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.
Monday, November 12, 2012
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.
A Twist of Lennon
1978, 1980 Star Book edition
Cynthia Lennon
A Twist of Lennon
Original price $5.75 (CAN), purchase price $3.50 (AMER)
Slightly worn paperback
B
Although Lennon starts with a funny account of her pregnant mum's evacuation to Lancashire in the early days of WWII, the book focuses on her decade with first husband John. The title is a play on two of her married names, since she was married to another John, John Twist, from '76 to '83. In between there was a marriage to Roberto Bassanini, who's mentioned briefly towards the end. John L. had the gall to threaten to sue Cynthia for adultery, when he was increasingly publicly carrying on with Yoko. Cynthia claims nothing was going on with Bassanini at the time, but even if there were, how many groupies did John bed?
Still, Cynthia doesn't seem to have held a grudge, and claims she knew immediately (before John did) that Yoko was his soulmate. After the divorce from Twist, she went back to Lennon as her last name, keeping it even during her present marriage, to Noel Charles. She seems to have always adored John Lennon, always forgiven him. Interestingly, she doesn't mention his violence towards her, although he was open about it, as in the song "Getting Better." She also omits the Beatles' drug use in Hamburg. Perhaps she was unaware of what life was like for the band while touring, and she does admit to being naive. According to Wikipedia, in 2005 she "published a more intimate biography, John." Perhaps by then it was easier to talk about the more personal things. I'm not even sure if this edition was published before or after his death, although I don't think it was because there's no mention of his death even on the back cover blurb.
The book includes some kind of bad poetry, and some hit or miss illustrations, yet I found that they added to the charm of the (auto)biography, reinforcing respectively her sensitivity and sense of humour. There's no question that she's a survivor, and I like that she tried to do the best by everyone, including son Julian, whom she raised almost single-handedly. When John also threatened to take Julian away, I got really angry at him, because he'd spent almost no time with his son, as he later admitted. Yet even this, Cynthia quickly forgave.
At 73, her identity seems to still be primarily as John's first wife, but considering what he put her through, she can herself be forgiven for that.
Cynthia Lennon
A Twist of Lennon
Original price $5.75 (CAN), purchase price $3.50 (AMER)
Slightly worn paperback
B
Although Lennon starts with a funny account of her pregnant mum's evacuation to Lancashire in the early days of WWII, the book focuses on her decade with first husband John. The title is a play on two of her married names, since she was married to another John, John Twist, from '76 to '83. In between there was a marriage to Roberto Bassanini, who's mentioned briefly towards the end. John L. had the gall to threaten to sue Cynthia for adultery, when he was increasingly publicly carrying on with Yoko. Cynthia claims nothing was going on with Bassanini at the time, but even if there were, how many groupies did John bed?
Still, Cynthia doesn't seem to have held a grudge, and claims she knew immediately (before John did) that Yoko was his soulmate. After the divorce from Twist, she went back to Lennon as her last name, keeping it even during her present marriage, to Noel Charles. She seems to have always adored John Lennon, always forgiven him. Interestingly, she doesn't mention his violence towards her, although he was open about it, as in the song "Getting Better." She also omits the Beatles' drug use in Hamburg. Perhaps she was unaware of what life was like for the band while touring, and she does admit to being naive. According to Wikipedia, in 2005 she "published a more intimate biography, John." Perhaps by then it was easier to talk about the more personal things. I'm not even sure if this edition was published before or after his death, although I don't think it was because there's no mention of his death even on the back cover blurb.
The book includes some kind of bad poetry, and some hit or miss illustrations, yet I found that they added to the charm of the (auto)biography, reinforcing respectively her sensitivity and sense of humour. There's no question that she's a survivor, and I like that she tried to do the best by everyone, including son Julian, whom she raised almost single-handedly. When John also threatened to take Julian away, I got really angry at him, because he'd spent almost no time with his son, as he later admitted. Yet even this, Cynthia quickly forgave.
At 73, her identity seems to still be primarily as John's first wife, but considering what he put her through, she can herself be forgiven for that.
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