Went to see Manhattan Shorts, which they are probably showing at a library or center in your hood. Ten pretty good shorts that you vote on. Some probably will get Oscar nods.
Reading Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, Curtis Chin. This is for my book group and the restaurant was in Detroit. I think I might have gone to it in the seventies.
Horrible storms, I am hoping Jerry wasn't too affected by it. This is never going away, is it?
What's going on with you?
first published-27 Friday Jun 2008
(Randy Johnson)
Eleanor Cameron’s Mushroom Planet series came out back in the fifties.
It was science fiction for small children. I think the series would be
the perfect way to introduce children to written SF as opposed to
movies.
In THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET, David and Chuck respond to a newspaper ad that read:
” Wanted: A small spaceship about eight feet long, built by a boy, or by two boys, between the ages of
eight and eleven….”
The ad goes on to promise an adventure and a chance to do a good deed. The two boys build from materials at hand and haul it to the address in the ad. There they meet a strange little man named Tyco Bass, a scientist.
He paints the inside and outside of their spaceship with a “special”
liquid to seal it, installs engines, fuel tanks, and equipment of his
design, and they are off to the Mushroom Planet, in invisible orbit
fifty thousand miles from Earth.
There they meet a race of small green men, of which Mr. Bass is one, on a
world of giant mushrooms. They help them with a great difficulty,
become heroes, and return to Earth. Their spaceship gets dashed to
pieces by tides on the beach and Mr. Bass reportedly blows away on the
wind.
The end of their adventures? Hardly.
In STOWAWAY TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET, they encounter Mr. Bass’ cousin, Mr. Theodosius, who pours over notes left by his relative, and recreates everything. A new spaceship is built, slightly bigger, and plans are made to return to the little planet. Upon arriving, they discover Horatio, a young boarder, who hadn’t believed their tales, but now wants to exploit the planet and it’s people. They also find Tyco Bass alive and well.
Adventures ensue and they all return to Earth. Everything is fine. The planet is safe.
The first two books are readily available on used book sites at
reasonable prices(one and two dollars, plus S&H). But the other
three are a bit more expensive Twenty dollars for the third, forty odd
for the fifth. The fourth is the breaker. I’ve seen prices, ninety on
the low end and two hundred fifty on the high for used copies. (THIS POST IS FROM A LONG TIME AGO)
Local libraries may have them(our county system has three).
It would be nice if some publisher came out with affordable paperbacks of all five. I think small children would enjoy them.
I know this small “child” loved revisiting that long ago youth.
What a great short story. It takes place in the seventies and the protagonist is thumbing a ride on the Autobahn. He's a young hippy musician and a cop spots him and thinks he might be one of a terrorist group who's killing cops. At gunpoint, he takes him farther into the woods. The cop reminds our hero of his father, also cruel and violent, and he remembers the story of how his father bought him the very mouth organ he still plays and is carrying in his pocket. He is also carrying a Teddy Bear for his infant daughter. This is the kind of story, I can stop after every sentence and think about-both the writing, the sense of place, the character, the plot. Hamilton has written a memoir, which I will look for. I know that the father in this story will dominate it, as too his German mother. How have I never heard this name before?
A hot week that may come to an end tomorrow. Saw THE SUBSTANCE. I am not a horror movie fan and this was an absolute gorefest, but I got enough out of it in terms of the male gaze and even the self gaze to be worth it.
Watching the excellent MY BRILLIANT FRIEND (MAX), SLOW HORSES, (APPLE) and PACHINKO (APPLE).
Went to a chamber music concert, which was delightful. I swear there was no one under 65 in the large auditorium. What will happen to these terrific musicians in another decade. Will they play for the emperor?Love the piece they played by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor especially.
Zuill Bailey, cello; Awadagin Pratt, piano
music by Arvo Part, Beethoven, Brahms. Coleridge-Taylor
Reading REAL AMERICANS still and EVERYTHING I KNOW I LEARNED IN A CHINESE RESTAURANT (a memoir) Both are for my book groups.
I went to a lecture on SCOTUS at my senior center. The 88 year old professor was a liberal but he made the absurd statement that women who wanted an abortion could merely hop in a plane and go to a blue state. But after November, that's going to get worse according to Project 25. Does anyone believe Harris is going to win? Give me some hope.
If you would still like to hear what the crime writers think about the election and their books, you can watch it on you tube and other places. It was pretty inspirational. Just google Crime Fiction for Harris. Sara Paretsky was particularly memorable. Cheers to Alafair Burke and Kellye Garrett for putting it together.
(reviewed by John Norris)
From B.V. Lawson in the archives
Blood Lines
dates from 1995 and includes 10 shorter stories and one novella. Most
of the stories are familiar Rendell territory including the villages of
Kingsmarkham and Stowerton, which are the stomping grounds of Chief
Inspector Wexford and his assistant Mike Burden, featured in the initial
story. "Blood Lines" finds Wexford and Burden solving a bludgeoning
death that Wexford doggedly pursues despite the fact everyone else
thinks it's a mere robbery gone bad, in the end piecing together a
picture of infidelity, spousal abuse and betrayal.
"Lizzie's
Lover" takes a new and literal twist on a Browning poem that comes to
life; "Burning End" explores the difficult relationships between
daughter-in-law and mother-in-law and what it takes to push someone over
the edge; the accidental discovery of a poisonous mushroom in a garden
leads to a game of culinary Russian Roulette by a mad man in a
supermarket, in "Shreds and Shivers"; "Clothes" is the only story not to
deal with death but rather peers inside an unusual obsession that
drives a woman to emotional collapse.
The longest story, the
novella "The Strawberry Tree" was one of seventeen televised
feature-length adaptations of Rendell's work which aired on ITV in the
UK and on some PBS stations between 1987 and 2000, under the title Ruth Rendell Mysteries,
which Acorn Media just released in a DVD boxed set in March. It was
apparently intended as a sketch for a Barbara Vine novel, a foreboding
and atmospheric tale of lost innocence embedded in a lonely young
woman's deep desire for love and friendship on the island of Majorca.
Rendell
(and alter ego Vine) is known for her exploration of the darker human
impulses forged out of society’s moral codes: passion, jealousy,
anxiety, guilt, shame, rage are the colors she uses to paint
psychological portraits as she allows the reader to delve into the minds
of her characters. If you haven't read a Rendell novel, stories such as
these make for a fine introduction.
Reading REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong and the new Jackson Brody book by Kate Atkinson. Lots of fun. (DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK).
On TV, watching PACHINKO, SLOW HORSES, HOMICIDE, THE ENGLISH TEACHER.
We are in a drought here. The first one in a long time.
The Lions are not looking Superbowl worthy so far.
What about you?
Author
Frank Kane created P.I. Johnny Littell in a short story for the pulps
in 1944 and went on to write twenty-nine novels featuring him, plus an
unknown number of short stories. According to his granddaughter, he
claimed four hundred, though she believes that an exaggeration. And Bill
Crider said in 2000, if it’s a Frank Kane book, chances are “it’ll be a
competent straightforward P.I. story.” DUE OR DIE certainly was all
that. I quite enjoyed my first Kane book.
P.I. Johnny Liddell got the job offer from a most agreeable source. Beautiful redheaded singer Lee Loomis. Mobster “Fat Mike” Klein, who Johnny knew from the old days, needed help in Las Palmas, a small Nevada city where the gambling joints were controlled by aging mobsters, no longer the hard men they’d once been. The deal was $10,000 to find the killer, half now, half when the job was done.
They didn’t dare let New York know what had happened. The remaining five knew the vultures were already out there and they didn’t dare let anyone know that a hit had gone down without their knowledge.
But Johnny arrived too late. Fat Mike had been murdered as well, shot down in his car on the side of the road. The remaining four showed Johnny the note all had received promising each would be killed unless they ponied up a million dollars. With each death, the share went up for the others.
They wanted Johnny to simply deliver the money. The two deaths had been covered up, the first a heart attack, the body quickly cremated, and Fat Mike had committed suicide, the body to be buried as soon as possible.
Johnny didn’t like that. Fat Mike had not been a particular friend, but he’d accepted the job and he was loathe to quit before he got it done.
Tom Regan, the police chief, was as crooked as the mobsters, in their pocket, and was no help. Despite his bosses agreement, he seemed determined to impede the investigation.
Johnny plugs away, avoiding beatings, dodging frame-ups, and questioning anyone and everyone.
He thinks he has it figured out. Now all he has to do is prove it before being killed.
Enjoyed this one. Johnny Liddell appeared in 29 novels and numerous short stories(Kane claimed four hundred in a letter, though his granddaughter thought that an exaggeration).
Towles is the author of one of my favorite books, A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. He also wrote THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY more recently.
This is a collection of stories and "The Ballad of Timothy Touchett" is one of them.
It can be hard to sum up a story that has a crime in it without giving too much away. Not that this story depends on its finale because it mostly relies on the characters and the writing. A young man with the desire to be a famous writer is hired to work in a small bookstore. His employer figures out how to make good use of his particular skills, and it works out for both of them for a while. The ending, handed over to the police, lacked the charm of what went before it but not enough to ruin it. There is one very nice touch before the denouement.
Pretty nice weather here. But it looks to turn hot this week.
Saw MEMPHIS today. It was a great local production: great voices, costumes, music but the plot relies on a romance to carry the second half.
I saw a great documentary on Arthur Miller (ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER) on Max, made by his daughter, Rebecca in 2017. Other than Shakespeare I have seen more of his plays than any other writer. At least ten of them and several more than once. I am sure Jeff can beat that. The doc did remind me that Miller institutionalized his Downs Syndrome son in the Sixties. It seems rather late to still be doing that. But I have come to the point where I don't judge the artist, just his work because so many of us are flawed in some way. Killers, child porn afficiandos and rapists are excepted from my tolerance though.
Also a good doc on the artist Alice Neal. Went to a lecture on the portrayal of America in art where I saw some of her work and got interested. Also went to a lecture on Mayan Civilization. What would I do without our Senior center, which has lectures, trips, music, classes, groups. etc five days a week. I am always looking to expand my network of friends as every article tells me I must do to avoid crushing loneliness. Of course, I never thought of this when I had Phil.
Watching PACHINKO, which is terrific. Also TROPPO on Prime, ENGLISH TEACHER on Hulu.
My first haibun is up in DRIFTING SANDS latest online issue. #28. I have two more accepted in other journals. There are not many outlets for haiku but the ones that exist publish a lot of writers. I am trying to work my way out of confessional work, but nature is not my strong point, having always lived in cities and visited cities. I know haiku is not my strongest suit either but I lack the focus for writing novels. I am worried I will soon lack the focus for reading them, which has happened to a few of my friends.
Started THE HORSE by Willie Vlautin. I have liked all of his novels, especially LEAN ON PETE. GOD OF THE WOODS was pretty good although it seems like a few of the many, many characters were expendable. And a few less red herrings might be a good idea too.
Very worried about the election. Those of you in CA or NYC don't know what it's like in the heartland. I think Kamala needs to take more interviews and do less rallies. The people who turn up at rallies are not swing voters. She's not going to win if she doesn't answer more questions and answer them better than saying on her first day in office she will make a salad. Jeez. Her opponent is completely bonkers now. Why don't these MAGA people see it? And why doesn't Bush speak up? So much is riding on the debate. I will probably follow the NYT coverage online rather than watch it. Yes, I am a coward.
Hope the Lions did better than U of M.
What are you up to?
Donald Hamilton's DEATH OF A CITIZEN changed my life.
I was brought up to be polite and courteous, to put others first, and -- if I had nothing good to say -- to say nothing at all.
Then, as a young teen, I opened DEATH OF A CITIZEN. Read it, flipped it over, and read it again. And again.
Matt Helm was a no-nonsense protagonist who thought for himself and did what needed to be done. If he was polite and courteous, he was polite and courteous because he'd decided to be, not because someone else how told him how to behave.
Some may say I'm splitting hairs here, but DEATH OF A CITIZEN taught me not only self-awareness but self-determination.
Sure, Helm killed people, but nobody's perfect.
No book is perfect. DEATH OF A CITIZEN comes very close.
Take the following exchange. Helm and his ex-lover Tina are traveling together. Teasing has lead to a game of tag, and the longer-legged Helm eventually brings her down.
"'Old,' she jeered, still lying there. 'Old and fat and slow. Helm the human vegetable. Help me up, turnip.'"
It's funny and it's fitting and it's a damn fine piece of writing. I've read the book dozens of times and still continue to be blow away by that paragraph.
As a bit of background, Tina and Helm (or Eric, as he was known at the time) worked together during the war as government assassins. He gets out once Germany is defeated, marries, and leads a normal life until Tina reappears.
Donald Hamilton delivers on multiple levels. Not only does he create entertaining plots, and write them well, he provides a rich array of three-dimensional characters.
Take, for example, what happens when Helm borrows a car, rushing home to save his daughter who's been kidnapped by Tina and her partner Frank.
"It was the ugliest damn hunk of automotive machine I'd ever had the misfortune to be associated with...
"[The gas attendant thinks differently.] 'That's quite a car you've got there. I tell you ... when they can get something real sharp made right here in America.'
"Well, it's all a matter of taste, I guess."
Helm might be his own person, but he understands and accepts that his way is not the only way. That's as rare in books as it is in real life.
One finds murder, kidnapping, and torture within DEATH OF A CITIZEN. The disembowelment of a pet cat. And yet, one finds the following passage while Helm waits for a female guest to leave Frank's hotel room.
"...the tartier the girl, strangely enough, the longer the skirt. You'd think it would be the other way around.
"This one was pretty well hobbled."
And after the woman leaves, and Helm follows Frank out of the hotel and under a nearby bridge:
"There were a couple of cars going past overhead. It was a good a time as any. I took out the gun and shot him five times in the chest."
Only later does Helm explain that Frank was too big and unimaginative to be made to talk. Killing Frank at least took him out of the equation, freeing Helm to concentrate on Tina.
"She licked her lips. 'Better men than you have tried to make me talk, Eric.'
"I said, 'This doesn't take better men, sweetheart. This takes worse men. And at the moment, with my kid in danger, I'm just about as bad as they come."
Between 1960 (DEATH OF A CITIZEN) and 1993 (THE DAMAGERS), Matt Helm appeared in 27 books. Donald Hamilton died in late 2006. He was just about as good as they came.
A story I read in THE NEW YORKER by Sigrid Nunez also trod this ground. I would like a percentage on how many short stories have this theme. I am betting over 50% either as its main subject or as a secondary one. What do you think? Probably short stories in genres are less dependent on it.
Watched THE NARROW MARGIN (thanks, Tracy), and BURY MY ASHES AT BERGDORF GOODMANs.
Reading the short story collection by Curtis Sittenfeld, Jeff mentioned last week and also GOD OF THE WOODS (Liz Moore).
Enjoying PACHINKO and BAD MONKEY.
Beautiful day today.
What about you?