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Monday, April 30, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/30 - Tina, Kay & Abe

A recent donation to the floating book shop, Angie, I Says by NYC's Avra Wing, is the story of a blunt, thirtyish, pregnant woman. She does not love the father, an Italian-American laborer who offers to marry her. Instead she begins an affair with a generous, divorced Jewish lawyer who disappears for long stretches. Her family history is not rosy: taciturn Italian dad, Jewish mom who had to be institutionalized. This is a novel that embraces, normalizes dysfunction, where the protagonist, Tina, defiantly defends it. Her best friend, the title character, is beaten regularly by her husband, whom she refuses to leave. It is a first person account from Tina's point of view. She does not suffers fools and is not reluctant to offer an opinion. The course of the narrative extends through the entire pregnancy and into the first weeks of her child's life. It is told in modified Brooklynese. She uses "aks" for ask, and "would of" for would've. Curiously, she keeps the g at the end of words many people, not just Brooklynites, would drop. Tina is not a bad person. Deep down, she is good, but she wouldn't be easy to live with. Then again, who is. An author who presents a character in an uncompromising light should be applauded. That is the best aspect of the book, although it is often grating. Fortunately, it is only 214 pages, and reads like considerably less. Wing has only three other books in print, a young adult novel, a memoir about her recovery from some sort of affliction, and a poetry collection, one copy of which lists for $638.10 at Amazon. That ten cents must really be crucial. Only three users at Amazon have rated Angie, I Says, forging to a consensus of three on a scale of five, perhaps a tad high. There is a 1994 film version titled simply Angie, starring Geena Davis, which seems odd casting. Also odd is the fact that it seems Angie and not Tina is the main character. I'll reserve judgment until I've seen it. I debated whether to add it to my Netflix list, and was won over when I spotted Michael Rispoli's name among the cast. I've met him several times and have always enjoyed his work in film and TV.


There is rarely any negative commentary in the mainstream media about the sexual revolution. Kay Hymowitz addressed it recently in the Los Angeles Times. Here are three quotes from the article that were in today's Fast Takes column in the NY Post: “The sexual revolution also helped midwife the soaring number of single-parent families and the related ills of inequality, poverty, achievement gaps, and men MIA from family life.” “By proclaiming sexual self-expression as the primo value for all enlightened people, it weakened social support for those women who weren’t in the mood.” “Most of us of a certain age weren’t limited to a dating pool heavily populated by males in the throes of porn- and hookup-infected post-adolescence.” As I always ask - do the plusses outweigh the minuses? I believe the sexual revolution made society freer but I don't know if it made it better. Whatever - it is the way the western world has evolved, and there's probably no going back. My next novel, Inside Out, scheduled for January, is in great part about the adjustment to that revolution.

In an op-ed piece in today's Post, Karol Markowicz mentions the Friends of Abe, a private group of Hollywood conservatives founded by Gary Sinise, disbanded in 2016 amid infighting about Republican candidates for president and other issues. It has returned, and even has a Facebook page. Members are able to keep their identities anonymous and join at no charge. One needs to either be publicly known as a conservative or have someone already in FOA who can vouch for his/her political views. Jon Voight, Clint Eastwood and Kelsey Grammer are other high-profile members. On a down note, the re-organizers hope to keep Sinise out.

Winter returned today. Many passersby cited the cold. If the forecast is correct, I wonder if we'll be complaining it's too hot by week's end. My thanks to Bus Driver, who bought two hardcover David Baldacci thrillers, and to Mike, who donated a work of non-fiction.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/29 - The Deranged & Others

In today's NY Post Kyle Smith devotes his op-ed piece to Trump Derangement Syndrome, including the blowback Kanye West has experienced due to his support of the president. Here's a snippet from the last paragraph: "...A Philadelphia accountant was thrown out of a West Village bar simply for wearing a MAGA hat a year ago. If that had happened in Texas to someone wearing an Obama T-shirt five years ago, it would have been national news. Today the attitude toward the cultural left that any Trump fan who gets slapped is, “Serves them right.” Right on the money, sir.


The floating book shop had a long visit from an old friend today, the elder Hughes brother, Bobby, whom I dubbed Flynn in my novel Exchanges, which is set in part on the commodity trading floor. He and his brothers Joey and Huey treated me very well, taking me and other staff out to eat several times through the years, and forking over cash during the holiday season. Huey was one of the first to buy Close to the Edge. He made a ton of money and now owns a lot of real estate. Joey bought the first four of my books before we lost contact after electronic trading started making our jobs obsolete. He has relocated to North Carolina and loves it. Another brother, Cement Head, whose Christian name was, I believe, Jimmy, is now struggling. I'd always thought his nickname came about because of his difficulty in grasping the requirements of the so-called write-up room, where trades were allocated. Turns out he'd once put his head through a ceramic wall while standing at a urinal. A fourth brother, Peter, passed away. Barbara, the lone sister, also worked at the Exchange, processing trades. Bobby caught a lot of abuse from his peers, and dished out quite a bit himself. He and Joey will reappear as the Flynn brothers in January of 2020 when I put my take on James Joyce's Ulysses into print. That day's odyssey takes place in great part on the floor of the Exchange. Bobby is currently house sitting at one of Huey's properties on Long Island and working as a greeter at a YMCA. He's also working on a children's book set in Central Park and hopes to make it a series. Here's a pic I took this afternoon:


My thanks to the young gentleman who purchased a massive pictorial on automobiles, from their beginning to 1994, and to the older one who bought The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert, a novel with which I was unfamiliar until its recent appearance among a large donation. Of course, almost everyone knows at least the title of his masterpiece, Madame Bovary. Here's how a blurb at Amazon describes the other: "A book that deeply influenced the young Freud and was the inspiration for many artists, The Temptation of Saint Anthony was Flaubert’s lifelong work, thirty years in the making. Based on the story of the third-century saint who lived on an isolated mountaintop in the Egyptian desert, it is a fantastical rendering of one night during which Anthony is besieged by carnal temptations and philosophical doubt." Sounds like every night during most of my adult life.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE

Saturday, April 28, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/28 - Frontier Justice & More

There are many films about mothers who go to great lengths to protect a child. The Stolen (2017) is another. Set in New Zealand in the late 1800's, it is the story of a beautiful, upper class farmer's wife whose child is kidnapped and husband murdered. She sets out on the trail alone, traveling through territory every bit as wild, savage and harsh as the unsettled American west was, and populated with hard-nosed and shady characters. In the company of three prostitutes, she books passage by wagon to a mining town whose workers are desperate for female companionship. Although the tale is predictable, it is viscerally satisfying. Niall Johnson directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Emily Corcoran. Their previous work is unfamiliar to me. They provided just enough info to explain the motivation of the other characters, who all seemed to have suffered agonizing hardship. Alun Bollinger's cinematography is first rate. Alice Eve, a Londoner, is fine in the lead. Jack Davenport, another Brit, chose to go low key as the villain. Each is in the midst of a solid career. The supporting cast, all unfamiliar to me, is excellent. Although there is considerable violence, there isn't a lot of splatter. It runs only 98 minutes, a plus given the material. 458 users at IMDb have rated The Stolen, forging to a consensus of 5.1 on a scale of ten. Although that is understandable given the movie's flaws, it seems too low. I'll say six. I always enjoy the frontier justice theme. Here's a still of the lovely Miss Eve in action:


GDP growth in the first quarter came in at 2.3%. This is especially disappointing given that the tax cuts did not push it higher, and the fact that the previous three quarters averaged 3%. It is better than the 2% averaged during the Obama years, but still far from robust, and light years from the revenue needed to finance the spending of the reprobates in Congress.

Kudos to the Seahawks, who selected UCF LB Shaquem Griffin, whose left hand is missing, in the fifth round of the draft. He joins his twin brother Shaquill, who was drafted in the third round last year by Seattle.

It looks the like the weather has finally broken, the long range forecast promising. For a change, fiction was king at the floating book shop. All but two sales were thrillers: Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants. My thanks to the kind folks who bought, and to the woman who did a three-for-two swap of books in Russian. One of my regulars was having trouble finding anything to her liking. I asked if she were a fan of the Dexter TV series. She said she has it memorized, having watched it many times. She purchased Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay. 

Friday, April 27, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/27 - Football & Michelangelo

I used my remote control more than usual last night, trying to catch the NFL draft as the picks were being announced, avoiding the accompanying hot air analysis. An estimated 100,000 fans attended the event at the Cowboys home field. Although I'm no longer passionate about sports, I found the enthusiasm uplifting, very cool. I enjoyed how commissioner Goodell, the most overpaid man in America, perhaps the world, was booed each time he approached the podium. I believe the Giants and Jets each made the right choice. Of course, there are no guarantees. #1's have flopped before and will do so again. The Browns did what I would have, selecting Heisman trophy winning QB Baker Mayfield with the top pick. Now they will hope he doesn't turn out like another number one of theirs, Johnny Manziel.

I'm not a big fan of poetry, but during the past three weeks I've watched parts of 50-minute bios on three famous poets broadcast on the City University of NY's channel, 75 on Cablevision. I suspect I'm self conscious about my lack of appreciation for the art, so I forced myself to watch. The subjects were William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore and T. S. Eliot. The latter, an American, moved to Europe and eventually settled in Britain. His first success came in 1915 when Poetry magazine published The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, which runs 20 stanzas. Here's a summary I gleaned from shmoop.com, edited by yours truly: "... a hilariously pointed attack on all well-dressed, upstanding citizens who love material pleasures – their tea and marmalade – more than they love people... It should make you want to drop everything and go tell your secret crush about your feelings... It’s a warning to all procrastinators: if you put something off once, you’ll likely put it off forever. Don’t, like Prufrock, focus on the worst-case scenario..." In the documentary, a recording of part of the poem played in the background, recited by Eliot himself. One rhyme blew me away, lines 13-14 of Stanza II, uncanny in its simplicity and beauty: "...In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo..." Eliot also wrote short stories and plays. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. He died in 1965 at 76.


The scaffold did the trick again, allowing the floating book shop to operate despite the drizzle. My thanks to the smart shopper who purchased two James Patterson thrillers, and Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia - A True Story by FBI Agent Joseph D. Pistone.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/26 - Around the Horn

Jonathan Podhoretz devotes his op-ed piece in today's NY Post to a book by Jonah Goldberg, whose newspaper work I always read. It's titled Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. There is one particularly juicy nugget in the article: at one time 94% of the world's population was earning less than $2 per day; now it's only 9.6%, and yet many want to change the things that have made planet Earth a better place. Podhoretz dubs it the "book of the year." Obviously, he has hasn't read Present and Past - lol!


There was a great line in last night's episode of The Blacklist. Criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington, played by James Spader, is asked how he can be so confident in his plan to walk into an obvious trap. He responds: "Because God doesn't want me and the devil isn't finished." Three writers are credited at IMDb: series creator Jon Bokenkamp, Marisa Tam & Taylor Martin. Kudos.

In a move that surprises no one, basketball know-it-all dad Lavar Ball has withdrawn his sons,  LiAngelo & LaMelo, from a pro basketball league in Lithuania. Equally unsurprising, he did it after a dispute with the coach. There were only two games left in the season. The guy needs to start his own league, although I doubt even that would satisfy him.

On a positive note in the world of sports, here's a shout out to a guy who wouldn't quit despite overwhelming odds. After a six-year absence in which he underwent four operations on his left elbow, Jonny Venters returned to MLB last night. Now pitching for Tampa Bay, he retired the only batter he faced. Kudos, sir.

My thanks to the gentleman who purchased four books in Russian, and to the Frenchman, who bought the Wilkie Collins classic, Moonstone; and to singer extraordinaire Thirsty Dave, who donated five thrillers; and to Mike who donated three books; and to Cabbie who donated two paperbacks.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/25 - A Few Laughs

This mad world could always use a few yuks. Here's something from listverse.com that had me laughing out loud: 33 Funny Exam Answers compiled by Jamie Frater. Although he doesn't vouch for their authenticity, they are funny in the mode of a Professor Irwin Corey or Archie Bunker. I was going to cut it down to ten but almost every one is a gem. I barely edited:

Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics.They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, asked, “Am I my brother’s son?”
Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada.
Solomom had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.
The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn’t have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.
Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.
Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place for very long.
Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: “Tee hee, Brutus.”
Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his subjects by playing the fiddle to them.
Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was cannonized by Bernard Shaw. Finally Magna Carta provided that no man should be hanged twice for the same offense.
In midevil times most people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the futile ages was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verses and also wrote literature.
Another story was William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son’s head.
Queen Elizabeth was the “Virgin Queen.” As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted “hurrah.”
It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. And Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper.
The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couplet. Romeo’s last wish was to be laid by Juliet.
Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained.
During the Renaissance America began. Christopher Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America while cursing about the Atlantic. His ships were called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Fe.
Later, the Pilgrims crossed the ocean, and this was called Pilgrim’s Progress. The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died and many babies were born. Captain John Smith was responsible for all this.
One of the causes of the Revolutionary War was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps. Finally the colonists won the War and no longer had to pay for taxis. Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backwards and declared, “A horse divided against itself cannot stand.” Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.
Soon the Constitution of the United States was adopted to secure domestic hostility. Under the constitution the people enjoyed the right to keep bare arms.
Abraham Lincoln became America’s greatest Precedent. Lincoln’s mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. The believed assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposedly insane actor. This ruined Booth’s career.
Meanwhile in Europe, the enlightenment was a reasonable time. Voltaire invented electricity and also wrote a book called Candy.
Gravity was invented by Issac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the autumn when the apples are falling off the trees.
Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German half Italian and half English. He was very large.
Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.
The French Revolution was accomplished before it happened and catapulted into Napoleon. Napoleon wanted an heir to inherit his power, but since Josephine was a baroness, she couldn’t have any children.
The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is In the East and the sun sets in the West.
Queen Victoria was the longest queen. She sat on a thorn for 63 years. She was a moral woman who practiced virtue. Her death was the final event which ended her reign.
The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of river to spring up. Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick raper, which did the work of a hundred men.
Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis. Charles Darwin was a naturalist who wrote the Organ of the Species. Madman Curie discovered radio. And Karl Marx became one of the Marx brothers.
The First World War, caused by the assignation of the Arch-Duck by an anahist, ushered in a new error in the anals of human history.


The scaffold kept the mist out of my usual nook, enabling the floating book shop to open for business. My thanks to the gentleman who purchased Elia Kazan's The Assassins, and to Barry, the anti-capitalist criminology prof from Boston, who gave me triple what I asked for Ted Kennedy's Back on Track. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/24 - Goosed

There's news on the economic front the mainstream media is ignoring. 14 states have reported record low unemployment rates. While that is encouraging, the most important figure is the labor participation rate. Is it now significantly higher as well in those states? The stats don't cover who has given up on finding a job, which drives the UE rate deceptively lower.

Here are great pics of a teenage golfer in Adrian, Michigan who got too close to a nest for a mother's liking. They were posted to Twitter by one of his playing partners:




And here are fun photos I found through a google search, the first most appropriate to writers:


Next: Who says Yao Ming can't be licked?


Need something unusual for your next party? Try this:


He just keeled over:


Have a seat - or two:


Rowdy Roddy Piper presents an award to Captain Lou Albano:


The Ayatollah Fred Blassie lectures Vince McMahon Jr. on the qualities of the Iron Sheik:


My thanks to the Frenchman, whom I previously mistook as Russian, who bought a collection of Tolstoy's essays; and to Ludmilla, who purchased Fowler's Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage by Jeremy Butterfield and four books in Russian; and to Marie, who donated five books to the cause, one which I took home to read; and to the sweet elderly woman who donated a paperback in Russian.


Monday, April 23, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/23 - Romance+& Pitch Count

Born in Chicago in 1972, Emily Giffin is at the height of her literary career. She earned a law degree but decided she wanted to write. Fortunately, she concentrates on the human condition and not the crowded mystery genre. Her ninth novel will be published in June. I just finished her fifth, Love the One You're With. Unlike the Stephen Stills' song, it is not about a freewheeling philosophy. Set in NYC post 9/11, it is the story of a thirtyish photographer, happily married less than a year, who experiences turmoil when happening upon an ex-lover, a magazine journalist she hasn't seen in eight years. It begins an odyssey of the exploration of feelings that goes into overdrive when the two work together on a couple of projects. Whom will she choose? The author avoids sordidness. She presents the dilemma as that of good persons struggling with doubts, to do right. At 342 pages, it becomes tedious. Although I guessed whom the protagonist would choose, I was kept in suspense until the end. After all, it is a modern novel by a modern woman. The prose and dialogue are first rate. The observations are keen. Although not lacking in psychological depth, it is not up to the standard set by those who plumb the deepest. Still, she must be applauded for going farther than most novelists. 699 users at Amazon have rated Love the One You're With, forging to a consensus of four on a scale of five. I rate it three. Published in 2008, it is still selling modestly, ranked 118,000+ at Jeff Bezos' behemoth, where at least 13 million books are listed. Giffin's books have cracked the NY Times Best Sellers list. Here's a pic of her promoting her 2017 effort:


Yesterday, one of those neat rarities that occur in MLB's long season happened in Anaheim. Angels' starting pitcher Jaime Barria, a rookie, engaged in an epic duel with Giants' first-baseman Brandon Belt, a left-handed batter - a 21-pitch at-bat. Belt fouled off eleven pitches with the count at 3-2 before finally lining out to right. The battle lasted twelve-minutes-forty-five-seconds . It set a new record. In 1998 Bartolo Colon struck out Ricky Guiterrez on the 20th pitch. It wasn't until 1988 that it became an official stat.   

Thrillers were the order of the day at the floating book shop, a rare session when fiction outsold non-fiction 3-0. My thanks to Marie, who bought Eric Van Lustbader's The Miko, to the elderly woman who purchased Peter May's The Black House, to the gentleman who selected David Wellington's Chimera, and to the elderly woman who made a three for one swap of Russian books.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/22 - Dipping, Assault, Pledge, Mendacity

One of the most maddening aspects of big government is the massive amount of corruption and fraud involved. An article in today's NY Post renders another example. An official at the City University of NY has been found to be double-dipping - collecting both a pension and a salary. His pension brings in $91,000 a month, his salary $164,000. His position is listed as "integrity expert." Looks like the system found the perfect man for the job. Here's another man of integrity caught double-dipping:


Another Post article reveals the peril faced by employees of NYC public schools. In 2016-'17 there more than 10,000 assaults reported against staff - teachers, aides, principals, a 4.5% increase from the previous school year, up 11.8% going back two years. Unfortunately, the piece did not detail the numbers by decade, which would have given it more perspective.

It's too soon to celebrate NOKO's pledge to give up its nuclear program. Dear Leader may simply be maneuvering to bamboozle the President, as his father and he have made fools of those who preceded Trump going back decades. It would be so disappointing if Trump too were suckered.

Last night PBS ran Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). As always, I was sucked into it, mesmerized by Liz Taylor's beauty and Burl Ives' powerful portrayal of Big Daddy. Whenever I encounter the word "mendacity," I think of him, the character saying he's had to live with it all his life, and his asking his drunken son, played by Paul Newman: "Why can't you?" The dynamite cast also features Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood and Larry Gates. In researching the film at IMDb, I came across another Hollywood stalwart, Vaughn Taylor, who played the Deacon. He was an early pioneer in TV. Although there are "only" 186 titles listed under his name, which pales in comparison to those in the 500 club, he appeared in multiple episodes of many popular TV shows. In the early to mid '50's alone, he did 31 of Kraft Theatre, 32 of Robert Montgomery Presents, each an anthology series. To my great surprise, he was in two TV movies in 1946: Seven Keys to Baldpate and Mr. and Mrs. North. I'd had no idea any existed before the '60's. Here a pic of him in a season one episode of The Twilight Zone aired in 1959, Time Enough at Last, which starred Burgess Meredith as bookworm Henry Bemis:


Not much action at the floating book shop on this gorgeous day. My thanks to the gentleman who purchased a Dale Brown thriller. How good it is to not be cold.


Saturday, April 21, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/21 - Old Fashion Love Story

No matter what one may think of Vanessa Redgrave's politics, no one with any objectivity would deny she is a great actress. Her character is the central figure in The Secret Scripture (2016), which I watched last night courtesy of Netflix. She plays an elderly inmate of an asylum that is about to be closed. A doctor, played by Eric Bana, is sent to evaluate whether she should be transferred or released. She has been there 60 years, accused of killing her baby and nymphomania. She has jotted her memories in the margins of her Bible, and her story is told in flashback, heartbreaking in its unfairness. It is set in a small Irish town in the early days of WWII. Rooney Mara plays the young version of the woman, who falls in love with a man who, to the consternation of local IRA, has joined the RAF. It is an old-fashion story beautifully done, based on the novel by Sebastian Barry. Of course, it is an era of repression, as many films and books on Ireland have pointed out. The couples at a mixer are instructed to "Leave a space for the Lord" while dancing. The cast is outstanding. Theo James as a young priest, Jack Reynor as the pilot, and Susan Lynch as a compassionate nurse are impressive in supporting roles. I think most people will anticipate the twist - and love it. Dubliner Jim Sheridan, who did the critically acclaimed My Left Foot in 1989, directed and collaborated on the screenplay with Johnny Ferguson. I enjoyed The Secret Scripture far more than the film that brought Daniel Day-Lewis the first of his three Oscars, an opinion that would probably be scorned by cinephiles. Critical response was mixed to scathing upon its release. That by regular folks was kinder if not enthusiastic. 3100+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 6.7 on a scale of ten, too low in my opinion. It runs less than two hours and is slow paced. Kelly Clarkson's The Cry Inside plays during the closing credits, a perfect complement to the narrative. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata figures prominently in the scenario, as the protagonist is a piano player. Many may not recognize the title but will be familiar with the haunting, melancholy melody used so often in films, TV shows and even commercials. Here are the principal players in their roles:




I'd set up shop only a few minutes when Danny came along. As usual, he stocked up on non-fiction, buying 12 books. My thanks, and also to the woman who purchased thrillers by James Patterson and Lisa Gardner, and to the other who selected a hardcover in Russian. Special thanks to local realtor Sue, who bought Present and Past. She owns all my books except my high school football epic, Adjustments. I had a nice laugh when a woman who seems like she's in her 80's mentioned Bruno Sammartino's passing and then began rattling off the wrestlers she watched with her dad on telecasts from Sunnyside Garden on channel five in the '50's: Antonino Rocca, the Graham brothers, Haystack Calhoun, Killer Kowalski. She even pantomimed the way her father writhed in his seat. Thank you, madam.

Friday, April 20, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/20 - Legomania

A blurb in today's NY Post led me to an article at foxnews.com. Here's the gist, edited by yours truly: A 15-year-old autistic boy from Iceland used 56,000 Legos to build a replica of the Titanic. He did it when he was ten. It is 26-feet-long, five-feet-tall, four-feet wide, and took eleven months, roughly 700 hours, to complete. His mom and grandfather provided encouragement. Before starting the project, he had trouble with communication and social interaction. That changed as people began to ask questions about the replica. He was finally able to look people in the eye, which thrilled his mom. His grades rose and his classmates began seeing him as another kid, not just autistic. The replica has been on display all over the world and is now at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Well done, young man. Here's a pic: 


I've been to a Starbucks only twice, in each instance waiting for a friend. I bought hot chocolate, which, knowing me, probably cost in the neighborhood of two bucks, perhaps less. Whenever I've gone into a fast food joint for an emergency bathroom break, I asked a person at the counter if it required a purchase. After this week's debacle, everyone now knows where to go to hang out with impunity. I wonder if it will become common practice at the venues of all such businesses, and if any owners will stand up for the right to oust those who do not spend any money.

From Yahoo's Odd News, edited by yt: A four-year old Massachusetts pre-school student told her mom she wasn't allowed to call a classmate "best friend." In a letter to the family, officials said it had been their experience that the use of the term, even in a loving way, led to some children feeling excluded. The parents are looking for a new school for the kid.

My thanks to the woman who bought five books in Russian, and to Mike and Eddie, who each donated five books. April 20th, and I wore seven layers, including my winter coat, to ward off the cold wind. Geez.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/19 - Bookin' It

Most lists about greatness are nonsense, plagued by omissions and containing politically correct choices guaranteed to rankle readers. I kept one on novels in a file on my PC and looked through it this morning. Here are the books on it I've read and my impression years, even decades later. I omitted a few I wasn't sure I'd read, which says a lot.
James Joyce, Ulysses - Most difficult novel I've ever read, even on a second go round. Understood about 10% of it, yet it inspired me to write mine own stream of conscious novel, which will be my last book, scheduled for less than two years from now - if I make it that far.
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow - Not as hard as Ulysses, but still tough. Recall a scene involving Mickey Rooney and Winston Churchill at a party that had me laughing out loud.
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury - I remember liking it but not much else than the family dysfunction at its core.
Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita - Another tough read, but a story about a man obsessed with a girl not yet 13 is easily remembered.
Toni Morrison, Beloved - Presents a sound argument about the lingering psychological effects of slavery even in the present age. Although I was/am skeptical, the argument is intelligently rendered.
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse - Another tough stream of conscious novel. No recollection of the characters or story.
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man - Excellent. I have great respect for its racial balance.
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises - My least favorite of Papa's works. I remember only the running of the bulls segment and a fishing expedition.
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Not a stream of conscious work. I don't remember anything about it.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby - I like it, but don't think it's a masterpiece.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness - Read it because it inspired Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979). Didn't like it.
Joseph Heller, Catch 22 - Loved it. Still remember a lot of it, especially Yossarian's "Them!"
George Orwell, 1984 - Respect it because it dared to skewer totalitarianism at a time, 1948, when many were unsure about communism.
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath - Great.
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer - Pales in comparison to Tropic of Capricorn, which takes place in Brooklyn rather than Paris, which reveals my bias.
Jack Kerouac, On the Road - Didn't relate to it.
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World - Still recall "soma" and other aspects.
Richard Wright, Native Son - Solid despite the author's belief in communism.
Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust - Didn't get it.
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five - "Unstuck in time" - brilliant concept.
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye - The standard in books about disaffected youth.
Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth - Don't remember any of it.
Phillip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle - Forced myself to read it despite not liking the premise of What if the Nazis had won?
Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange - Still remember some of it. I would not call it great.
Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead - Gritty portrait of WWII way ahead of its time. It doesn't go as far as Platoon (1986) but in a similar vein.
Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy - Solid from start to finish, although, like the Grapes of Wrath, it tends to state that those at the bottom have little hope of rising. I've never believed that about America.
If I were to make a list of my 100 favorite novels, few of the above would be on it. Even though I'm a writer, I would not feel confident enough to dub the entries the greatest. That is for time to decide.

From Yahoo's Odd News, edited by yours truly: A Grand Rapids, Michigan couple welcomed the birth of their 14th son. They have no daughters. The mom was one of 14 children herself.  Here's a recent pic of the family minus an 18-year-old. The oldest is in his 20's.


Since it was only drizzling for most of today's session of the floating book shop, the scaffold kept everything dry. The rain didn't pick up in intensity until I began packing up. The best aspect was the absence of wind for the first time this week. My thanks to the Latino gentleman who rode up on his bike and overpaid for Lincoln the Unknown by Dale Carnegie, and to Ira, who bought How to Clean Practically Anything by The Editors of Consumer Reports. He was one of several passersby who mentioned the passing of Bruno Sammartino. To my amazement, Ira believes wrestling was not choreographed back in the day. I didn't argue. He has been my best customer, all of his buys non-fiction.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/18 - A Great Lady & A Living Legend

RIP Barbara Bush, 92, that wonderful grandmotherly presence that graced the White House as First Lady. She was the wife of a president and the mom of another. This morning talk radio host Mark Simone pointed out a fact I do not recall having heard. Maiden name Pierce, Mrs. Bush was a descendant of Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of this great nation. She was the epitome of class. She and her husband were married 73 years.

RIP pro wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino, 82. The strongman from Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy was wildly popular during his long run in the square circle. I fondly recall announcer Ray Morgan, during interviews, asking Bruno to address the fans in Italian. To my chagrin, I have been unable to find any of those moments at youtube. I believe they would be hilarious in retrospect. I was so young then that I took them seriously. I remember him coming down the staircase of the 25th Avenue elevated train station, duffel bag in hand, on his way to a match at the Rollerama. I was in such awe I couldn't speak. After retiring from the ring, he did color analysis for the promotional events that aired on Channel 9. His lack of polish had him come off as real. Vince McMahon Jr. dubbed him "Wrestling's Living Legend." Bravo, signore. Grazie.


Hockey is unlike other big four pro sports. It is not unusual for a lower seed to advance far in the playoffs, and it's not unprecedented for an expansion team to qualify. Last night the Las Vegas Golden Knights continued their storybook inaugural season with a first round sweep of the L.A. Kings, who won the Stanley Cup in 2012 & 2014. The Knights are the third expansion team since '68-'69 to make the playoffs, and second to win their first four games. In 1970 the Pittsburgh Penguins did it. Has an expansion franchise ever qualified for the playoffs in any other sport? Remember how reluctant pro leagues were to placing a franchise in Vegas? The Knights played to 98.6% of capacity this season, averaging 17,958 fans per game.

My thanks to the kind folks who bought, donated and swapped books today, especially the young Asian woman who bought a Readers Digest compilation, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder, and works on proper diet and the environment. For a change a couple of novels in English sold: E. M. Forster's A Passage to India and Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. As usual, two thrillers in Russian were also purchased. It was another cold afternoon, but at least the sunshine took some bite out of the wind.


Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/17 - The Real Poop

A blurb in today's NY Post reports that approximately 200 people gathered in Rome for a week long course on casting out demons, which included the use of cellphones in the practice of exorcism. Too late to help Fathers Merrin and Karras. All together now: The power of Iphone compels you.


A brief Post article focuses on TV ratings. The Stormy Daniels interview on 60 Minutes attracted 22 million viewers. Only 9.3 million tuned in to the James Comey powwow with George Stephanopoulos. It aired the same time as the Country Music Awards, which was watched by 12.1 million. Anyone surprised by these numbers?

Here's a great pic from today's Post which - astoundingly - has yet to be posted anywhere online, at least as far as I could find as of the writing of this blog. I shot a picture of it with my own camera, so the quality is terrible. My photography skills are minimal. It's the fabulous Jennifer Lawrence, not rehearsing for a modern version of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, but in a stoop to pick up her dog's poop - just like millions of regular folks do. I love JLAW.


From Yahoo's Odd News, edited by yours truly: A North Carolina burger joint designates April as exotic meat month. In the past iguana, alligator, camels, python, turtle and various insects have been featured. This year it was tarantula, a staple of Cambodia, where the spider is mixed with salt and sugar and cooked. Since the place gets only 15 of the farmed, organically raised creatures each year, diners fill out a lottery ticket. No winner has yet to back out. One said it tastes like potato chips. Here's a pic:


My thanks to the woman who donated five books in Russian, and to Mike, whose apartment is being painted, which prompted him to lighten his cases by donating about ten books. Most were his daughters, and several have to do with magic. Ira bought three of those, as well as another ten from the Mysteries and Myths series. Thank you, sir. April 17th and I packed up an hour early because I was cold. It feels more like late February.

Monday, April 16, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/16 - Departures

RIP R. Lee Ermey, 74, whose military career led to a long run in TV and movies. At 17 he was given a choice by a judge - jail or the service. He chose wisely. He spent eleven years in the Marines, 14 months in Vietnam, where he earned several medals. From 1978-'86 he appeared in only four films. Hired as an adviser for Full Metal Jacket (1987), his insight impressed Stanley Kubrick so much that the director cast him as the drill instructor, which led to nomination for a supporting actor Oscar. He is the best aspect of that otherwise disappointing film. From there his fortunes skyrocketed. He has 124 titles listed under his name at IMDb. Most of the roles are figures of authority.  Here are two quotes attributed to him: "It's my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can." "You can take a man out of the Corps, but you can't take the Corps out of the man." And here's one from Full Metal Jacket that isn't laced with profanity: "You're so ugly you could be a modern art masterpiece!" Well done, sir. Thank you.


RIP NBA Hall of Famer Hal Greer, 81. In 1955 he was the first black to play at a public college in West Virginia, where he starred at Marshall. He was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals, who later became the 76ers, and was a rare player who spent his entire career with a single franchise. In 15 seasons he averaged 19.2 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. In the playoffs he upped his scoring average to 20.4. He was a ten-time all-star, named game MVP in 1968. He guided the Sixers to the championship in 1967. In 1996 he was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. I'll always remember how the PA announcer simply said: "Greer" whenever the man scored. Well done, sir.


Here's a great pic of prom night in Minnesota:


The floating book shop opened three hours later than usual today. What a contrast there was between conditions during the storm and mid afternoon. My thanks to the gentleman who purchased The Twilight Zone Revisited. Special thanks to the woman with the bewitching eyes, who bought a discounted copy Present and Past that contains a couple of errors. Self consciously, I felt compelled to tell her there was a lot of sex in it, and she said she didn't mind. 

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/15 - Potpourri

How interesting that several conservative media voices disapprove of the missile attack on Syria. They hoped President Trump would keep the USA out of such foreign entanglements. I think their criticism is premature. American involvement may go no further. The most important aspect is that no coalition lives were lost, and that Assad's chemical capabilities may have suffered considerable damage.

Jackie Robinson's son David, 66, is a coffee farmer in Tanzania, where he owns 200 acres. The seeds were planted in him when his mom took him to Africa in 1967 so that he might explore his roots. He returns to the states twice a year, and will participate in ceremonies honoring his dad this weekend.

Rhode Island is home to a most unusual tourist attraction, a 60-foot advertising display of a blue termite. It overlooks a highway in Providence. Here it is:


Last night the Svengoolie program, channel 33 on Cablevision in NYC, ran Abbott & Costello Go to Mars (1953), which is at the lower end of the iconic duo's canon. The face of Allura, the Queen of Venus (the boys never make it to Mars), was familiar but I was unable to recall her name. Mari Blanchard, a California girl, had an interesting history. At nine she was stricken by polio myelitis. Her mom, a psychotherapist, worked with her for three years and she was able to walk again. Much of the rehab involved swimming. At 17 Mari ran away and joined a circus, where she rode elephants and did trapeze work. Her mom tracked her down and brought her home. She enrolled at USC and earned a degree in international law. While working for a modeling agency, she was noticed by cartoonist Al Capp, who patterned one of the L'il Abner characters after her. She lacked luck in Hollywood, losing roles to other actresses that may have provided a springboard for her career. She participated almost exclusively in B movies. During her starring stint in She Devil (1957), she nearly died from acute appendicitis. She guest-starred on many TV shows in the 50's and 60's. She has 61 titles listed under her name at IMDb. At 40 she began a seven-year battle with cancer, which she lost in 1970. Here's a quote attributed to her: "Basically I'm a career girl. I want to prove myself as an actress. Maybe I won't . . . But I'll have to search until I do. I'll do it--or die trying. I've got lots to learn about pictures . . . I've worked hard. When I know I haven't given my best to a scene, I suffer." Life is so unfair to an unlucky few. Here's a pic of the brainy beauty:


The weather has gone into a complete reversal. Gone is the warmth and glorious sunshine of  the past two days. The dreary pattern that has dogged NYC since early March has returned. With the threat of rain in the air this day, I thought it best to work under the scaffold at my usual nook. Fortunately, the second best parking spot opened up after a half hour wait, so I didn't have to lug the crates very far. All sales were in Russian. My thanks to the woman who bought twelve hardcover thrillers, and to the one who purchased a children's book.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/14 - Charlize & Milos

The reason I added Atomic Blonde (2017) to my Netflix list is Charlize Theron, a dynamic cinematic presence. The movie was what I expected, action galore, adherence to one of Hollywood's modern cliches - the kick-ass woman capable of dispatching several trained tough guys at once. Set in the days leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, it's the story of a British agent sent to recover a stolen list of spies. She navigates her way way through the city, described as "the wild west" by a colleague, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Although it is obvious who the main villain is from the early moments, there's a fun twist at the end. Style is more important than substance, although a quote from Machiavelli is injected: "It's a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver." It's a fast-moving flick that comes in under two hours. The action scenes are well-coordinated by director David Leitch, a former stuntman who received full credit for the first time on this effort. He will get plenty more work. The screenplay was adapted by Kurt Johnstad from the graphic novel series The Coldest City by Anthony Johnston, illustrated by Sam Hart. Made on a budget of $30 million, it returned $73 worldwide, so a sequel is possible. Even if Theron refuses to participate, her role could easily be assumed by many actresses willing to don a wig or dye if necessary, and smoke up a storm. 116,000+ users at IMDb have rated Atomic Blonde, forging to a consensus of 6.7 on a scale of ten. Action fans would not be disappointed. Those squeamish about violence should pass, as there is more blood-letting than I'd seen in a while. James MCAvoy and John Goodman lend yeoman support, and Sofia Boutella, an Algerian, makes a good impression as a French agent. The 80's sound track is excellent, especially in the opening scene, a brief chase to New Order's Blue Monday. "How does it feel?" - Ouch! Surprising for its absence, Blondie's Atomic. Here's a pic of Theron in the role:


RIP Milos Forman, 86, who had a glorious run as a director. Born in Czechoslovakia, he saw his parents, protestants accused of subversion, hauled off to separate concentration camps, where they died. He emigrated to America in 1968. In 1975 he became an American citizen. He took on the daunting task of bringing Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) to the screen and won the Oscar for best picture. It is a rare instance of a film being better than the book. In 1979 he adapted an energetic version of Hair, in 1981 a solid adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's epic, Ragtime. Amadeus (1984) was a surprise hit that won him a second Academy Award for Best Picture. He also has 13 writing credits listed at IMDb, and nine in acting. Here's a partial quote from him: "... The Communist Party was my Nurse Ratched, telling me what I could and could not do; what I was or was not allowed to say; where I was and was not allowed to go; even who I was and was not." Well done, sir. Thank you. Here he is directing his cinematographer:


Friday the 13th proved spooky for a golfer at this week stop on the PGA tour in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Kelly Kraft hit a seven-iron off the tee of the par three 14th hole. The ball glanced off a big bird in flight and landed in a water hazard. He made double bogey and missed the cut by one shot. The bird was unharmed.

My thanks to the old gentleman who bought a gangster epic in Russian, to the young one who paid double for an entry in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and to the woman who bought kid's books for her granddaughters and Five Cents for herself, saying she wanted to see what I was all about. 

Friday, April 13, 2018

The Writer's Life 4/13 - Fish Story

As I've said many times in this blog, it's almost impossible for an artist to create material that hasn't been done before. The freshness comes from style, personal touch. Such is the case with Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan, who was born in Tasmania in 1961. I chose to read it precisely because it seemed unusual and, boy, is it ever. The protagonist is a non-violent criminal, a maker of furniture he passes off as antiques. For this crime, he is sent to a penal colony at Van Dieman's Land, a part of the island south of Australia. Set in the late 1820's, 404 pages minus the many blanks, the novel details the harshness of life there. The prisoner's cell floods at each high tide, and he must tread water in order not to drown. Mediocre artistic skill enables him to spend a lot of time outside his cell. The encampment's surgeon tasks him to paint the fish common to the area. He also does portraits, mostly of the Commandant, an ambitious man, apparently mentally ill, who uses the convicts to build a circular one-mile railroad and a mahjong hall he hopes will attract gamblers but fails miserably. The conditions are horrific and the treatment of the inmates brutal. Of course, the natives do not fare well at all. When they begin succumb to disease, the surgeon ships barrels of their heads to England for scientific study. The book within the book contains a history of the prison - or does it? There is so much contradiction in the narrative that it's difficult to know what actually takes place and what simply may be the product of a fevered imagination. I've chosen to believe all of the events occurred. So what is the book about? Certainly, colonization is at the forefront, and it's not a flattering portrait. I also take it as existentialism, although the protagonist would probably scoff at that. Here are excerpts: "...he simply came to accept the world of endless labor, ceaseless brutality and pointless violence..." "... hiding our shame at how we were both made to be gaoled and gaoler..." "... all life, properly understood, is a savage dream in which one is shuffled about... constantly in danger of being lost..." "... I have lived a life of meaningless for this one moment of meaning & these things which I now know, & the knowing of which will flee my mind & heart as abruptly as they have entered..." "These two feelings, this knowledge of a world so awful, this sense of a life so extraordinary - how am I to resolve them?" We in the modern western world are fortunate not to have to endure conditions that would have one think such thoughts constantly. We have myriad distractions to distract us from the futility of it all. Unfortunately, many pockets of the world continue to suffer horrendous torments. The novel is very hard to evaluate, as it is all over the place and tends to meander - intentionally, the author even supplying a line defending segues. Above all it is unusual. It is by no means an easy read in terms of content or style, the latter appropriate to the era in which it takes place. 100 users at Amazon have rated Gould's Book of Fish, forging to a consensus of 3.5 on a scale of five. I won't argue with that. This is daring, ambitious work, a challenge that requires patience, outrageousness and acceptance of contradictions. The reader should keep in mind that all humans behave contradictorily at times. One of the themes is that all is one, the history of one person revealing that of the entire human race. The author has received many awards. Gould's... was the third of his seven novels. He has also written four works of non-fiction. He adapted his own novel, The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998) to the screen and directed it. Reviews were mixed.

Modern Tasmania is a state of Australia, population more than 500,000. Although it was discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, it was claimed by Britain in 1803. Eventually, 65,000 inmates were housed there. Its most famous citizens are actors Errol Flynn and Simon Baker. It is a popular vacation spot. In fact, it was visited recently by Gary, a frequent visitor to the floating book shop. A Tasmanian devil is the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial. Here's a pic:



And here's the cartoon version:


And here's a pic of Tasmania's capital, Hobart:   


My thanks to the young woman who bought two kid's books. Although business was slow on this day despite glorious weather that had folks smiling, two visitors made the session worthwhile. Bruce, who once wrote plays and was sidetracked by life, said he'd downloaded A Hitch in Twilight to his Kindle. Thank you, sir. Another gentleman whipped out his autograph book from his junior high graduation in 1957. He showed me an entry made by a Harold Kaplan, which he claims is Gabriel Kaplan of Welcome Back, Kotter. He then showed me an email about a reunion signed by a Gabe. He said he was floored when Kaplan told him he'd based the iconic TV show on that eighth grade class. Wiki does not list his name as Harold and his age was 12 in 1957. He may have skipped a grade or perhaps it was an older brother who had signed the book, although I was unable to find evidence of one. The guy, who was a bit flaky, said he was showing the entry and the email to all the girls and they were gaga over it. I asked about Travolta and he said Kaplan was no longer in touch with him. Is true or a fish story? I have no idea.