I’ve never been comfortable around animals nor have I ever had a real fascination about them, so I was very surprised at how quickly I was hooked by Sara Gruen’s novel, Water for Elephants. It is the story of a third-rate traveling circus, set in 1931, the era of the Great Depression. The story concentrates largely on humans, although a "Polish" elephant plays a significant part. The narrative has a genuine authenticity. Gruen did tons of research. The writing is lively, the dialogue rings true. Its ending is as pleasing as I've ever read, unrealistic perhaps, but I doubt most readers would care. The 331 pages, minus many that contain pictures, fly by. It is Gruen’s third of four novels. It was turned down by her original publisher, Avon, which is a lesson for all writers. It became a New York Times best seller, banging out four million copies, translated into 44 languages. It was adapted to the screen in 2011, starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christopher Waitz. Although I find it hard to picture Witherspoon as the character, I have enjoyed her work in other films and added WfE to my list at Netflix. On a scale of five, 4.2. Gruen grew up in Canada but now holds dual citizenship in the U.S.. Kudos, madam.
Last night, CoziTV, channel 107 on Cablevision in NYC, ran Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window (1954). As a movie buff, I was interested in three of the characters Jimmy Stewart sees from his apartment. They are always shown from his point of view, never in close up. Miss Torso, a dancer, was played by Georgine Darcy, who has only 15 titles listed at IMDb. The history of the others is fascinating. Miss Lonelyhearts, played by Judith Evelyn, had her career cut short by cancer at 54. In 1939 she was aboard the Athenia, on its way to Canada, when it was torpedoed in the Irish Sea by the Nazis. She was one of six survivors. Her father perished. The third player, the struggling composer, played by Ross Bagdasarian, is known to most lovers of pop culture, but by a different name - David Seville, the human voice behind the Chipmunks. Tragically, he was taken by a heart attack at 52. He was the writer of two other significant novelty hits: Rosemary Clooney’s Come on-a My House and his own The Witch Doctor. Here is a clip of the latter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iA_TZ15ruA
The floating book shop continues to enjoy good fortune. My thanks to Michelle, who purchased A Hitch in Twilight and returned minutes later and asked to have her picture taken with me. Her dad did the shooting. She is too young and sweet to realize I'm way down at the bottom of the literary heap. I suffered a conflict of emotions, at once touched and feeling silly. My thanks also to Jack of Chase, who bought two more thrillers, to the female MTA employee, who bought three, and to Mr. Conspiracy, who dropped off a Beatles anthology CD and political non-fiction that fuels his fears.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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