I found this First Edition of Lightning at a library book sale. I’d read most of the 87th Precinct series, but not Lightning. Lightning was published in 1984. It’s the 37th volume in the 87th Precinct series. The body of a girl attending a local college is found hanging from a lamp post. In a parallel plotline, women are being preyed upon by a serial rapist. The rapist is raping the same women over and over. Although this novel is 27 years old, it holds up well. Yes, the computer is just being used in police investigations so it has a novelty factor in this book. But the characters, Carella, Meyer, Kling, Burke, and Fat Ollie Weeks carry the action to a satisfactory conclusion.

If you’re a fan of 1950s-style Rhythm & Blues, you’ll enjoy Memphis: The Musical. The gossamer plot merely holds the songs together. As you might expect, race plays a role in the plot and the music. A nerdy character named Huey Calhoun (based on real-life Dewey Phillips who was one of the first white DJs to play “Negro music” on the radio) causes a sensation when he promotes music written and performed by African-Americans. There’s a love story, too. My chief complaint is that the music should have been better. Couldn’t the producers have gotten the rights to some of the classic R&B songs of this era? Memphis: The Musical is entertaining, but it could have been a lot better with great songs. GRADE: B

I’m a fan of Alastair Reynolds’ space operas so as soon as Blue Remembered Earth arrived, I immediately dropped everything to read it. At 505 pages, it qualifies as a Summer Reading Book. And, as Reynolds has announced, Blue Remembered Earth is the first book in a “loose” trilogy. All three books will stand on their own (and characters of one book won’t be included in other books) but will share a similar universe. Basically, Blue Remembered Earth is a puzzle novel. A powerful and famous woman dies and leaves her family clues to a mystery. Two of the family members follow the clues to the Moon and Mars (and, eventually, farther). There’s plenty of politics and double-dealing. No, Blue Remembered Earth isn’t one of Alastair Reynolds’ best books. The novel takes about 100 pages to get started. The “mystery” is obvious (at least it was to me). But Reynolds is a master of creating innovative groups like the Aquatics (who are colonizing the oceans of Earth) and the intelligence machines on Mars. If you’re looking for a diverting beach book, I’d recommend Blue Remembered Earth. GRADE: B

After watching Prometheus, the prequel to Alien, I figured I’d watch the Blu-ray versions of Alien and Aliens that I’ve had for some time. It didn’t take long for me to re-appreciate Sigourney Weaver’s acting in these two movies. Ridley Scott directed Alien back in 1979. It’s basically a Haunted House movie. The creepy alien sneaks around the space ship killing everyone and Sigourney Weaver ends up going one-on-one with it. James Cameron directed Aliens (1986) and it is very different movie from its predecessor. Sigourney Weaver duels the Alien Queen. Yikes! For their times, both films were ground-breaking and should be re-visited.

I had moments of deja-vu while watching Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Prometheus is a prequel to Alien (1979), and like Alien the focus is on a feisty woman character. In Alien it was Sigourney Weaver and in Prometheus it’s Noomi Rapace (from the Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies). Noomi plays an archeologist who believes she’s found evidence that life on Earth originated and was “engineered” by advanced beings from another planet. She convinces one of the Koch brothers to spend a trillion dollars on a mission to a moon that may hold the answers. And, like Alien, the crew violates every safety protocol. And, there’s a treacherous android. As you might expect, this is a visual feast. I enjoyed the 3D effects. Prometheus will be one of the summer’s blockbusters. For a brilliant but snarky review of Prometheus, click here. GRADE: A-

Season Five of Mad Men has been one of my favorites. So much happened this season: Roger took LSD, there was an entertaining fist fight between Lane Pryce and Pete Campbell, a surprising suicide, an equally surprising decision by one of the advertising firm’s creative stars to leave for another agency, and a decision by a female employee to eventually give in to what amounted to prostitution (to win the coveted Jaguar account) after haggling over the price (a partnership in the firm). Tonight will probably provide another cliff-hanger so I’ll be counting the days until Mad Men returns. This may be the best cable series ever.

Wodehouse’s The Heart of a Goof is the second collection of Wodehouse’s humorous golf stories (the first collection is The Clicking of Cuthbert, also very funny). You don’t need to know much about golf to appreciate Wodehouse’s witty tales of golfers and their plights. I was amazed that this volume, first published in 1926, is still entertaining. Wodehouse is timeless.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
THE HEART OF A GOOF
HIGH STAKES
KEEPING IN WITH VOSPER
CHESTER FORGETS HIMSELF
THE MAGIC PLUS FOURS
THE AWAKENING OF ROLLO PODMARSH
RODNEY FAILS TO QUALIFY
JANE GETS OFF THE FAIRWAY
THE PURIFICATION OF RODNEY SPELVIN

Charlize Theron is one of my favorite actresses and she’s terrific as obsessive Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman. Kristen Stewart is a credible Snow White and Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in The Avengers, shows he can win hearts as The Huntsman, too. You know the story: the evil Queen wants to be “the fairest of them all” but her magic mirror tells her that Snow White surpasses her. The Queen sends a Huntsman to kill Snow White and bring back her heart (which the Queen plans to consume). Things don’t work out and Snow White and the Huntsman encounter some dwarfs. Snow White is poisoned… Well, you know the rest. Telling such a familiar story demands a strong cast to carry out the action and produce some surprises. Snow White and the Huntsman is surprisingly good. GRADE: A-

Dwight Macdonald, as Louis Menand assures us in his entertaining Introduction, could be a pain in the butt. Macdonald was a rebel writer, constantly challenging societal norms. In his heyday, in the Fifties and the Sixties, Macdonald wrote for The New Yorker, The Partisan Review, Commentary, and other intellectual journals. In his most famous essay, “Masscult and Midcult,” Macdonald correctly identifies the movement that resulted in the dumbing down of culture that we’re experiencing today. This New York Review of Books volume brings together Macdonald’s best essays. My favorite is Macdonald stunning attack on the then brash youngster, Tom Wolfe. I found Macdonald’s essay on James Agee both insightful and poignant. Macdonald’s essay on Hemingway, judged as too harsh by many, is followed by a defense of Hemingway by George Plimpton. All in all, this book brings the forgotten Dwight Macdonald back to life. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents:
Masscult and Midcult
James Agee
Ernest Hemingway
Book of the Millennium Club
Updating the Bible
The String Untuned
The Triumph of the Fact
Parajournalism, or, Tom Wolfe and His Magic Writing Machine.