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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 17, 2018 12:18:17 GMT -5
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I read this when it first came out in 2006. But I haven't read it since and had retained only the very basics of the plot. But I'm catching up with Moore's later work, so I decided to re-read it before I got to its sequel. Charlie Asher, our protagonist, is portrayed as the quintessential everyman. He has a business, a lovely wife and they are expecting their first child. Then Charlie's life takes a dark turn as people start dropping dead around him. Because Charlie has become death...or at least a death merchant. Oh...and dark mythological forces are in the sewers of San Francisco building up strength to bring on an age of darkness. And it may be up to Charlie to stop them...if he doesn't end up screwing up enough to let them complete their plan. This is good solid Moore. Despite (or possibly because of) the dark premise there is plenty of dark Mooreian humor. We get the return of Emperor Norton, Minty Fresh and Det. Rivera as well as a brief cameo by Jodi the Vampire. The twist at the end is pretty forseeable, but that's fine. Moore gives us a number of fully realized supporting characters who are probably more interesting than Charlie, which isn't that unusual for the author. I think what keeps this from being top-tier Moore is that Charlie is really never what he's portrayed to be. He's not really an everyman (or beta male as he's called in the book, a phrase that has aged very poorly). Here's a guy who has a great relationship with a lovely woman who clearly loves him. He owns a building in San Francisco. He has a successful business. Because of the nature of the business he wears expensive designer suits for a fraction of the price. By every measure Charlie is great success. And as such, part of the "downtrodden" hero thing rings false. That aside the book is very funny and is solid middle tier Moore...always well worth a read.
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Post by berkley on Aug 17, 2018 23:11:07 GMT -5
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I meant to ask this before, which are the best Christopher Moores to start with? Are there spoilers if you read them out of order?
It'll probably be some years before I get around to trying them but thought I might as well ask now since the subject came up.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 17, 2018 23:23:10 GMT -5
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I meant to ask this before, which are the best Christopher Moores to start with? Are there spoilers if you read them out of order?
It'll probably be some years before I get around to trying them but thought I might as well ask now since the subject came up.
There aren’t really any significant spoilers. There are some characters that show up in later books, but overall it’s not important to know where they came from. It’s more of an Easter egg than a plot point. The first one I read was The Stupidest Angel, still one of my favorites. My other favorite is probably Lamb. I haven’t read a stinker from him. Coyote Blue and Fluke are probably the weakest. Fool (and presumably it’s sequel though I haven’t read it yet) stand completely alone because of their nature. Fool is also one of his stronger novels.
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Post by berkley on Aug 18, 2018 0:05:25 GMT -5
I meant to ask this before, which are the best Christopher Moores to start with? Are there spoilers if you read them out of order?
It'll probably be some years before I get around to trying them but thought I might as well ask now since the subject came up.
There aren’t really any significant spoilers. There are some characters that show up in later books, but overall it’s not important to know where they came from. It’s more of an Easter egg than a plot point. The first one I read was The Stupidest Angel, still one of my favorites. My other favorite is probably Lamb. I haven’t read a stinker from him. Coyote Blue and Fluke are probably the weakest. Fool (and presumably it’s sequel though I haven’t read it yet) stand completely alone because of their nature. Fool is also one of his stronger novels. Thanks, that gives me something to work with.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 18, 2018 4:03:09 GMT -5
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson This is one that has literally been sitting on my shelf of shame for a good 10 years. It's a very unusual but very well-crafted SF story; the narration and dialogue are all written in a Caribbean patois, which takes a few pages to get used to, but once it clicks in your brain it really adds to the experience. Otherwise, it's hard to describe in just a few sentences. It's set on two different planets: initially on Toussaint, an Earth colony at some point in the future settled mainly by Caribbean islanders, and then Half-Way Tree, an extra-dimensional planet to which criminal offenders from Toussaint are sent as punishment. The main character, Tan-Tan, ends up on the latter at the age of 7 when her father is on the run from the authorities for murder with her in tow; he flees through the dimensional portal before he can be formally exiled. Half-Way Tree is not the technological paradise that Toussaint is, and it's filled with often frightening creatures - which the humans named after the monsters from West Indian folklore that they resemble. The rest of the story is ultimately how Tan-Tan grows to adulthood in this milieu. I guess it can be described as a coming of age story, but that's a simplifying it a bit, and this is definitely NOT a YA novel - the story takes some really dark turns. The writing style is, as I said, unique, and it's interspersed with 'folk tales' about Tan-Tan's life, which are extrapolated from real life events. There was a time when - after finishing this - I would have just sought out everything else I could find by the same author, but at this point in my life, with such an immense backlog of stuff to read, that's not going to happen. However, based on this book, I can say that Hopkinson is a fantastic writer.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 20, 2018 8:16:15 GMT -5
While watching my 1930/1940 westerns Sunday I had the itch to read up on these wild an woolly western movies and dug out the book: A Pictorial History of the Western Film by William K. Everson. Printed back in 1969 this time focuses on the early history of western films during the silent era and up through the 69's. It does a great job of capturing these early era westerns and is filled with tons of pictures. Not a lot of insights to be provided as it seeks only to speak of the cowboy stars and the heroic adventures the gave to us during the Saturday matinee hey days. I found this book back in the mid 70's as i was entering high school and it's profuse pictures and names inspired me to seeking out the old B western stars whenever I can find them on DVD. The likes of Tom Mix, Bob Steele, Tex Ritter, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy, Johnny Mack Brown, Tom Tyler, Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, Harry Carey and others are true thrilling cowboy stars of the screen that kids idolized and provided dreams with hope of becoming cowboy's ourselves one day.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 20, 2018 12:09:51 GMT -5
Cut Me In by Ed McBain (as Hunt Collins) This is the first thing I've read by McBain (or Evan Hunter for that matter). I'm very familiar with his reputation, but police procedurals are not my bag and I've not yet gotten around to reading anything he wrote under the Hunter name. And Holy Crap...I wasn't expecting this. This book made me lose sleep. It hit me in the way the best of Stark's Parker books and the best of Fair's Cool & Lam books did...I just had to keep reading. Which is not to say that it's as good as Parker or as fun as Cool & Lam at their best. But it's damn compelling. And it was a chore to put it down. That's significant praise. Josh Blake's partner has been murdered. Blake is convinced it is because of television rights squired by his office that could queer a huge movie deal. The police detective in charge of the investigation disagrees and is looking for a less arcane motive. Blake get's pulled into his own investigation while trying to save the deal that will make the firm a lot of money. Along the way there are a number of beautiful femme's fatale, tough-guy goons, a few more murders and a number of twists and turns. The book straddles the line between hard-boiled detective (Blake isn't a detective and isn't actively investigating the death, but gets pulled in) and the literary noir of the Gold Medal stripe that was prevalent in the early 50s. It also teeters on the edge of the more exploitative paperback originals of the time. Blake isn't particularly likeable. But then none of the characters are terribly likeable. But that doesn't really matter because the book is moves along at a compelling pace and is just a fun read. It's definitely helped by the setting...the world of book and story publishing that is certainly unusual in a book of this type. And the ending while a bit silly is saved by the fact that the identity and motive of the killer are pitch perfect. A really solid read that makes it a pretty sound bet I'll be reading McBain's other Hard Case books sooner rather than later.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 20, 2018 14:20:40 GMT -5
If I didn't have such a backlog of just crime/thriller books (by MacDonald, Mosley, Grafton, Block, etc.) I'd probably give McBain's stuff a look, because your review isn't the first time I've heard good things about his work. Otherwise, though, I'm always tempted by anything published under the Hard Case imprint, esp. when it has a McGinnis cover...
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 20, 2018 14:52:45 GMT -5
If I didn't have such a backlog of just crime/thriller books (by MacDonald, Mosley, Grafton, Block, etc.) I'd probably give McBain's stuff a look, because your review isn't the first time I've heard good things about his work. Otherwise, though, I'm always tempted by anything published under the Hard Case imprint, esp. when it has a McGinnis cover... Too many books. Too little time.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 22, 2018 12:55:20 GMT -5
Sal Buscema: Comics' Fast & Furious Artist by Jim Amash Our Pal Sal Buscema gets the Twomorrows treatment with a book-length interview covering his life and career with a plethora of art-work. If you're familiar with the Twomorrows artist bios you know what you're going to get and this is in the classic format. This one was interesting to get Sal's inside view of his brother John and to see Sal's view of comics. While it was clear that Sal loved comics it was also clear that it was a business for him and he was there to make money. Sal unjustly has been labeled a hack by some based on the sheer amount of work that he was doing at certain points. But he makes it clear that he was doing that at behest of Marvel because they weren't getting the quality of artwork they wanted. Enter Sal to do a ton of breakdowns for lesser story-tellers to work from. It was also a bit refreshing that, while he was never brutal, Sal was willing to share a bit of the bad with the good. He lets it be known that he feels that Bill Mantlo was to blame for him leaving The Hulk. He talks at some length about Jim Shooter and the Spider-Man wedding issue that was originally to be drawn by Sal. And he is fairly candid about which inkers he liked on his pencils and which he didn't...and whose work he liked to ink. And apparently John didn't like anyone inking his work...not even really Sal. Well...maybe Dan Adkins. It's a fun quick read and a nice peek into the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics...which was my age.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 22, 2018 13:07:29 GMT -5
Sal Buscema: Comics' Fast & Furious Artist by Jim Amash Our Pal Sal Buscema gets the Twomorrows treatment with a book-length interview covering his life and career with a plethora of art-work. If you're familiar with the Twomorrows artist bios you know what you're going to get and this is in the classic format. This one was interesting to get Sal's inside view of his brother John and to see Sal's view of comics. While it was clear that Sal loved comics it was also clear that it was a business for him and he was there to make money. Sal unjustly has been labeled a hack by some based on the sheer amount of work that he was doing at certain points. But he makes it clear that he was doing that at behest of Marvel because they weren't getting the quality of artwork they wanted. Enter Sal to do a ton of breakdowns for lesser story-tellers to work from. It was also a bit refreshing that, while he was never brutal, Sal was willing to share a bit of the bad with the good. He lets it be known that he feels that Bill Mantlo was to blame for him leaving The Hulk. He talks at some length about Jim Shooter and the Spider-Man wedding issue that was originally to be drawn by Sal. And he is fairly candid about which inkers he liked on his pencils and which he didn't...and whose work he liked to ink. And apparently John didn't like anyone inking his work...not even really Sal. Well...maybe Dan Adkins. It's a fun quick read and a nice peek into the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics...which was my age. Read this one the other night myself! Lots of interesting information to be found in his interviews. Sal could be found during the Bronze Age in just about any comic series you could think of as he really was the company's go to guy at any moment. I adore Sal's work and it is "Marvel" to me. Never could adjust to him doing DC stuff though because he was MR. Marvel for nearly all of his career. Really stupid that the newer editor's helped push aside people like Sal and Herb Trimpe when they were better in their twilight years than many of the so called hot new-comer's they were pushing.
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 23, 2018 15:28:08 GMT -5
Sal Buscema: Comics' Fast & Furious Artist by Jim Amash Our Pal Sal Buscema gets the Twomorrows treatment with a book-length interview covering his life and career with a plethora of art-work. If you're familiar with the Twomorrows artist bios you know what you're going to get and this is in the classic format. This one was interesting to get Sal's inside view of his brother John and to see Sal's view of comics. While it was clear that Sal loved comics it was also clear that it was a business for him and he was there to make money. Sal unjustly has been labeled a hack by some based on the sheer amount of work that he was doing at certain points. But he makes it clear that he was doing that at behest of Marvel because they weren't getting the quality of artwork they wanted. Enter Sal to do a ton of breakdowns for lesser story-tellers to work from. It was also a bit refreshing that, while he was never brutal, Sal was willing to share a bit of the bad with the good. He lets it be known that he feels that Bill Mantlo was to blame for him leaving The Hulk. He talks at some length about Jim Shooter and the Spider-Man wedding issue that was originally to be drawn by Sal. And he is fairly candid about which inkers he liked on his pencils and which he didn't...and whose work he liked to ink. And apparently John didn't like anyone inking his work...not even really Sal. Well...maybe Dan Adkins. It's a fun quick read and a nice peek into the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics...which was my age. Though no fan of Sal's art, I have always said that at worst, it is "good of its kind," as the NY Times reviewer of yore used to say of movies like The Blob or Guadalcanal Diary. He could always tell a story crisply and clearly, which cannot be said about scores of flash-in-the-pan imitators of the latest new style to hit comics. As for Big John's inking preference, it is validating to hear that he agreed with what I have said more than once on these very boards. He was his own best inker by far, and tough I agree with his assessment of Adkins' inks, I would probably add George Klein and Joe Sinnott as inkers who complemented his pencils very well indeed. Here are a few examples of JB pencils and inks... More of his pencils and inks here: ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2013/05/this-is-why-john-buscema-was-better.html
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 23, 2018 15:53:20 GMT -5
Sal Buscema: Comics' Fast & Furious Artist by Jim Amash Our Pal Sal Buscema gets the Twomorrows treatment with a book-length interview covering his life and career with a plethora of art-work. If you're familiar with the Twomorrows artist bios you know what you're going to get and this is in the classic format. This one was interesting to get Sal's inside view of his brother John and to see Sal's view of comics. While it was clear that Sal loved comics it was also clear that it was a business for him and he was there to make money. Sal unjustly has been labeled a hack by some based on the sheer amount of work that he was doing at certain points. But he makes it clear that he was doing that at behest of Marvel because they weren't getting the quality of artwork they wanted. Enter Sal to do a ton of breakdowns for lesser story-tellers to work from. It was also a bit refreshing that, while he was never brutal, Sal was willing to share a bit of the bad with the good. He lets it be known that he feels that Bill Mantlo was to blame for him leaving The Hulk. He talks at some length about Jim Shooter and the Spider-Man wedding issue that was originally to be drawn by Sal. And he is fairly candid about which inkers he liked on his pencils and which he didn't...and whose work he liked to ink. And apparently John didn't like anyone inking his work...not even really Sal. Well...maybe Dan Adkins. It's a fun quick read and a nice peek into the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics...which was my age. Though no fan of Sal's art, I have always said that at worst, it is "good of its kind," as the NY Times reviewer of yore used to say of movies like The Blob or Guadalcanal Diary. He could always tell a story crisply and clearly, which cannot be said about scores of flash-in-the-pan imitators of the latest new style to hit comics. As for Big John's inking preference, it is validating to hear that he agreed with what I have said more than once on these very boards. He was his own best inker by far, and tough I agree with his assessment of Adkins' inks, I would probably add George Klein and Joe Sinnott as inkers who complemented his pencils very well indeed. Here are a few examples of JB pencils and inks... More of his pencils and inks here: ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2013/05/this-is-why-john-buscema-was-better.html As I recall, according to Sal, Big John HATED Sinnott's inks. He found them too overpowering and thought that everything looked like Sinnott instead of Buscema. Sal didn't think that way and praised Sinnott as one of the great inkers ever. I don't recall there being any mention of George Klein at all.
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 23, 2018 16:13:35 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley, I can see where Buscema would not have liked Sinnott's inks. He did give everything a tidy, "Marvel-style" look, even Kirby's. But I preferred those to >ahem< Ernie Chua/an's. And a little Alfredo (I want to be Gustave Dore) Alcala went a long way on Savage Sword.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 23, 2018 16:18:49 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley , I can see where Buscema would not have liked Sinnott's inks. He did give everything a tidy, "Marvel-style" look, even Kirby's. But I preferred those to >ahem< Ernie Chua/an's. And a little Alfredo (I want to be Gustave Dore) Alcala went a long way on Savage Sword. I don't think that Sal addressed Alcala (I'm a huge fan). But he did talk about the Filipino artists in general being pretty overpowering with their inking. Rudy Nebres did at least one job over Sal Buscema that was just lovely.
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