Friday's Forgotten Books, October 24, 2008

R. J. Ellory is the author of A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE and A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS

THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien was a young man when he went to Vietnam. He survived the experience, at least physically, but as with all wars there is the emotional and psychological baggage that a soldier returns with that he will then carry for the rest of his life. The Things They Carried is perhaps an exorcism of some of that baggage, but here we do not find outwardly-directed anger or fear, nor do we find a sense of indignant frustration at the way he was treated when he returned. No, we simply find some of the most elegaic and poetic prose that has ever been written about human conflict. There is a dreadful sense of wonder pervading each one of these short stories - from the titular 'The Things They Carried' to such compelling narratives as 'The Sweetheart of The Song Tra Bong' - and within each one O'Brien somehow manages to capture the youth that he possessed at the time, the stunning sense of dismay that they all must have felt, and the stark, brutal, terrifying reality of war. The Things They Carried is not a collection of horror stories. Quite the opposite. This collection is a brilliant reminder of the power of writing, how it can give us the most accurate representation of how things really were, and stands testament to the fact that O'Brien, perhaps overlooked, has managed to write one of the most remarkable anthologies of the twentieth century. I have read this book three or four times, and I will read it again without doubt. Stunning prose, brilliant stories, a staggering work of truth. Regardless of whether or not you like 'war stories' you should read this book, for it will serve to remind us not only why we write, but why we read.



Rae Helmsworth is a reviewer for Crimespree Magazine.

Reed Arvin, THE LAST GOODBYE and THE BLOOD OF ANGELS

If you don't mind, I'd like to mention two books, both by Reed Arvin. Mr. Arvin doesn't seem to participate in the mystery community, and I've never heard his books talked about much, but I think they're superb. The books are both fast-paced and rich in detail; you really care about the protagonists, and the writing is simply fantastic. The Last Goodbye was published in 2004. It's the story of Jack Hammond, a disgraced attorney - he not only slept with his client's wife, he got caught at it. After being fired from his high-end law firm, Jack scrapes by as a court-appointed attorney in a store-front office in Atlanta. When Jack's friend, a former addict, is found dead with a needle in his arm, everyone except Jack thinks it's an overdose. Jack isn't buying it. After some investigation Jack discovers that his dead friend was linked to a woman who has a lot to lose if the association is discovered. And from there, the story becomes ever more complicated, a break-neck tale of love, betrayal, and greed.

The Blood of Angels was published in 2005. The novel's protagonist, Thomas Dennehy, is a prosecutor in Tennessee. He's handed the tough case of trying a Sudanese refugee who's accused of killing a white woman. The case brings racial tensions to the forefront, but worse is coming. As Thomas is preparing his prosecution, a university professor steps forward to say that Dennehy has previously sent the wrong man to the death chamber. And, a woman steps forward claiming that she's the alibi for the Sudanese refugee. Nothing is straightforward, everyone has hidden motives, and there are those who are willing to kill to protect their secrets. I think both books are distinguished by the attention paid to the protagonists' inner struggles. And both books raise difficult moral questions, without ever providing easy or pat answers. I can't recommend them highly enough.


Shauna Roberts is a medical writer, a copyeditor, and an as-yet-unpublished novelist. Her most recent short story is “Elessa the Restless,” a fantasy published in the anthology Barren Worlds (Hadley Rille Books, 2008). Her blog is at http://ShaunaRoberts.blogspot.com.


Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged


The Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged sits alone, its navy cover worn at the edges, on a tall, isolated bookstand in many magazine offices. Since its publication in 1961,writers have approached its altar with reverence to seek the counsel of this oracle.

Almost forgotten is its predecessor, the Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged published in 1944. Yet the three fat burgundy volumes of Webster’s Second are the better dictionary in several cases, and here are five examples.

1.Webster’s Second contains 2,987 pages of dictionary entries alone and more than 3,600 pages overall. Webster’s Third, despite its claim to be unabridged, contains only 2,662 pages of dictionary entries and about 2,800 pages overall.

2. Its etymologies are more detailed.

3. It is vastly richer in rare words, obsolete words, and regionalisms than Webster’s Third. Such oddball words are often exactly the ones I need to look up; I already know most common ones.

4. The bottom of each page contains lists of derivative and related words that don’t merit their own entry. Thus, one can find the correct spelling of these words and how to break them into syllables.

5. The three thinner volumes of Webster’s Second are easier to handle individually than the thirteen-pound Webster’s Third.

Webster’s Second has been out of print for nearly fifty years, but you can find it used online.

More forgotten books: PS I am going to be in Maine next weekend so if you are going to do a forgotten book, could you tell me by Tuesday so I can get the stuff ready early? Thanks.

Kerrie Smith
Martin Edwards
Bill Crider
Terrie F. Moran
Lesa Holstine
Robert Eversz.
James Reasoner
Paul Bishop 2
Paul Bishop 3
Ray
Scott D. Parker
David Cranmer
Barrie Summy
Patrick S. Bagley

Happy Shiny People

I have always wondered about guys who claim they grew up wanting to be in a rock band. That is, until I met my grandson. You cannot sever him from his guitar or drums. He is 23 months old and already he takes it completely seriously. Notice how dedicated he is in these pics. What happened to stuffed animals and Seame Street. He's all about dancing and playing his "tar."
The only trouble is, Kevin only wants to play one song and that one song is driving us crazy. We did it more than a dozen times today. And as we drifted away finally, we heard a plaintive "Happy?"
So we are looking for help. What songs other than REM's "Happy, Shiny, People" might he like? It has to have a video we can find on Youtube for inspiration. And preferrably one with a red-haired girl dancing wildly. He likes those girls.

New economy-boosting package under consideration

It feels like that episode of Cheers. The one where Sam loans Diane money to buy a Hemingway novel and she does frivolous things with the money. This is a popular theme in sit-coms. The loan that gets misused.

And maybe in life too. Will China (Sam) begin to see the US as Diane and wonder whether another round of stimuli to 400 million people is just plain frivolous? Will they ask themselves whether Americans should be buying this year's Christmas gifts on their largess? Will they decide our 2008 versions of Hemingway novels are just too decadent?

I don't know much about economics. (NOTHING, REALLY) And I can't remember what happened in the Cheers episode, but I think Sam wanted his money back. Is it "there" to give back to China and if not, what next?Just print some up?

Go With Me, Castle Freeman

Go With Me tells the story of a young woman's quest for help in dealing with an extremely dangerous man almost entirely in dialog. And what dialog it is, managing to be utterly natural and wholly poetic at the same time. I don't think the vagaries and parlance of conversation have even been put down on paper more convincingly.

This lean book is funny, scary, touching and unpredictable. It reminds me of both Daniel Woodrell and Cormac McCarthy. But in the end, it's Castle Freeman's totally unique voice and humanity that makes this such a fine book.

Isn't it terrific when you discover a new writer? Or when your daughter discovers one and tells you about him? Thanks. hon. What was the last book someone recommended to you that was as good as promised?

Two More Flash Fiction Stories

LADY KILLER

by Stephen Rogers

Call no woman respectable till she's dead. Maybe you don't think it's condescending and judgmental, but I don't like the implication. Waitress, actress, laundress: the very words make my toes curl. All those ess words, as if women were less than their male counterparts. Respectable. Even worse was what you said, that at least I was respectable. As if you'll allow me the honor of entering your world just so long as I meet some criteria determined by the old boy's club. Lady senator. Female reporter. Chick lit. Maybe I should just stop writing all together. Channel my creative urges into playing peek-a-boo or making my floors shine with a lemony scent. Would you like me to pat the sweat off your face? Mop the pooling blood? Fetch my sewing kit and stitch up your stomach before you bleed to death? Would that be womanly of me? Respectable? Looking at my breasts while you were pretending to read my manuscript. That I could tolerate. I've put up with it most of my life. But you crossed a line when you called me an authoress. Say what you will about women who dare write crime fiction. At least we know where to drive the knife home.

A Million Miles Away
by John McAuley


"Christ, I wish I was a million miles away, having a drink and listening to some old Rory Gallagher tunes."

"Who's Rory Gallagher?"

"Before your time. Before Justin Timberlake, before American Idol... look him up on Youtube."

"I bet he's as dead as that crazy bastard in the basement."

"Yeah...You can drive for the rest of the shift. "

"Cool! Man, that was some weird weird shit huh?"

"Yeah."

"I mean why would a guy dress up in one of them old style nurse's uniforms, cut his balls off , and then hang himself?"

"I don't know."

"And that goofy note, 'Don't call a woman respectable 'til she's dead. Now I'm respectable.' I mean what the fuck?"

"Just drive kid. And don't hit the siren unless I tell you to. "

I'm a million miles away....



[If anyone's interested in an old tune by a great player. YouTube - Rory Gallagher - A Million Miles Away (Madrid 1975) ]

Flash Fiction Challenge

The challenge was to create a story using the line, "I have been faithful to you, Cynara in my fashion" or "Call no woman respectable until she's dead." Both lines come from a 1932 Kay Francis movie called Cynara. Here are the resulting stories:


http://geraldso.blogspot.com/
http://cormacwrites.blogspot.com/2008/10/cynara.html
http://bofexler.blogspot.com/2008/10/fall-flash-fiction-challenge.html
http://www.powderburnflash.com/(Stephen Rogers and John McAuley)
http://deadman-r2.blogspot.com/
http://sandraseamans.blogspot.com/2008/10/fall-flash-fiction-challenge.html
http://brokentrails.blogspot.com/


“Cynara”
By Patricia Abbott

"I have been faithful to you, Cynara, in my fashion."

It was an arresting sentiment, but the note was printed in dull font on cheap paper.

I read the sentence a dozen times as I stood at the foot of the stairs. The elderly female lying dead on the marble floor was a scrub woman and the note had been found crumbled in her pocket. I looked around. The once-chic, single-family house with marble floors and walnut wainscoting had been turned into five mid-sized, middle-income apartments in the nineties. It had been this woman’s job to clean the common areas. A bucket lay overturned but the water had dried up.

“What do you think?” I asked the forensics guy. “Heart attack? Tripped and took a tumble?’

“Only if she fell after she was shot,” he said, lifting the body enough for me to spot the hole in her back.

“Who called it in?”

He nodded toward a young woman perched on the top step. “She runs every morning at seven, gets back by nine, then takes off for work. Today it was closer to ten because she ran some errands. Said the woman wasn’t here yet when she left. The floor was already dry when the girl returned.”

I looked at the note again. “Her name’s Cynara?”

He shook his head. “Runner says it’s Margaret. Doesn’t know much beyond that and that she cleans a couple times a week.”

The Super arrived ten minutes later. He thought Margaret’s last name was Parkins or Perkins. “Sorry. Everyone called her Margaret. Nice lady.”

“How long she been working here?”

“Since before I moved in— fifteen-twenty years maybe.”

“Anyone else likely to have seen Margaret today?”

“Probably not. They all take off pretty early.”

“Front door locked?”

He looked embarrassed. “Only at night. It’s inconvenient to have it locked with no doorman. You know, packages, mailman, deliveries. It’s a safe neighborhood.”

“Until today. Does she stow her stuff somewhere?”

He led us to the basement where her coat, handbag and umbrella were neatly stored in a battered locker.

“Margaret Parker,” I read the name on her voter registration card aloud.

There was nothing unusual in her handbag. Her apartment gave up no clues either. Small and modest digs. A ginger cat complained until someone found food in the fridge. Depressing as hell. Who’d murder a scrubwoman? Did some maniac come in and plug her? Was she known to someone as Cynara in the past? Had this elderly woman inspired such a note? After seeing her apartment, I hoped so.

“Ever clean the tenants’ apartments?” I asked the Super when I returned. “A side job?”

He shook his head. “But she used to clean for the Waverly family before the old man died and they split it into units. We inherited her.”

“Let’s look inside the apartments.” I didn’t know what I was looking for but there had to be something.

He didn’t ask for a warrant and I didn’t have one. Super opened all four doors although I tried Margaret’s keys first each time. No dice.

“I’m sure the locks were changed when they divided it,” he said.

The fifth apartment was on the third floor. The tarnished silver key on Margaret’s ring opened the door easily and I could see the body from the foyer. A man, about forty, lay on the living room Persian.

“Mr. Chesterfield. An actor when there’s work.” Super sighed. “Looks like someone shot him too. A woman scorned, I guess. Probably our Cynara.”

How did Margaret figure in to this? In the bedroom, the bed was rumpled but not unmade. The imprint of a short, squat body lingered on the spread.

“Looks like Margaret was taking a nap when they came in. Chesterfield and Cynara. She probably woke when Cynara fired the gun and then grabbed the note as she tried to escape.”

“She might have made a practice of it. Taking a little snooze before the next job.”

“Chesterfield printed other versions of that note,” I said, looking at the printer. “Guess he never got the wording right or he might still be alive.”

“I was kind of hoping our Margaret would turn out to be someone's Cynara,” the Super said.

“Margaret too, I think,” I said, pulling out my cell to call headquarters. "I guess that's why she took the note."

The End.

Thanks to the contributors.

My Town Monday: Detroit

In several ways, General Motors has dominated my life. My father worked for GM dealers for thirty years. All of our cars, growing up, were from GM. The first car I ever drove was my grandmother's '55 Chevy Bel Air, ten years old at the time.

This is exactly the model and it stalled every time I pulled out onto Upsal Street in Philadelphia. Now it is one of the all-time favorite models and these colors: gray and pink are favorites too. I still love to go the car museum at The Henry Ford and breath in its scent. Sometimes I wonder if the scent cars from that era seemed to have was mostly cigarettes.

Our fate rose and fell with the auto industry throughout my childhood although we were near the bottom rung of it. Loaner cars were my father's sole perk as the office manager of a dealership so a variety of models moved in and out of our single-car garage. Even when he bought a car, it was always a GM. No Fords in our garage.

The car I remember best from my teenage years was a gold Pontiac Le Mans. We went out for our maiden ride one autumn day, turned on the radio, and it was the first time I heard the Beatles singing 'She Loves You.'

Marriage sent me to Detroit in 1970. And once again, it was the car industry that dominated my life. We didn't stick with GM anymore, but it was always American: a Ford Torino, a Dodge Dart, a Chevy Nova, a Ford LTD, a Ford Taurus, a Chrysler Jeep. The eighties were scary times for the American car industry but they held on and eventually resurged with SUVs. Big mistake, of course. Maybe their biggest. And certainly the worst for the environment.

Five years ago, we broke down and bought a Subaru. Traitors finally.

I have never been a fan of big business but I have to admit when I read an article yesterday advising GM and eventually Ford to accept their fate and declare bankruptcy, it gave me pause.
The writer wanted them to declare bankruptcy only so they could retool the way the airlines have, ditch union contracts and big pensions. Nasty and what if it doesn't work out that way. It's barely working for the airlines.

Am I prepared to see GM, Ford and Chrysler go the way of the steel industry? Or all the rest of the industries that once employed people like my Dad. I guess not. As imperfect as that industry was, it's been a big part of my life. There is a creative act in designing cars and as a resident of Detroit, I hate to cede that to Asia. We have a local college (College for Creative Studies) where car design is a popular major.

This is us. This is Detroit. Can we change into something else fast enough?

I've only been to the North American Auto Show once but I'd be sad to see the big show only taking place in Tokyo, or Beijing or Seoul. Did Pittsburgh mourn the demise of the steel industry. Yes, but they moved on to other things--but more service industries than manufacturing, I think. Can we exist solely on the success of industries like fast food, health care and higher education?

GM, Ford, Chrysler, come back before it's too late.

The House Across the Street

Sometimes it's a house that makes me want to write a story. This house is across the street from my much more modest abode and right next door to a house with two kids in it.
The place is actually divided into four apartments. There are four mailboxes, four garages and a huge driveway.
We have lived here, on this suburban street outside Detroit, for 10 years. In those years, no one has ever lived in this house. Or at least no one we can see. The house is kept up meticulously. New windows a few years ago, new garages, painted recently. This year a new roof.
They could have sold it during the boom and made a tidy profit. Now, not so much.
What's the story with this house? What would your plot look like?

The Summing Up. Friday, October 17, 2008

I must say that Westerns have picked up speed over the course of this project. This is a really diverse group today. Thanks for contributing.

Someone suggested that I put a counter on here to determine if the number of hits I get on Fridays makes the project worth it as it hits the six-month mark. I have no idea of what is a high number, of course, but yesterday, I got 535 hits. That seems like a large enough number to journey on a bit longer, counting on our core group of book devotees to keep coming up with recommendations along with the one-timers I manage to seduce with parting gifts like the at-home version of Friday's Forgotten Books. It is, oh, so nice, when someone old or new to this project contacts me to do one instead of me having to twist their arm.

Thanks to everyone who has done one in the last six months. Truly, the fun outweighs the work for me.

Change of subject: If anyone is planning on posting a flash piece Monday, let me know where. I hate to miss anyone. Thanks.


Archavist, The Goodnight Trail, Ralph Compton
Linwood Barclay, Marathon Man, William Goldman
Cara Black, Mayhem, J. Robert James
Bill Crider, Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties, David Madden, editor
Josephine Damian, The Good Brother, Chris Offutt
Martin Edwards, The Dying Alderman, Henry Wade
Chris Ewan, Love and War in the ApenninesL, Eric Newby
Lesa Holstine, A Medieval Mystery, Kathryn Swinebrooke
Randy Johnson, Jirel of Joiry, C. L. Moore, A Collection of Fantasy Stores
Juri Nummelin, Half Breed, Clint McCall
Scott D. Parker, America at War: The Best of DC War Comics, Michael Uslan; Stolen Woman,
Wade Miller
Andrew Pyper, How Insensitive, Russell Smith
Ray, The Leather Boys, Gillian Freeman
James Reasoner, West on 66, James H. Cobb
Kerrie Smith, Maigret Takes the Waters, Georges Simenon
Susan Smith, Iron Lake, William Kent Kruger

Friday's Forgotten Books, October 17, 2008

Chris Ewan is the author of the forthcoming THE GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE TO PARIS, the second title in the Good Thief series, which began with AMSTERDAM.


Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby

Eric Newby’s brilliant fictional memoir, Love and War in the Apennines, is the standout title from a classy collection of travel fiction. It tells the story of Newby’s war years, opening with his capture as part of a doomed Special Boat Section mission off the east coast of Sicily and touching on his internment in a prison camp close to Parma.
If that sounds like the ingredients for a bleak tale, rest assured that this whimsical story is anything but. Part of that has to do with Newby’s gentle humour – at times he comes across as a P.G. Wodehouse character - but two things really set his tale apart.
The first is that following the Italian Armistice in 1943, Newby and his fellow prisoners evaded the advancing Germans and took shelter in the mountains and countryside south of the River Po. Here, Newby was hidden, cared for and fed by a motley network of local peasants and farmers, passed from one precarious location to the next, eventually ending up in a mountain cave.
His saviours come vividly to life, described with real affection and wit, as do the high mountain peaks, the simple Italian food, the colourful morning skies and all that other good stuff that comes from a neat piece of travel writing.
But what really tugs at the heart is the developing romance between Newby and a local girl called Wanda. Communicating in pigeon English and Italian, chaperoned by nuns, separated by mountain passes and the dangers of the war, they fall swiftly in love, destined to spend the rest of their lives together.
It’s sentimental, sure, and Newby is the first to admit that the lines between fact and fiction are more than a little blurred. But even so, it’s strangely poignant to read of how cut-off Newby became from any larger knowledge of the conflict raging all around him, and I defy anyone to read the epilogue, set some twelve years after the end of Newby’s ordeal, without
a lump in the throat.

Andrew Pyper is the author of the newly released THE KILLING CIRCLE and THE WILDFIRE SEASON.

HOW INSENSITIVE, by Russell Smith (Porcupine's Quill, 1994).

Perhaps this novel isn't so much forgotten as merely Canadian. As with most books published north of the 49, How Insensitive had little life beyond its originating borders. Too bad. Not only because it's author is a friend of mine (full disclosure), but far more importantly, because it's a sharp, funny, social satire of its place and time (that is, Toronto in the early '90s). In this case, the "place and time" part are especially crucial for me, as it marks where I was as a writer starting out. And How Insensitive is all about Starting Out as a Writer in the Big City.

Canadians aren't known for their literary satires. Now that I think of it, we aren't known for our sense of humour either (at least not in our literary fiction). But How Insensitive is a scathing satire of 90s-style hipsterism and media wannabe-quests. And there's some set pieces here that are true gut busters. For a book published by a (very) small press, it caused quite a stir at the time of its publication. People actually bought it, actually read it. People under forty years old! It was a mini-scandal in the drier precincts of Canadian literary guardianship. But that's part of what made - what still makes - How Insensitive so much fun.

More Forgotten Books:

Susan Smith

Kerrie Smith

Lesa Holstine
Cara Black

Josephine Damian

Scott D. Parker
Scott D. Parker 2
Ray
Randy Johnson
Bill Crider
James Reasoner
Archavist
Linwood Barclay
Martin Edwards
Juri Nummelin

How Well Do You Know Your Characters

before you write the first word.

I was advised at Breadloaf Writer's Conference by a famous writer that I should know my characters very well indeed. That I should know what he/she ate for breakfast and what their closets look like.

Now Robert Boswell, in his THE HALF-KNOWN WORLD: On Writing Fiction suggests something very different.

"The listing of characteristics in advance of real narrative exploration tends to cut a character off at the knees. Such a character may be complicated but is rarely complex. Moreover, such characters tend to become narrower as the narrative progresses."

This resonates with me. The work of Alfred Hitchcock, who planned every scene of a movie before he started shooting, is a good example. Although his work is interesting for the exciting plots, he rarely created an compelling character. And when he did, say in Rear Window, the character bled through from the original work. Movies are not the same as fiction, of course. The actor himself contributes to the process as well. But you get the idea.

What do you think? How do you work? How much do you know about Sam Adler when you typed the first word? Do you discover him along the way or bring him in fully formed.

Questions from my panel at Bouchercon.

How would you have answered these questions?

What three books would you take to a desert island? (We did this last month but I changed my mind and you can too.)
What was the last book that really wowed you?
What are 2-3 of your favorite crime fiction series?


1) In Cold Blood, Daughter of Time, The Moonstone
2) I Am Legend
3) Van Der Valk series, Nicholas Freeling, Hoke Mosely series by Charles Willeford, and damn, I can't remember the third series. I was going to pick Martin Beck by Sjowal and Wahloo but someone picked it first.


Oddly enough, yesterday I went to the library and found a first edition of DAUGHTER OF TIME on sale for a $1.00. Wasn't even a library book but a donation. Weird, huh?

October Ovation: Who Do You Most Admire?

OCTOBER OVATION (The brainchild of Barrie Summy)

I gave some thought to writing about Eleanor Roosevelt or Charles Darwin or Jonas Salk, but they're people I only know from a distance. I don't really know the kind of husbands or wives or fathers they were. A few months ago I might have chosen John Edwards, for Pete's sake.

So I am picking the person I know best in the world and the one I admire most, my husband. In the 41 years we've been married, he has never said one mean word to me. I have never gone to bed angry or hurt over something he said or did. He has worked hard every day of our lives and was the best father imaginable. He was chair of the PTO, coach of the Little League teams, room-parent every year. He drew pictures with my daughter, threw the ball with my son and read to them both and now lavishes the same care on our grandson. He attended every event in all of our lives.

For the last five years, he has helped me care for my parents with little complaint. He drives me to their apartment at least once a week, does many errands for them and for me, bucks me up when I'm down.

He has written thirteen books, fifty articles and won many awards for his teaching and research. He respects his students and never complains about teaching, grading papers, keeping office hours, a rarity among professors.

He cooks our dinner every night, plants a wonderful garden every year, never blames me for earning very little money over the course of our marriage. He reads every word I write and always proclaims it wonderful. I truly can't think of a single person I have ever known or read about that I admire more than my husband.

How was I lucky enough to find this guy at seventeen and marry him at nineteen? And it's his birthday this week! If he sounds too good to be true, I've painted him right. Happy Birthday, Phil. Check out Barrie Summy for more October Ovations.

"Living Well" in Yellow Mama

http://blackpetalsks.tripod.com/yellowmama/id210.html

Lots of other good stuff to read too. Thanks to Cindy Rosmus for her great work.

What's Wrong with Network Television?

'Cause it's apparently tanking. Especially the shows introduced before the strike last year. Was it the strike that did them in or were the shows just bad?

I've seen Pushing Daisies a few times, and at first thought it creative and different, but after last week I decided it was too fey and/or twee for me.

Dirty Sexy Money: how about writing one likable character? And rich is out, right? Watching the hue of Donald Sutherland's tie and shirt change from scene to scene is not enough.

Fringe, a YZ version of X files.

Desperate Housewives: those forty-something designer faces are beginning to look like grimaces.

Life on Mars show promise but since the first episode was a replica of the BBC show it's hard to tell. Loved the BBC version so maybe this...

The X list. Thirty-somethings in a kid's plastic pool? Will it be a playpen next week? The long-reach of Friends/Seinfeld where growing up is for suckers.

Is there anything you really like on TV? How about in Canada and the UK? For me, it's Dexter, Mad Men, Big Bang Theory, The Office and Thirty Rock. I'd watch Friday Night Lights but it's on Direct TV. Could it be any more frustrating?

My Town Monday: Detroit

At her crepe stand, Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes, for about five bucks, Tonya Blanchard and her merry band of crepe-makers will create you one of her 20 delectable crepes, hot off the griddle, made in a space barely big enough for two to stand, let alone cook.The 48-square feet space is small. A gas line, prep cooler and sink were installed. So far, business has been good. "I've been pleasantly surprised," she says. "And I haven't had to dress up as a crepe and walk up and down Woodward to get people to come here!"For the 30-year-old, born and bred Detroiter, opening anywhere but in the city proper was not an option. "Yes, it would have succeeded instantly in Ferndale or Royal Oak, but that's not the point," says Blanchard. "This is a French city, and I think we need to be known for crepes."For Detroiters not familiar with the French treat, Good Girls' menu provides a primer. On the Right – or sweet – Bank, there's the simple Seine, with butter and sugar (Blanchard's daily breakfast, she admits) and the tart Melinda, with lime and brown sugar. The Snyder is a mélange of fruits, and the Katie re-creates an apple pie.To Blanchard's pleasant surprise, a full half of the crepes she sells hail from the Left – or savory – Bank of her menu. The most-popular Allison combines hummus, hot sauce, spinach and herbes de Provence cheese, while the Rose is a simple blend of mozzarella, tomato and basil drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.Aside from crepes, she sells fair trade organic coffee for a buck a cup, and that's about it. She does plan to complicate things a bit by adding an enclosed patio for the coming colder temperatures. Plus, Etienne will make the move to Eastern Market's Shed 2 when Blanchard gets a double griddle for her John R spot. Yes, she'll be busy, but she wouldn't have it any other way. "It's nice to be a little uncomfortable," she says.Now that Blanchard has taken the plunge into entrepreneurship, she says there's no turning back. "You have to ask yourself, 'Who am I living for?'" she says. She acknowledges that "a bi-weekly check or a sense of security" may be missed, but says, "You're only young once, might as well see how it works!"Blanchard encourages anyone thinking about opening a business to go for it: "The hardest part of opening a business – it's not the money – is taking a leap of faith."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVaG716rwdw.

This story comes courtesy of Model D. Check out Travis Erwin for more My Town Monday.

Bouchercon

My big thrill so far was sitting between Bill Crider and Lee Child on my panel. Sadly they both had to remind me to use the microphone everytime I spoke. That learning curve is getting to be a long one.
Other tidbits: could Jen Jordan be any more gorgeous? Could Vicki Hendrick be any nicer? Could Judy Bobalick and the Jordans work any harder without complaint? Could Laura Lippman be more of an inspiration in every way to the 2000 people here? Is there anyone more gregarious than Val McDermid-to friend and fan alike.
It was awfully nice to have my story in the Boucercon issue of Crimespree and really nice to meet the people I have met. A day and half is enough for me though.

Forgotten Friday Hiatus

Come back next week for some new suggestions of forgotten books.

Oh, and please let me know a few days ahead if you'll have a flash fiction piece for the 20th and where you post it (your blog or on Powder Burn flash.

Hey, You, Get Off of My Cloud.

Every time Paulson comes on TV to reassure us, he doesn't. He needs to hire someone who doesn't sound like he's headed off a cliff to make his addresses.
I figure his face and voice are worth a 400 pt decline each time. Can any of us take these hits?

What Are You Reading Right Now?

I'm just finishing up Daniel Woodrell's GIVE US A KISS.

It's one of those times when you know whatever you read next will pale in comparison. I keep shuffling a dozen books on the TBR pile, trying to decide.

What are you reading? Or what did you read recently that you would recommend?

Bouchercon

I hope to meet some of the people on this blogosphere at Bouchercon if only to thank them for participating in Forgotten Books. I'll be working the registration desk tomorrow and have a panel on Friday at 4 or so. Please hunt me down. I look like that--or did three years ago.

Is it Just Me

or do you feel like you're standing on the deck of the Titanic and watching everything that isn't nailed down begin to slide off the edges?

And I'm not one of those objects nailed down.

Indicative of the effect this is having on me, I have banged my head on various impediments four times in the last week, sprained my ankle and bumped my knee. Are you feeling off-kilter too? Are your nails digging into what's no longer there?

Welcoming Busted Flush Press to blogland.

Busted Flush Press is one of the neatest small presses publishing crime fiction today. Take a look at their first blog post and welcome David aboard.

http://bustedflushpress.blogspot.com/

My Town Monday: Detroit's Riverwalk

For most of the years that I've lived in Detroit, the area along the Detroit River, quite a sizable stretch of property, was severely under-utilized and still wore the look of a deserted factory district, which it once was. It seemed like however much Detroiters complained about it, no one could quite decide how to develop it.

Plans to turn the abandonded Ford Auditorium, for instance, once the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, into an aquarium, like the one in Baltimore, always went awry. There were little spots of activity along the route, but it was not integrated functionally in anyway. It was very depressing to see other cities with waterfronts use the areas so creatively.

Windsor, across the water, developed their riverway in a series of small parks and sculpture gardens, but Detroit wanted a slightly different focus. One of the major concerns in Detroit is always how to bring people into the city. It seemed important to make the riverwalk more than a spot for a Sunday afternoon stroll. It needed to be a destination for many rather than a time-filler for conventioneers and nearby residents.

The dream of a riverwalk is finally becoming a reality.

The Detroit RiverWalk is a 5½-mile promenade along the Detroit International Riverfront running from the Ambassador Bridge to Belle Isle. The path is located directly on the river, sometimes bridging it. The path is 62 feet (18¾ meters) wide in most places, with separate lanes for pedestrian and wheeled traffic. Pavilions, fishing piers and benches are located at intervals along the path.

The east RiverWalk connects various riverfront developments, including Hart Plaza, the Renaissance Center, GM Plaza and Promenade, Tri-Centennial State Park, Stroh River Place, Chene Park, and Gabriel Richard Park. The RiverWalk is designed to supplement new retail and residential development. Architect Eric J. Hill aided in its design.

The first 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of continuous RiverWalk and two of the four planned pavilions opened to the public on June 6, 2007. Rivard Plaza located at the foot of Rivard Street features a covered seating, a carousel, conecessions and bike rentals. Richard Plaza located in Gabriel Richard Park features covered seating, conessions and a butterfly garden. The west RiverWalk development is not expected to be completed before 2012. It will eventually connect to River Rouge in the southwest side. There is also a spoke, the Dequindre cut, which will take the walkway north soon.

Check out more My Town Monday posts at the wonderful Travis Erwin's blog: http://traviserwin.blogspot.com

A feel-good commercial for the hippie girl who lives inside of me

http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/wato/

What Do You Listen To When You're Alone?

I recently discovered that when my husband is absent, I listen to entirely different music than when he's here. Although we share certain musical tastes, we diverge just as often.

He's more likely to play Philip Glass, Puccini or Bach and I'm more likely to play Emmy Lou Harris, the Wainwrights, Shelby Lynne or Lucinda Williams.

Or, even more pointedly, I often listen to NPR whereas he's more likely to put on Chris Matthews. I like my news muted; he likes a more bombastic approach.

What do you listen to when there's nobody there to object? Or does your housemate share your preferences completely?

The Summing Up, Friday, October 3, 2008

Thanks to all of today's contributors on both topics. I'm only posting the forgotten books list since the banned books deviates from our focus on that list. Perhaps we will have a second list in the future.
I have to say that in the six months I have been posting forgotten books only a handful of people have not come through with a review when they said they would. And only another handful refused or didn't respond. Isn't that amazing considering how busy you all are? And how so many of you had no idea who I was when I asked you to contribute? I can't thank you all enough and most especially that small group of angels that review almost every week.

Karen Anderson, Robak in Black, Joe Hensley
Paul Bishop, Blayde R.I.P., John Wainwright
Joe Boland, Protocol for Kidnapping, Oliver Bleeck (Ross Thomas)
David Cranmer, The Flight of the Falcon, Daphne DuMaurier
Bill Crider, The Man with Bogart's Face, Andre Fenady
Martin Edwards, Bat of Hell, Frances Durbridge
Kathryn Miller Haines, Fantomas, Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain
Ed Lynskey, Sunset Trail, Wayne Overholser
Rafe McGregor, The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka, Josef Skovorecky
Juri Nummelin, Private I & Foreign Exchange, Jimmy Sangster
Scott D. Parker, Cop Hater, Ed McBain
James Reasoner, Suitable for Framing, James Atlee Phillips

A PAUSE NEXT WEEK AND THEN BACK ON THE 17th. Thanks.

Banned Books Week Review

Several weeks ago, Karen Olson, at First Offenders asked if some of her readers might like to read a book that various groups had tried to ban at libraries in recent years and talk about it during "banned books week."

I chose a book from the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice in the Know. This book looks at a lot of controversial and difficult issues: teen sex, what constitutes rape, Internet hi-jinks, racism, shop-lifting, cancer in children, etc, but all of it is handled in a responsible way. I was not the least bit offended. If talking about these issues is offensive to some people, they should not be allowed to make judgments for the rest of us.

What did surprise, or even shock me, about the book was how rooted in these issues it was. Issues became the plot. Scarcely a page was devoid of controversy and adversity for Alice and her pals and family.

If the average teenager leads a life that is this difficult and issue-laden, I feel sorry for them. If I led such a life, I am not sure I'd want to read a book like this one. I think I'd prefer a book where some good times were had. One issue per book might be a good rule. So LIGHTEN UP.
I hope that Naylor's earlier books in this series, written for younger children, are not so bleak. Karen Olson says they are lighter in tone.

I'm sorry to be somewhat critical of this book when I set out to uphold its right to be in a library. It certainly has a right to be in every library. The rest is secondary to that issue. Patti Abbott

Kathy Fannon is a librarian and events coordinator at Romeo Public Library in Michigan. Romeo is the town everyone wishes was theirs. Find Kathy Fannon at : http://thelibraryfairy.blogspot.com/

Chris Crutcher's Athletic Shorts.

I read Chris Crutcher’s Athletic Shorts. 6 short stories published in 1991 that have won the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award as well as the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults Award.

The book has been banned for homosexuality and offensive language. It has been on the Top Ten List of Banned Books for the past 10 years. Yes, the book uses language that is normally considered offensive. But it is also the language you hear everyday in the hallways of almost every high school in this country. That’s why kids like the book-it’s real;
real stuff that happens to real people, just like them. Chris Crutcher gets that. He has coached high school teams. He has and still is, I believe, counseling troubled teen-agers so he knows what he’s talking about. Teen readers respect that.
What I liked about the stories is that each one had a moment that offered hope or redemption to at least one of the characters. And it’s done so well, some kids may not even notice. Kids can see that over done story and won’t read it or tell their friends about it. In Athletic Shorts, they just might see themselves.

Yes, we need to make sure what our kids read has some kind of value-even if it is just entertainment value. But is also our job as parents, educators, librarians, and citizens to have free access. If we don’t want our kids reading something, then it is our responsibility to monitor said kid and also to teach them to make those decisions. Reading is such an individual occupation that what I like, you may not and vice versa.
However, it is not my responsibility to tell you what you can or cannot read. It should not be up to one individual to decide whether a book is acceptable to a whole community. So we have Banned Books Week to remind us of that.


Here are a few more banned books sites and reviews:

http://freelancemother.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/the-banned-books-that-changed-my-life
http://randall120.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/banning-the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz/
http://www.journalscape.com/Hedgehog/2008-09-26-12:06/
http://barbaramartin.blogspot.com/
http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2008/10/fridays-forgotten-books-banned-books.html
http://www.jensbookthoughts.blogspot.com/
http://www.womenofmystery.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookmamasworld.blogspot.com/
http://bernardsvillereadersadvisory.blogspot.com/
http://pattispenandpicks.blogspot.com/
http://readspace.net/2008/10/forgotten-book-banned-books-week/
http://barriesummy.blogspot.com/

Friday's Forgotten Books, October 3, 2008

Karen G. Anderson
Writer Way
http://writerway.blogspot.com

Karen G. Anderson is a Seattle-based blogger and web content writer. She's a member of the National Book Critics Circle and was a reviewer for the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.

ROBAK IN BLACK by Joe Hensley (St. Martin's Minotaur, 2002)

Let me start by staking out the territory: I'm a fan of the crime fiction of K.C. Constantine, John D. MacDonald, and Archer Mayor. These authors convey a powerful sense of character and setting; oh, their stories are skillful enough, but for years after I close one of their books I'm haunted by the people I've met and the places I've gone with them.

I was thrilled to come across the work of Joe Hensley. An Indiana attorney, judge, and politician, he created a series with a protagonist with a similar resume. Hensley's Don Robak series spans four decades, and includes the memorable Robak in Black (St. Martin's Minotaur, 2002).

Hensley, who died last year, started his writing career in 1960 with the paperback The Color of Hate (Ace, 1960). I mention that because, though he launched the Robak series (with Deliver Us to Evil) in 1971, his writing always carries with it more than a whiff of the mid-century pulps. His men are tough, self-reliant, and quick to anger. His women are either angels (Robak's beautiful, and tragically injured, wife) or bitches.

As the social turbulence of the 1960s moved inland from the coasts to Indiana, Hensley, through Robak, painted a deeply moving portrait of a man raised in a traditional American culture coming to grips with a new one in which a black man could become a close friend and neighbors could become gun-toting cult members.

While Hensley's use of language is often inelegant (as perhaps suits the blunt Robak character) his narrative style is rich and compelling. Robak in Black opens with Judge Robak's wife, Jo, in the hospital. She's delirious and possibly near death from a illness that has the doctors baffled. Robak is furious to discover that her test samples have vanished, along with a hospital employee. Because he's involved in some highly controversial legal cases, Robak immediately suspects that Jo has been poisoned as revenge, or as a threat. He has reason to be suspicious: a murderer he'd put away for 50 years has just been pardoned; a local religious cult is up in arms because Robak sentenced one of its members to death for child murder; and he's about to hear a major lawsuit against the town's largest employer.

The situation soon becomes chilling. Robak discovers that the local law enforcement and medical authorities are afraid to investigate -- possibly because the corrupt county commissioners are campaigning to defeat Robak in the upcoming judicial elections.

Robak grudgingly enlists the help of three friends who've assisted him in previous cases: an eccentric retired bailiff, a tough-as-nails court reporter, and a charismatic black gospel preacher with a streak of pureevil. Hensley draws this colorful trio brilliantly, and doesn't stint on confrontations with the bad guys --or with the arrogant local FBI agent, who orders Robak out of his way so he can go after the religious cult on his own.

Hensley puts some fascinating characters on stage in this book, and then unleashes a rip-roaring plot that gives them plenty of opportunity for skullduggery, shoot-outs, and chewing of scenery. For aficionados of fast-paced, hardboiled crime fiction, Robak in Black is simply delicious.


Kathryn Miller Haines is the author of THE WINTER OF HER DISCONTENT and THE WAR AGAINST MISS WINTER, a series set in 1940s New York.

FANTOMAS by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain.

Looking for a nefarious villain, a surreal plot, and more absurd gadgets than a Rube Goldberg fire sale? Look no further than Fantomas by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain. Heck, the whole series (32 books authored by both men, 11 additional ones by Allain alone) is worth picking up, if you can find them (the first five have been reissued and are available through amazon.com).

The initial, co-authored series was published in Paris between 1911 and 1913 – one a month, if you can imagine – and features one of the most popular characters in French crime fiction. Part master criminal, part serial killer, part gang leader, Fantomas is the kind of character who seemed ready made for comic books (in fact he makes in appearance in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Utilizing plague infested rats and sulfuric acid infused perfume as readily as knives and revolvers as his weapons of choice, Fantomas is a master of disguise, clever enough to wear the skin of a dead man long before Hannibal Lecter came up with the idea.

And yeah, you find yourself rooting for him, in some sick and twisted way. Vive le Dexter!
In the first book alone, Fantomas murders a Marquise, woos the wealthy, robs royalty, and frames an innocent man by utilizing his impressive skills with theatrical makeup. Of course he has an arch nemesis: the good-hearted Paris policeman Inspector Juve who’s always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to tracking him down. But then, what fun would there be in locking up the master criminal?

There’s no psychoanalysis here; Souvestre and Allain aren’t interested in why Fantomas does what he does. Moral order is never restored and incongruities are often never explained. But Fantomas isn’t just silly fun. He inspired the surrealist movement (Magritte painted pictures of him) and served as the model for American pulp fiction.
And for those of you already familiar with the series, don’t miss David L. White’s Fantomas in America (Blackcoat Press, 2007), a new Fantomas tale inspired by the lost 1920s American serial film based on the character.


Ed Lynskey is the author of THE BLUE CHEER and PELHAM FELL HERE.
SUNSET TRAIL: A WESTERN DUO by Wayne D. Overholser. Five Star, 2007.

I don't know why the popular perception says Westerns are a shrinking reader niche. I guess it has something to do with what we grew up knowing. I recall liking as a kid the TV Westerns like THE HIGH CHAPPARAL, THE VIRGINIAN, THE LAWMAN, DEATH VALLEY DAYS (Mr. Reagan as host) and to nail down the point, GUNSMOKE. Thankfully a part of us never grows up. For me, Westerns make for an occasional foray in my reading habits.

Wayne D. Overhosler (1906-1996) was a prolific writer and won the Spur Award three times. He lived and wrote about Colorado. SUNSET TRAIL offers two novellas bundled into one book. SUNSET TRAIL (really a long short story) originally appeared in 1947 in Frontier Stories. It involves a wagon train leaving Independence, MO in 1846 headed for Santa Fe. Bruce Shane is hired to guide it through Indian territory, and the bad guys are suspected of shipping contraband rifles aboard the wagons. This yarn ended a little abruptly for me, and the dialogue as dialect was a bit distracting. But this remains a well-told, entertaining yarn.

The novella TWELVE HOURS UNTIL NOON is the real appeal. It takes place in Amity, Colorado, following the Panic of 1893. Matt Dugan, the local banker, brings in Governor Wyatt to speak at the celebration of a local dam project. Jean, Matt's daughter, is engaged to Sheriff Jerry Corrigan. The bad guys hired by the Governor's enemies plot to assassinate him in Amity while speaking at the podium.

TWELVE HOURS demonstrates Overholser's considerable skill at pacing, setting, and characterization. Overholser likes to use history. The plot is nothing new (I almost envisioned the building climax in HIGH NOON), but I actually stayed up late enjoying TWELVE HOURS.


Rafe McGregor is the author of the forthcoming THE ARCHITECT OF MURDER.

The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka by Josef Škvorecký

“Mournful Demeanour” – what a title, if only I’d thought of that first...Josef Škvorecký is a contemporary Czech writer and publisher who spent two years as a slave labourer to the Nazis in the Second World War, and fled to Canada following the Soviet invasion of his country in 1968. He is best known for his numerous literary works, but The Mournful Demeanour is the first of a trilogy of books with the melancholy Lieutenant Boruvka as the protagonist. It was followed by The End of Lieutenant Boruvka in 1975, and The Return of Lieutenant Boruvka in 1981. At the time of writing, the latter – set in Canada – is the only one still in print, along with a short story collection entitled Sins for Father Knox (1988), which features Boruvka in two of the ten tales. The Mournful Demeanour was first published in Czechoslovakia in 1966 and first translated into English in 1973. It contains twelve short stories which are fiendishly clever mysteries and offer a fascinating insight into Communist Czechoslovakia prior to the Soviet invasion.
Boruvka is an officer in the Prague police, a kind-hearted family man who shares his creator’s love for jazz music. The first tale, The Supernatural Powers of Lieutenant Boruvka, is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read in any genre. There are plenty of other outstanding offerings in the volume, and Škvorecký has a particular talent for complementing his fine stories with unusual and interesting titles: Death on Needlepoint, Aristotelian Logic, and Crime in a Girls’ High School to name but three. Don’t be fooled into thinking these are cosy mysteries, however. As one might expect from an author who suffered so much himself, there is a very grim edge to the anthology, albeit it tempered by the great depth of feeling Boruvka conceals behind his world-weary, soft-spoken mien. The collection is almost unique in my experience in that it contains some ingenious plotting and puzzles, as well as many of the qualities for which literary – as opposed to popular – fiction is so frequently praised. Enthralling and bittersweet at the same time.

And the rest:
http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/
http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/
http://billcrider.blogspot.com/
http://davidcranmer.blogspot.com/
http://bishsbeat.blogspot.com/2008/10/forgotten-books-blayde-rip-by-john.html
http://www.mysterybookspot.com/brianlindenmuth/?p=560
http://pulpetti.blogspot.com/
http://scottdparker.blogspot.com/
http://joeboland.blogspot.com/

2008 Campaign is Not the Most Negative on Record

I would have sworn 2008 was the most negative Presidential campaign on record, but not yet according to Emmett Buell and Lee Sigelman who have been tracking Presidential campaign ads since 1960. And, contrary to what I've thought, the Democrats are usually more negative in their ads than the Republicans. Here are the breakdown in negative ads.

Seems like Al Gore in 2000 was the least negative of all. I wonder if that explains his loss.





Democrats Republicans
1960 65.6% 45.0%
1964 64.6% 66.3%
1968 57.1% 49.6%
1972 64.1% 49.7%
1976 47.2% 41.6%
1980 54.5% 58.6%
1984 66.0% 38.7%
1988 61.5% 57.5%
1992 59.6% 65.8%
1996 51.8% 48.4%
2000 36.7% 53.2%
2004 71.9% 52.9%
2008 45.6% 37.5%

You can read more about it in their book Attack Politics, or on the website The Monkey Cage.
A good lesson to me that I don't listen to ads with neutral ears.

REMIND ME BECAUSE I'M AN OLD LADY

if you're going to post a forgotten or a banned book this week. I have about six banned book promises and three forgotten ones on file so far.

Notice the big font. I turn the volume up too. OLD.

Power Point

Is it just me or does the average power point presentation reduce the subject matter to either banalities or cliches?

And printing a hard copy and sending it via email only highlights the problem.

Give + Take, Stona Fitch

TODAY IS OCTOBER 1.

Stona Fitch, author of Senseless, has written a new book, Give + Take.

It will be distributed without charge through the Concord Free Press beginning on October 1, online and in independent bookstores to those willing to make a donation to a local charity or to a local person in need.

This is a wonderful idea and hopefully will raise money and consciousness about those in need in your own community and reward you with a fabulous book from an exciting writer. Please get more details on the website below and inform others.

Maybe we can save the world one book at a time.

http://www.concordfreepress.com/