Rick Robinson is curious about the Big Fat Books I’ve been reading this summer. Here’s the first one: Steven Moore’s The Novel weighs in at 1,013 pages! Steven Moore seemingly has read everything. After finishing The Novel I had a list of books as long as your arm that I want to read. The years 1600-1800 cover a lot of ground, but I found Moore a dependable guide through the thicket of books. If you’re remotely interested in the development of the novel, you’ll find The Novel full of history and surprises. If Steven Moore brings out another volume of The Novel (perhaps 1800-1900), I’ll buy it and read it. Steven Moore’s first book in this series, The Novel: An Alternative History, Beginnings to 1600 (2010) was a mere 704 pages. GRADE: A

When I was a kid, my favorite DC Comics super-hero was The Flash. Most of the stories turned on some scientific principle (The Flash’s secret identity is Barry Allen, a chemist). Over the years, The Flash Has morphed into a cranky super-hero. In the Justice League video series, The Flash was the character most likeLY to talk trash to his fellow super-heroes or the super-villains. But The Flash is more subdued in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox as he tries to change the Past by going back in Time to prevent the violent murder of his mother. Good Intentions lead to complications as you veterans of Time Travel stories all know. I was surprised at the mature story-telling in this movie. It was serious and the body-count is high. If you’re a fan of DC Comics and The Flash in particular, you’ll really like this movie. GRADE: A-

Sure, King & Maxwell is Summer fluff. But I find Jon Tenney as Sean King and his partner, Michelle Maxwell (played by Rebecca Romijn) who are ex-Secret Service agents turned private eyes entertaining. Sure, there’s a high quota of silliness. But, hey, it’s Summer TV! I thought the chemistry among the characters jelled as Season One progressed. The story arc about how the politician’s assassination that got Sean King fired from the Secret Service suggests a deep conspiracy. I’ll be watching King and Maxwell if it returns next summer.

Toni Collette and Steve Carell play a couple trying to decide if they should blend their families (Carell has a pouty daughter and Collettee has a dorky son). The “family” travels to Carell’s beach house for a summer vacation. Fourteen-year-old Duncan (played ably by Liam James), Collette’s dorky son, dislikes Carell’s character (and the animosity is mutual). Hating the entire situation, Duncan finds a refuge at the Water Wizz, a local water park. The eccentric owner, played by Sam Rockwell, takes Duncan under his wing and hires him. Duncan finds his co-workers at the Water Wizz more like a real family than the people at the beach house. Although the plot is predictable, the cast carries you along to a satisfying conclusion. If you’re in the mood for a coming-of-age movie, you’ll really like The Way Way Back. GRADE: B+

Elysium is set in 2154 when the Rich have left our polluted, dying planet and reside on a super-luxurious space station. Matt Damon plays Max, a drone who decides to get to Elysium when he’s accidentially exposed to a cancerous susbstance and only has five days to live (they can cure cancer on Elysium). Jodie Foster is unconvincing as the Defense Secretary of Elysium. There’s plenty of action, but director Neil Blomkamp who directed the nifty District 9, plays it safe in Elysium. As our local movie review wrote: “Good, but not great” (borrowing from Bill Crider’s classic line). But I’m a sucker for Summer action movies so I had a fun time watching Elysium. GRADE: B+

Jack Vance’s To Live Again, published as a Ballantine paperback original in 1956, was Vance’s first real science fiction novel (Winston Science Fiction published Vance’s juvenile Vandals of the Void in 1953). Vance describes a future society where the gift of immortality is given only to a few. The society is divided into six groups. Five of the groups are hierarchical: as you move up (called “slope”) from lower groups to higher groups your life gets extended. If you gain admittance to the top group, Amaranth, you are given the life-extension treatments that make you immortal. As you might suspect, the competition for admittance to Amaranth is fierce. Vance shows how social structures stress out citizens which slowly fractures society. To Live Forever introduces themes that will pervade most of Jack Vance’s later work: sociological analysis, unconventional social structures, and the dangers inherent in class-oriented societies. If you’re a newbie to Jack Vance’s work, this might not be the ideal book to start with (I’d recommend The Dying Earth or mystery-oriented Galactic Effectuator). But sooner or later you’ll get around to reading To Live Forever and you’ll be impressed with Jack Vance’s auspicious first novel.

I’m a big fan of Steely Dan so when I learned of these two new CDs I was eager to listen to them. Sadly, I have to report I was disappointed in both. I really enjoyed Mayer Hawthrone’s Motown-inspired CDs, A Strange Arrangement and How Do You Do, so I set the bar high for Where Does This Door Go. The switch from soulful music to a more jazzy Steely Dan style must be a work in progress. Where I listened to Mayer Hawthorne’s earlier CDs constantly when they first came out, I’ve listened to Where Does This Door Go exactly once. This isn’t a bad CD, it’s just not memorable. GRADE: C

Things are more dire on the Mark Masters Ensemble’s tribute to Steely Dan, Everything You Did. Just about every track had a skip (or three) in it. At first, I wondered if this was some kind of weird engineered sound effect. But, no, this CD was just poorly manufactured. I listened to all the tracks despite the skips and found the music bland. The best cut on this CD, “Black Cow,” is light-years away from the classic Steely Dan version. I’m returning Everything You Do to AMAZON for a refund. The lesson I learned from listening to both of these CDs is to take Steely Dan off my record shelf and listen to the Real Thing. As for Everything You Do, skip it. GRADE: D (for defective)

I’ve been reading Bill Pronzini’s work since the Seventies. Pronzini is a consummate professional. His books are well thought out and well written. I’ve read dozens of Pronzini’s books over the years (and I have dozens more waiting in the wings). Several of my friends have recommended The Crimes of Jordan Wise to me so I’ve finally gotten around to reading it. Jordan Wise starts out as an accountant, living a dull predictable life. He meets a woman named Annalise and falls in love with her. But in order to win Annalise, Jordan Wise has to pull off a perfect crime. Later, Jordan Wise has to commit two more perfect crimes. I’m being deliberately vague because I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises in this fine novel (and there are a lot of them!). If you haven’t read any of Bill Pronzini’s books, The Crimes of Jordan Wise is the perfect place to start. If you’re a long-time reader of Bill Pronzini’s work but haven’t read this one, drop everything and pick up a copy of The Crimes of Jordan Wise. It’s one of Pronzini’s best books! GRADE: A

I really enjoyed watching Law & Order, Season One last year. I was browsing AMAZON and Law & Order, Season Two appeared…for $10! The list price is $39.98 so this qualifies as a bargain in my book. You get over 10 hours (13 episodes) of the best of Law & Order translated into the British justice system (Season Two includes Series 3 and Series 4 in the UK). The cast is excellent. Bonus features include interviews with the cast and crew, gag reel, press interviews, and “behind the scenes” featurettes. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

By the time you read this, some nurses will be putting Diane and me through our echo-cardiograms. We’ve never had an echo-cardiogram before this, but our new doctors want us to have echo-cardiograms every two years. Diane gets the easy “lay on the table” echo-cardiogram. I have the more complicated “run on the treadmill” variety. Our instructions say Diane’s echo-cardiogram will take about an hour. My stress-test echo-cardiogram will take about 90 minutes. Both of us are interested to see the results of this test. Have you had an echo-cardiogram?