frank Sinatra (4:05)

Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman are the marquee names for The Railway Man, but the actor who carries the major moments in this film is Jeremy Irvine as the young Colin Firth character. Firth’s character, Lomax, is part of a British signal unit who surrenders to the Japanese when Singapore falls in 1942. When the Japanese discover Lomax has managed to cobble together a working radio receiver, Lomax is viciously beaten and tortured. We find this out in a series of flashbacks. In 1980, Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman meet on a train and after a brief romance get married. But Kidman’s character discovers her husband has severe Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. How that gets resolved is the heart of the movie. Based on a true story, this film tells its story convincingly. GRADE: B+

I had so much fun reading Milton Lesser’s Johnny Mayhem stories for last week’s FFB, I decided to read another collection of Milton Lesser’s science fiction stories from the 1950s. I turned to Armchair Fiction’s Masters of Science Fiction, Volume 8. “A” As In Android displays Milton Lesser’s versatility. Several of the stories in this volume are “puzzle” stories, like “The Impossible Weapon.” The hero is confronted with a problem (one that might threaten his life) and he is under pressure to solve it quickly. There are stories of aliens (good and bad) and futuristic wars. What is consistent is Lesser’s power of story-telling. If you’re in the mood for some Old School science fiction from the 1950s, “A” As In Android delivers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. “A” As In Android”
2. “Voices in the Void”
3. “The Double Occupation”
4. “No-Risk Planet”
5. “The Music of the Spheres”
6. “Code of the Bluster World”
7. “All Flesh is Brass”
8. “It’s Raining Frogs”
9. “Anything Your Heart Desires”
10. “Black Eyes and The Daily Grind”
11. “The Impossible Weapon”
12. “From Hidden Worlds”
13. “Pen Pals”
14. “My Sweetheart’s the Man in the Moon”

For Elvis fans here’s a new set including previously unreleased concert songs with some studio “reference” tracks from 1974. Elvis is in fine voice, the crowd noise is minimal, and the remastered sound is fabulous. RCA has been releasing rarities from their Vault for the past few years. This may be the last of the Elvis alternate tracks.
TRACK LIST:

Disc 1
1 Also Sprach Zarathustra (1:15)
2 See See Rider (3:02)
3 Medley: I Got a Woman/Amen (5:48)
4 Love Me (2:03)
5 Trying to Get to You (2:06)
6 All Shook Up (1:03)
7 Steamroller Blues (2:52)
8 Medley: (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel (1:59)
9 Love Me Tender (1:45)
10 Medley: Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On/Your Mama Don’t Dan (3:31)
11 Fever (3:07)
12 Polk Salad Annie (3:32)
13 Why Me Lord (2:55)
14 How Great Thou Art (3:45)
15 Suspicious Minds (3:40)
16 Introductions (3:08)
17 Medley: Blueberry Hill/I Can’t Stop Loving You (3:01)
18 Help Me (2:54)
19 An American Trilogy (3:57)
20 Let Me Be There (3:34)
21 My Baby Left Me (2:23)
22 Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (2:06)
23 Funny How Time Slips Away (2:56)
24 Can’t Help Falling in Love (1:38)
25 Closing Vamp (1:11)

Disc 2
1 Also Sprach Zarathustra (1:17)
2 See See Rider (3:01)
3 Medley: I Got a Woman/Amen (4:16)
4 Love Me (1:40)
5 Trying to Get to You (2:08)
6 All Shook Up (1:02)
7 Steamroller Blues (2:53)
8 Medley: (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel (1:59)
9 Love Me Tender (1:44)
10 Medley: Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On/Your Mama Don’t Dan (3:17)
11 Fever (3:03)
12 Polk Salad Annie (3:51)
13 Why Me Lord (2:52)
14 Suspicious Minds (3:44)
15 Introductions (2:31)
16 I Can’t Stop Loving You (2:25)
17 Help Me (2:42)
18 An American Trilogy (3:58)
19 Let Me Be There (3:39)
20 Funny How Time Slips Away (2:48)
21 Can’t Help Falling in Love with You (1:45)
22 Closing Vamp (1:04)
23 Down in the Alley (3:34)
24 Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues (3:19)
25 Softly as I Leave You (2:17)
26 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (4:28)
27 The Twelfth of Never (2:48)