1977, first edition, from Archie Comic Publications
Archie Comics
Little Archie Comics Digest Annual, No. 1
Bought new for 95 cents
Poor condition paperback
B-
Even as a 9-year-old, I didn't like the "Little Archie" stories as much as those of him and the gang as teenagers. (And why do all his peers call him "Little Archie"? They're just as little as he is, except Moose and Fangs Fogarty.) Yet, I did for the most part enjoy revisiting this collection, although part of that is because it has three stories about Betty's relationships with her teenage siblings, Chick (a boy) and Polly. I also liked the two stories where Archie befriends aliens. And the summer-camp story shows Betty and Veronica as brave and quick-thinking.
I don't know what to make of Super Duck. A quick Wikipedia check shows that he was originally a Superman parody, but in the stories here he acts like a more cynical, hornier version of the suburban duck characters Donald and Daffy. His stories don't particularly work, but they do offer a more grown-up sensibility and at least are not as bland as Little Sabrina or Li'l Jinx. (But I will admit to having a soft spot for the latter because I always thought she was being raised by a widowed father, as I was. Too bad she was seldom given much interesting to do.)
Despite the '77 publication date, the stories in here mostly have more of a late '50s to early '60s look, as with the mad scientist's teen sidekick combing his Kookie-like pompadour. Since this was in some ways the golden age of Archie comics, that adds to the fun. On the other hand, Li'l Jinx's friends Russ and Roz have huge early '70s afros, and Russ is wearing a peace sign shirt.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
1976, 1977 Avon edition
Donald Zochert
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Original price $2.50, purchase price unknown
Very worn paperback
C+
At the time this book came out, the Little House TV-series had been on for a couple years, so perhaps not surprisingly the Laura on the front cover looks like Melissa Gilbert, although the rest of the family doesn't resemble the people on the show or real life. It's the back cover that will make you do a double-take, since grown-up Laura is wearing a shirt unbuttoned to the waist, with a bodice underneath, as she and Almanzo eye each other.
As for the content of the book, Zochert does fill in a bit of the parts of Laura's life that her books didn't cover, but the last chapter spans over 70 years, and surely he could've gone into more detail on her adulthood. I didn't see the point into discussing which neighbors lived where, especially those who appear hardly or not at all in the books. It is interesting that Nellie Oleson is a composite of two snooty town girls (who were actually rivals). But mostly Zochert is either rehashing the books or adding unimportant details. Also, his style is off, not quite for children or adults, and I swear he twice on one page says that 1876 was the Centennial Year.
Still, it's a quick, light read and the eight pages of photos are good.
Donald Zochert
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Original price $2.50, purchase price unknown
Very worn paperback
C+
At the time this book came out, the Little House TV-series had been on for a couple years, so perhaps not surprisingly the Laura on the front cover looks like Melissa Gilbert, although the rest of the family doesn't resemble the people on the show or real life. It's the back cover that will make you do a double-take, since grown-up Laura is wearing a shirt unbuttoned to the waist, with a bodice underneath, as she and Almanzo eye each other.
As for the content of the book, Zochert does fill in a bit of the parts of Laura's life that her books didn't cover, but the last chapter spans over 70 years, and surely he could've gone into more detail on her adulthood. I didn't see the point into discussing which neighbors lived where, especially those who appear hardly or not at all in the books. It is interesting that Nellie Oleson is a composite of two snooty town girls (who were actually rivals). But mostly Zochert is either rehashing the books or adding unimportant details. Also, his style is off, not quite for children or adults, and I swear he twice on one page says that 1876 was the Centennial Year.
Still, it's a quick, light read and the eight pages of photos are good.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!
1976, 1989 Laurel-Leaf edition
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!
Original price $6.95, purchase price $3.95
Good condition paperback
C+
On a level with the better known Slaughterhouse-Five, this is even stranger, although only marginally funnier. (OK, I did enjoy the Kleindienst joke right after reading the Watergate books.) Again, his writing doesn't work well as either political satire or sci-fi. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain has the advantage over Billy Pilgrim of being the narrator, and less of a nonentity, but the book isn't any deeper. I think I've only read it once before, and that was just because I'd heard that the movie version (Slapstick of Another Kind) had Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn. (I still haven't seen it.) As with Slaughterhouse, you won't be bored by this book, but it doesn't add up to anything other than a time-killer.
Oh, and the writing tic this time is "hi ho" rather than "so it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!
Original price $6.95, purchase price $3.95
Good condition paperback
C+
On a level with the better known Slaughterhouse-Five, this is even stranger, although only marginally funnier. (OK, I did enjoy the Kleindienst joke right after reading the Watergate books.) Again, his writing doesn't work well as either political satire or sci-fi. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain has the advantage over Billy Pilgrim of being the narrator, and less of a nonentity, but the book isn't any deeper. I think I've only read it once before, and that was just because I'd heard that the movie version (Slapstick of Another Kind) had Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn. (I still haven't seen it.) As with Slaughterhouse, you won't be bored by this book, but it doesn't add up to anything other than a time-killer.
Oh, and the writing tic this time is "hi ho" rather than "so it goes."
1876: A Novel
1976, 1981 Ballantine edition
Gore Vidal
1876: A Novel
Original price $3.50, purchase price $1.75
Very worn paperback
B
This is as good as its predecessor, Burr. We rejoin Charlie Schuyler about 40 years after he left America, as he returns shortly before the Centennial. (Despite the title, one-third of the book takes place in 1875, with some significant chapters at the end set in the first few months of '77.) The most interesting threads are the "stolen" presidential election and Charlie's widowed daughter Emma's matrimonial schemes. Obviously, this was a post-Watergate book, but it was also ironic to read in late 2000, especially the part about the contested vote in Florida. It's interesting that Vidal focuses on the "loser," Tilden, rather than the "winner," Hayes. Even future-to-1877 Presidents Garfield and Arthur are more prominent. There are also a lot of lesser-known politicians, like Conkling and Blaine, that I found hard to keep track of. I wish that Vidal had spent more time on the pivotal months of November to March, but I suppose he was building up to it.
And meanwhile Emma neglects her fiancé to "befriend" Mrs. Sanford, pretending she's uncomfortable with Mr. Sanford's interest. She talks Mrs. Sanford into a risky pregnancy, pretending to have advice from a notorious midwife/abortionist. After Mrs. Sanford dies bearing son Blaise (of Washington, D.C.), Emma marries Mr. Sanford. They'll go on to have daughter Caroline, who's in Empire (coming up in 1987, but first there'll be Lincoln).
The Emma plot plays off of the election plot in that Schuyler thinks he's wise and cynical, but he in fact trusts where he shouldn't. It's a novel of secrets and the twists, both historical and fictional, add layers to a reread.
Gore Vidal
1876: A Novel
Original price $3.50, purchase price $1.75
Very worn paperback
B
This is as good as its predecessor, Burr. We rejoin Charlie Schuyler about 40 years after he left America, as he returns shortly before the Centennial. (Despite the title, one-third of the book takes place in 1875, with some significant chapters at the end set in the first few months of '77.) The most interesting threads are the "stolen" presidential election and Charlie's widowed daughter Emma's matrimonial schemes. Obviously, this was a post-Watergate book, but it was also ironic to read in late 2000, especially the part about the contested vote in Florida. It's interesting that Vidal focuses on the "loser," Tilden, rather than the "winner," Hayes. Even future-to-1877 Presidents Garfield and Arthur are more prominent. There are also a lot of lesser-known politicians, like Conkling and Blaine, that I found hard to keep track of. I wish that Vidal had spent more time on the pivotal months of November to March, but I suppose he was building up to it.
And meanwhile Emma neglects her fiancé to "befriend" Mrs. Sanford, pretending she's uncomfortable with Mr. Sanford's interest. She talks Mrs. Sanford into a risky pregnancy, pretending to have advice from a notorious midwife/abortionist. After Mrs. Sanford dies bearing son Blaise (of Washington, D.C.), Emma marries Mr. Sanford. They'll go on to have daughter Caroline, who's in Empire (coming up in 1987, but first there'll be Lincoln).
The Emma plot plays off of the election plot in that Schuyler thinks he's wise and cynical, but he in fact trusts where he shouldn't. It's a novel of secrets and the twists, both historical and fictional, add layers to a reread.
Friday, October 5, 2012
The Time of Illusion
1976, possibly first paperback edition, from Vintage Books
Jonathan Schell
The Time of Illusion
Original price $3.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with torn backcover
B
Schell approaches "the Nixon era" from a different angle than Lukas, so that the books complement each other. For instance, Agnew is almost absent from Lukas's book, except in the chapter named after him, while here Agnew is a key figure in the Nixon administration's crafting of image. The title refers to the way that Nixon and his staff tried to shape reality, and resented other interpretations, by press, other politicians, and ordinary Americans. There's much more interpretation than in Nightmare, and in fact less focus on Watergate and other scandals, or only to the degree that they contained the seeds of disillusionment.
Although not a feminist writer as such, Schell's discussion of the ways that nuclear power paradoxically made the President and his predecessors feel impotent-- and yes, there is a sexual element to that, as when Agnew called people "eunuchs" and JFK worried about the U.S. seeming soft-- that no one in my collection has addressed as yet, but which prefigures Helen Caldicott. (The revised version of Missile Envy will be in 1986). He also talks about the reasons why Nixon would deliberately contradict himself, for instance, sometimes posing as a war leader and other times as a man of peace, which suggests that many of the inconsistencies in I Want to Make One Thing Perfectly Clear were on purpose.
Just as Nightmare began in The New York Times Magazine, most of this book had previously appeared in The New Yorker. He'd earlier reported on the Vietnam War, and went on to oppose the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Like Caldicott, he remains an anti-nuclear activist.
Jonathan Schell
The Time of Illusion
Original price $3.95, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback with torn backcover
B
Schell approaches "the Nixon era" from a different angle than Lukas, so that the books complement each other. For instance, Agnew is almost absent from Lukas's book, except in the chapter named after him, while here Agnew is a key figure in the Nixon administration's crafting of image. The title refers to the way that Nixon and his staff tried to shape reality, and resented other interpretations, by press, other politicians, and ordinary Americans. There's much more interpretation than in Nightmare, and in fact less focus on Watergate and other scandals, or only to the degree that they contained the seeds of disillusionment.
Although not a feminist writer as such, Schell's discussion of the ways that nuclear power paradoxically made the President and his predecessors feel impotent-- and yes, there is a sexual element to that, as when Agnew called people "eunuchs" and JFK worried about the U.S. seeming soft-- that no one in my collection has addressed as yet, but which prefigures Helen Caldicott. (The revised version of Missile Envy will be in 1986). He also talks about the reasons why Nixon would deliberately contradict himself, for instance, sometimes posing as a war leader and other times as a man of peace, which suggests that many of the inconsistencies in I Want to Make One Thing Perfectly Clear were on purpose.
Just as Nightmare began in The New York Times Magazine, most of this book had previously appeared in The New Yorker. He'd earlier reported on the Vietnam War, and went on to oppose the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Like Caldicott, he remains an anti-nuclear activist.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs
1976, 1978 Ballantine edition
Linda McCartney
Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs
Original price $9.95, purchase price $25.00
Worn paperback
B-
These are McCartney's photos of rock stars (including the Beatles), other celebrities, and her family, the latter then including not only husband Paul but daughters Heather (by her first husband), Mary, and Stella. (Only son James was born the year after this book came out.) Some of the photos are quite good-- the one of Crosby, Stills, and Nash is probably my favorite-- but some feel like filler (like the stacked cups at the Apple studio), and I have to mark the book down a notch because I don't recognize many of the stars. (There is a list of plates.) Also, rather than a rambling introduction, I'd prefer captions to each photo. Still, if you can get past the glurgy blurb on the back ("She was the beautiful, energetic American girl who charmed the Prince Charming of THE BEATLES..."), you'll find that she was a very talented amateur photographer.
Linda McCartney
Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs
Original price $9.95, purchase price $25.00
Worn paperback
B-
These are McCartney's photos of rock stars (including the Beatles), other celebrities, and her family, the latter then including not only husband Paul but daughters Heather (by her first husband), Mary, and Stella. (Only son James was born the year after this book came out.) Some of the photos are quite good-- the one of Crosby, Stills, and Nash is probably my favorite-- but some feel like filler (like the stacked cups at the Apple studio), and I have to mark the book down a notch because I don't recognize many of the stars. (There is a list of plates.) Also, rather than a rambling introduction, I'd prefer captions to each photo. Still, if you can get past the glurgy blurb on the back ("She was the beautiful, energetic American girl who charmed the Prince Charming of THE BEATLES..."), you'll find that she was a very talented amateur photographer.
Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years
1976, possibly first edition, from Viking Press
J. Anthony Lukas
Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years
Original price unknown, purchase price $9.00
Good condition hardcover with dustjacket falling apart
B
Lukas brings together the various strands of Watergate and other corruption in the Nixon administration. He also has mini-profiles of key figures, including investigators in the press and government. The book is very detailed, and at times overwhelming. I'd like to give it a B+ because the material is sometimes fascinating, but I found the first five chapters a bit slow, though things pick up with the pre-Watergate "dirty tricks" of the 1972 campaign.
As I noted in the review of The Fireside Watergate, there is much that is ridiculous or even surreal-- Hunt's red wig that fooled no one, the compulsion to bug everyone including Nixon's brother, the Disneyworld speech, and so on-- and Lukas is adept at bringing that out. But he also addresses larger issues of ethics, and he is at times compassionate even towards Nixon. The book began as a series of articles in The New York Times Magazine, and I think that may be part of why it feels so unwieldy, although that's also due to the length (600+ pages). It's not entirely Lukas's fault that the book doesn't quite feel like one cohesive, coherent whole. He's dealing with a lot of chaos (and CHAOS, the domestic espionage program whose name is ironic to anyone who watched Get Smart), and there's only so much order that can be made of it.
I have a clear memory of being 5 or 6 and annoyed at my father watching the Watergate hearings all the time. I thought, "It's just like the World Series. They have this every year." Of course, when the Iran-Contra hearings came along, I listened on the radio as much as I could. (I was away at college, without a TV.) I started buying books on Watergate not long after, partly because Reagan didn't get removed from office. Reading this book now, I'm struck by all the familiar names, not necessarily involved in the scandal and some mentioned only in passing. Among them, McGovern aide Gary Hart, Kansas Senator Bob Dole, Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale (on the Enemies List), Oregon Senator Bob Packwood (saying in part, "All of us, Mr. President, whether we're in politics or not have weaknesses....For still others, it's women"), Texas millionaire H. Ross Perot, and of course future Presidents Reagan and Bush, Sr. Conspicuous by his absence is the Governor of Georgia, but he wasn't yet a national figure. Being "Jimmy who?" was to his advantage.
Of course, when Reagan defeated Carter in 1980, he hired some people who'd served Nixon, including Alexander Haig, who'd helped convince Nixon it was time to resign. So that made this book really weird to read in the late 1980s.
J. Anthony Lukas
Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years
Original price unknown, purchase price $9.00
Good condition hardcover with dustjacket falling apart
B
Lukas brings together the various strands of Watergate and other corruption in the Nixon administration. He also has mini-profiles of key figures, including investigators in the press and government. The book is very detailed, and at times overwhelming. I'd like to give it a B+ because the material is sometimes fascinating, but I found the first five chapters a bit slow, though things pick up with the pre-Watergate "dirty tricks" of the 1972 campaign.
As I noted in the review of The Fireside Watergate, there is much that is ridiculous or even surreal-- Hunt's red wig that fooled no one, the compulsion to bug everyone including Nixon's brother, the Disneyworld speech, and so on-- and Lukas is adept at bringing that out. But he also addresses larger issues of ethics, and he is at times compassionate even towards Nixon. The book began as a series of articles in The New York Times Magazine, and I think that may be part of why it feels so unwieldy, although that's also due to the length (600+ pages). It's not entirely Lukas's fault that the book doesn't quite feel like one cohesive, coherent whole. He's dealing with a lot of chaos (and CHAOS, the domestic espionage program whose name is ironic to anyone who watched Get Smart), and there's only so much order that can be made of it.
I have a clear memory of being 5 or 6 and annoyed at my father watching the Watergate hearings all the time. I thought, "It's just like the World Series. They have this every year." Of course, when the Iran-Contra hearings came along, I listened on the radio as much as I could. (I was away at college, without a TV.) I started buying books on Watergate not long after, partly because Reagan didn't get removed from office. Reading this book now, I'm struck by all the familiar names, not necessarily involved in the scandal and some mentioned only in passing. Among them, McGovern aide Gary Hart, Kansas Senator Bob Dole, Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale (on the Enemies List), Oregon Senator Bob Packwood (saying in part, "All of us, Mr. President, whether we're in politics or not have weaknesses....For still others, it's women"), Texas millionaire H. Ross Perot, and of course future Presidents Reagan and Bush, Sr. Conspicuous by his absence is the Governor of Georgia, but he wasn't yet a national figure. Being "Jimmy who?" was to his advantage.
Of course, when Reagan defeated Carter in 1980, he hired some people who'd served Nixon, including Alexander Haig, who'd helped convince Nixon it was time to resign. So that made this book really weird to read in the late 1980s.
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