FFB: VENDETTA, Michael Dibdin

This is the second in the series (1990) concerning the police work of Aurelio Zen. Inspector Zen is one of the more sophisticated cops and the Italian settings in this series always wowed me.

 

In VENDETTA, Zen investigates the assassination of a millionaire and all of his his guests at a posh location in the Sardinian mountains. Despite a sophisticated security system, no pictures of the intruders exists. A lot of pressure comes from Zen's higher-ups to solve this high-profile, seemingly locked room-type murder.

I like this series a lot. Michael Dibdin died far too young.

 

Short Story Wednesday "Girls, at Play, Celeste Ng

 From the Bellevue Literary Review

 “This is how we play the game: pink means kissing; red means tongue. Green means up your shirt; blue means down his pants. Purple means in your mouth. Black means all the way.”

A group of eighth grade girls, from the working people side of the tracks, play a game at recess where they leave themselves open to the desires of their male classmates. When a new girl, Grace, comes to town, she is a year younger so they abandon the game to help Grace with her new school. She is a willing novice to things like stealing, makeup, sneaking into adult movies. There is a constant acceleration of what they teach her, but most of it at her request. But for a long time, they refuse to show her how to play the "game."When she insists, there is a Lord of the Flies scene where the girls initiate her. This is a fairly brutal story, not so much that anything too frightening happens, but in how badly the girls behave. Ng is the author of LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE which had a fair share of brutality too. Ng is a skilled writer and the story won a Pushcart Prize. 

Jerry House

Kevin Tipple 

TracyK 

George Kelley 

Todd Mason

Monday, Monday

 Kevin at 15. Some day he will look up!

Nearly finished my rewatch of MAD MEN and watching Don Draper self-destruct is as powerful as watching Walter White do it on BREAKING BAD. What flawed men they both were. And I will add watching Saul Goodman (Jimmy) do it on BETTER CALL SAUL is also gripping. Can't wait to see its resolution tonight but I will miss it. There has to be a story of a woman self-destructing but I can't come up with one as dramatic as these. Well, perhaps the prime minister on BORGEN, whose name eludes me. But she steps back from the edge.

RESERVATION DOGS is as good as ever. 

Enjoyed THE TWELVE CHAIR, which I have never seen before. Boy, Frank Langella was a gorgeous young man. I think his looks may have handicapped him in a time when we liked craggy leading men (Dustin Hoffman, Richard Dreyfus, Jack Nicholson). A very cute movie.

Rewatched CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD and again was struck by William Hurt's distinctive acting style. You never forgot his performances. 

Reading the Michael Robotham book, WHEN YOU ARE MINE. He writes females so well. And although the first scenes are very familiar, he makes them fresh. Next weekend 1.5 million people will be below my windows watching THE DREAM CRUISE. Hopefully, I will be in Grand Rapids looking at quilts! The noise was intolerable this weekend, as people are already tail-gating. Making your exhaust system make noise shouldn't be allowed. Crotchedy old lady says. This cruise goes on for sixteen miles and includes nine cities. Read about it here. http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com/

What about you? 

FFB: TRAP FOR CINDERALLA, Sebastian Japrisot

TRAP FOR CINDERELLA, Sebastien Japrisot

This is one of those books that depends on taking you by surprise and it is difficult to review it without divulging details that will detract from that pleasure. A girl wakes up in a hospital. She has just undergone plastic surgery to fix the burns she sustained in a fire at her house in a French resort. Her friend has died in the blaze. Or is she the friend? She can't remember much, including who she is. A third woman seems to play a role in both scenarios.

The book plays with this idea--who died and who survived. It is a moody, atmospheric
book--reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith. The book won France's most prestigious fiction award. It is short and dark. Read it when you are fully awake and not drowsing in bed or you won't know who is who either.

 

 

 

Short Story Wednesday: THE STORY OF AN HOUR, Kate Chopin

https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/ 

"The Story of an Hour' by Kate Chopin was written in 1894. 

This is a three-page story that begins with the line, "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death."

Her husband has been killed in a train accident and Mrs. Mallard immediately cries on hearing it, but asks for solitude and goes into another room. Over the course of the next hour, she suddenly sees the world outside her window as a more beautiful place. She embraces the new freedom that will be hers. "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering. 

She will not just be the handmaiden of her husband but can embrace a life with activities that interest her.  She is a young woman and it is not too late to make her way in the world. The yoke that marriage puts around her neck is broken.

And then the door opens, and her husband comes in. He was not on that train. 

Mrs. Mallard has a heart attack and dies. 

There are lots of discussions of this story online. Some writers believe Chopin could only get this story published by having her punished at the end. No one at the time would accept a good woman could rejoice (somewhat) in her husband's death. I don't know if I feel her death is necessary or not. How would the story end otherwise? Would she pretend to be happy her husband is okay? Or would she begin plotting his future death now that she understands herself?

A beautifully written story that says so much in three pages.

Kevin Tipple

TracyK 

George Kelley 

James Reasoner

Monday, Monday

 I am listening to Stanley Tucci's memoir called TASTE: MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD. It centers on the meals enjoyed by his Italian-American family growing up north of NYC and the years following. The recipes are wonderful, but there is no way I can eat like this. He must belong to the just a taste of it club because he is thin. He has the most wonderful forearms I have ever seen (based on his show on CNN). Also I can not imagine spending the time necessary to make some of these recipes. And each day many of them were served.

Food did not play a big part in my childhood. My mother was an indifferent cook and liked us all to be thin. Which we were. A pound of meat was more than enough for four and a frozen package of green beans was too.  I think we lost a lot by not enjoying food together. I can only think of one dish of hers I ever tried to repeat and it still was nothing special. I am not a great cook, but even cooking for myself I try to make a dinner I want to sit down to. There was not a cookbook in our house and the only spices were cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Surely there were others but I can't remember them.

How about your childhood! Was food a big part of it?

Also reading the newest Peter Robinson mystery. I think I have read them all, which is unusual for me nowadays. I have the new Michael Robotham at the library if it ever cools off enough for me to walk there.

It has been such a hot week here I have barely been outside. I would have to walk to the park to sit outside and it just doesn't seem worth worming my way through the construction to get there. A real deficit of this building is there are no sitting areas outside.

TV-Still watching the super-creepy BLACK BIRD. FOR ALL MANKIND has sort of lost my interest even though lots of stuff has happened this season. ONLY MURDERERS IN THE BUILDING also seems lacking. It probably is me.

And rewatching MAD MEN, which is my favorite show ever. Watched a great documentary on Kanopy about the Hollywood photography coming out of the agency Magnum.

Please notice this.  http://jerryshouseofeverything.blogspot.com/2022/08/catherine-keane-house-march-7-1949.html

What are you up to?

FFB: Small g, Patrica Highsmith

 (Because it's always worthwhile reading a review by Deb again)

Small g: A Summer Idyll by Patricia Highsmith (Review by Deb)

Patricia Highsmith’s Small g: A Summer Idyll was published posthumously in 1995.  In fact, it had been rejected by Highsmith’s publisher just a few months before her death.  Perhaps the publisher found the book so atypical for Highsmith that they weren’t sure how to market it.  Certainly it does not contain the oppressive sense of dread and foreboding that is a hallmark of much of Highsmith’s work.  With its roundelay of love affairs and heartbreak involving a large number of people, Small g put me in mind of some of Iris Murdoch’s novels of the early 1970s (without the philosophical trappings, however); and I think this work, as unlike anything else that Highsmith ever wrote, is a fitting coda for her body of work and perhaps even goes some way toward humanizing a woman who even her closest friends had to admit was a very difficult and demanding person.

Set in Switzerland during the 1990s, Small g covers a few eventful summer weeks in the lives of an interconnected group of lovers, friends, and acquaintances—some gay, some straight, some still finding their way—who live and work in the same Zurich neighborhood.  The hub of this circle is a local restaurant-bar called Jakob’s, designated in local guide books with a lower-case g to indicate it caters to a mixed gay and straight clientele.

Most of the events in the book are filtered through the perceptions of Rickie Markwalder, a middle-aged commercial artist who is still recovering from the grief of losing his young lover, Peter, to a stabbing some months before.  Police believe Peter was the random victim of a botched robbery committed by drug addicts looking for money, but Rickie is not so sure.

Within Rickie’s circle is Luisa Zimmermann, a young apprentice seamstress who has run away from an abusive family and was in love with Peter.  Although her love for Peter was unrequited, Luisa remains close to Rickie, at first because it helps her feel closer to memory of Peter, but eventually she and Rickie become good friends.  This friendship is a morale booster for Luisa, who lives with and works for the dominating Renate Hagnauer, an ugly homophobe who none-the-less spends several hours a day at Jakob’s.  By a combination of emotional blackmail and controlling the purse strings, Renate keeps Luisa under her thumb.  Renate also poisons the mind of Willi, a mentally-disabled handiman who repeats and believes the gossip and rumors (which almost always reflect badly on gay individuals) that Renate relays to him.

Into the mix come some more people:  Teddie Richardson, a young Swiss-American man who becomes an object of both Rickie’s and Luisa’s affection; Dorrie Wyss, a vivacious lesbian who finds Luisa attractive; and Freddie Schimmelman, a married, bisexual policeman who begins an affair with Rickie.  Freddie is presented in an interesting way--his marriage and his other relationships are depicted in a very matter of a fact manner; his sexuality hardly an issue.

With the main characters in place, and lots of others in supporting roles, the story can begin in earnest.  It all starts with an attack on Teddie Richardson and Rickie’s single-minded pursuit of the culprit. Freddie uses police connections to help prolong interest in a case that the police would undoubtedly have allowed to go cold.  The reader knows who attacked Teddie (and Rickie has very strong suspicions), but will the police ever have sufficient evidence to charge the person?  Meanwhile, Luisa must skulk around, making secret telephone calls and even using Rickie as a go-between in order to meet with either Teddie or Dorrie, or even to slip out of the apartment for a cup of coffee with someone other than Renate.  It all sounds a bit soapy, but Highsmith’s sure hand and attention to detail keep the plot running efficiently.

If I have a quibble with the book it’s that we really never see into the emotional lives of the characters; we can only guess at their motivations.  We can deduce that part of Renate’s homophobia (and overbearing, protective attitude toward Luisa) may stem from her own suppressed lesbianism, but Renate never reveals that aspect of herself.  Also, we can infer that Rickie pursues Teddie’s attacker because Peter’s killer(s) were never caught, but Rickie never lets that element of his pursuit come to the forefront of his emotions.

At this point, I must also address an act committed by Rickie’s doctor that is so unconscionable as to be both illegal and baffling [SPOILER]:  The doctor tells Rickie that he is HIV-positive and allows him to continue believing this for several months, even though the doctor knows this is not the case.  The fact that both the doctor and Rickie (and, apparently, by extension, Highsmith herself) think that what the doctor has done is fine and “for the patient’s own good” is mind-boggling to me and reinforces my belief that, whatever her virtues as a writer, Patricia Highsmith is not someone I could have personally liked.

Eventually, an accidental death, sets the plot spinning into an entirely different orbit.  Ends are tidied up a bit too neatly perhaps, but there’s a sense of the characters reaching certain points in their lives and have learned lessons (some rather harsh).  The summer idyll is over and life continues on even when the weather changes.

 

Short Story Wednesday: "Winter Light" James Lee Burke

 You can read it here. https://www.jamesleeburke.com/winter-light/?fbclid=IwAR3ExWObQYtL3hN-VAHXvfhwCaiJzSDzlxcMrKV9eqpiKOJ5vQcKXdN1BDc

 

At the Traverse City Film Festival, the founder's prize was given to a film called GOD'S COUNTRY, which was an adaptation of James Lee Burke's story "Winter Light." 

In the original story, a professor at a Montana college, newly retired, confronts two townies who are parking on his land as they hunt. The story escalates as the adversaries rev up their game. The story works very well because of the gorgeous writing, the setting, the plot and characters. And the director God's Country originally made a short film, which stuck pretty closely to this original scenario. 

But when Julian Higgins decided to go on and make a full-length film of the story, he made many significant changes.He changes the professor from a white retired man to a still -working Black woman (Thandiwe Newton). The woman was a cop in New Orleans before she came west with her mother. Higgins adds a lot of complexity to her character as well as to the hunters. He adds a town sheriff into the mix who is unable to deal with the hunters. Although I liked the story very much, most of what Higgins added made it a more interesting story to me. See what you think if the film comes your way. 

Kevin Tipple

Jerry House 

George Kelley 

Todd Mason

Monday, Monday

 

Mostly good to very good movies. Especially liked GOD'S COUNTRY based on James Lee Burke's story "Winter Light" and SORRY I MISSED YOU, (Ken Loach) and BAD AXE. The crowds were almost as big as previous years although there were less films and fewer venues. The weather was sensational and we had several excellent meals. So lucky to get away for a week in terrific northern Michigan.  Masks varied but not enough for my peace of mind.

Reading NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney. Watched not a minute of TV this week. 

What have you been up to?

Traverse City Film Festival 2022

 

 Off today. Back next Sunday. Twelve movies. Crossed fingers I don't catch, you know. I am so lucky to have free lodging with a friend.

FFB: IRON GATES, Margaret Millar

The Iron Gates was Margaret Millar’s fifth novel, published in 1945. It introduced Inspector Sands of the Toronto police force. Millar (who was, of course, Ross Macdonald’s wife) didn’t use Sands in her novels often, and The Iron Gates was not one of her more famous crime novels. The Edgar Award-winning Beast in View (1955), How Like an Angel (1962), and The Fiend (1964) are the three books for which she’s probably best known. Although Millar is not well-remembered nowadays, devotees find her writing particularly rewarding. She’s especially skillful at portraying women, although her stories are very different from those of writers known for targeting female audiences.

Millar’s greatest strength was in exposing the psychological underpinnings of a crime. Her books are more about motivation than detection. What appealed to me most as I read her novels back in the 1970s was that her writing was never formulaic or predictable. Her best work is found in the standalones. Even Sands, a charming and fully fleshed-out detective, never steals the story from the women who dominate The Iron Gates entirely. It’s not about the detective.

Lucille Morrow lives with her wealthy physician husband, his two grown children, and his sister, Edith, in a large house in Toronto, Ontario. Lucille is Andrew’s second wife. His first wife, Mildred, was murdered in a nearby park 16 years earlier. That case was never solved. The two stepchildren, Polly and Andrew, tolerate their stepmother. And she tolerates them. This uneasy rapprochement begins to come undone when Polly, along with her father and brother, goes to pick up her new fiancé, a soldier who’s coming to Toronto to meet the family. A train crash complicates their trip, but they return home later that night.

The next day, Lucille suddenly disappears after a visit from a strange man carrying a small wrapped box. The last that is heard from her is a scream. She is eventually run down by the Toronto police and her condition is such that she’s institutionalized. This action, mainly occurring in the Morrow household, forms the first section of the novel, which Millar labels as “The Hunt.”

The middle section, “The Fox,” details Lucille’s state of mind as she hides from an assailant, the police, or perhaps her own fears in a mental hospital. The reader is unsure which she sees as the greatest threat. Her involvement with other patients turns out badly. Much of this section of the novel describes her mental anguish, and the reader is left to ponder whether Lucille is the victim she appears to be. Who or what is after her?

The final section of this novel, “The Hounds,” details Sands’ solution to the crimes that have taken place. This section is again largely set in the Morrow household and concerns a diary newly unearthed. Giving away any more plot points would ruin the delicate nature of Millar’s story.

It’s hard to imagine this book being written today, because of its lengthy depiction of a mentally fragile woman in an institution. Today, Lucille Morrow would be prescribed an appropriate drug. Or perhaps she’d be under the daily care of a psychiatric nurse at home. Nevertheless, Millar uses the middle section of The Iron Gates to provide clues, and to do what she does best: show the unraveling of a psyche. It’s also the section of this book that makes Millar’s storytelling different. We go from the calm, if slightly hothouse, feel of the Morrow home in section one, to the agitated madhouse of section two, and then back again.

This novel was apparently purchased after World War II as a vehicle for actress Bette Davis, but was never filmed. I think she would have done justice to Lucille Morrow. However, after reading The Iron Gates, you will understand why the movie wasn’t made.

 

Short Story Wednesday; "Hills Like White Elephants" Ernest Hemingway

 

Ernest Hemingway wrote this masterpiece when he was 28 years old. It always amazes me when someone has such a great understanding of what makes a terrific story at such a young age. And short stories sometimes require more skill in this regard than novels. And this is a very short story.

A couple are at a train station in Spain, midway between Madrid and Barcelona. They are drinking a lot and gradually it emerges he is trying to talk her into have a procedure done. (Nothing specific is mentioned but what else could it be). They talk about the scenery, the hills in particular, how many alcohols taste like licorice. He talks a lot, trying to persuade her of something and she asks him (several times) to stop talking so much. We know he is an American and her name is Jig and not a lot more. We can tell they have been traveling together for some time by the stickers on their luggage. Now my interpretation may be different from yours. There are a million websites that discuss this story. Clearly Hemingway edited this down to the most minimal story he could tell. And it is great because of that.  What do you think? Who wins the struggle? 

Kevin Tipple

Jerry House 

TracyK

George Kelley 

Monday, Monday

I was surprised at how much I liked TOP GUN: MAVERICK. It is not at all my kind of movie but they did a great job of fleshing out a real story, with real characters, humor, action and excitement. I think this will be a real contender for an Oscar. 

I also watched the 1930s version of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH-which was quite good until the last 15 minutes which were all a shootout. 

My street continues to be the biggest mess you've ever seen. And the rain this week has made it worse. They have fashioned various ways to navigate it on foot but they change from day to day. Coming home at 10:30 the other night, I couldn't figure it out at all until a teenager pointed the way.There are huge holes to fall into. 

Still watching THE OLD MAN but it's a struggle for me. I don't have the brain for spy drama. Instead I prefer THE BEAR. I am re-watching MAD MEN (even better than I remembered) and BETTER CALL SAUL. What will happen to Kim? 

Also struggling to find a novel. I went to the library to try to find a Peter Turnbull set in York but they only had the other series. I just can't read on a kindle. I look at all the books I have downloaded and how few I finished. I can't exactly say why. 

I am trying to get back to writing and am rejoining my old writing group, which is now on zoom because so many of them have spread out. I have 80 pages of a novel. Would be nice to finish it. 

What about you?

FFB: Deathtrap, Peter Turnbull

(From Richard Robinson)

 

Deathtrap by Peter Turnbull, Severn House 2000 hardcover, mystery, police procedural. 2nd in the Hennessey and Yellich series, set in York, England.

review from Kirkus Reviews:
“Yet another of the author’s absorbing procedurals, this time set in the city of York, where Detective Chief Inspector George Hennessey presides over the Micklegate Bar Police Station when local retiree John Smith, taking his usual walk on the edge of the Whickham Great Wood, comes across the body of freelance reporter Cornelius Weekes, an apparent suicide, in a closed, fume-filled car. When a painstaking autopsy by Hennessey’s close friend Dr. Louise D’Acre proves the death to be murder, Hennessey begins an exploration of Weekes’s recent movements. He soon links the case to the death 18 years ago of Donald Round, another reporter. Both men, Hennessey learns, had been examining the case of Melanie Clifford, imprisoned for the murder of her long-time lover Toby Erickson’s wealthy wife Charlotte. It’s soon clear to Hennessey that John Cross, the long-retired police detective who first headed the Erickson investigation, had deliberately ignored evidence in Melanie’s favor. Now, 18 years later, Hennessey and sidekick Detective Sergeant Yellich are convinced of Melanie’s innocence and set out to prove it.”

After reading a review of one of the books in this series — don’t recall where just now — I went looking and found an ex-lib copy, which I read just last week. I really enjoyed it, especially the characters. I’ll be looking for more of this series.

 

Short Story Wednesday: THE NEW YORKER Fiction issue

 

Four stories and four pieces titled Road Trips. I have read two of the road trip pieces so far. 

In one "In the Beforetime," the author (Yiyun Li) contrasts two trips to author's homes (Larkin and Dickinson) in two countries. A family on the train on the way to Hull (Larkin) is not abiding by the "quiet carriage" rules. The second trip never happens because life intervenes with his plan. He comes to the conclusion the family's noise was not very important given the ending of the second trip. Would this satisfy an editor looking for a short story? He (She) probably would have had a slightly more definite ending. But maybe not. I am not even totally sure this isn't a short story.

"Night Driving" (Uwem Akpan) details a Nigerian man's traffic stop outside Vegas. Of course, we are very worried about this one turning out badly too. The cop is clearly suspicious the car is stolen because it is a Saab and the plates are out of state. The Nigerian man is asked to come to the rear of the car. I will leave it there. Both stories are distinguished by the writing more than their content.

Most of the stories feature road trips or travel, which makes sense for a summer issue. 

Kevin Tipple

TracyK

George Kelley 

Monday, Monday

 

Two terrific plays in Stratford. Lovely weather. Using my ArriveCan app turned out to be easy too. Going to Canada is indeed entering another country, one that is sane and never changes very much Except they keep installing more and more roundabouts. Oh, and they have installed boardwalks along side every restaurants so pedestrians do not need their sidewalks and they can put more tables outside. Most people wore masks at the plays but not much elsewhere.

Reading SLEEPWALK by Dan Chaon. Still reading DEAR EDWARD too.

Went to see the Spanish film OFFICIAL COMPETITION which was funny but not wholly satisfying. Comedies in a foreign language work less well than dramas for me. But still a good movie. 

Watching end of Better Call Saul. And the hearings, of course. 

So much beautiful weather.
How about you?

Today I am picking out what films to see at the Traverse City Film Festival. As usual, they lean toward Michael Moore's POV. It is his party after all.

R.I.P. Rick Robinson

For anyone who has not heard this, an email from Barbara Robinson shocked and saddened.. When I began this blog I had no idea we would lose so many friends over the years. But that was partly because I never imagined my blog lasting 15 years. I think if you want to correspond with Barbara, you could leave a message on Rick's blog. So sad.

From Barbara:

As Rick said in his e-mail below that there would be updates, I am sending one on his behalf. Once I figure out how to post a brief comment on his blog, I will. He would not want to leave out any of his blog/book friends.

I am not good at sharing sad news but wanted to let you know that RicK passed away last Thursday morning in Bend, OR. He had been airlifted from the Portland hospital, as they could not locate a Neurosurgeon and ICU bed locally for him immediately. I was able to be over there with him. 

Complications from metastatic cancer was their final conclusion. We did not see this coming.

The cats and I will be fine; it is all too fresh to even process right now. I am thankful I had 16 years of life and love with that wonderful man. He’s at peace now.

Off To Stratford

 

This is the Festival Theater, one of the three lovely theaters at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. I managed to download and fill out the ARRIVECAN app and hopefully we will sail through the customs at the Blue Water Crossing in Sarnia, ON, CA. I have some trepidation since Covid numbers are on the rise. Masks are not required but encouraged and I will wear mine. 

We are seeing HAMLET (has to be my tenth time) and CHICAGO (probably seen it twice before). My friends are also seeing RICHARD III but I doubt I would get much out of seeing two plays in a day. All of these productions have gotten great reviews. 

Have a great weekend.

Monday, Monday

Hard to feel much like celebrating the Fourth this year. My favorite restaurant sent this email out. 

            Leon & Lulu and Three Cats

                  Closed Monday, July 4, 2022

This is not a time for the usual celebration of our country's hard won freedom and independence. In light of recent rulings, we believe it is a time to reflect and take a stand against the freedoms we have all just lost and those we stand to lose soon: as individuals, as families, women and men. For the love of our nation, we are choosing to take this day to pause from business as usual. We wish you a good holiday.     I do admire a commercial business bold enough to put this out there.   Anyone feeling celebratory this fourth?

FFB; THE MOVIEGOER, Walker Percy

 (from 2011)

The Movie-goer by Walker Percy

This book won the National Book Award in 1962. It is a brilliant exploration of a young man searching for both a way and the inclination to live a meaningful existence. Binx Bolling has returned from the war, taken up a job as a stock broker, and spends most of his spare time seducing his secretaries and attending movies. The story takes place in a New Orleans that seems totally Southern and certainly far from the New Orleans we think of today.

A lot of the book examines a certain notion of exceptionalism and honor southerners had at that time. Binx is repeatedly reminded of this by his aunt and various other characters in the book. This is the sort of book you will think about long after you close it. What Binx does to alleviate the ennui he suffers may not be persuasive as a cure, but it requires him to put himself and his narcissism aside.


I was a great Walker Percy fan once upon a time. Some of his work has fantastical or science fiction elements: The Thanatos Syndrome and Love in the Ruins being two.