1996 or 1972 (see below)
Copyright by Bellerophon Books
Henry VIII and His Wives: Paper Dolls to Cut out and Color
Original price $4.95 cents, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B-
Although it says, "Copyright 1996 by Belleroophon Books," that copyright may actually apply to the Queen Elizabeth I Paper Dolls advertised in the front. And the title page says, in very small font, "Copyright 1972 by Bellerophon Books." So this probably should've gone in the 1970s. Oh well.
I like the paper dolls, some of the gowns in particular having lovely detail. Nothing has been cut or colored. It seems an odd book to get for a child, partly because of the historical bits scattered throughout, not to mention the (rather bad) poetry from the likes of Skelton and Henry himself.
As for the history, check out this from the Catherine Howard section: "...She became quite friendly with young men....She became quite friendly with her cousin, Thomas Culpepper....News of Catherine's adventures soon reached the king, who was unable, at first, to believe what he was told." These adventures being her "friendliness." Either a child old enough to play with paper dolls would be too ignorant of sex and/or history to understand, or she/he would scoff at the euphemisms.
Or how about this? "Henry VIII was crafty and brutal and an absolute ruler....He was a respected king, however, and even popular...." Still, I give them points for trying to explain a complex time and set of people to such an unlikely audience.
Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Friday, November 23, 2012
A Generation in Motion
1979, undated later edition, from Schirmer Books (Macmillan)
Original price $5.95, purchase price $4.95
It's ironic that I'm ending the 1970s with a "left-wing" book that pissed me off as much as the book that I started the decade with, Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch. Regular readers of this blog (if there are such things) know that I don't usually write in my books, but here are some mental notes that I scrawled in thin air as I went along, reading this book for the first time in over 20 years, and with much less of an inferiority complex than last time:
Now, obviously on a subject like this, a personal perspective can be welcome. But Pichaske doesn't have Schaffner's gift for telling his own story and the story of a generation in an accessible way. It's not even clear if he's writing to anyone beyond himself and people like him, despite the dedication addressed to his children. If you're writing so young 'uns can understand, don't keep asking, "Do you remember?" And although he points out early on that not everyone was everywhere in the 1960s, he seems to frequently forget this.
The main problem though is I am an unashamed literal child of the 1970s. I adored the first decade I remember and did not find it in the slightest bland or quiet. If it was less violent and angry than the 1960s in some ways (although that's debatable), that to me is a selling point. I consider the machismo and self-righteousness of the '60s to be two of that decade's most unpleasant aspects, and not in the slightest ways to bring about a better society. Unlike Pichaske, I see them as an extension of, not refutation of, the 1940s and '50s.
I enjoy much of the 1960s, particularly pop culture, from dope songs (although I've never been stoned) to, yes, Annette Funicello, the latter blasphemy in Pichaske's eyes. I love the '70s in all their tacky, shallow yet deep, feminist, gay-friendlier, and idealistically cynical glory. I'm grateful to the '60s for being the Point B to the A of the '50s and the C of the '70s. So even though Pichaske is wrong, and bullying and sanctimonious when he thinks he's open-minded and wry, I'm oddly grateful to him, too, for making me thank the 1970s for giving me my start, as a reader and a critic.
David Pichaske
A Generation in Motion: Popular Music and Culture in the SixtiesOriginal price $5.95, purchase price $4.95
Worn paperback
C
It's ironic that I'm ending the 1970s with a "left-wing" book that pissed me off as much as the book that I started the decade with, Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch. Regular readers of this blog (if there are such things) know that I don't usually write in my books, but here are some mental notes that I scrawled in thin air as I went along, reading this book for the first time in over 20 years, and with much less of an inferiority complex than last time:
- When Pichaske says that violent political protest is American as the CIA and John Wayne, "And that's exactly the problem I'm talking about."
- When Pichaske fails to see that "I Am the Walrus" is a parody, "You, Sir, are an idiot!"
- When Pichaske says that "Mother and Child Reunion" is about death, "No, it's about a menu."
- And when Pichaske whines that "the free-wheeling, wild, magnificent sixties" turned into "the sober, circumspect, temperate seventies," I thank him for perfectly encapsulating the biggest reason why this book doesn't work for me.
Now, obviously on a subject like this, a personal perspective can be welcome. But Pichaske doesn't have Schaffner's gift for telling his own story and the story of a generation in an accessible way. It's not even clear if he's writing to anyone beyond himself and people like him, despite the dedication addressed to his children. If you're writing so young 'uns can understand, don't keep asking, "Do you remember?" And although he points out early on that not everyone was everywhere in the 1960s, he seems to frequently forget this.
The main problem though is I am an unashamed literal child of the 1970s. I adored the first decade I remember and did not find it in the slightest bland or quiet. If it was less violent and angry than the 1960s in some ways (although that's debatable), that to me is a selling point. I consider the machismo and self-righteousness of the '60s to be two of that decade's most unpleasant aspects, and not in the slightest ways to bring about a better society. Unlike Pichaske, I see them as an extension of, not refutation of, the 1940s and '50s.
I enjoy much of the 1960s, particularly pop culture, from dope songs (although I've never been stoned) to, yes, Annette Funicello, the latter blasphemy in Pichaske's eyes. I love the '70s in all their tacky, shallow yet deep, feminist, gay-friendlier, and idealistically cynical glory. I'm grateful to the '60s for being the Point B to the A of the '50s and the C of the '70s. So even though Pichaske is wrong, and bullying and sanctimonious when he thinks he's open-minded and wry, I'm oddly grateful to him, too, for making me thank the 1970s for giving me my start, as a reader and a critic.
Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby
1979, undated later edition, from Apple (Scholastic)
Jane O'Connor
Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby
Original price $2.75, purchase price 25 cents
Very worn paperback
C
Very cliched account of a ten-year-old girl's first summer at camp, although there are moments where it's almost funny. Ironically, I bought the book in my early 30s because I had a friend who signed off her emails "Yours till Niagara Falls," but we lost touch and I never gave her the book. I've read it once before, and now it's going in the recycling bin.
Jane O'Connor
Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby
Original price $2.75, purchase price 25 cents
Very worn paperback
C
Very cliched account of a ten-year-old girl's first summer at camp, although there are moments where it's almost funny. Ironically, I bought the book in my early 30s because I had a friend who signed off her emails "Yours till Niagara Falls," but we lost touch and I never gave her the book. I've read it once before, and now it's going in the recycling bin.
Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking
1979, 1988 Noonday Press (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Jessica Mitford
Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking
Original price $8.95, purchase price $5.40
Worn paperback with partially torn front cover
B
A collection of articles, some investigative reporting, others on some relatively uncontroversial topics, like "frenemies." Equally good are Mitford's behind-the-scenes "Comments," discussing where the ideas came from, whether and how the articles were changed upon publication, and reaction, if any. Best of the bunch are "Let Us Now Appraise Famous Writers," which brought down a mail-order business, temporarily anyway; "My Short and Happy Life as a Distinguished Professor," which I enjoyed all the more as a graduate of the Cal State system; and the Comment on her two articles about a rip-off posh restaurant. As Carl Bernstein says in his Afterword, Mitford tells and shows how to be a good reporter, including realizing your mistakes. (She seems as gleeful about angles she missed as a frenemy would be.)
Mitford sisters notes: "Frenemies" comes from one sister's term for a childhood companion (although Wikipedia credits Walter Winchell with the first published usage), and Nancy comes up a couple times, in the discussion of Jessica's visits to the set of The Loved One of course, and also in "You-All and Non-You-All," whose title had to be changed for American readers.
Jessica Mitford
Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking
Original price $8.95, purchase price $5.40
Worn paperback with partially torn front cover
B
A collection of articles, some investigative reporting, others on some relatively uncontroversial topics, like "frenemies." Equally good are Mitford's behind-the-scenes "Comments," discussing where the ideas came from, whether and how the articles were changed upon publication, and reaction, if any. Best of the bunch are "Let Us Now Appraise Famous Writers," which brought down a mail-order business, temporarily anyway; "My Short and Happy Life as a Distinguished Professor," which I enjoyed all the more as a graduate of the Cal State system; and the Comment on her two articles about a rip-off posh restaurant. As Carl Bernstein says in his Afterword, Mitford tells and shows how to be a good reporter, including realizing your mistakes. (She seems as gleeful about angles she missed as a frenemy would be.)
Mitford sisters notes: "Frenemies" comes from one sister's term for a childhood companion (although Wikipedia credits Walter Winchell with the first published usage), and Nancy comes up a couple times, in the discussion of Jessica's visits to the set of The Loved One of course, and also in "You-All and Non-You-All," whose title had to be changed for American readers.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
1979, possibly first edition, from Random House
Michael Korda
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
Original and purchase price unknown
Hardcover with bent pages
B-
The lives of the title are those of film producer-director Alexander Korda and his brothers, Zoli and Vincent, the latter Michael's father. Michael grew up on the edges of their glamorous, eccentric world, idolizing Uncle Alex and then having to find his own path when Alex died. Michael did fine in his own right, becoming a major publisher with Simon & Schuster. (And yet it's Random House that published this memoir.) Michael's only son Chris continues the family's fame/notoriety as "leader of the Church of Euthanasia, techno musician and software developer."
While the Kordas are an interesting family, they don't always come across as likable, or even as impressive as Michael K. thinks, or at least thought as a hero-worshiping young man. Vincent seems to have been the nicest, which admittedly is like Harpo being the nicest Marx brother. I almost gave the book a C+ because I was getting tired of Michael's crush on his "Aunt Alexa," Alex's younger by almost four decades wife. Also, the timeline gets very muddled during the Alexa years, so that during the pivotal summer that Michael meets Alexa, I have no idea if it's 1948, when Michael is 14, or '52, when Michael is 18. Luckily, revolution breaks out in the Kordas' native land of Hungary the same year Alex dies, so the book gets interesting again.
I think I originally got this book because Alexander Korda's second wife was actress Merle Oberon, whom I had a minor interest in. Unfortunately, she's not in it much.
Michael Korda
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
Original and purchase price unknown
Hardcover with bent pages
B-
The lives of the title are those of film producer-director Alexander Korda and his brothers, Zoli and Vincent, the latter Michael's father. Michael grew up on the edges of their glamorous, eccentric world, idolizing Uncle Alex and then having to find his own path when Alex died. Michael did fine in his own right, becoming a major publisher with Simon & Schuster. (And yet it's Random House that published this memoir.) Michael's only son Chris continues the family's fame/notoriety as "leader of the Church of Euthanasia, techno musician and software developer."
While the Kordas are an interesting family, they don't always come across as likable, or even as impressive as Michael K. thinks, or at least thought as a hero-worshiping young man. Vincent seems to have been the nicest, which admittedly is like Harpo being the nicest Marx brother. I almost gave the book a C+ because I was getting tired of Michael's crush on his "Aunt Alexa," Alex's younger by almost four decades wife. Also, the timeline gets very muddled during the Alexa years, so that during the pivotal summer that Michael meets Alexa, I have no idea if it's 1948, when Michael is 14, or '52, when Michael is 18. Luckily, revolution breaks out in the Kordas' native land of Hungary the same year Alex dies, so the book gets interesting again.
I think I originally got this book because Alexander Korda's second wife was actress Merle Oberon, whom I had a minor interest in. Unfortunately, she's not in it much.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
About the New Yorker and Me: A Sentimental Journal
1979, 1988 edition
E. J. Kahn, Jr.
About the New Yorker and Me: A Sentimental Journal
Original price $9.95, purchase price $3.98
Slightly worn paperback
B-
As I noted in my review of Brendan Gill's Here at the New Yorker, Kahn and other contributors to the magazine were unhappy with Gill's version, especially his portrayal of founder Herbert Ross. But more of Kahn's book deals with second publisher, William Shawn, whom Kahn even dreams about. (As does his wife at one point.) You might guess correctly from the subtitle that this is Kahn's diary, for the year 1977, so he talks about Andy Young, and Annie Hall, and a lot of sports figures. Quite a bit of the book tells of Kahn's research and longer writing process for an article on Georgia. There's also a lot of name-dropping, some of it blunted by time. (Rita Gam may've been a frequent crossword puzzle answer then, but she's hardly a household name these days.) And Kahn talks about his family quite a bit.
Given the format, this doesn't ramble as much as it could, although it's definitely anecdotal. I found some of Kahn's sentences unnecessarily long (and I say that as someone who's given to parenthetical digressions), and I couldn't help wondering if the New Yorker editors couldn't break him of this habit. (At least the book isn't typo-ridden like Gill's.) I was also struck by how Kahn, as a 60-year-old liberal was trying to adapt to changing times, sharing household chores with his wife, and yet using that annoying form of "the John Smiths" (to describe John and Mary Smith, even if Mary is known by her maiden name). Yet overall, it's an entertaining enough read, and I did laugh out loud a couple times.
Kahn published a sequel the same year this edition was released, the later book called Year of Change: More about the New Yorker and Me, which I haven't read, but the year in question seems to have been when the new owners of the magazine forced Shawn out. Shawn died in 1992, Kahn two years later, and Gill, as I mentioned earlier, three years after that.
E. J. Kahn, Jr.
About the New Yorker and Me: A Sentimental Journal
Original price $9.95, purchase price $3.98
Slightly worn paperback
B-
As I noted in my review of Brendan Gill's Here at the New Yorker, Kahn and other contributors to the magazine were unhappy with Gill's version, especially his portrayal of founder Herbert Ross. But more of Kahn's book deals with second publisher, William Shawn, whom Kahn even dreams about. (As does his wife at one point.) You might guess correctly from the subtitle that this is Kahn's diary, for the year 1977, so he talks about Andy Young, and Annie Hall, and a lot of sports figures. Quite a bit of the book tells of Kahn's research and longer writing process for an article on Georgia. There's also a lot of name-dropping, some of it blunted by time. (Rita Gam may've been a frequent crossword puzzle answer then, but she's hardly a household name these days.) And Kahn talks about his family quite a bit.
Given the format, this doesn't ramble as much as it could, although it's definitely anecdotal. I found some of Kahn's sentences unnecessarily long (and I say that as someone who's given to parenthetical digressions), and I couldn't help wondering if the New Yorker editors couldn't break him of this habit. (At least the book isn't typo-ridden like Gill's.) I was also struck by how Kahn, as a 60-year-old liberal was trying to adapt to changing times, sharing household chores with his wife, and yet using that annoying form of "the John Smiths" (to describe John and Mary Smith, even if Mary is known by her maiden name). Yet overall, it's an entertaining enough read, and I did laugh out loud a couple times.
Kahn published a sequel the same year this edition was released, the later book called Year of Change: More about the New Yorker and Me, which I haven't read, but the year in question seems to have been when the new owners of the magazine forced Shawn out. Shawn died in 1992, Kahn two years later, and Gill, as I mentioned earlier, three years after that.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Americathon
1979, possibly first edition, from FOTONOVEL Publications
Neil Israel etc.*
Americathon
Original price unknown, purchase price $1.85
Worn paperback
C+
Once again, I'm giving a novelization of a bad 1970s movie a C+, although this one is a "FOTONOVEL."** This makes it more faithful than, say, the Digby adaptation, although there are a few lines that didn't make the movie, and much of the sexual humor has been, um, stripped out. I almost went with a B-, but some of the stills came out really dark.
Since the movie was released to DVD only last year and was a flop in theaters, I guess I should summarize it for you. Narrator George Carlin looks back to 1998, when he was a young Peter Riegert and John Ritter was President. (As the magazine covers in the Where Are They Nows reveal, the present is actually 2005ish.) The country is broke, in debt to NIKE (National Indian Knitting Enterprises), and unscrupulous presidential aide Fred Willard might sell the US to the Hebrabs, unless a telethon led by has-been actor Harvey Korman raises enough money in time. And there are lots of music cameos, most of which didn't make it into the FOTONOVEL. (Another reason I can't give a higher grade.)
How does this world of the late '90s compare to Cerf & co's '80s? Well, Look Back seems to have a more consistent overall plan, while this story just seems to be thrown together. For instance, if Mouling was living with Warren Beatty in 2002, when she was 1/3 his age, that makes her about 22 to his 65, and only 18 in 1998, which Zane Buzby definitely doesn't look. Also, if North Dakota is the first all-gay state, why is there a picture of Mount Rushmore?
There are some similarities in their predictions, as in both the UK is an amusement-park-like state of the US, Limeyland here, the United Magic Kingdom in Look Back. The Arabs go broke in Cerf's '80s, due to the Oil Glut, while here they have an empire with the Israelis. The US is equally bad off in both, especially economically. In both versions of America, meat is illegal, jogging suits are fashionable. OK, the latter was true in the real late twentieth century. In fact, on the Internet there are quite a few lists of all the things that this movie predicted, such as China's embrace of capitalism and the emergence of reality TV. By the time the real 1998 rolled around and I'd watched this movie several times on VHS, I'd noted the similarity of Chet Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Ironically, this story is much more prescient than the more intelligent Look Back, which is probably just as well.
Of Cerf et. al's vision vs. Israel (Neil I mean), I'd take the latter, because it just looks like people are having more fun. As I recall, 1978 was a much happier year than '79, for me personally (10 rather than 11, and so not yet dealing with adolescent crap), but also for the US. The Iranian hostage situation started in '79 and a lot other things soured then. These two '79 books reflect this in their projections of what the next decade or two might be like. But in Looking Back, almost no one seems happy, while here people look like they're making the best of bad situations. And, even in stills, they're chewing the scenery like it's a meat substitute.
*It was a bit tricky deciding who's responsible for this, since no one is credited with the adaptation from movie to book. I decided that since Neil Israel directed the movie, cowrote the screenplay (based on a play by Proctor and Bergman, of Firesign Theatre), and has a cameo as a protesting rabbi, he should get the credit/blame.
**The photonovel was popular in the pre-home-video late '70s and early '80s, with film stills and dialogue. This is #14 in the FOTONOVEL series, the most ironic title on the list in the back being Lord of the Rings, that is, the 1978 Ralph Bakshi version.
Neil Israel etc.*
Americathon
Original price unknown, purchase price $1.85
Worn paperback
C+
Once again, I'm giving a novelization of a bad 1970s movie a C+, although this one is a "FOTONOVEL."** This makes it more faithful than, say, the Digby adaptation, although there are a few lines that didn't make the movie, and much of the sexual humor has been, um, stripped out. I almost went with a B-, but some of the stills came out really dark.
Since the movie was released to DVD only last year and was a flop in theaters, I guess I should summarize it for you. Narrator George Carlin looks back to 1998, when he was a young Peter Riegert and John Ritter was President. (As the magazine covers in the Where Are They Nows reveal, the present is actually 2005ish.) The country is broke, in debt to NIKE (National Indian Knitting Enterprises), and unscrupulous presidential aide Fred Willard might sell the US to the Hebrabs, unless a telethon led by has-been actor Harvey Korman raises enough money in time. And there are lots of music cameos, most of which didn't make it into the FOTONOVEL. (Another reason I can't give a higher grade.)
How does this world of the late '90s compare to Cerf & co's '80s? Well, Look Back seems to have a more consistent overall plan, while this story just seems to be thrown together. For instance, if Mouling was living with Warren Beatty in 2002, when she was 1/3 his age, that makes her about 22 to his 65, and only 18 in 1998, which Zane Buzby definitely doesn't look. Also, if North Dakota is the first all-gay state, why is there a picture of Mount Rushmore?
There are some similarities in their predictions, as in both the UK is an amusement-park-like state of the US, Limeyland here, the United Magic Kingdom in Look Back. The Arabs go broke in Cerf's '80s, due to the Oil Glut, while here they have an empire with the Israelis. The US is equally bad off in both, especially economically. In both versions of America, meat is illegal, jogging suits are fashionable. OK, the latter was true in the real late twentieth century. In fact, on the Internet there are quite a few lists of all the things that this movie predicted, such as China's embrace of capitalism and the emergence of reality TV. By the time the real 1998 rolled around and I'd watched this movie several times on VHS, I'd noted the similarity of Chet Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Ironically, this story is much more prescient than the more intelligent Look Back, which is probably just as well.
Of Cerf et. al's vision vs. Israel (Neil I mean), I'd take the latter, because it just looks like people are having more fun. As I recall, 1978 was a much happier year than '79, for me personally (10 rather than 11, and so not yet dealing with adolescent crap), but also for the US. The Iranian hostage situation started in '79 and a lot other things soured then. These two '79 books reflect this in their projections of what the next decade or two might be like. But in Looking Back, almost no one seems happy, while here people look like they're making the best of bad situations. And, even in stills, they're chewing the scenery like it's a meat substitute.
*It was a bit tricky deciding who's responsible for this, since no one is credited with the adaptation from movie to book. I decided that since Neil Israel directed the movie, cowrote the screenplay (based on a play by Proctor and Bergman, of Firesign Theatre), and has a cameo as a protesting rabbi, he should get the credit/blame.
**The photonovel was popular in the pre-home-video late '70s and early '80s, with film stills and dialogue. This is #14 in the FOTONOVEL series, the most ironic title on the list in the back being Lord of the Rings, that is, the 1978 Ralph Bakshi version.
Kilgallen
1979, 1980 Dell edition
Lee Israel
Kilgallen
Original price $2.95, purchase price unknown
Very worn and falling apart paperback
B
Israel tells the life of the clever but naive, controversial gossip columnist/crime reporter/What's My Line? panelist. This is one of the few biographies I own or have even read that seems to spend about an equal amount on every decade of the subject's adulthood, but then it was an eventful life, with 23-year-old "Dolly Mae" in a round-the-world race that started on the Hindenburg, and the 50-year-old getting an exclusive interview with Jack Ruby, as part of her investigation into JFK's assassination. Kilgallen's death in 1965 is still unresolved, although Israel floated a few theories back in '79.
I've read this book a few times, although it's yet another biography of a celebrity that I didn't know much about before. (I'd seen a few What's My Line? episodes, as well as her uncredited cameo in 1964's Pajama Party.) She seems to have been much brighter and open-minded than Hedda and Louella, although definitely still with blind spots. Israel does a good job in showing Kilgallen in all her complexity, and it's certainly an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
While Israel is a good writer (although she or her editor let through a typo of "girls" for "curls"), this reading I found myself a bit frustrated with some of the conclusions Israel jumps to without enough evidence, although there are definitely some odd circumstances surrounding Kilgallen's death, including how she was dressed and who first discovered the death. (She was "found dead" at least twice.) Kilgallen's whole life was filled with secrecy, from the affairs of herself and her husband, to a judge's abrupt statement that a not-yet-tried defendant was guilty, which Dorothy told no one of publicly until a decade later, unwilling to break a confidence.
Adding to the oddity, when I Googled Lee Israel, I found out that in 1991 she committed forgery of Noel Coward's letters, because "she was jobless, broke and living in a fly-infested apartment with her 21-year-old cat, Jersey." She fooled many, until the FBI trapped her. It's the sort of story that Kilgallen herself would've enjoyed reporting.
Lee Israel
Kilgallen
Original price $2.95, purchase price unknown
Very worn and falling apart paperback
B
Israel tells the life of the clever but naive, controversial gossip columnist/crime reporter/What's My Line? panelist. This is one of the few biographies I own or have even read that seems to spend about an equal amount on every decade of the subject's adulthood, but then it was an eventful life, with 23-year-old "Dolly Mae" in a round-the-world race that started on the Hindenburg, and the 50-year-old getting an exclusive interview with Jack Ruby, as part of her investigation into JFK's assassination. Kilgallen's death in 1965 is still unresolved, although Israel floated a few theories back in '79.
I've read this book a few times, although it's yet another biography of a celebrity that I didn't know much about before. (I'd seen a few What's My Line? episodes, as well as her uncredited cameo in 1964's Pajama Party.) She seems to have been much brighter and open-minded than Hedda and Louella, although definitely still with blind spots. Israel does a good job in showing Kilgallen in all her complexity, and it's certainly an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
While Israel is a good writer (although she or her editor let through a typo of "girls" for "curls"), this reading I found myself a bit frustrated with some of the conclusions Israel jumps to without enough evidence, although there are definitely some odd circumstances surrounding Kilgallen's death, including how she was dressed and who first discovered the death. (She was "found dead" at least twice.) Kilgallen's whole life was filled with secrecy, from the affairs of herself and her husband, to a judge's abrupt statement that a not-yet-tried defendant was guilty, which Dorothy told no one of publicly until a decade later, unwilling to break a confidence.
Adding to the oddity, when I Googled Lee Israel, I found out that in 1991 she committed forgery of Noel Coward's letters, because "she was jobless, broke and living in a fly-infested apartment with her 21-year-old cat, Jersey." She fooled many, until the FBI trapped her. It's the sort of story that Kilgallen herself would've enjoyed reporting.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
I'm in Training to be Tall and Blonde
1979, possibly first edition, from St. Martin's Press
Nicole Hollander
I'm in Training to be Tall and Blonde
Original price $4.95, purchase price unknown
Paperback with worn out binding
B-
One thing about being middle-aged, Sylvia (the snarky, chain-smoking couch potato/barfly) no longer seems as cynical as she once did. In fact, other than the references to Carter and other then-current leaders, as well as a few fashions and hairstyles, this collection is not as dated as it should be. Even the title still sums up the dominant cultural ideal for women. (Only it should include "thin" of course). And yet, just reading these women saying the unsayable is encouraging. What better sign of hope to end on than this final exchange?
PATIENT: Doctor! I want to have my cake and eat it, too!
THERAPIST: Good.
Nicole Hollander
I'm in Training to be Tall and Blonde
Original price $4.95, purchase price unknown
Paperback with worn out binding
B-
One thing about being middle-aged, Sylvia (the snarky, chain-smoking couch potato/barfly) no longer seems as cynical as she once did. In fact, other than the references to Carter and other then-current leaders, as well as a few fashions and hairstyles, this collection is not as dated as it should be. Even the title still sums up the dominant cultural ideal for women. (Only it should include "thin" of course). And yet, just reading these women saying the unsayable is encouraging. What better sign of hope to end on than this final exchange?
PATIENT: Doctor! I want to have my cake and eat it, too!
THERAPIST: Good.
The '80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989
1979, Workman edition from later that year
Edited by Tony Hendra, Christopher Cerf & Peter Elbling
Art directed by Michael Gross
(with many contributors, including Jeff Greenfield, Harry Shearer, and Valerie Curtin)
The '80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989
Original price $6.95, purchase price $4.50
Worn paperback with broken spine
C+
Like the Harvard Lampoon book on college, this isn't as funny as I remember. (One line about the fish sleeping with the fishes used to crack me up.) It's still somewhat impressive how the contributors managed to cover so many aspects of American society (there's a bit on "The World"), and be consistent and yet get nearly everything deliriously wrong. (The story of a pregnant Cher being dragged into court for smoking in public is not all that different from the "fetal rights" cases discussed in Backlash, particularly the pregnant Seattle woman who in 1991 "ordered a single drink in a bar [and was] hounded and lectured by two servers," only in real life the woman sued and the servers were fired.)
As with the Lampoon book, there are times when I can't tell if they're parodying sexism and more so racism, or indulging in them. There are some things that make me smile, like the debate over the "scrotal orgasm," and references to the "novel by an obscure English writer" that inspired the movie hit of the decade, 1984! But I found my attention wandering too often for a book filled with interesting topics and lots of pictures. Many of the latter are poorly done (I suspect literal cut and paste), although the Great Wall of Central Park is pretty convincing even in color.
Edited by Tony Hendra, Christopher Cerf & Peter Elbling
Art directed by Michael Gross
(with many contributors, including Jeff Greenfield, Harry Shearer, and Valerie Curtin)
The '80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989
Original price $6.95, purchase price $4.50
Worn paperback with broken spine
C+
Like the Harvard Lampoon book on college, this isn't as funny as I remember. (One line about the fish sleeping with the fishes used to crack me up.) It's still somewhat impressive how the contributors managed to cover so many aspects of American society (there's a bit on "The World"), and be consistent and yet get nearly everything deliriously wrong. (The story of a pregnant Cher being dragged into court for smoking in public is not all that different from the "fetal rights" cases discussed in Backlash, particularly the pregnant Seattle woman who in 1991 "ordered a single drink in a bar [and was] hounded and lectured by two servers," only in real life the woman sued and the servers were fired.)
As with the Lampoon book, there are times when I can't tell if they're parodying sexism and more so racism, or indulging in them. There are some things that make me smile, like the debate over the "scrotal orgasm," and references to the "novel by an obscure English writer" that inspired the movie hit of the decade, 1984! But I found my attention wandering too often for a book filled with interesting topics and lots of pictures. Many of the latter are poorly done (I suspect literal cut and paste), although the Great Wall of Central Park is pretty convincing even in color.
Belshazzar: A Cat's Story for Humans
1979, 1982 Bard edition
Chaim Bermant
Illustrated by Meg Rutherford
Belshazzar: A Cat's Story for Humans
Original price $2.50, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
C+
This is the tale of a British, "Jewish" (he eats kosher, mostly) cat, so it's of interest for that reason, but "Bell" has such an unpleasant personality (without a charming Morris side) that it was hard to have much sympathy for him even when his luck goes bad. The illustrations are quite good though. I've seen this listed as a children's book online, and it is a very short book, but it would probably only appeal to an unsentimental, slightly jaded preteen, who likes to look at pictures of cute animals.
Chaim Bermant
Illustrated by Meg Rutherford
Belshazzar: A Cat's Story for Humans
Original price $2.50, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
C+
This is the tale of a British, "Jewish" (he eats kosher, mostly) cat, so it's of interest for that reason, but "Bell" has such an unpleasant personality (without a charming Morris side) that it was hard to have much sympathy for him even when his luck goes bad. The illustrations are quite good though. I've seen this listed as a children's book online, and it is a very short book, but it would probably only appeal to an unsentimental, slightly jaded preteen, who likes to look at pictures of cute animals.
The Two: A Biography
1978, 1979 Bantam edition
Irving Wallace and Amy Wallace
The Two: A Biography
Possibly purchased new for $2.50
Very worn paperback
B-
The father and daughter of The Book of Lists family tell the story of the original "Siamese" twins, Chang & Eng. They do a good job of showing the world of the early to mid 1800s, from Siam to North Carolina, and I like how they reveal the sense of humor and intelligence of the twins, but there were certain things that I didn't feel were adequately explained. No, not how the twins fathered a total of twenty-one children, but how they reconciled their own experiences of discrimination with their ownership of black slaves. Yes, I understand that they came to identify heavily with the Southern culture that they married into, but considering how they struggled to maintain their own freedom and independence from their original managers, didn't they have any empathy for their "servants"? The Wallaces don't even raise the question. Also, the book seemed to rush through the second half of their sixty-two years, not even covering their post-"retirement" tours in much detail compared to their original exhibits.
This completes 1978, which now holds the record for most posts, 21. It's a record that will stand for the moment, but I'm sure it will be broken in less than a decade.
Irving Wallace and Amy Wallace
The Two: A Biography
Possibly purchased new for $2.50
Very worn paperback
B-
The father and daughter of The Book of Lists family tell the story of the original "Siamese" twins, Chang & Eng. They do a good job of showing the world of the early to mid 1800s, from Siam to North Carolina, and I like how they reveal the sense of humor and intelligence of the twins, but there were certain things that I didn't feel were adequately explained. No, not how the twins fathered a total of twenty-one children, but how they reconciled their own experiences of discrimination with their ownership of black slaves. Yes, I understand that they came to identify heavily with the Southern culture that they married into, but considering how they struggled to maintain their own freedom and independence from their original managers, didn't they have any empathy for their "servants"? The Wallaces don't even raise the question. Also, the book seemed to rush through the second half of their sixty-two years, not even covering their post-"retirement" tours in much detail compared to their original exhibits.
This completes 1978, which now holds the record for most posts, 21. It's a record that will stand for the moment, but I'm sure it will be broken in less than a decade.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Doonesbury's Greatest Hits: A Mid-Seventies Revue
1978, undated later edition, from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
G. B. Trudeau
Doonesbury's Greatest Hits: A Mid-Seventies Revue
Original price unknown, purchase price $7.95
Worn paperback
B
As with the earlier collection, Doonesbury remains more interesting and likable than funny. I could've done without so much of Zonker's "Uncle" Duke, but at least his adventures in Samoa and China give him good foils. Joanie continues to be the most changeable character, finishing up law school and then going to work for the winner in a congressional campaign that Joanie's roommate runs in. She also finds love with reporter Rick Redfern, after a false start with a gay friend. As elsewhere, Trudeau handles gay issues with respect and humor. Zonker, Mike, Mark, and B.D. continue to be perpetual college students, which Trudeau lampshades a bit. Interestingly, Mike's second wife, Kim, is introduced as a Vietnamese baby orphan adopted by L.A. Jews in 1975, although retcon would later reduce their age difference.
As I noted in my earlier review, this "mid-seventies" collection (actually covering 1975 to '77) is more pop-cultural, with not only Rick humiliated by his stint at People magazine, but Mark shifting to lighter topics on his radio show, such as jogging. Still, such issues as racism and feminism are further pursued, sometimes in tales of Zonker's 18th-century ancestors, tying in with the Bicentennial. There's no question that Mr. Harris is the star of the strip at this point, with not only the front cover but illustrations introducing each year, as well as being either focus of his own plot threads or support in the plot threads of others, including his talking plants. The title character doesn't seem to do much beyond answer the phone and watch TV. Not only is Nichole fading out as a character, but B.D. and Boopsie are given very little to do, separately or together. Rock star Jimmy Thudpucker and his pregnant wife Jenny are much more prominent than many of the original characters. Luckily, at this point anyway, the second team is equally interesting. We'll see how I feel about the next collection, which finishes off the Carter years.
This is my 500th review, so it's time to update the stats. As of A Child's Garden of Graffiti (1971), we had
1 F
3 F+s
2 D-s
5 D's
10 D+s
15 C-s
21 C's
73 C+s
126 B-s
101 B's
37 B+s
6 A-s
We did get a new F+, but no more D-s or D's. There's a new D+, another C-, and 5 more C's. There are 30 more C+s and 38 more B-s, but only 17 more B's and 6 more B+s. I said at the time, "I haven't seen an A- since Right Ho, Jeeves (1934). Hopefully that will change as we get deeper into the 1970s." And indeed in 1973 there was another A-.
G. B. Trudeau
Doonesbury's Greatest Hits: A Mid-Seventies Revue
Original price unknown, purchase price $7.95
Worn paperback
B
As with the earlier collection, Doonesbury remains more interesting and likable than funny. I could've done without so much of Zonker's "Uncle" Duke, but at least his adventures in Samoa and China give him good foils. Joanie continues to be the most changeable character, finishing up law school and then going to work for the winner in a congressional campaign that Joanie's roommate runs in. She also finds love with reporter Rick Redfern, after a false start with a gay friend. As elsewhere, Trudeau handles gay issues with respect and humor. Zonker, Mike, Mark, and B.D. continue to be perpetual college students, which Trudeau lampshades a bit. Interestingly, Mike's second wife, Kim, is introduced as a Vietnamese baby orphan adopted by L.A. Jews in 1975, although retcon would later reduce their age difference.
As I noted in my earlier review, this "mid-seventies" collection (actually covering 1975 to '77) is more pop-cultural, with not only Rick humiliated by his stint at People magazine, but Mark shifting to lighter topics on his radio show, such as jogging. Still, such issues as racism and feminism are further pursued, sometimes in tales of Zonker's 18th-century ancestors, tying in with the Bicentennial. There's no question that Mr. Harris is the star of the strip at this point, with not only the front cover but illustrations introducing each year, as well as being either focus of his own plot threads or support in the plot threads of others, including his talking plants. The title character doesn't seem to do much beyond answer the phone and watch TV. Not only is Nichole fading out as a character, but B.D. and Boopsie are given very little to do, separately or together. Rock star Jimmy Thudpucker and his pregnant wife Jenny are much more prominent than many of the original characters. Luckily, at this point anyway, the second team is equally interesting. We'll see how I feel about the next collection, which finishes off the Carter years.
This is my 500th review, so it's time to update the stats. As of A Child's Garden of Graffiti (1971), we had
1 F
3 F+s
2 D-s
5 D's
10 D+s
15 C-s
21 C's
73 C+s
126 B-s
101 B's
37 B+s
6 A-s
We did get a new F+, but no more D-s or D's. There's a new D+, another C-, and 5 more C's. There are 30 more C+s and 38 more B-s, but only 17 more B's and 6 more B+s. I said at the time, "I haven't seen an A- since Right Ho, Jeeves (1934). Hopefully that will change as we get deeper into the 1970s." And indeed in 1973 there was another A-.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Fads: America's Crazes, Fevers & Fancies
1978, undated later edition, from Crowell
Peter L. Skolnik, with Laura Torbet & Nikki Smith
Fads: America's Crazes, Fevers & Fancies, from the 1890's to the 1970's
Original price $5.95, purchase price $3.50
Worn paperback with "mutilation" by me (I put Zeppo's face over George Harrison's, and of course Groucho's over John Lennon's)
B-
In very roughly chronological order, Skolnik and friends trace over a century of America's fads. (Despite the subtitle, they actually start back in the 1860s, with croquet and roller skates.) Their definition of "fads" includes not just wacky products and practices,but enthusiasms that are political or spiritual. They offer explanations for why things caught on and then faded away, and in some cases, as with table tennis, came back again and again. They discuss how large a fad was-- some were very local-- and how people reacted, as with protests against goldfish-swallowing.
Beatlemania is of course is one of the fads, which is how I came to mutilate one page. (As I recall, I was overly impressed by parallels between the Marx Brothers and the Beatles.) As with Schaffner, the resurgence of Beatle fanship is also recognized. Also like Schaffner's book, there's full nudity, in the former case that of John & Yoko, here of several streakers.
Although the book doesn't address fads beyond 1976, there are a couple mentions of Carter (including a caricature of him brushing the Washington Monument with a toothbrush), and this amusing prediction: "We can speculate, but only precariously, about future fads: punk rock; more sophisticated computer games; satin boxing shorts a la Rocky; mopeds; and a fourth great roller-skating renaissance." Not bad, guys, not bad at all, although I'm sure roller discos weren't quite what you were expecting.
Peter L. Skolnik, with Laura Torbet & Nikki Smith
Fads: America's Crazes, Fevers & Fancies, from the 1890's to the 1970's
Original price $5.95, purchase price $3.50
Worn paperback with "mutilation" by me (I put Zeppo's face over George Harrison's, and of course Groucho's over John Lennon's)
B-
In very roughly chronological order, Skolnik and friends trace over a century of America's fads. (Despite the subtitle, they actually start back in the 1860s, with croquet and roller skates.) Their definition of "fads" includes not just wacky products and practices,but enthusiasms that are political or spiritual. They offer explanations for why things caught on and then faded away, and in some cases, as with table tennis, came back again and again. They discuss how large a fad was-- some were very local-- and how people reacted, as with protests against goldfish-swallowing.
Beatlemania is of course is one of the fads, which is how I came to mutilate one page. (As I recall, I was overly impressed by parallels between the Marx Brothers and the Beatles.) As with Schaffner, the resurgence of Beatle fanship is also recognized. Also like Schaffner's book, there's full nudity, in the former case that of John & Yoko, here of several streakers.
Although the book doesn't address fads beyond 1976, there are a couple mentions of Carter (including a caricature of him brushing the Washington Monument with a toothbrush), and this amusing prediction: "We can speculate, but only precariously, about future fads: punk rock; more sophisticated computer games; satin boxing shorts a la Rocky; mopeds; and a fourth great roller-skating renaissance." Not bad, guys, not bad at all, although I'm sure roller discos weren't quite what you were expecting.
More Zingers from The Hollywood Squares
1978, possibly first edition, from Popular Library
Compiled by Gail Sicilia
More Zingers from The Hollywood Squares
Original price $1.50, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B-
Not surprisingly, the funniest zingers come from Mr. Center Square, the late lamented Paul Lynde. (He died four years after this book came out, one year after the show was cancelled.) His campy, bitchy, kinky, and oh so politically incorrect humor shines through on nearly every line. I was also pleasantly surprised that most of the political, especially anti-Nixon, one-liners are his, as with
Q. In order to keep the monkeys in the zoo occupied, they are given something to pick apart. What?
A. The President's foreign policy.
One line that wouldn't seem as funny without going back to the 1970s mindset (which I can do easily, so it made me laugh) illustrates what The Queening of America (coming up in 1995) reveals as the tricky game Lynde played with the host, the audience, and his own identity.
Q. In the final scene of the classic movie On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando staggers up to a burly guy in an overcoat and the guy says "Let's...." Let's what?
A. Let's adopt.
Other times, it's just Lynde's absurdity, or even surrealism, that amuses me. The other contestants are hit or miss. If you like Rose Marie's horny spinster act and George Gobel's wimpy older guy act, you'll be pleased they're here, along with Vincent Price, Roddy McDowell, Carol Channing, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, Karen Valentine, future Squares host John Davidson, and of course Charo.
Along with a lot of sexual innuendo, there's also occasional drug humor. The only tasteless jokes that actually offended me were the ones about rape, and the one about an exploding maid. As near as I can tell the "real" answers are true, except about Henry VIII executing Jane Grey.
Sicilia not surprisingly compiled the first "Zingers" book, and went on to associate-produce a few 1980s Woody Allen movies.
Compiled by Gail Sicilia
More Zingers from The Hollywood Squares
Original price $1.50, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B-
Not surprisingly, the funniest zingers come from Mr. Center Square, the late lamented Paul Lynde. (He died four years after this book came out, one year after the show was cancelled.) His campy, bitchy, kinky, and oh so politically incorrect humor shines through on nearly every line. I was also pleasantly surprised that most of the political, especially anti-Nixon, one-liners are his, as with
Q. In order to keep the monkeys in the zoo occupied, they are given something to pick apart. What?
A. The President's foreign policy.
One line that wouldn't seem as funny without going back to the 1970s mindset (which I can do easily, so it made me laugh) illustrates what The Queening of America (coming up in 1995) reveals as the tricky game Lynde played with the host, the audience, and his own identity.
Q. In the final scene of the classic movie On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando staggers up to a burly guy in an overcoat and the guy says "Let's...." Let's what?
A. Let's adopt.
Other times, it's just Lynde's absurdity, or even surrealism, that amuses me. The other contestants are hit or miss. If you like Rose Marie's horny spinster act and George Gobel's wimpy older guy act, you'll be pleased they're here, along with Vincent Price, Roddy McDowell, Carol Channing, Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers, Karen Valentine, future Squares host John Davidson, and of course Charo.
Along with a lot of sexual innuendo, there's also occasional drug humor. The only tasteless jokes that actually offended me were the ones about rape, and the one about an exploding maid. As near as I can tell the "real" answers are true, except about Henry VIII executing Jane Grey.
Sicilia not surprisingly compiled the first "Zingers" book, and went on to associate-produce a few 1980s Woody Allen movies.
The Beatles Forever
1978, undated ca. 1983 McGraw-Hill edition
Nicholas Schaffner
The Beatles Forever
Original price $9.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B+
If you've noticed a sharp increase in the number of Beatles-related books on this blog, that's understandable. As Schaffner recalls, Beatles nostalgia began in 1974 with fanzines and conventions, and then became widespread a couple years later with the rerelease of much of their music. So by the time we get to '78, there are a lot of Beatles books out there. This book was originally published in 1977, as the references to the long hair of the new President show, but I'm going with '78 because of the epilogue, "And in the End," which includes not only updates on the four now middle-aged lads, but also mentions of three notable 1978 Beatle-inspired movies: not only infamous Sgt. Pepper, but also the charming I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Rutles.
Schaffner was an 11-year-old living in New York when the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and he writes from that perspective, emphasizing how the Beatles seemed to Americans, particularly adolescents, and sometimes telling of concerts he attended. (Not just for the Beatles as a group and as solo acts, but also Woodstock.) He also tells what it was like to be a male fan, although he's refreshingly unsexist about the enthusiasm of the female fans.
He has an intelligent but accessible style. He offers critiques of the music, without getting overly technical. He has a few writing tics (like too many puns on "Wings" and "Starr"), but overall this is easily the best written of the Beatles books so far, probably of all that I own. He's refreshingly even-handed, so that there's no sense of an agenda or even preference for one Beatle over another. As he says, in what he admits is very '60s symbolism, the four Beatles were like four elements (fiery John, airy Paul, watery George, and earthy Ringo) that worked better together than apart. And yet, he also acknowledges when they had critical and/or popular solo successes.
Schaffner would go on to write a children's book on the Beatles (which I don't think I've ever read), as well as The British Invasion, listed in this edition as his latest book. We'll look at it for 1983. And also that year, the book he cowrote with John's childhood friend, Pete Shotton, John Lennon in My Life.
Nicholas Schaffner
The Beatles Forever
Original price $9.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B+
If you've noticed a sharp increase in the number of Beatles-related books on this blog, that's understandable. As Schaffner recalls, Beatles nostalgia began in 1974 with fanzines and conventions, and then became widespread a couple years later with the rerelease of much of their music. So by the time we get to '78, there are a lot of Beatles books out there. This book was originally published in 1977, as the references to the long hair of the new President show, but I'm going with '78 because of the epilogue, "And in the End," which includes not only updates on the four now middle-aged lads, but also mentions of three notable 1978 Beatle-inspired movies: not only infamous Sgt. Pepper, but also the charming I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Rutles.
Schaffner was an 11-year-old living in New York when the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and he writes from that perspective, emphasizing how the Beatles seemed to Americans, particularly adolescents, and sometimes telling of concerts he attended. (Not just for the Beatles as a group and as solo acts, but also Woodstock.) He also tells what it was like to be a male fan, although he's refreshingly unsexist about the enthusiasm of the female fans.
He has an intelligent but accessible style. He offers critiques of the music, without getting overly technical. He has a few writing tics (like too many puns on "Wings" and "Starr"), but overall this is easily the best written of the Beatles books so far, probably of all that I own. He's refreshingly even-handed, so that there's no sense of an agenda or even preference for one Beatle over another. As he says, in what he admits is very '60s symbolism, the four Beatles were like four elements (fiery John, airy Paul, watery George, and earthy Ringo) that worked better together than apart. And yet, he also acknowledges when they had critical and/or popular solo successes.
Schaffner would go on to write a children's book on the Beatles (which I don't think I've ever read), as well as The British Invasion, listed in this edition as his latest book. We'll look at it for 1983. And also that year, the book he cowrote with John's childhood friend, Pete Shotton, John Lennon in My Life.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Rockwars!
1978, 1979 Doubleday edition
Anonymous but copyrighted by "Rockwars Company"
Rockwars!
Original price $6.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with stained spine
C
What is this thing? This was my third or fourth time reading it and I still can't do it justice. The fact that the author(s?) couldn't decide on how many exclamation points there should be in the title-- the cover shows none, the spine has one, and the title page has three-- shows that even the creator(s?) weren't too sure what the heck this book is. It's an early graphic novel. It's the story of aliens who form one or two (or is it three?) bands in order to inspire the Beatles (known in the text as "Sargent [sic] Pepper's band") to reunite, and the Beatles themselves show up because they've read the comic, and they discover that they are indeed aliens themselves. It's a collection of wordplay, and drug humor, and calls to higher consciousness, and insults to punk and disco. It's brightly colored and poorly drawn. It's got Satan as the recurring villain, although it's hardly a "Christian" story. It's the only book to blame the Beatles break-up on not only "a lawyer" but "the forces of darkness."
Has anyone else out there even heard of this thing? It may not be the weirdest book I own-- The Wonder City of Oz is arguably stranger-- but it might well be the most inexplicable.
Anonymous but copyrighted by "Rockwars Company"
Rockwars!
Original price $6.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with stained spine
C
What is this thing? This was my third or fourth time reading it and I still can't do it justice. The fact that the author(s?) couldn't decide on how many exclamation points there should be in the title-- the cover shows none, the spine has one, and the title page has three-- shows that even the creator(s?) weren't too sure what the heck this book is. It's an early graphic novel. It's the story of aliens who form one or two (or is it three?) bands in order to inspire the Beatles (known in the text as "Sargent [sic] Pepper's band") to reunite, and the Beatles themselves show up because they've read the comic, and they discover that they are indeed aliens themselves. It's a collection of wordplay, and drug humor, and calls to higher consciousness, and insults to punk and disco. It's brightly colored and poorly drawn. It's got Satan as the recurring villain, although it's hardly a "Christian" story. It's the only book to blame the Beatles break-up on not only "a lawyer" but "the forces of darkness."
Has anyone else out there even heard of this thing? It may not be the weirdest book I own-- The Wonder City of Oz is arguably stranger-- but it might well be the most inexplicable.
The Westing Game
1978, 1984 Avon edition
Ellen Raskin
The Westing Game
Possibly bought new, for $2.75
Worn paperback
B-
This is the book that won Raskin the Newbery, but I've always preferred The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) (1971), although that sadly was out of print for two or three decades, and I haven't yet picked up a copy. (I did check it out from the library though.) That book has twins, lots of purple, a more interesting puzzle to solve, playful illustrations, and much more heart. This one isn't bad. It's about on a level with the other Newberys I own (better than Julie of the Wolves, not as good as Island of the Blue Dolphins, equal to Wrinkle in Time and Terabithia). Strangely enough, its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. The sixteen heirs/suspects/sleuths are fairly diverse in age, class, and ethnicity. Unfortunately, there are just too many characters to keep track of for a medium-length preteen mystery. Turtle Wexler is closest to a heroine, but we spend time with each character, without getting to know any of them particularly well. In contrast, I cared and still care about Tony and Tina, and their adoptive mother Mrs. Carillon, and even mysterious Leon/Noel.
I can't really judge this book as a mystery. I think, as with Mysterious Disappearance, I figured out part of the puzzle as a child, but missed the main solution. Raskin's puzzles involve a lot of wordplay, and sometimes even syllable-play, which is still impressively clever.
Signs that this is set in the 1970s are not only the ways blacks, Asians, and handicapped people (or "cripples" as they were still known) are treated, but also Turtle's remark to her engaged sister Angela that no one gets married anymore. The book has a self-conscious feminism to it, as when Angela's position on a form changes from "none" (which her fiancé mishears as "nun") to "person." All of Raskin's characters in this book try to become their true selves, and I just wish those selves were more rounded.
Ellen Raskin
The Westing Game
Possibly bought new, for $2.75
Worn paperback
B-
This is the book that won Raskin the Newbery, but I've always preferred The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) (1971), although that sadly was out of print for two or three decades, and I haven't yet picked up a copy. (I did check it out from the library though.) That book has twins, lots of purple, a more interesting puzzle to solve, playful illustrations, and much more heart. This one isn't bad. It's about on a level with the other Newberys I own (better than Julie of the Wolves, not as good as Island of the Blue Dolphins, equal to Wrinkle in Time and Terabithia). Strangely enough, its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. The sixteen heirs/suspects/sleuths are fairly diverse in age, class, and ethnicity. Unfortunately, there are just too many characters to keep track of for a medium-length preteen mystery. Turtle Wexler is closest to a heroine, but we spend time with each character, without getting to know any of them particularly well. In contrast, I cared and still care about Tony and Tina, and their adoptive mother Mrs. Carillon, and even mysterious Leon/Noel.
I can't really judge this book as a mystery. I think, as with Mysterious Disappearance, I figured out part of the puzzle as a child, but missed the main solution. Raskin's puzzles involve a lot of wordplay, and sometimes even syllable-play, which is still impressively clever.
Signs that this is set in the 1970s are not only the ways blacks, Asians, and handicapped people (or "cripples" as they were still known) are treated, but also Turtle's remark to her engaged sister Angela that no one gets married anymore. The book has a self-conscious feminism to it, as when Angela's position on a form changes from "none" (which her fiancé mishears as "nun") to "person." All of Raskin's characters in this book try to become their true selves, and I just wish those selves were more rounded.
Beatles in Their Own Words
1978, Delilah/Putnam edition, from later that year
Compiled by Miles, edited by Pearce Marchbank
Beatles in Their Own Words
Original price $6.95, purchase price unknown
Slightly worn paperback
C+
A collection of Beatles quotes, arranged in a mix of chronologically and thematically, this doesn't really have too much you can't find elsewhere, numerous photos included. It is though I think the first of my books to mention Brian Epstein's homosexuality. (Cynthia Lennon glossed over it, along with much else, but as I said in my review of her book, she was somewhat naive.) The best part of this book is probably the one-liners delivered at press conferences. Ironically, these flippant remarks have aged better than the Beatles' musings. (No matter how often I encounter it, I have no idea what John Lennon meant by comparing American girls to 1940s horses.)
Compiled by Miles, edited by Pearce Marchbank
Beatles in Their Own Words
Original price $6.95, purchase price unknown
Slightly worn paperback
C+
A collection of Beatles quotes, arranged in a mix of chronologically and thematically, this doesn't really have too much you can't find elsewhere, numerous photos included. It is though I think the first of my books to mention Brian Epstein's homosexuality. (Cynthia Lennon glossed over it, along with much else, but as I said in my review of her book, she was somewhat naive.) The best part of this book is probably the one-liners delivered at press conferences. Ironically, these flippant remarks have aged better than the Beatles' musings. (No matter how often I encounter it, I have no idea what John Lennon meant by comparing American girls to 1940s horses.)
The Fifty Worst Films of All Time
1978, Popular Library edition, from later that year
Harry Medved with Randy Dreyfuss
The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way)
Original price unknown, purchase price $8.50
Worn paperback
C+
My ex-husband and I loved and collected bad movies, and we got our initial inspiration from a later of Harry's books with his brother Michael, Son of Golden Turkey Awards (1986), which I will discuss in its place. But I'm mentioning it now because we came up with the term Medveditis to cover certain annoying writing quirks that the brothers have. This book was actually cowritten by Michael (I'm not sure if cousin Randy contributed much), but he was initially worried that it would damage his credibility as a serious writer. He'd cowritten the acclaimed What Really Happened to the Class of '65?, with classmate David Wallechinsky, yes, of the Book of Lists family. In fact, there's a list in that first Book of Lists that has the ten worst films of all time.
Anyway, the symptoms of Medveditis:
1. Cutesy and/or pathetic attempts at humor
2. Inaccuracy
3. Accusations of sexism that are themselves sexist
4. Confusion over whether bad films are supposed to be enjoyably or painfully bad
This book has lots of the first symptom, and most of the time when it's genuinely funny, they're quoting some other critic. Since I haven't seen many of the films, I can't say how accurate the summaries are, but I can tell you after countless viewings of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, that far from "dozens of kids" attacking Volgar, a grand total of four kids attack Voldar. I understand this book was written before the days of VCRs, but that seems like an avoidable mistake.
As for the sexist accusations, they criticize Elvis's Spinout with this line: "Notice that he refers to girls as 'it' [no, Elvis refers to a situation as "it"] because in this film females are characterized exclusively by their buttocks, bosoms, and bikinis." And what does the caption say at the top of the page? "Elvis Presley proves irresistible to all the plump cuties in Spinout." The girls aren't overweight, but even if they were, this is hypocritical. Also, the Medveds say of tomboy Deborah Walley's protests that she's a girl, not a guy, "She has a Beatles haircut and assumes the role of bossy manager of the singing group, so what does she expect?"
I have seen Spinout, and it is one of the more enjoyably bad Elvis movies. I've also seen Robot Monster and some of the other So Bad They're Good movies in the book, but I don't really see the point in viewing bad movies that are just unpleasant, or boring. And ultimately, that's why, after much internal debate, I had to go with a C+ rather than a B- on this book. Even the introduction admits that these are not the fifty worst films of all time. They're just a representative sampling of different types of bad movies, and not even the worst of each category. I can tell you right off that although I've never seen Twilight on the Rio Grande (1948), it can't even be the worst Gene Autry movie. The Medveds would later write about The Phantom Empire, AKA Radio Ranch (1935), which has a surreal sci-fi subplot with some of the worst robot costumes I've ever seen.
Still, the Medveds did pave the way for MST3000 among other things, and although I sometimes wince at their writing, I do appreciate them getting the ball rolling. Disagree with them though you may, at least they put the topic on the table. OK, enough with the mixed metaphors. Maybe Medveditis is contagious.
Harry Medved with Randy Dreyfuss
The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way)
Original price unknown, purchase price $8.50
Worn paperback
C+
My ex-husband and I loved and collected bad movies, and we got our initial inspiration from a later of Harry's books with his brother Michael, Son of Golden Turkey Awards (1986), which I will discuss in its place. But I'm mentioning it now because we came up with the term Medveditis to cover certain annoying writing quirks that the brothers have. This book was actually cowritten by Michael (I'm not sure if cousin Randy contributed much), but he was initially worried that it would damage his credibility as a serious writer. He'd cowritten the acclaimed What Really Happened to the Class of '65?, with classmate David Wallechinsky, yes, of the Book of Lists family. In fact, there's a list in that first Book of Lists that has the ten worst films of all time.
Anyway, the symptoms of Medveditis:
1. Cutesy and/or pathetic attempts at humor
2. Inaccuracy
3. Accusations of sexism that are themselves sexist
4. Confusion over whether bad films are supposed to be enjoyably or painfully bad
This book has lots of the first symptom, and most of the time when it's genuinely funny, they're quoting some other critic. Since I haven't seen many of the films, I can't say how accurate the summaries are, but I can tell you after countless viewings of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, that far from "dozens of kids" attacking Volgar, a grand total of four kids attack Voldar. I understand this book was written before the days of VCRs, but that seems like an avoidable mistake.
As for the sexist accusations, they criticize Elvis's Spinout with this line: "Notice that he refers to girls as 'it' [no, Elvis refers to a situation as "it"] because in this film females are characterized exclusively by their buttocks, bosoms, and bikinis." And what does the caption say at the top of the page? "Elvis Presley proves irresistible to all the plump cuties in Spinout." The girls aren't overweight, but even if they were, this is hypocritical. Also, the Medveds say of tomboy Deborah Walley's protests that she's a girl, not a guy, "She has a Beatles haircut and assumes the role of bossy manager of the singing group, so what does she expect?"
I have seen Spinout, and it is one of the more enjoyably bad Elvis movies. I've also seen Robot Monster and some of the other So Bad They're Good movies in the book, but I don't really see the point in viewing bad movies that are just unpleasant, or boring. And ultimately, that's why, after much internal debate, I had to go with a C+ rather than a B- on this book. Even the introduction admits that these are not the fifty worst films of all time. They're just a representative sampling of different types of bad movies, and not even the worst of each category. I can tell you right off that although I've never seen Twilight on the Rio Grande (1948), it can't even be the worst Gene Autry movie. The Medveds would later write about The Phantom Empire, AKA Radio Ranch (1935), which has a surreal sci-fi subplot with some of the worst robot costumes I've ever seen.
Still, the Medveds did pave the way for MST3000 among other things, and although I sometimes wince at their writing, I do appreciate them getting the ball rolling. Disagree with them though you may, at least they put the topic on the table. OK, enough with the mixed metaphors. Maybe Medveditis is contagious.
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