The Writer's Life 10/11 - Marigolds

While rooting around a recent donation of books, searching for something to read, the name Paul Zindel rang a bell. He won a Pulitzer for drama in 1971 for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. I'm not sure if he consulted David Banner on the issue, but anyway, the novel in question is The Gadget, one of more than 50 he geared to kids and young adults. It is the story of a boy living in England during WWII, sent to the states by his British-born mom to escape the Nazis' bombs. His dad, an American, happens to be one of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. There is much speculation among family members and people in the immediate area as to what exactly is being created, which, of course, is top secret. The boy, intensely curious, investigates. Told in the third person, written in simplified style, it is quite absorbing. It’s 160 pages read more like 125. My only quibble is that I occasionally was confused by whose point of view was being expressed, the use of "he/she" rather than a specific name. On a scale of five, I rate The Gadget 3.5. I think it would serve as a good history lesson as well as a good read for kids. The late Zindel is credited with eight screenplays at IMDb. The most significant is the existential drama Runaway Train, starring Jon Voight as a career criminal, on which the author collaborated with three others, working from a story by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. …Marigolds was made into a film in 1972, directed by Paul Newman, starring his wife, Joanne Woodward. I hope Movies!, channel 168 on CV, runs it soon, as I haven’t seen more than a few minutes of it.

Here are some discouraging figures from an article in today’s NY Post. The U.S. Labor Participation Rate is 62.4%, the lowest since 1977. 94.6 million Americans are not working, a record. The 5.1% unemployment rate is laughable.

I visited Yahoo Sports to check out LA's Chase Utley’s controversial slide in last night's playoff game against the Mets, which broke SS Ruben Tejada’s leg. It was blatantly late, but it’s not an uncommon occurrence. Look on the bright side, Mets fans -- it may have created a rallying point. Then again, a team shouldn’t need one at this point in the season. If the Amazin’s pitchers are going to retaliate, I hope they wait until next year. Let the offensively-challenged Dodgers earn their base runners. Winning the series would be the best revenge.

I had the pleasure of meeting a young author today in Park Slope. Brian Anderson has written Groundwork, a sci-fi novel. The print edition is only $7.99, Kindle $2.99. Here's a link to it:
 http://www.amazon.com/Groundwork-Evolutions-Brian-M-Anderson/dp/0578166925/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444596677&sr=1-1&keywords=groundwork+brian+anderson Good luck, sir.

My thanks to the woman who stopped to take a close look at my wares, despite having three adolescents in tow, and who bought a work each of fiction and non.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

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