Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 9/10 - Across the Board

Spike Jonze is an unconventional filmmaker, a gift for those who wish to occasionally escape Hollywood fare. Being John Malkovich (1999) is inventive fun. Adaptation (2002) is a quirky journey in the life of a screenwriter. His latest release, her (2013) was nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture. It is the one I most looked forward to viewing, and I did so last night courtesy of Netflix. Joaquin Phoenix stars as a sensitive sort going through the final stages of divorce. He purchases a new operating system and falls in love with it. Despite the outrageous premise, the story is quiet, largely understated. It is not sci-fi. It takes the relationship seriously, and it unfolds much like most do. The voice is provided by the talented Scarlett Johansson. Three other actresses on the rise lend solid support: Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Kristen Wiig. This is a work that demands concentration, participation, not one where the viewer can simply sit back and enjoy. It runs about two hours. It is set in L.A., but its subway scenes were filmed in Shanghai, giving the location an other-worldly feel. I suppose the film is saying that such relationships are inevitable, given the advances of technology. It is handled so well as to be convincing. 201,000+ users have rated it at IMDb, forging to a consensus of 8.1 of ten. I rate it 3.75 of five. The film was only modestly successful financially, made on a budget of 23 million, taking in 25 million domestically. It is a refreshing break from the typical flick.

The results of the NY primaries manifest the sorry state of its politics. Andrew Cuomo, under fire for having quashed a panel investigating corruption, received “only” 61% of the vote. His opponent, an apparent Marxist he cowardly refused to debate, garnered 34.5%. A third candidate got the rest. Pundits are calling it a “rebuke.” Whatever -- it will be quickly forgotten. Cuomo will easily be re-elected governor. Polls show Rob Astorino trailing by more than 30%. The majority of New Yorkers prefer a corrupt Democrat to a qualified Republican. In another telling race, state senator John Sampson, indicted twice, was rewarded by 55% of the voters.

An article in the NY Post reveals that 50.2% of the U.S. population 16 and older is unmarried. The figure has been tracked since 1976, when it was 37.4%. It isn’t surprising, as changes are apparent in all aspects of life. Is it evidence of a society in decline? I’m sure the debate would be heated.

Yesterday the ranking of A Hitch in Twilight was eleven million plus at Amazon. After I bought six copies with my accumulation of gift certificate funds, it was ranked 186,000+. This shows that the ranking of books outside the top 100,000, perhaps 50,000, is irrelevant except to an author's ego. As for the floating book shop -- I started the day with six books in Russian and ended it with eleven. Surprisingly, none sold. My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases and donations. At present the pickings across all genres are about as good as they get.

Vic'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://tiny.cc/rP7o9

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

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

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/