Happy Memorial Day 2026

 

FFB: NOTHING IN HER WAY, Charles Williams

 

Book Review: Charles Williams, Nothing in Her Way (1953)(From Noirboiled Notes 2009)

Charles Williams' Nothing in Her Way is a novel of the con game--one con involving mining sand for glass, the other involving horse racing--in which Cathy Dunbar and Mike Belen seek belated financial revenge on the men who ruined their fathers' business more than two decades before. A nice read with the obligatory twists and turns

Short Story WednesdayA Tangle by the Rapid River, Anthony Doerr

 I have always admired writers who can describe nature well: the sounds, the smells, the look of it, even the feeling. This is so well done. This is about a man going fishing. Sometimes his fishing is an excuse for meeting up with his lover. His lover is giving him an ultimatum. This day he is just fishing. First he gets tangled in his fishing lines and nearly drowns. Then he gets in a battle with a fish. Beautifully written.

 Jerry House 

Kevin Tipple 

George Kelley 

Monday, Monday

 Three good movies this week. An Icelandic film, THE LOVE THAT REMAINS

An old French film called SOFT SKIN by Truffaut that really shows Hitchcock's influence on him and the old Tracy and Hepburn film DESK SET, which was startlingly modern with the issue of people being replaced by machines. Finishing up HACKS, which was pretty mediocre, love WIDOW's BAY. 

Reading SMALL TOWN GIRL by Jayne Anne Phillips.Looks like spring has arrived. What's new with you?  

Short Story Wednesday: "Standings," Chang Rae Lee

 

Chang Rae Lee has always been one of my favorite writers, especially A GESTURE LIFE and NATIVE SPEAKER. This is a piece from his forthcoming novel. It takes place almost exclusively in a school yard atmosphere. Rather like LORD OF THE FLIES.  Our hero is Korean and he gets into a ongoing fight with a Jewish boy and some sorry names get thrown around. I don't know why it works so well because it is a familiar theme. But Lee is a terrific writer who makes it come alive. I remember fights like this so well from my schoolyard days. 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

TracyK 

Monday, Monday

 

                        A bit under the weather here, but tell me what you're up to.