You can read all about how Lawrence Block (writing as “Jill Emerson”) came to write Getting Off: A Novel of Sex & Violence at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-i-came-to-write-this-book-lawrence.html on Patti Abbott’s blog. Hard Case is publishing plenty of older crime novels that appeal to a certain market segment. Getting Off is a hybrid, part crime novel and part sleaze novel from 50 years ago. It works for me. I bet you’ll enjoy Block’s off-beat novel, too.

The panel was called HOT ICE (Caper Novels). As most of you know, I’ve been a big fan of caper novels all of my life. I grew up reading Donald Westlake’s comic capers and his darker capers in the Parker books. Loved Lionel White’s noirish capers. So I looked forward to Benjamin Whitmer, Eoin Colfer, Sean Doolitttle, Chris Ewan, Peter Spiegelman, and Keith Thomson to discuss the caper genre and perhaps suggest some more current caper novels I may have missed. But, no, it was not to be. The participants merely talked about their own books (which didn’t appear to be caper novels). After 20 minutes of this blatant self-promotion, I walked out of the panel. Beth Feydn, who stayed, told me later that someone in the the audience finally stood up and said, “Have any of guys ever heard of Donald Westlake?” Over the years, I’ve seen this creeping (and creepy) phenomenon of using panels to boost the authors’ books, but this caper panel was the most egregious example yet. Mystery fans go to panels to meet new writers and to learn more about the various aspects of the genre. They are not a captive audience for authors promoting their books!

Yes, I know the Renaissance Grand Hotel is an older hotel. But no Wi-Fi in the hotel rooms (other than a bogus connector that doesn’t work with an iPad) is inexcusable. The hotel needs to upgrade pronto. If I can get Wi-Fi on a plane, I should be able to get it in my hotel room. The Wi-Fi that was available in the Lobby and (for some people) on the Mezzanine was hard to access. And, once logged on, the network was slow, slow, slow. That needs to be upgraded, too. And, I admit I’m spoiled, but I can’t understand why a classy hotel like the Grand has toilets three inches off the floor. Very annoying!

Diane and I enjoyed the panels that Bill Crider was a part of: STILL SHE CRIES (Lousy reviews and the lost people of Amazon) and ANYTHING FOR A FRIEND (A Chat with Mystery Scene). Dick Lochte gave me some great suggestions for audio books. Megan Abbott’s panel (SHADOWS RISING: Movies for the Crime Fiction Fan) was my favorite panel. I now have a list of movies I need to find and watch. The Renaissance Grand Hotel was indeed grand. The meeting rooms were spacious. Books in abundance! Plenty of our friends were in attendance: Art Scott, the Criders, Beth Feydn, the Meyersons, the Abbotts, Ted Hertel, Maggie Mason, Steve Steinbock, Steve Stilwell, the Smiths, the Fitzgeralds, and Roger Sobin. St. Louis hosted a wonderful Bouchercon!

Clay Shirky is a very smart guy. This slim volume, just 213 pages of text, has more ideas in it than books two or three times its length. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age explores the implications that we all have time on our hands. We are beginning to use that time in collaborative ways on projects like Linux (open operating system) and Wikipedia (open encyclopedia). By working together, mostly for free, astonishing results can be attained. Shirky cites the Josh Groban charity completely run by fans all over the world through the Internet. Shirky also goes off on fascinating tangents like the “Paradox of Revolution.” When Gutenberg and other printers started to produce Bibles, instead of creating stability, it sowed the seeds of revolution: if I have the Bible in my hands, what do I need a Church for?

And, Shirky points out, it wasn’t Bibles that the printers were busy turning out, it was “Indulgences.” The Roman Catholic Church sold “Indulgences” that served as a “Get Out of Purgatory” card. Before Gutenberg, the Indulgences were hand written (so there was a perpetual shortage). When Gutenberg and other printers could produce hundreds of Indulgences per day so the priests could sell them, opposition to this corruption arose. Martin Luther kicked off the Reformation citing these bogus Indulgences as a symbol of the Church’s greed. This is just one of the fascinating stories in this clever book. I highly recommend it! GRADE: A

Colm Toibin wrote a novel about Henry James after studying his work for years. Colm Toibin on Henry James collects a dozen essays and introductions about Henry James where Toibin analyzes many of James’ classic works. My favorite essay in this volume is “Henry James’s New York.” New York played a big role in several James stories and novels. When putting together what he considered his finest work, James called it “The New York Edition.” If you’re interested in reading intelligent criticism of Henry James, you’ll find Colm Toibin on Henry James fits the bill. GRADE: B+

I’m a big fan of Barry Schwartz’s previous book, The Paradox of Choice. I’ve used it in my classes. Schwartz presents research that shows that people get confused and make the Wrong Decision when they’re given too many choices. To make Good Decisions, the set of choices should be fairly narrow. In Practical Wisdom, Schwartz and Sharpe show how balancing risk and rewards can be better accomplished with a loose set of rules rather than a recipe-type instruction set. The essence of wisdom is flexibility, something we seem to have lost in Wisconsin and now Indiana. If you’re looking to make better decisions, Schwartz and Sharpe will show you how to do it. GRADE: A

Believe it or not, 999 posts ago I started this blog with a review of E.C. Tubb’s Child of Earth, the 33rd (and last) book in the Dumarest of Terra series. So for my 1000th posting, I decided to go back where it all began: the first book in the Dumarest series, The Winds of Gath. In this book, Dumarest is introduced as an adventurer who is desperately trying to find his way back to his home planet, Earth. However, Earth appears on none of the star charts. Its existence is doubted. Only Dumarest, who remembers his bleak childhood on Earth, really believes the planet actually exists. As Dumarest finds clues to the location of Earth, he runs afoul of the cyborg cult, the Cyclan. Throughout the 33 books in the series, Dumarest becomes a hunted man. E. C. Tubb died last year, but his intrepid adventures will live on. A good place to start would be The Winds of Gath.

Ben, a yuppie, and Chon, with Navy SEALs training, run a marijuana operation in the Laguna Beach area. But their Good Times come to an end when the Mexican Baja Cartel kidnap their lover, O (for Ophelia). The Mexicans threaten to cut O’s head off with a chainsaw if Ben and Chon don’t cooperate. You can guess the rest: Ben and Chon pretend to cooperate but secretly work to undermine the Cartel. Plenty of explosions of violence and gunplay. Don Winslow knows how to write action-packed thrillers and Savages delivers. Oliver Stone is going to be the director of the movie version. GRADE: B+

By the time you read this, Diane and I will be flying to St. Louis for BOUCHERCON 2011. We hope to see many of our friends: the Criders, Abbotts, Meyersons, Art Scott, Maggie Mason, Beth Fedyn, and the irrepressible Steve Stilwell. I’ve worked ahead so there will be a posting every day we’re in St. Louis. We’re bringing the iPad so I’ll try to keep up with your comments. If you’re attending BOUCHERCON this year, hope to see you there!