Sue Grafton has been working her way through the alphabet via her fictional female detective, Kinsey Milhone. Her novels have been published in 26 languages and have sold millions. Her most recent book is V Is for Vengeance. I just finished F Is for Fugitive, published in 1989, set near San Luis Obispo, California. The writing is solid, the characters genuine. Although the story seemed familiar, it held my interest throughout, and it was only 181 pages. On a scale of five, I rate F... three. Of all the mysteries I've sampled, I enjoyed Tami Hoag's A Thin Dark Line most. I found the prose of Joy Fielding and Daniel Silva superior to all the others of the genre.
Our enemies have gone on a full public relations attack, first condemning the NYPD for its surveillance of Muslim groups and now rioting and killing after a number of Korans were burned by mistake in Afghanistan. First question: should the NYPD do what is done in airports - random searches of old ladies and children to root out terrorists? There has not been an attack since 9/11! Let them do their work. Second: does anyone really believe an apology would placate radicals? They are a death cult.
And on to lighter stuff. The sports press loves to build up winning athletes and tear down those who fail. Jeremy Lin's incredible rise as the Knicks' point guard has invited word play involving his last name, chiefly "Linsanity." So it was inevitable that his first bad game was tagged "Linept" on the back page of today's NY Post after last night's drubbing at the hands of one of the best teams in the NBA, the Miami Heat. I think the term more aptly describes most sportswriters.
And NL MVP Ryan Braun has been acquitted on a technicality of using a performance enhancing substance. MLB is more proficient at the lookaway pass than Magic Johnson ever was, and laughs all the way to the bank. Steroids and the wild card returned baseball to prominence. Silly people like me believe MLB sold its soul and turned away from the game.
Now playing on the Edgewater Radio stream: the Marvelettes Beachwood 45789. I remember riding my bike along Avenue U circa '62 or '63 and singing "and my number is..." and a beautiful older girl replying "You can call me up and have a date any old time." My friends laughed. I was thrilled. What would life be without such memories?
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