My favorite Elinor Lipman essay in I Can’t Complain is “The Funniest and the Favorite.” Elinor Lipman’s favorite book is Max Schulman’s The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. I am a huge Max Schulman fan and after reading this essay I wanted to drop everything and reread that Dobie Gillis book. If Lipman was just writing about her favorite book, it would have been a fine essay. But Lipman adds another layer. Lipman reads The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis because her father recommended it to her when she was a kid. And, together, Lipman and her father grow closer together because of the love of books and humor. There are plenty of other fun essays in I Can’t Complain–I enjoyed the “Sex Ed” essay a lot–but none of essays moved me as much as the one where Lipman fell in love with reading. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents:
◾My introduction and my thanks
◾Meet the family.Julia’s child
◾The funniest and the favorite
◾How to get religion
◾Good grudgekeeping
◾No thank you, I think
◾Sex ed
◾The rosy glow of the backward glance
◾I still think, Call her
◾A tip of the hat to the old block
◾My soap opera journal
◾On writing.Confessions of a blurb slut
◾No outline? Is that any way to write a novel?
◾Which one is he again?
◾It was a dark and stormy nosh
◾Assignment: What happens next?
◾I touch a nerve
◾My book the movie
◾You author’s anxieties: a guide
◾Coupling columns.Boy meets girl
◾May I recommend
◾
◾I want to know
◾A mister and missus
◾Monsieur clean
◾Ego boundaries
◾I married a gourmet
◾I sleep around
◾The best man
◾Since then.This is for you
◾Watching the Masters by myself
◾We [heart] New York
◾A fine nomance.

None of the songs on Motown: The Musical sound as good as the original songs. Here’s the track list:
1 Battle of the Stars: Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Prologue) / I Can’t Help (4:15)
2 Hey Joe (Black Like Me) (2:02)
3 Get Ready / Dancing in the Street (3:24)
4 The Motortown Revue: Please Mr. Postman / You’ve Really Got a Hold on M (4:22)
5 Where Did Our Love Go? / Stop! In the Name of Love (2:00)
6 My Girl (2:46)
7 You’re All I Need to Get By (3:07)
8 War / What’s Going On (4:05)
9 I Heard It Through the Grapevine (2:12)
10 I Want You Back / ABC / The Love You Save (2:28)
11 Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) (3:42)
12 Happy Birthday / Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours (2:55)
13 Can I Close the Door (On Love) (3:49)
14 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (2:47)
GRADE: C

Instead of wasting your money (like I did) on this lame soundtrack, the better move would be to buy Motown: The Musical Originals – 14 Classic Songs That Inspired The Broadway Show!. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who realized the soundtrack to the musical was vastly inferior to the original songs. Here’s the tack list for Mowtown: The Musical Originals:
Disc 1:
1. Get Ready (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 2:39
2. Dancing In The Street Martha & The Vandellas 2:39
3. Money (That’s What I Want) (Stereo Version) Barrett Strong 2:38
4. Shop Around (Stereo Version) The Miracles 2:51
5. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow (Album Version (Stereo)) Marvin Gaye 2:48
6. Fingertips, Part 2 (Second Pressing) Stevie Wonder 3:12
7. Please Mr. Postman (Single Version) The Marvelettes 2:31
8. Two Lovers (1966 Version) Mary Wells 2:47
9. You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (1966 Version) The Miracles 2:53
10. Do You Love Me (1966 Version) The Contours 2:54
11. My Guy (Single Version) Mary Wells 2:52
12. Where Did Our Love Go (Stereo) The Supremes 2:33
13. Stop! In The Name Of Love (Stereo Version) The Supremes 2:54
14. Baby I Need Your Loving (1966 Version) The Four Tops 2:46
15. Shotgun (Extended Stereo Mix 2005) Jr. Walker And The All Stars 3:20
16. Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone (Alt. Version) The Supremes 2:48
17. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Album Version (Stereo)) Marvin Gaye 3:15
18. War (Single Version) Edwin Starr 3:22
19. What’s Going On (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 3:54
20. Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today) (Stereo Version) The Temptations 4:05
Disc 2:
1. Love Child (Album Version (Stereo)) Diana Ross & The Supremes 2:56
2. Cloud Nine (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 3:29
3. For Once In My Life (Album Version) Stevie Wonder 2:50
4. Who’s Lovin’ You (Album Version) The Miracles 3:05
5. I Want You Back (Single Version) Jackson 5 3:01
6. I’ll Be There (Album Version) Jackson 5 3:58
7. Up The Ladder To The Roof (Single Version) The Supremes 3:13
8. My Girl (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 3:00
9. You’re All I Need To Get By (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 2:50
10. I Hear A Symphony (Album Version) The Supremes 2:40
11. My World Is Empty Without You (Stereo) The Supremes 2:34
12. Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand) (Single Version) Diana Ross 3:05
13. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 3:15
14. Cruisin’ (Album Edit) Smokey Robinson 4:27
15. Brick House (Album Version) Commodores 3:30
16. I’m Coming Out (Album Version) Diana Ross 5:21
17. All Night Long (All Night) (Album Version) Lionel Richie 6:24
18. Super Freak (Album Version) Rick James 3:26
19. Remember Me (Alternate Vocal And Mix) Diana Ross 3:42
20. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Single Version (Long)) 3:33
GRADE: A

In 2011, McSweeney’s 39, the literary magazine, included an Elmore Leonard story: “Chick Killer.” I’m not sure if many mystery and suspense fans read McSweeney’s so I’m guessing most people are unaware of this fine story. The story is about Karen Sisco, one of my favorite Elmore Leonard characters (played to perfection in Out of Sight by Jennifer Lopez). Karen Sisco wants to resign from the U.S. Marshalls, but before she can Sisco is confronted by a man who has killed four women. The story of how Sisco deals with this criminal is vintage Elmore Leonard. I hope some mystery anthology reprints “Chick Killer” for a wider audience.

Sound City was the legendary recording studio located in the San Fernando Valley. Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Johnny Cash, Guns & Roses, Cheap Trick, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, and Nirvana recorded classic albums at Sound City. This documentary tells the story of Sound City from its early days in the 1970s until its closing in 2011. The sound on the albums is unique because of the NEVE control panel that made Sound City a favorite studio for many musicians. I also enjoyed the scenes explaining how the studio operated over the years. If you’re interested in rock history and the nuts-and-bolts of old-fashion analog recording, Sound City will fascinate you. Check out the trailer below. GRADE: A

I don’t know what this says about me, but I’ve read all 50 of the selections Kevin Smokler recommends we reread. The 50 books are grouped by theme: “Youth and Growing Up,” “Identity,” “The Inner and Outer World,” “Love and Pain,” etc. with a short essay on each book. As usual, I would have made different choices. Obviously, some Political Correctness is in play in the book choices. But many of the books are well worth reading or rereading. Here’s the list of the 50 books:
1. Huckleberyy Finn-Mark Twain
2. Candide-Voltaire
3. A Separate Peace-John Knowles
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter-Carson McCullers
5. I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou
6. Reservation Blues-Sherman Alexie
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
8. The Age of Innocence-Edith Wharton
9. Surfacing-Margaret Atwood
10. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?-Philip K. Dick
11. Labyrinths-Jorge Luis Borges
12. The Bell Jar-Sylvia Plath
13. Portnoy’s Complaint-Philip Roth
14. Cannery Row-John Steinbeck
15. And the Band Played On-Randy Shilts
16. Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
17. A Doll’s House-Henrik Ibsen
18. Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston
19. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?-Joyce Carol Oates
20. The Scarlet Letter-Nathaniel Hawthorne
21. Billy Budd and Other Tales-Herman Melville
22. The Hound of the Baskervilles-Arthur Conan Doyle
23. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again-David Foster Wallace
24. “Master Harold”…And the Boys-Athol Fugar
25. Fahrenheit 451-Ray Bradbury
26. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
27. The Bluest Eye-Toni Morrison
28. The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan
29. The Metamorphosis-Franz Kafka
30. Maus-Art Spiegelman
31. The Phantom Tollbooth-Norton Juster
32. Against Interpretation and Other Essays-Susan Sontag
33. The World of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction-Walter Benjamin
34. As You Like It-William Shakespeare
35. Understanding Media-Marshall McLuhan
36. The Catcher in the Rye-J. D. Salinger
37. The Stranger-Albert Camus
38. The Lottery and Other Stories-Shirley Jackson
39. Slaughterhouse-Five-Kurt Vonnegut
40. Bastard Out of Carolina-Dorothy Allison
41. Song of Myself and Other Poems-Walt Whitman
42. Complete Poems-Emily Dickinson
43. Miss Lonelyhearts & Day of the Locust-Nathanael West
44. Pilgram at Tinker Creek-Annie Dillard
45. The Things They Carried-Tim O’Brien
46. Animal Farm-George Orwell
47. The Crying of Lot 49-Thomas Pynchon
48. The Remains of Day-Kazuo Ishiguro
49. Things Fall Apart-Chinua Achebe
50. The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pierce Brosnan plays a rich businessman whose life is filled with anger because his beloved wife was killed in an random auto accident. Trine Dyrholm plays Ida, a married hair stylist who is battling cancer. Out these unlikely elements writer-director Susanne Bier fashions an entertaining and thoughtful movie. The chemistry between Brosnan and Dyrholm is intriguing (opposites attract) and genuine. This Danish movie has some subtitles, perhaps 20%, but that didn’t bother me. Much of the movie takes place in Italy. I’ve never seen Italy look so good. If you’re in the mood for an unlikely love story, give Love is All You Need a try. GRADE: A-

Rumor has it that Jeff Smith, former DAPA-EM member and huge Stephen King fan, bought a copy of Under the Dome the day it was published and stayed up all night reading it until he finished the 1000-page tome. Tonight, the TV version of Under the Dome begins on CBS. A mysterious dome appears and encloses the town of Chester’s Mill, Maine. The early buzz on this 13-episode series has been positive. Check out the trailer below. I’m curious so I’ll be watching tonight. How about you?

Mad Men finishes its most surprising season tonight and Copper returns for its second season. I’m a big fan of both shows. Mad Men has managed to astonish me weekly this season. I can’t believe next season will be the last for Mad Men. Copper left some significant plotlines hanging at the end of Season One. I’ll be glad to watch what happens tonight. Check out the trailer below:

Every year about this time, the AAUW puts on a book sale. I go every year. This year, the local TV crew interviewed me for about five minutes. But they only used 10 seconds! Fame is fleeting! Check out the video below!

Hundreds pack enormous book sale

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/hundreds-pack-enormous-book-sale

Back in the Sixties, I binged on Robert Van Guiik’s Judge Dee mysteries. The Judge Dee mysteries were just appearing in paperback. I loved the Chinese sensibility of these books and the clever detection by Judge Dee to solve the crimes. The format of these mysteries features Judge Dee working on three cases at the same time. In The Chinese Bell Murderers, Judge Dee investigates “Rape Murder in Half-Moon Street,” “The Secret Door in the Buddhist Temple,” and “The Case of the Skeleton Under the Bell.” The Chinese Maze Murders presents even more baffling cases: “Murder in the Sealed Room’ (a locked room puzzle), “The Hidden Testament,” and “The Girl With the Severed Head” which involves a solution of a maze puzzle. Judge Dee operates a lot like Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: he sends his agents out to collect evidence and information and then he solves the cases. These books delight me!