After 25 years of faithful service, I replaced our trusty Toro snowblower, Big Red, with a new snow blower, the Husqvarna Big Orange. The weather guessers are predicting a Bad Winter for Western NY so I figured we needed to be prepared. Plenty of our friends have snow plowing services but the truth be told, I actually enjoy going out and snowblowing. Of course, if the wind is blowing the Wrong Way I end up eating snow. The crispness of a snowy winter day lights up my life. And, of course, I’m built for snow and cold. I had a lump in my throat as my fix-it guy took Big Red away (he wanted Big Red for parts). Saying good-bye to a reliable, dependable machine isn’t easy. I’ll let you know how Big Orange deals with the first big snowfall.

I started ordering books from AMAZON.COM back in the 1990s. I loved the selection and the discounted prices. Later, I became an AMAZON Prime person to get the free 2-day shipping perks. Brad Stone’s The Everything Store tells how Jeff Bezos founded AMAZON and stayed true to his vision of a web site that would literally sell EVERYTHING! Of course at the beginning, Bezos started with selling books. Later, he branched out to music CDs and DVDs. Later, there were successes and failures selling toys, pet food, and jewelry. Stone takes the reader through the good times and the bad times as AMAZON struggles with Bezos mantra of “Grow, grow, grow.” The stories of how 1-CLICK ordering, Look-Inside-the-Book, and the Kindle fascinated me. I liked this book so much I’m having my students read it next semester. If you’re interested in how the premier Internet company came about, The Everything Store delivers a full account. GRADE: A

Almost Human, the new futuristic cop show on FOX, reminds me of Harlan Ellison’s “Brillo” and Robocop. Crime is running rampant in 2048 so cops are paired with “synthetics”–androids with artificial intelligence. Los Angles Police Dectective John Kennex (played by Karl Urban) wakes up from a coma after he’s shot in a botched police raid on a Syndicate stronghold. Kennex believes he and his partner (who dies in the raid) were abandoned by a synthetic. In order to return to duty, Kennex has to work with an android partner. His android partner, Dorian (played by Michael Ealy) have an initial antagonistic relationship. But, as with in most buddy stories, both human and android earn each other’s respect. There isn’t much SF on TV these days so Almost Human becomes the de facto standard…until The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special! GRADE: INCOMPLETE

While the Buffalo Bills were putting a 37-14 beat-down on the NY Jets, Diane and I were at Sheas Performing Arts Center to watch the play version of Warhorse. Diane and I had read Michael Morpurgo’s novel, we saw the Steven Spielberg movie version, and now we were looking forward to seeing the play. The horses are puppets operated by three puppeteers. The movements are so life-like, you forget you’re watching a puppet. The story of the love of a boy for his horse amid the horrors of World War I is moving. If this touring company comes to your town. I highly recommend you see Warhorse. GRADE: A

Ralph Wilson, the 95-year-old owner of the Buffalo Bills, bought up the remaining 4000 tickets so this game wouldn’t be blacked-out. That suggests a waning of fan interest as the 3-7 Bills take on the 5-4 NY Jets. Even more dubious is the Vegas line that makes the Bills a 1-point favorite in this game. Injured QB E.J. Manuel showed plenty of rust with his performance in Pittsburgh last week. Today, Manuel needs to improve…a lot. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

I am so in love with Rachel McAdams after seeing her performance in About Time. Who could not enjoy a romantic comedy with time travel? Domhnall Gleeson (whose most famous role is Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2) plays Tim, an average barrister in London. But Tim finds out from his father, played by Bill Nighy, that males in their family have a peculiar power: they can travel through time. Director and writer Richard Curtis uses this time travel skill to generate plenty of humor. Tim decides to use his time travel power in the pursuit of Love. And he falls in love with Rachel McAdams (brilliant choice!). Whenever things get shaky, Tim travels back in time to fix things. But he soon learns the limits to time travel and the story takes a bittersweet turn. I really enjoyed this movie and you will too! GRADE: B+

Last FFB I reviewed Ross Macdonald’s The Far Side of the Dollar. I decided to go back and reread another Lew Archer mystery. Black Money was published in 1965. Lew Archer is hired by a rich man’s son to investigate his ex-girl friend’s new boyfriend. From this simple beginning, Macdonald weaves a complex plot that includes three murders. Black Money explores the usual Ross Macdonald themes of family secrets that impact the Present. Although not as good as The Galton Case or The Chill, Black Money is still first-rate Ross Macdonald.

Whether you’re going to like Donna Tartt’s 771-page novel depends on whether you can tolerate the narration of a teen-age narrator for all those pages. A tragedy strikes young Theo and he becomes a semi-orphan. Theo leaves New York City for Vegas and readers are treated to a couple hundred pages of drinking vodka and beer, vomiting, smoking pot, sniffing glue, and child abuse. Theo returns to New York City but then gets hooked on Oxycontin and other opiates. During this whole story Theo hides a priceless painting, The Goldfinch painted by Carel Fabritius in 1654. Stephen King’s rave review of The Goldfinch in the New York Times Book Review swayed me into breaking my rule never to read a Big Fat Book during a semester. Yesterday, Bill Crider commented: “But I could read six or seven Gold Medals in the time it would take to read this.” That’s exactly the feeling I experienced while reading The Goldfinch. GRADE: C

I found American Fictions 1940-1980 to be a browsers delight. Frederick R. Karl seemingly has read everything written during those 49 years. Even minor writers like James Purdy get a detailed treatment. There’s plenty of attention given to John Cheever, John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, and dozens of other writers from that era in the 637 double-columned pages of this book. Frederick Karl also evaluates writers. He’s not too keen on Saul Bellow. But he’s really impressed with William Gaddis and Joseph McElroy–two notoriously difficult writers. If you have any interest in the fiction published during the Post-WWII years, this volume is a gold mine. My only quibble is that Karl missed the importance of Philip K. Dick–no mention of him in this book. After Karl died in 2004, his estate published a sequel, American Fictions 1980-2000 which I haven’t read yet. I bought this volume online for a pittance. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FORWARD
A POLEMICAL INTRODUCTION : WHO WE ARE
Chapter One: THEMES AND COUNTER THEMES
Chapter Two: AMERICAN SPACE AND SPATIALITY
Chapter Three: THE WAR AND THE NOVEL–BEFORE AND AFTER
Chapter Five: GROWING UP IN AMERICA: THE 1940S AND THEREAFTER
Chapter Six: THE COUNTERFEIT DECADE
Chapter Seven: THE POLITICAL NOVEL: 1950S AND AFTER
Chapter Eight: THE 1960s: THE (WO)MAN WHO CRIED I AM
Chapter Nine: THE POSSIBILITIES OF MINIMALISM
Chapter Ten: THE FEMALE EXPERIENCE
Chapter Eleven: 1970S: WHERE WE ARE
Chapter Twelve: THE NONFICTION NOVEL
Chapter Thirteen: WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE GOING
NOTES
INDEX

The History Boys (2006) is adapted from the original Tony Award winning play by Alan Bennett (he also wrote The Madness of King George). Eight precocious students at an English prep school seek to go to England’s most elite university: Oxford. Two teachers help the boys prepare for the Admission process. One teacher is a shrewd newcomer who sees the application process as a game. The other teacher is an eccentric who tries to inoculate the boys from the falsity of the process with poetry, music, and silliness. Between the two vastly different approaches to Life, the boys learn that history can be both ironic and random. I loved the play and I enjoyed this movie version. The Tony Award winning cast from the play recreate their roles in the movie version. Both the play and movie explore what education and history really are. I picked up this DVD at BIG LOTS for $3. A bargain! GRADE: B+