Book Review: City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s by Otto Friedrich The book’s title comes from a Bertolt Brecht opera, “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” Brecht had not yet come to Hollywood at the time, but “like a net set for edible birds” is a plausible description of… Continue reading Book Review: City of Nets
Category: Book
Book Review: Come and See: Acts & Letters
Book Review: Come and See: Acts and Letters by Joseph L. Ponessa Disclosure: This is a book received from the Firstreads program, on the premise that I would review it. Also, I should mention here that I am a Christian, although not Catholic, so my reaction to this is necessarily different from what it would be… Continue reading Book Review: Come and See: Acts & Letters
Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew
Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew by Phillip Levy Full Disclosure: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway, on the premise that I would review it. This is something a little different for me, a geographical “biography” that traces the history of a particular place. In this case, the piece of land that… Continue reading Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew
Book Review: Aim High
Book Review: Aim High by Joseph A. West If you’ve been around the small-press horror magazine scene for a while, you may already be familiar with the work of Joseph A. West. His distinctive primitive art style, heavy on sloping foreheads, large noses and jutting jaws, has graced many a magazine. He also is a… Continue reading Book Review: Aim High
Book Review: The Devil–With Wings
Book Review: The Devil–With Wings by L. Ron Hubbard Full Disclosure: I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would review it. Presumably this was influenced by my review of an earlier book in the series, “If I Were You.” This volume is part of the “Golden Age Stories” reprints… Continue reading Book Review: The Devil–With Wings
Book Review: Brandwashed
Book Review: Brandwashed: How Marketers and Advertisers Obscure the Truth, Manipulate Our Minds, and Persuade Us to Buy by Martin Lindstrom. Disclaimer: I got this book through the Goodreads giveaway program on the expectation I would write a review. My copy is an uncorrected proof, and minor changes (possibly major changes to the final chapter)… Continue reading Book Review: Brandwashed
Book Review: Universal Station
Book Review: Universal Station by Beth Brown. This volume is by the Beth Brown who also wrote “All Dogs Go To Heaven”. Like that book, it’s a light fantasy about the afterlife. (Indeed, one of the main characters is a dog.) Broadway musician Johnny dies in a plane crash during World War Two, and is met… Continue reading Book Review: Universal Station
Book Review: If I Were You
Book Review: If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard Before L. Ron Hubbard got involved in…you know, he was a middling-good and prolific pulp author. The Golden Age Stories line is reprinting many of his stories in attractively designed paperbacks. This volume contains two short stories, , a preview of another, a glossary (really… Continue reading Book Review: If I Were You
Book Review: Blood Lance
Book Review: Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson This is the fifth Crispin Guest novel, featuring a disgraced knight of the Fourteenth Century who takes up a career of detection, earning the nickname “Tracker.” I have not read the previous volumes. Guest happens to witness a man falling from a bridge into the Thames. By the… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Lance
Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)
Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger) The Avenger is one of the classic hero pulp characters, a man so strongly affected by a horrific crime that all color drained from his skin and hair, and his face became frozen. Determined that no one else… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)