“By the early 1920s, Los Angeles had become a Shangri-la of vice,” writes John Buntin. And in L.A. Noir Buntin explores the corruption and vice that provided Raymond Chandler and a host of crime writers with much of their material. Gangster Mickey Cohen (“I never killed anybody who didn’t deserve it”) becomes the focus of Buntin’s storyline along with Police Chief William Parker. At times, L. A. Noir takes on the aspects of an overstuffed sausage. There’s almost too much story for Buntin to cope with. The gangsters take a backseat to the civil rights struggles of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. This is the closest you’re going to get to a one-volume contemporary history of La La Land. GRADE: B

Last week I reviewed Nick Hornby’s lastest novel, Juliet, Naked. I’m back with Nick Hornby’s latest essay collection, Shakespeare Wrote For Money. This is actually the third collection of Hornby’s essays and book reviews. The first two volumes are The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. Hornby wrote a monthly column for The Believer magazine reviewing books mostly. Each column began with a list of books Hornby bought that month and a list of books Hornby actually read. As you might expect, Hornby is a witty reviewer. The choice of books is clever and astute. And, Hornby is an honest reviewer (a rare breed). One month, his list of Books Read is NONE. Hornby admits to being so addicted to the World Cup he didn’t read any books that month. Hornby also admits to abandoning a book if he finds it dull or insipid. Sarah Vowell’s INTRODUCTION is very amusing. If you’re looking for insightful and funny book reviews, give Shakespeare Wrote for Money a try. GRADE: B+

Phil Harbottle was nice enough to send these Birthday greetings for SF writer, E. C. Tubb. Thanks for sharing, Phil!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Tubb from Italy

• My dreams of space and future were fullfilled by your brilliant fantasy. Thanks for the long voyage
Paolo Guglielmi (reader)

• Traveling with Earl Dumarest is a dream come true. Happy birthday and ad majora, Mr. Tubb!
Renato Pestriniero (writer)

• I loved your works since the Fifties, and I love them more now. Thank you for all my dreaming!
Sergio Campagna (Reader)

• I was happy to hear of your 90th anniversary, and I want to send my warmest wishes to the man who gave me – in the far Fifties – the very first and most fascinating experiences in science fiction reading, giving me great dreams and helping my first steps in technological and fantastic imagination.
Vittorio Catani (Writer)

• My first science fiction reading, and the most memorable, was “City of no Return”. Thank you for writing it and fond wishes for your birthday. Hundreds of these books!
Luciana Orsi (reader)

• I still remember the summer evening of the late ’60s (I was just a little more than a child) in which I read for the first time one of your books: “The City of no Return”. Today, reading the Dumarest saga I found again the fascination and thrills of my childhood. So thank you for all those dreams and adventures and happy golden birthday, Mr. Tubb!
Carlo Pozzi ( reader )

• My first science fiction reading was a issue of “I romanzi del cosmo” containing “Lungo Viaggio nella Notte”, your magnificent story of generation ship. It was, I believe, the summer of 1959 (or 1960?). Fifty years later, I am happy to wish an happy birthday to the man who opened to me the road to the stars.
Enrico Silvestri (reader)

• A very very very happy birthday to a great of science fiction!
Franco Scotti (reader)

• Ninety years are a bit of eternity: that you reached with your wit and fantasy. Thanks!
Pierino Biella (reader)

• Happy birthday to a grand Sf author from one of his fond (neo) readers.
Simone Zambelli (Reader)

• Many Fantastic congratulations for this extraordinary life-goal. I hope to succeed in reading all your books ( or at least the greater part of them) before I myself…became 90 year old! Again,Happy Birthday from:
Paolo Orsucci (reader)

• Happy 90th birthday to the dean of the Dreammakers Guild!!!
Antonio Paglieri ( reader)

• Many Happy Returns, and here’s to many more! (Oh, and can you please write some more Dumarest books!) Best Regards,
David Adam

• Happy Birthday Mr.Tubb.
Francesco De Mauro (reader)

• Dear Mr. Tubb, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thanks for all your works! Sincerely,
Riccardo Rizzo (reader)

• Dear Mr Tubb, Though we don’t like very much serial sci-fi, we quite loved your Dumarest Saga, for its distinctive sense of wonder, as well as for its main character, an utmost memorable hero in the worldwide science fiction. So on the occasion of your birthday, we wish you every happyness.Happy birthday to you Mr. Tubb!
Antonino Fazio & Antonella Liscio.(writer & illustrator)

• I’ve read a lot of books by your magnificent pen and I want to read more! Happy birthday for your first ninety years!
Giorgio PASCERINI (reader)

• Dear Mr Tubb, when I want to get inspiration for some far-out vision of the far future, I think of your stories and the universe itself discloses before my eyes!
Adriano Folli (new writer)

• Happy birthday Mr Tubb! You make me dream of adventurous pkanets with Dumarest in my youth. I liked your novels with the strength of fourteen years old in a hurry to leave earth behind and travel between stars, even if Italian translations of your books were few. I have read those few novels (three, for precision) many and many times. Now I have found Dumarest again in my middle age. Thanks to Elara I can follow Earl from his first step in Gath to the end of his marvelous travel. Thanks Mr. Tubb andf Happy birthday again.
Sergio Prandi (reader)

• Dear Mr. Tubb, this is a day of rejoyce for all the sf communities in the world. Long live and higher dreams to our splendid Dean of Wonder!
Debora Montanari (writer)

• My dream of old was to be the man who brought all Dumarest stories in Italy. Now this is true. Thanks and a wonderfully happy birthday.
Ugo Malaguti (editor)

• All science fiction is celebrating the 90th Tubb Anniversary. Next step, the 100th!
Sergio CANDELERO (reader)

• I am happy and honoured to be part of the team which will bring to Italian readers the whole Dumarest saga. This will give to old sf fans the chance to rediscover the magic of classic science fiction and to young ones the key of many wonders,unforgettable for life. Happy Birthday and many thanks for all those adventures and all that magic!
Armando Corridore ( Music Composer)

• I am proud to be the Italian translator of all Dumarest series. It’s a hard work, but very gratifying. I hope to see you personally in the future, and in the meanwhile “Prosit” with Marzemino, the wine of life. Happy birthday!
Arnaldo Dabbene (translator)

• I discovered your works with “City of no return”, one of the finest pieces of classic science fiction ever written. Now, as a fan and as a member of the staff of Elara, I’m discovering the fascination of Dumarest’s series. Thanks for your genius. And a memorable birthday!
Massimo Franceschi (manager)

• You are guilty, Mr. Tubb. Really guilty. Mi first science fiction reading was a Dumarest trilogy published long ago by Mondadori. There was born my passion for science fiction, therefore I began reading and, alas, writing. Ugo Malaguti published my works and the damage was done. Nevertheless, happy, happy birthday, Mr. Tubb!
Daniele Vecchi (writer)

• I’ve read thousands of books in Germany, were I was born, and in Italy, were now I live, and I like and love science fiction, a field in which I am proud to work. Some of the best fiction in the field are the ones you magnificently wrote and are writing. Thanks for this feat. And an happy birthday!
Gabriele Fischer (editor and sf reader)

• How fruitful and precious are your first Ninety Years! And we all hope a long and precious work for the future! Happiness & Joy!
Giuseppe Truzzi (reader)

• Ninety years are a good record for everyone. But when you think at all the work you have done and are doing it is a full life of dreams come true. Usually people bring gifts for a Birthday feast. You have brought gifts to us all for so many years, and others will bring for the future. Thank you and have a wonderful birthday, our beloved Mr. E. C. Tubb!
Carlo Brambilla (reader)

• I read DEAD WEIGHT in the Fifties, I re-read in your new fascinating version two years ago. Thanks for your wit and wiseness. And an happy birthday!
Sergio FAIELLA (reader)

• I’m a relatively young reader of science fiction, and many of the works I preferred were of one person, under various pen-names. Now I work with Elara in editing science fiction, and I have found with enormous joy that one of my favorites writers is also loved by my colleagues. Hope to read many more great books of science fiction in the next years… all under Tubb’s imprint! Have a very happy birthday.
Fabio Quarato (editor)

MANY MORE PHONED, MANY MORE ARE ARRIVING… THIS IS ONLY A SAMPLE OF OUR AFFECTION FOR YOU, MR. TUBB!

AMAZON has this 3-CD import set priced at $19.99. What a steal! The first CD contains Perahia playing Bach’s “Piano Concerto BWV 1058,” Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 23,” and Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 4.” The second CD has Perahia playing Mendelssohn’s “Piano Concerto No. 1,” and Chopin’s “Concerto No. 1.” The third CD (not my favorite) has Perahia playing piano concertos by Schumann and Grieg. I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Perahia’s performances. He certainly is one of the most versatile pianists in the world. If you haven’t heard Perahia’s playing, this is the perfect place to start. GRADE: A

With Halloween so close, I figured I would pick a scary classic: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson is best known for her creepy, unforgettable short story, “The Lottery.” All of Shirley Jackson’s works have at their core the perversion of the normal into something quite sinister. The Haunting of Hill House takes the most domestic location of all, a home, and turns it into a Disneyland of horror. Two movies have been made of The Haunting of Hill House, the first 1963 version with Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, and Claire Bloom. The 1999 version featured Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor. But the novel tops both movies. It will put you in the Halloween spirit.

I heard Chick Klosterman interviewed on NPR last week. He was promoting his new book, Eat the Dinosaur (more about that book in a few days after I read it), but a quick search of Klosterman’s previous books revealed this gem. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs explodes with an analysis of breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks. Oh, and a lot more. Klosterman writes with popular culture in mind and he’s funny. My only complaint is that popular culture grows stale very quickly. Even though this book was published in 2003, references to The Legend of Zelda and The Sims are dated. If you’re looking for insightful cultural commentary and a few laughs, give Klosterman a try. GRADE: B

“Once you’re dead, you’re made for life,” said Jimi Hendrix. This collection of “Smart Quotes for Dumb Times” delighted me. The quotations are organized by subject with a useful name index so you can browse by topic or person. “The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” said Alan Kay. Or how about “To be a woman is something so strange, so confusing, and so complicated that only a woman could put up with it.” The author of those words was Soren Kierkegaard. I could go on and cite a dozen more cool quotations (quotations are like potato chips, you can’t stop at one), but I’ll end with this one: “Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it,” according to P. J. O’Rourke. GRADE: A

Rod Stewart’s SOULBOOK is obviously a labor of love. Rod sings 13 soul standards like “It’s a Rainy Night in Georgia” and “Love Train.” Stevie Wonder joins Rod on “My Cherie Amour.” Mary J. Blige shows up on “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” And Jennifer Hudson sings a duet with Rod on “Let It Be Me.” I love these songs and clearly Rod Stewart does too. I consider “Tracks of My Tears” to be the strongest track on the CD. Listen to it and if you don’t care for it, then you won’t like this album. But, if it strikes the same chord in you that it does in me, then go to AMAZON and take advantage of their $8.99 sale price. Best Buy has it for a buck more. Either way, this is a very affordable CD full of classic soul hits. I enjoyed it. GRADE: B+

Nick Hornby bursts with confidence: after all he opens his new novel in a toilet in Minneapolis. The Juliet referred to in the book’s title is an actual person–a woman rock star Tucker Crowe once had a passionate relationship with–and an album titled Juliet that chronicles the breakup of that relationship (think Joni Mitchell’s Blue). Shortly after that album’s release, Tucker Crowe left that rest room in Minneapolis and mysteriously retired from the rock world. Now, 20 years later, another Tucker Crowe album has been released: Juliet, Naked made up of Crowe’s early acoustic version of those songs. The Tucker Crowe obsessive Internet community, is rocked by this news. Brits Duncan and Annie, after visiting all the important Tucker Crowe American sites, find upon their return to the placid English community of Gooleness, that their relationship is disrupted by Juliet, Naked. Duncan considers it a masterpiece, Annie prefers the older studio version of Juliet. When Annie writes a review for the Tucker Crowe blog, she gets an amazing response, from Tucker Crowe himself. Although Juliet Naked is more discursive than Hornby’s other novels like High Fidelity and About a Boy, Hornby explores obsession and the fragility of relationships in this latest novel. GRADE: B