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************************************************************** * * * R E A D I N G F O R P L E A S U R E * * * * Issue #15 * * * * * * * * Editor: Cindy Bartorillo * * * * * * Featured Authors: Jonathan Carroll / Chet Williamson * * * ************************************************************** CONTACT US AT: Reading For Pleasure, c/o Cindy Bartorillo, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303, Frederick, MD 21702; or on CompuServe leave a message to 74766,1206; or on GEnie leave mail to C.BARTORILLO; or call our BBS, the BAUDLINE II at 301-694-7108, 1200-9600 HST. NOTICE: Reading For Pleasure is not copyrighted. You may copy freely, but please give us credit if you extract portions to use somewhere else. Sample copies of our print edition are available upon request. We ask for a donation of $1.50 each to cover the printing and mailing costs. ************************ DISTRIBUTION DIRECTORY Here are a few bulletin boards where you should be able to pick up the latest issue of READING FOR PLEASURE. See masthead for where to send additions and corrections to this list. ????? Omaha, NE Pete Hartman 402-498-9723 Academia Pomono, NJ Ken Tompkins 609-652-4914 Accolade! BBS Round Rock,TX Jack Moore 512-388-1445 Ad Lib Monroeville,PA John Williams 412-327-9209 The Annex Dayton,OH John Cooper 513-274-0821 Beginnings BBS Levittown,NY Mike Coticchio 516-796-7296 Blcksbg Info Serv Blacksburg,VA Fred Drake 703-951-2920 Boot Strap OnLine Yuma, AZ Daryl Stogner 602-343-0878 Byrd's Nest Arlington,VA Debbie&Alan Byrd 703-671-8923 Checkpoint El Cajon,CA 619-442-3595 Chevy Chase Board Alexandria,VA Larkins/Carlson 703-549-5574 Computer Co-Op Voorhees,NJ Ted Hare 609-784-9404 Daily Planet Owosso,MI Jay Stark 517-723-4613 Death Star Oxon Hill,MD Lee Pollard 301-839-0705 Del Ches Systems Exton,PA Peter Rucci 215-363-6625 Diversified Prog PacPalisadesCA Jean-Pierre Denis 213-459-6053 Dorsai Diplomatic Mission NYC Jack Brooks 212-431-1944 Futzer Avenue Issaquah,WA Stan Symms 206-391-2339 Humanware BBS New York Jim Freund 212-980-3128 IBMNew CompuServe Library #0 Inn on the Park Scottsdale,AZ Jim Jusko 602-957-0631 Invention Factory New York,NY Mike Sussell 212-431-1273 Ivory Tower Manchester,CT Karl Hakmiller 203-649-5611 KCSS BBS Seattle,WA Bob Neddo 206-296-5277 ()Lensman() BBS Denver,CO Greg Bradt 303-979-8953 Litforum CompuServe Library #12 Lost Paradise Mike King 703-370-7795 Magnetic Bottle Pennsylvania Bill Mertens 814-231-1345 Magpie HQ New York,NY Steve Manes 212-420-0527 MoonDog BBS Brooklyn,NY Don Barba 718-692-2498 MSU Library BBS St. Paul,MN Dana Noonan 612-722-9257 Over My Dead Body Oakland,CA Cherie Jung 415-465-7739 Port of Call BBS Indiana Brian Cload 219-763-4908 Poverty Rock PCB Mercer Is.,WA Rick Kunz 206-232-1763 Round Table BBS Chicago,IL Kevin Keyser 312-777-9480 Sabaline Don Saba 619-692-1961 Science Fiction GEnie Library #3 SF & Fantasy CIS Hom-9 Library #5 SMOF-BBS Austin,TX Earl Cooley 512-467-7317 SoftServ Long Beach,CA J. Neil Schulman 213-957-1176 Sunwise Sun City W.,AZ Keith Slater 602-584-7395 Technoids Anon. Chandler,AZ David Cantere 602-899-4876 Writers Happy Hr Seattle,WA Walter Scott 206-364-2139 Writers' RT GEnie Library #1 Xevious Framingham,MA Nels Anderson 508-875-3618 Your Place Fairfax,VA Ken Goosens 703-978-6360 RFP Home Board (all issues available all the time): Baudline II Frederick,MD the Bartorillo's 301-694-7108 (RFPs downloadable on first call; 9600 HST) Any board that participates in the RelayNet (tm) email system can request RFPs from BAUDLINE. NOTE: Back issues on CompuServe may have been moved to a different library. ************************ TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 What's News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Good Reading Periodically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Lost Stories by Peter de Jager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Featured Author: Jonathan Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509 The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction . . . . . . . . . 937 NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008 Bob Randall & The Last Man on the List. . . . . . . . . . . . 1088 The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1151 The Wellness Encyclopedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1249 Envisioning Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1362 Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1483 The Complete James Bond Movie Encyclopedia. . . . . . . . . . 1521 Genre Sections: Frightful Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1568 Featured Author: Chet Williamson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1584 Murder By The Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2502 Loosen Your Grip On Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3395 The Laugh's On Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3931 ************************ EDITORIAL This is the issue that almost wasn't. Our two-month production period began back in early December when our main computer had a cerebral hemorrhage. We got a new system that's better than the old one, but for a while we weren't too sure what was going to happen. At one point we tried to switch to another computer temporarily, but this machine was in a bad mood and showed its contempt for us by eating our electronic mail. MAJOR APOLOGY: If you left a message for me on CompuServe or GEnie and I didn't get back to you, I'm sorry. Please try again. By the time we got our computer support straightened out, it was Holiday Time, which we had somehow forgotten about in the rush. For about three weeks we were surrounded by festive types who forced us to eat lots of food, sing songs, and watch lots of movies. It's not that we have anything against these things, but they don't produce much readable material. Finally, after the holidays were all gone and the last stray merrymaking was over, we came back to work chastened and ready to type. And with killer flu germs, which we are all passing back and forth like belated Christmas presents. The last two weeks have been spent slumped over our keyboards with boxes of kleenex, hot tea, and cough syrup. Every four hours we take an Aspirin Break. For this reason, I ask your indulgence this month, and if the material seems a trifle unfinished or odd--please realize that most of the effort represented herein was accomplished by people who were semi-conscious at the time. Hope to see you again with issue #16, due out April 1. (Oh dear, April 1 doesn't bode well, does it?) ************************ WHAT'S NEWS * I hear that the upcoming autobiography of Julia Phillips, called YOU'LL NEVER EAT LUNCH IN THIS TOWN AGAIN, should be a scorcher. Ms. Phillips was a Hollywood producer at one time (The Sting, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters), but was drummed out by Hollywood politics and a serious drug problem. Her book is supposed to be very candid about both her own problems and about the people she knew (in other words, she names names). Lawyers are probably getting lined up waiting for this book. According to a news item in Publishers Weekly, among those mentioned in the book are: Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephen Spielberg, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Michael Douglas, Jon Peters, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Arthur C. Clarke, Kathleen Turner, Madonna, etc., etc. * Another item in Publishers Weekly said that Alexandra Ripley, who's busy writing the sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND, found that her first editor at Warner not only hadn't read the original, but hadn't seen the movie either, and actually said when handed the first chapters, "It's awfully Southern, isn't it?" Needless to say, Ms. Ripley got herself a different editor. * If you'd like an advance look at the New York Times Bestseller List (10 days before publication)--I mean if you'd REALLY like it--then you could send them $325 a year and they'll automatically fax you the lists every Thursday at 8am. If your need is only temporary, you can also call 900-773-FAXX, give them your fax number, and get the lists for $7.50. Of course you can always do it the old-fashioned way and call 900-454-LIST and pay $1.50-a-minute for the information. * BEYOND LOVE by Dominique Lapierre is, according to it's publisher (Warner), "a powerful, inspiring work about the doctors and scientists, heroes and dreamers, and the legendary Mother Teresa, all fighting AIDS, the greatest plague of our time." Release date is March and it's $22.95 (ISBN 0-446-51438-1). * If you're thinking about starting a small business of your own (or maybe you already have) you should check out the book selection at Small Business Books, 506 S. Elm Street, Champaign, IL 61820. If you have a computer and a modem, you can call 217-352-7323 and order books online, download files, leave messages, and post a short note about your business. Voice (and also FAX) calls should be made to 217-352-8009. The man in charge is Bruce Pea. Give him a call. * Melrose Press has a wide selection of biographical directories: Music and Musicians Directory ($150), Authors and Writers Who's Who ($165), Who's Who in Australasia ($175), World Who's Who of Women ($150), Who's Who of Professional Women ($175), Dictionary of International Biography ($175), Who's Who in Education ($185), and Men of Achievement ($175). You can get any of these directories by making out a check (for the price of the book plus $5 per book shipping) to Taylor & Francis in U.S. funds and mailing it to: Taylor & Francis Group, 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007-1598. Or you can call 1-800-821-8312. * Look for mass market paperbacks to be one cent short of the dollar instead of five ($4.99, not $4.95, etc.). Penguin is supposed to have already started this new pricing policy, and others will most likely follow. * Tor and St. Martin's will be doing American versions of the novellas currently being published by Century Legend in Britain. St. Martin's will do the hardcovers and Tor will handle the paperbacks. * In case you hadn't heard, 1991 is the "Year of the Lifetime Reader". The Book-of-the-Month Club and the Library of Congress are making a study of the reading practices of Americans during the stages of life, focusing particularly on the decline of book-reading in the over-55 crowd. The results of this study will be presented in a symposium next fall. * According to a Gallup Poll, 57% of adult Americans wanted to get a book for Christmas. How lucky were you? * Gorgon Books has formed something called The International Paperback Collectors Society. They will publish a bimonthly newsletter with the latest information on collecting trends, paperback shows, various price guides, and other timely news like auction results from most of the major auctions. Membership fees for 1991 are $15 and their first newsletter will be published February 1, 1991. Make your check payable to IPCS and mail it to: IPCS (Membership), 21 Deer Lane, Wantagh, NY 11793. For more information call "John" at 516-781-0439. ************************ GOOD READING PERIODICALLY by Cindy Bartorillo There's a new magazine around that you should know about. It's called BACKHOME and is subtitled "Hands-On & Down-to-Earth", which is as good a description as anyone could want. Each issue (I've gotten 2 so far) has a wide variety of articles, aimed at the person who wants more control over their life. Getting more control involves taking responsibility for your own needs, getting the information you need, and developing a few skills. BACKHOME is here to help us with the last two items. Probably the best way to describe BACKHOME is to give you a list of SOME of the contents of the first two issues. Here goes: Weeds How Do You Define Home? Make a Rope Ladder Ethical Investing Wild Wines (make your own) Fishing: Pure and Simple Ode to the Toad Bonsai Weatherize With Wisdom Recycled Wrapping Paper To Build a Fire The A-to-(almost)-Z Auto Emergency Kit The Auto Emergency Kit reminds me to mention the practical how-to projects in each issue of BACKHOME. The first issue had plans for a kitchen recycling center and a simple solar heating construction. The next issue had plans for making toys out of tin cans, the auto emergency kit, and an indestructible "Swiss Army" mailbox. In addition to all the feature articles about nature, gardening, cars, construction, cooking, birds, ammunition, travel, home-building, chickens, etc., there is also an excellent selection of regular columns. My personal favorite is "Backyard Naturalist" by Lance Sterling, who doles out all the country wisdom that in movies always comes from Grandpa while he sits on the front porch smoking a pipe. There's also a folklore column called "Way Back When", and a delightful running piece devoted to screwups called "Bass Ackwards". But enough already. Four quarterly issues will run you $16 ($28 for two years), and you should send it to: BackHome, PO Box 370, Mountain Home, NC 28758 (phone 704-696-3838). I picked up my first copy of MOVIELINE recently, mostly because I just couldn't believe the price: 96 slick, photo-covered pages for $2. That's GOT to be one of the very best magazine deals around. But what about the content? To begin with, I enjoyed the sly and catty gossip pages. It's been a long time since I read the gossip magazines of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and MOVIELINE captured the Rona Barrett tone very well. (What ever happened to her, by the way?) As the pages wore on, however, that disdainful pose wore thin. The articles seemed to be written from above the subject, looking down at a curiosity. The purpose of the articles was more the aggrandizement of the writer than the illumination of the subject, and I have little patience for such nonsense. There was also a problem with inaccuracies. (Rebecca Morris writes that Tom Berenger played the psycho killer of Diane Keaton in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. On my copy of the film it's Richard Gere.) MOVIELINE is still a lot of film talk for your two bucks, and if you try not to believe everything you read, you'll be OK. If you subscribe, the price drops to 80 cents--send them just $9.60 for the next 12 issues (a "charter" subscription). Movieline, 1141 S. Beverly Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90099-2924. About a year ago I discovered the American Movie Classics channel on my TV, and I've been enjoying older movies ever since. If you like old movies too, you might want to check out SCREEN GREATS, a Hollywood nostalgia magazine. The cover art and layout is decidedly old-fashioned, and inside you'll find articles about stars like Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner. The only new news is that connected with an older star, like when Marlon Brando's family became involved in a shooting incident last year. SCREEN GREATS is a quarterly, and you can get the next 4 issues by sending a check for $14.99 (Foreign: $19.99) to Screen Greats, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. Computer users might want to try SHAREWARE magazine, brought to you by the PC-SIG people. If you have a modem, joining a good BBS would be more economical, but if you're modemless, $20 will buy you a one-year PC-SIG membership and 6 bimonthly issues of SHAREWARE magazine. PC-SIG, 1030-D East Duane Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086. ************************ AWARDS BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY AWARDS August Derleth Award for Best Novel: CARRION COMFORT by Dan Simmons Best Short Fiction: "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks" by Joe R. Lansdale 1990 PROMETHEUS AWARDS (Given by the Libertarian Futurist Society) Best Novel: SOLOMAN'S KNIFE by Victor Koman Hall of Fame Award: HEALER by F. Paul Wilson ************************ PULPHOUSE: A Weekly Magazine Yes, PULPHOUSE: The Hardback Magazine is dead, long live PULPHOUSE: A Weekly Magazine! The last issue of the Hardback Magazine will be #12, Spring 1991, released in April. The new weekly will begin in May. Here's the scoop from Pulphouse: "The magazine will be in an 8.5 x 11 inch slick, perfect-bound format, will have about 40 pages of editorial content, using fiction (including serialized novels), non-fiction, and assigned columns and will sell for $2.50. And for those who love hardbacks, every 13 issues we will bind up the magazine in an 8.5 x 11 inch sewn edition. Subscriptions are $26 for 13 issues, $50 for 26 issues (First class subscription, Canada, and overseas are $39 and $76, respectively). Pulphouse Publishing, Box 1227, Eugene, OR 97440. ************************ ........................... : LOST STORIES : : by Peter de Jager : ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' I have been reading Science Fiction for some 25 years. During that time I have repeatedly stumbled across classic stories. Random chance should not decide which stories we read and which ones vanish. Was it because I was just an uninformed reader? Or do good stories naturally get lost, pushed aside in the battle for shelf space? Good stories and unique ideas are so difficult to find that it is a crime to lose them. The intent of this column is to sing the praises of lost stories. It will allow you and I to explore lost stories. To share with each other those dog-eared volumes that keep us warm on cold nights. Fair warning. There are no "objective" reviews here. They will all be passionate pleas to you to seek out neglected stories. Stories that deserve more attention. If you do decide to hunt down a story from this column, or if you know of a lost story, then contact me on CompuServe. My ID is 70611,2576 Yours truly Peter de Jager A MIRROR FOR OBSERVERS Published 1954 Winner of the 1955 International Fantasy Award by Edgar Pangborn (1909-1976) Angelo Ponteveccio is a 12 year old boy. He has the potential for redefining ethical thought. He could change philosophy to the same degree that Einstein changed science. As such he is a 'pivot' point in the development of our race. His development is crucial to our survival. Watching his growth and the progress of our race are long-lived survivors of a Martian tragedy. Interfering with his growth, and this passive observation, is a Martian Abdicator, an observer that sees little of value in Humans. The story is simple enough. Good vs. Evil with Human Morality and Ethics in the balance. Where this story differs from most is in the poetry of delivery. Edgar Pangborn has the ability to tell a story using simple words that sing to all that is human in us. At one point, the Martian Observer, Elmis, is contemplating the Martian ability to play the piano... "But I do know that we can never equal the best of human players, and not merely because our artificial fifth fingers are dull. Do you think it might be because human beings live only a little time, and remember this in their music?" Reading Pangborn is not just escaping into a story, it is re-discovering the English language. Time and time again he will surprise you by a turn of phrase, a linguistic mannerism or a harmony in the words that will have you reading the line aloud in order to enjoy it properly. There are many stories about "Observers", it is a common enough theme in Science Fiction. The entire Star Trek series has portrayed us as Observers complete with a 'Prime Directive' of Non-Interference. MIRROR provides some background thinking on the rightness of such a "rule". It also explores the psyche of an observer that decides to violate it... Another common theme is that of the 'pivot'. Either in Time Travel stories or in "grand designs" where a single individual becomes a "cusp" or decision point. Pangborn combines these themes to produce a compelling story, one that drags the reader towards the conclusion. It is a rewarding journey, one that explores music, ethics and once again, the conflict between good and evil. Oh yes... he also plays a sonata with the language. THE STAR ROVER (known as THE JACKET in the UK) Published 1915 by Jack London (1876-1916) Yes, this is the same Jack London that wrote CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG. If that is all you have read of London's, then you have a surprise in store for you. This story is unusual to say the least. London based it upon the experiences of Ed Morrel in San Quentin prison. Specifically the out-of-body experiences brought about by torture in a strait jacket. I had always thought of a strait jacket as a passive restraining device used to control violent people. THE STAR ROVER changed that naive opinion forever and changed my thinking about prisons. THE STAR ROVER contains no technology, no magic, no science. It is unmistakably a story about the human spirit and its ability to break free of all constraints. De Gedanken sind Frie... The Thoughts are Free. Is it science fiction? It is difficult to classify it as anything else. As in Pangborn's MIRROR, the use of language is superb. STAR ROVER has a gritty mood about it that stayed with me for many years. I then reread it by accident and recognized it, not by the plot, but by the feelings that it invoked in me. The book transports you into the damp stone cells of San Quentin, as surely as the prisoner transports himself out of the strait jacket and into past lives. The cruelty of the prison guards pierces the warm comfort of your living room and send shivers down your spine. The book reeks of pain, cruelty and hope. Thankfully, the hope is there, strong, loud and constant. Why the prisoner is there is not really important. His accusers blame him for something that never happened and there is no way out. No way out, except an impossible escape into his own infinite past. THE STAR ROVER is a cure for a too sunny day. It is a journey into the depths of cruelty and a final escape via the human spirit. When you finish reading, you will look up into the light and blink, momentarily disorientated; it will take you a while to return to your normal surroundings. Be not afraid, this is normal and will wear off shortly. There is much talk today about Virtual Realities, CyberSpace and Artificial Realities. We sometimes forget that these types of experiences are available to us when a master story teller enthralls us. Jack London is one such wordsmith. He lives on through his writings. He reminds us that we have a instinct for survival. THE STAR ROVER explores an unnatural method to achieve it. ************************ WORKING WITH THE ONES YOU LOVE: Conflict Resolution & Problem Solving Strategies for a Successful Family Business by Dennis Jaffe, Ph.D. ($19.95, 256 pages, ISBN 0-943233-07-0, Conari Press, now available) Over 90% of all businesses in the United States are family owned. Now the first book on family business by a psychotherapist describes how to manage the complex work and personal relationships that are intertwined in family business. WORKING WITH THE ONES YOU LOVE uses exercises, reflection, questions, "Tasks for the Chapter", and many case histories to help readers build communication, resolve conflict between family members, and enable the family and business to grow into the next generation. You can order directly from the publisher by sending $19.95, plus $2 postage and handling per order, to: Conari Press, 713 Euclid Ave., Berkeley, CA 94708 (phone 415-527-9915). ************************ FEATURED AUTHOR: JONATHAN CARROLL by Cindy Bartorillo "...he understands that the best moments of terror are mental rather than physical and lie in the collision between the mundane and the extraordinary, the sudden juxtaposition of the familiar with the bizarre." ---Christopher Evans (in HORROR: 100 BEST BOOKS, 1988) Jonathan Carroll's stories are pure enchantment. Every one of them takes me back to a time when literature meant fairy tales and mythology, when each new story filled me with a sense of wonder. And, like those childhood favorites, I seem never to tire of a Jonathan Carroll story--at the end of the last page I can easily turn right back to the first and start again, with as much enjoyment and anticipation as the previous time. Many other writers are beloved members of my literary family, but Jonathan Carroll's books are the ones I want to spend the rest of my life reading. It all began about 5 or 6 years ago when I read an interview with Stephen King in some magazine (very possibly Twilight Zone) in which he recommended THE LAND OF LAUGHS by Jonathan Carroll. Now, we all know that King recommends more books than even RFP does, but there must have been something special about what he said because I made a note to look for the book around town. Several weeks later I found it, a hardcover, marked $2 at a local shop. As so often happens, other books intruded and it was several years before I finally picked the book off my shelf and first came under the Carroll spell. Carroll himself calls his style "magic realism", which describes his stories perfectly and needs no improvement. And the best biography I have of Carroll is also from the man himself: "When you read a description of me, it says I live in Vienna and I wrote these books. I'm an American. I've lived overseas for almost 20 years. I have a bull terrier that doesn't talk. That's it." As a child my imagination was fired by fierce dragons, wicked witches, and virtuous heroes and heroines. Now my inspirations are mostly from Carroll Country: Galen, Missouri; a small dog named Nails; a very special writer named Marshall France; The Queen of Oil; a mysterious magician called Little Boy; the magical and terrifying land of Rondua; Rumpelstiltskin; a film director named Weber Gregston; and an "angel" called Pinsleepe. And I feel privileged to have met them all. If you'd like to meet them too, come right this way... THE LAND OF LAUGHS (1980, Viking) "This is an intricate, challenging, ultimately chilling tale, full of startling juxtapositions and surprises." ---Washington Post Book World This is his first novel, and the best place to start, if you can find a copy. I'm really very glad that I read his books in order of publication, because I'm not sure whether or not I could have fully appreciated the latest ones if I hadn't been prepared by the first. In each story, Carroll roams further afield, displays a more extreme version of his imagination, has fewer points of contact with a generally recognizable reality. But THE LAND OF LAUGHS is the perfect introduction of Carroll Country. The story begins normally enough with prep school teacher Thomas Abbey, who wants to write a biography of legendary children's book writer Marshall France. "What was so attractive to me about Marshall France? His vision. His ability to create one world after another that silently enchanted you, frightened you, made you wide-eyed or suspicious, made you hide your eyes or clap your hands in glee." --from THE LAND OF LAUGHS This also describes how I feel about Jonathan Carroll, and, coincidentally like Carroll, Marshall France wrote a book called THE LAND OF LAUGHS, which had a character called The Queen of Oil, who said: "The questions are the danger. Leave them alone and they sleep. Ask them, awake them, and more than you Know will begin to rise." --Queen of Oil in THE LAND OF LAUGHS from THE LAND OF LAUGHS Abbey and his sort-of girlfriend Saxony Gardner head for the small town of Galen, Missouri, where France lived his last years, dying there of a heart attack at age 44. What they find in Galen is a quaint village of warm-hearted people anxious to help with the biography. Everything is just picture post card perfect, or is it? Bit by bit the discordant elements appear, until you just KNOW that something is going very, very wrong. Then comes the page where your jaw drops into your lap and you have to reread the passage repeatedly to make sure it really says what you thought you read. And there you are, in Carroll Country for the first time. "The genesis of LAND OF LAUGHS was the fascination we all have with children's stories, not only when we're small. The quest for the lost treasure." ---Jonathan Carroll THE LAND OF LAUGHS is very like a children's story itself, albeit one with very dark, adult overtones. It's an astonishing novel, and Galen is a town you won't soon forget. "The town of Galen is based on a town where we lived for a year before coming overseas, called Times Beach, Missouri. In LAND OF LAUGHS, when Marshall France discovers his powers, he closes off the town so he can populate it with his own people. Almost ten years after we lived in that town, it was discovered that the government had sprayed the streets with dioxin the year we were there. It was the only town in the United States in which they had done this, and they had to go and buy out every person who lived there, and now it's a ghost town. It's exactly like LAND OF LAUGHS." ---Jonathan Carroll "...one of the most imaginative spectral fictions of the contemporary period, featuring new occult mythology...Books about evil books are not new in supernatural fiction, but Carroll adds a new conceit: the ability to write well about the macabre and the fantastic--possessed by Marshall France, Carroll's invented children's book writer--confers on the writer the very dark power he portrays." ---Jack Sullivan (in THE PENGUIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL, 1986) VOICE OF OUR SHADOW (1983) Joe Lennox is an American writer living in Vienna when he meets India and Paul Tate, a fascinating older couple who quickly become his best friends and the center of his life. Complications arise, though, when Joe starts sleeping with India, and Joe's guilt over that adds to the guilt he's carried around for most of his life for being responsible for his older brother's death. One evening Joe learns that Paul is also a magician of extraordinary, and frightening, skill. Then, in quick succession, Paul finds out about Joe and India's affair, and Paul dies. Now Joe finds himself swimming in a sea of guilt, and unfortunately his life is about to get much, much worse. VOICE OF OUR SHADOW continues a common Carroll theme: someone with magical powers uses them to manipulate others, and our hero comes to the brink of succumbing. As always, he tells a haunting story that is more powerful than it appears on the surface. A story that would be very difficult to ever forget. "I thought it was a love story, and it was. Then I thought it was a ghost story, and it was, sort of. Then I thought it was a story of madness, and it might be, maybe. It is a cunning, magical, wonderful novel--funny, sexy, sad, and tender." ---Pat Conroy "VOICE OF OUR SHADOW lacks the magic of its predecessor but is nevertheless an exceptionally original ghost tale...If Carroll continues to turn out supernatural novels of this quality, he could become one of the major figures in the field. His works are intricate and challenging, full of startling experiments and surprises." ---Jack Sullivan (in THE PENGUIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL, 1986) "When you read a book, basically what you're doing is giving up your own world and taking on the world of the book. You cannot apply rules that have got to hold in the book, because the book creates its own reality. Whether that reality is Tolkien with hobbits, or Tolstoy with Anna Karenina, you've given up your world, so you can't bring the rules of that world into the book. "So, if you read one of my books and children fly out the window, and you say, 'But children DON'T fly out the window,' I say, 'Stop. We're not talking about your world. We're talking about the world of this book, and THAT'S what matters.' "Now, I may not have those children fly out the window well. You can criticize me for that, but don't criticize me for the fact that they can fly." ---Jonathan Carroll BONES OF THE MOON (1987, Arbor House) "A Manhattan woman is pursued by a love-obsessed film director. Her neighbor turns out to be an ax-murderer." ---description of BONES OF THE MOON, from Fall Preview in The Drood Review of Mystery Cullen has an abortion with conflicting emotions, marries the very, very nice Danny James, moves to an apartment in New York that also houses a nice boy who will soon chop his sister and mother into bits, and has a baby girl named Mae. She leads your average American sometimes-eventful, sometimes-not life, at least during the day. At night, however, in her dreams she goes to Rondua to help her son (named Pepsi) get the five Bones of the Moon. Is Cullen just a woman with a very creative mind that exercises itself at night? Or is she a woman descending into very dangerous paranoid delusions? Will it change your judgement when Rondua begins to intrude on her waking life? Jonathan Carroll continues his exploration of dreams and magic, and of their relationship to what we commonly refer to as "reality". As always, his story is effortlessly told and a joy to read, and I found it enchanting and disturbing at the same time. Like another Carroll of the previous century, Jonathan is one-of-a-kind. "A wonderful, remarkable, disturbing novel, with some of the purest moments of terror I've experienced in a book for years. Jonathan Carroll is as fine as any living writer of supernatural fiction, and this is his masterpiece so far." ---Ramsey Campbell "I finished the novel feeling exhilarated and sated. It is a page-turner par excellence, and that's what makes the reader start to sweat bullets when things begin to get weird. Beginning BONES is as pleasant, easy, and natural as falling into a feather bed with fresh clean sheets after a hard day. You're almost asleep before you realize you've been clamped into place...and then the spikes start to come out of the mattress, one after another..." ---Stephen King BONES OF THE MOON is now a trade paperback from Avon ($7.95). "A friend of mine once said something which has always haunted me. I asked him, 'Are there people who can walk on water?' He said, 'Sure.' I asked, 'Are there people who can fly?' He said, 'Of course.' I asked, 'Why don't they show us?' He said, 'Why would a person so advanced give a *shit* about showing you that he can walk on water?'" ---Jonathan Carroll SLEEPING IN FLAME (1988, Doubleday) It was at a point approximately halfway through reading SLEEPING IN FLAME that I first realized that Jonathan Carroll had ceased to be ONE of my favorite writers and was now indisputably my FAVORITE writer. Other authors say things better than I ever could, or arrange life in a more attractive or sensible manner. Jonathan Carroll takes me places I could never go without him. As many books as I've read over the years, as great and loony as my imagination is, I am instantly humbled by the creative intelligence of Carroll. (Mark my words, more than one person is going to draw parallels between the two Carroll's, Jonathan and Lewis.) SLEEPING IN FLAME is about Walker Easterling, his love for the beautiful Maris York, his ability to see things before they happen, and unresolved conflicts from past lives. There's very little else I can say about this book out of context, except that it's magical and very, very special. "SLEEPING IN FLAME is about love and myth. It's similar to my other stuff in that it starts with a love story and then it takes off into lulu-land of telepathy and children's stories and dogs that talk and things like that. If there's any Carroll trademark, I suppose that's it. I like dogs that have voices of their own. SLEEPING IN FLAME is Part Two of this series that started with BONES OF THE MOON. The movie director we met in BONES appears in SLEEPING IN FLAME, and that character becomes prominent in the next book, A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY. There's no grand theme for the series. If you read a book and you love it, you're sorry when it's ended. Part of the reason you're sorry is you're losing a friend. I mean that genuinely. I want to see what happens to them. They're my friends. I want to keep tabs on them." ---Jonathan Carroll "Friend's Best Man" (1988) This story won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. "Mr. Fiddlehead" (in Omni, February 1989) This story was nominated for the 1990 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. It also appears within the novel, A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY. "Florian" (in WEIRD TALES magazine, Fall 1989) Another of his stories about the power of imagination. A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY (1990, Doubleday) "Do *you* know what the miraculous is?" "So far, all I've figured out is it's somewhere in real life, not in fantasy or art. You might be able to reach it through those things, but it's across the bridge." ---from A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY "Wonder belongs to children, so when they talk about it, it's usually in the relaxed, reasonable voice of long-time residents. More than real life, wonder is their home. They believe in miracles, people with successful wings, religion. 'Impossible' is an enemy, gravity too, our mundane and inappropriate schedules for them. Many of their days aren't even spent on this earth with us. They are just very good at pretending they're here." ---from A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY Film director Weber Gregston returns, this time as the lead character. His best friend Philip Strayhorn, the creator and monstrous star of a series of horror films, commits suicide while making his masterpiece, the last of this horror series. Weber receives a very disturbing, and supernatural, videotape from his friend a couple of days afterward, and is plunged into a nightmare world as he takes on the challenge of finishing Philip's film as well as discovering why his friend decided to take his own life. Soon it begins to appear that in trying to capture some kind of "ultimate" horror for his film, Philip Strayhorn might have touched forces larger than he anticipated, presenting Weber with a classic Faustian question. A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY is about artistic integrity and humanity, about corruption and love, and evil. I spent a large part of this book wondering where in the world the plot could possibly be headed. I followed the plot lines, took in the details, and waited and speculated. Finally, toward the end of the book, the "answer" suddenly hit me with stunning force and I sat in my chair, book abandoned in my lap, as I replayed the entire story in the light of my new understanding. It was like intellectual assault and battery, or watching a train accident and being powerless to help. A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY shows that Carroll's imagination not only has width and breadth, but power. BLACK COCKTAIL (1990, Legend) I feel a little creepy talking about a story that hasn't been published in the U.S. yet, but Tor and St. Martin's are supposedly going to put the Legend novellas into print here, so maybe BLACK COCKTAIL will show up soon. Meanwhile, I got my copy from Mark Ziesing (Mark V. Ziesing Books, PO Box 76, Shingletown, CA 96088) for $19.95. He said he's been having trouble keeping them in stock, but you can give Mark a call (916-474-1580) and ask. BLACK COCKTAIL focuses on another of Carroll's recurring characters, Ingram York (brother of Maris York from SLEEPING IN FLAME), gay radio talk show host in California. After the death of his long-time companion in the earthquake, Ingram looks up Michael Billa, recommended to him by Maris' husband, Walker. Michael turns out to be a charismatic storyteller, who spellbinds with tales from his unfortunate childhood. Bad boy Clinton figures in many of these stories as Michael's savior. Clinton took fat and nerdish Michael under his protective wing and saved him from school bullies. The plot thickens when Clinton shows up in the here-and-now; but while Michael is 20 years older, Clinton appears to be still 15. Michael seems to fear Clinton's return, while Clinton says that Michael is the one who "froze" him and is now setting Ingram up to get rid of Clinton, who is no longer needed. Who's lying? Who's telling the truth? What could possibly BE the truth of this extraordinary situation? BLACK COCKTAIL is one of Carroll's darker stories, and the wisdom that is gained is, as is often the case in Carroll's stories, unwelcome. DIE PANISCHE HAND (THE PANIC HAND) This is a short story collection that is only available in German. WEIRD TALES Winter 1990 Special Jonathan Carroll Issue This magazine includes the following stories by Carroll: "Tired Angel", about a man who kills with psychological manipulation. "My Zoondel", about a breed of dog who can identify werewolves. "The Panic Hand", yet another of Jonathan Carroll's stories about people with extraordinary imaginative powers. "Postgraduate" -- You know those dreams you have of being a kid again? You're late for class, you didn't study for the big test, you have no date for the weekend? Well, what if you got caught in one of those dreams, knowing you're dreaming, but you can't wake up? I SHUDDER AT YOUR TOUCH: TALES OF SEX AND HORROR edited by Michele Slung (early-1991, NAL) I've heard that Jonathan Carroll will have a story in this anthology. OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM This is Jonathan Carroll's next novel. I had heard that it was due out in "early 1991" here in the U.S., but the only specific date I've heard is a March 1991 release date in England. "Jonathan Carroll is a cult waiting to be born." ---Pat Conroy The more I think about it, "cult" is exactly the right term. Carroll's vision is too bizarre for him to become hugely popular, but for those of us who enjoy sharing the view, Jonathan Carroll's fiction is wondrous. [NOTE: I have just begun a massive index of people, places, things, and references in Jonathan Carroll's work, and will make it available to RFP readers when completed.] Quick Reference to Jonathan Carroll's novels: THE LAND OF LAUGHS is the most accessible to readers unfamiliar with Jonathan Carroll. VOICE OF OUR SHADOW is the least successful. BONES OF THE MOON has most most tenuous ties with reality. SLEEPING IN FLAME is his most perfect novel so far. A CHILD ACROSS THE SKY is his most challenging and most rewarding novel. "I've been whistling a certain tune for a long time, being told that it's off-tune--now all of a sudden people are saying, 'What's that catchy tune?' I'm hoping it will become a standard sooner or later." ---Jonathan Carroll ************************ THE STANFORD COMPANION TO VICTORIAN FICTION by John Sutherland (1989, Stanford University Press) review by Howard Frye In my opinion, the Victorian era in Great Britain was the Golden Age of the novel. Not only did the period produce many of our most admired authors, but I find the relatively leisurely writing style of the Victorians more suitable for recreational reading. And the variety! The political and social frustrations of Trollope, the sly wit of Thackeray, the great good cheer of early Dickens, the sensationalism of Collins--there's something for every taste. But in all my years of reading and collecting Victorian fiction and nonfiction, I've never managed to find a comprehensive one-volume reference like Sutherland's COMPANION. In this 696-page book there are 1,606 entries--878 writers, 554 novels (each one with a synopsis), 63 publishers, 47 magazines and periodicals, 26 illustrators, and 38 schools of writing and other miscellaneous items. It is pertinent to note that John Sutherland is not the editor of the COMPANION but the sole author, which lends a continuity to the entries that the by-committee volumes almost never have. And we are fortunate in that Sutherland's writing style is spare yet eminently readable, making the COMPANION not only a valuable reference work, but an enjoyable book for browsing as well. Wandering through the COMPANION, I was struck by how many writers, popular in their own day, are unheard of today. As Sutherland points out in the Preface, the Victorian era was a much richer period for the novel than most people realize, and his COMPANION goes a long way toward setting the record straight. THE STANFORD COMPANION TO VICTORIAN FICTION is an excellent volume of literary reference, and it has earned a permanent place on my nightstand for late-night browsing. Highly recommended. (The COMPANION is $69.50 for hardcover, $17.95 for trade paperback. If your local bookstore can't get it for you, you can contact the publisher at: Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA 94305-2235.) ************************ DADDY'S HOME by Mike Clary (ISBN 0-940495-23-6, 250 pages, $12.95 paperback) Mike Clary writes with humor and honesty about his unique family life as a live-at-home Dad and writer. He and his wife swap traditional roles, and what Mike learns about himself and parenting will inspire and enlighten all parents and prospective parents. A must for dual career couples with, or contemplating children. BROADWAY BY THE BAY: Thirty Years at the Coconut Grove Playhouse by Carol Cohan (ISBN 0-940495-00-7, 128 pages, $18.95 hardcover) (ISBN 0-940495-01-5, $11.95 paperback) For theater-goers everywhere it tells the story of one of America's most important regional theaters, a theater which played a significant role in the careers of stars like Tennessee Williams, Liza Minelli, Ann Miller, and Alan Alda. Filled with anecdotes and behind the scenes intrigue, this edition also includes a complete list of the more than 300 productions at the Playhouse. Your local bookstore can order either of these books through Baker & Taylor, or you can get them direct from the publisher at: The Pickering Press, 2000 S. Dixie Hwy., Suite 115, Miami, FL 33133 (order phone 1-800-642-PICK). ************************ NTC's DICTIONARY OF LITERARY TERMS by Kathleen Morner & Ralph Rausch (1991, National Textbook Company) review by Cindy Bartorillo As an enthusiastic student in my very own Self-University (I borrow the term from Charles D. Hayes' book, reviewed in RFP #13), I find that to pursue the exploration of literature on one's own, three elements are necessary: 1) as extensive a collection of classic literature as you can afford (paperback editions are fine), 2) a volume of historical overview, and 3) a dictionary of literary terms. Since I'm not exactly new to this, I've managed to collect a variety of these dictionaries. Some are too exhaustive and academic to be as helpful as they might be, some are too superficial to be useful, and a very few are just right. NTC's DICTIONARY is just right. Just as you can't really enjoy a baseball game without knowing a ball from a strike or a fastball from a knuckleball, your appreciation of literature will always be limited if you don't know the language. What are people talking about when they throw around words like imagery, archetype, metaphor, and motif? What is a libretto? And, OK, maybe you know enough to think of James Joyce when someone says "stream of consciousness", but do you really understand what the term refers to? One of the first terms I looked up in NTC's DICTIONARY was "literary criticism", which led me to entry after entry, and I finally wound up at "deconstruction", which was the first intelligible definition of that word I've ever come across. And wouldn't you know it, it turns out I've been practicing deconstructive criticism for years. It sure helps when you know the language of the country you're living in. Another great feature of NTC's DICTIONARY is their obvious effort to explain each term in plain English, without making you look up half a dozen other words in order to understand the definition of the term you were interested in initially. And with their helpful "links" at the ends of definitions, you can sit down to look up one word and find yourself browsing through another term, and yet another. All by itself, NTC's DICTIONARY will provide you with a good basic education in literature (including poetry and drama, of course), with which you can enjoy more of the other books on your shelves. I've got a lovely trade paperback edition of NTC's DICTIONARY OF LITERARY TERMS for a terrific $12.95, but I hear there is a hardcover edition if you tend to be hard on your reference books. If your local bookstore can't get you one, you can reach the publisher at: National Textbook Company, 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL 60646-1975. ************************ Just wanted to remind you that you can get up-to-date Harlan Ellison information, and have the opportunity to order Ellison merchandise that never makes it to your local bookstore, by subscribing to "Rabbit Hole", the newsletter of the Harlan Ellison Record Collection. Send $6 (U.S. funds only) for 4 issues to: The Harlan Ellison Record Collection, PO Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-0548. ************************ THE WOMAN WHO READ NOVELS AND PEACETIME Two Novellas by Constance Urdang (1990, Coffee House Press) In THE WOMAN WHO READ NOVELS, the elderly Ruby reflects on her dreams as a young immigrant in New York City in the late 1930s. Constance Urdang's stark rendering of Ruby's tragic story contrasts the dramatic, impassioned novels which have formed Ruby's vision of what life should be. In PEACE, three women friends and their extended families search for "peace" in their emotional, domestic and political lives. Their stories are presented as a narrative collage which pieces together events from post-WWII to the present. THE WOMAN WHO READ NOVELS AND PEACETIME (5.5 x 8.5 inches, 192 pages, ISBN 0-918273-81-1, $9.95, paper, November 1990) is available directly from the publisher. Send $9.95, plus $2 postage and handling, to: Coffee House Press, 27 North Fourth Street, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401. ************************ BOB RANDALL Bob Randall is a name you might want to know about as you wander around the bookstore. He writes funny, dramatic, suspenseful stories that generally don't get anywhere near the attention they should. As far as I know, his first novel was THE FAN, a 1977 novel that anticipated the psycho-fan phenomenon that celebrities would soon have to deal with. It was made into a movie with Lauren Bacall that didn't really live up to the book's drama. I definitely recommend that you read Randall's version. Next came THE CALLING, a 1981 horror story about phone calls from Hell. I'll admit to not caring for phones much to begin with, but THE CALLING is enough to put anyone off phones for good. And the story has this tantalizing BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID kind of ending--where you know what's gotta happen, but you don't actually SEE it happen. Really a great book that more people should know about. Right about the same time there was THE NEXT, a 1981 novel with a terrific premise: 10-year-old Charles suddenly begins growing at an alarming rate, and his Aunt Kate, who is caring for him while his mother is in the hospital, begins by tucking him in bed and winds up sleeping with him. It's a fascinating and erotic story that unfortunately derails about halfway through, as Randall seemed to run out of ideas for his characters. By the way, Bob Randall has also written plays, including one of my favorites, 6 RMS RIV VU. Once again Randall was ahead of his time, creating a THIRTYSOMETHING story many years before THE BIG CHILL. It was done pretty well on TV one time, years ago, starring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. Randall also wrote THE MAGIC SHOW and ODD INFINITUM. The really great news is that Bob Randall is now back on the shelves at your local bookstore with THE LAST MAN ON THE LIST (1990, Pocket Books), a nice affordable paperback that you have no excuse not to buy. It's about Hal Fisher, the head writer of a popular TV sitcom (that sounds remarkably like FAMILY TIES). He's married to a beautiful young woman who is interested more in his money and status than in him personally. One day Hal finds a list of men's names and addresses hidden in her jewelry box, and he assumes it's a list of men she's slept with. When he checks on the top few names, however, he finds that the men are dead. Recently dead. When Hal finally finds a live one, the man doesn't live long enough to get to a meeting with Hal. Slowly but surely Hal realizes that this is not a good list to be on; realizes it just before finding a NEW list--and (you guessed it) Hal himself is now THE LAST MAN ON THE LIST. Hal's story is told with great verve and considerable humor. At one point he speculates that his troubles sound like a made-for-TV movie, and he's right. THE LAST MAN ON THE LIST is meant to be gobbled like popcorn, and is a lot of fun to read. ************************ If you have an interest in professional journals and other serious nonfiction in a particular field, a Haworth Press catalog might come in handy. Ask for their catalog on: Social Work; Human Sexuality; Aging; Addictions Treatment; Children & Youth; or Religion, Ministry & Pastoral Care. The Haworth Press, 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. ************************ THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE by Jane & Michael Stern (1990, HarperCollins) review by Cindy Bartorillo So why would someone want to read a book about bad taste? It initially attracted my attention as a curiosity, a book that was probably just a snide listing of what is now "out" (according to the "in" people), but that might be a few laughs along the way. I'm sure this book wound up being given as a "gag" gift more than once this past Christmas--but it's a gag gift with a surprise: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE is absorbing reading from cover to cover, and not at all the fluff that the title leads you to expect. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE forces the reader to realize that while we may spend a lot of time talking about Van Gogh, Masterpiece Theater and ecological responsibility, the tone and texture of our lives are shaped more by things like: Hamburger Helper, Jello, Muzak, polyester, artificial grass, and game shows. And that's the core of what's so seductive about this book--it's 331 pages of text about people, places, and things that, while they are as familiar to us as the Twinkies in our pantry, they are subjects that are seldom, if ever, discussed. And that reminds me of another interesting aspect of TEofBT: instead of just taking a hauty pose and whipping out the bon mots, the Sterns seriously examine the phenomena they cover, exploring not just the width and depth of the cultural artifact, but the WHY of it as well. Why did women wear white lipstick? What was the attraction of Charo? Who in the world watches professional wrestling? THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE is made up of 136 entries arranged alphabetically from "Accordion Music" to "Zoot Suits". It's a must-have for anyone over 30 with kids--valuable documentation of the insanities of yesteryear that your children would never otherwise believe (like feminine hygiene spray and Nehru jackets). Another fun use for TEofBT is as a reference book. I looked up the year of my birth in several standard references on a bookshelf nearby and found these events had occurred that year: Queen Elizabeth II was crowned Marshal Tito was elected president of Yugoslavia Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb Mt. Everest How boring! Now let's see what happened, that same year, according to THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE: The National Twirling Hall of Fame was founded Playboy magazine began publication The Montgomery Ward catalogue offered a fake fur meant to look like a poodle pelt Zsa Zsa Gabor had a much-publicized physical fight with former lover Porfirio Rubirosa The Riviera casino opened in Las Vegas, paying Liberace $50,000 to perform the first night Jayne Mansfield came to Hollywood for the first time Polyester was first produced in mass quantities TUNA AS YOU LIKE IT was published by the Tuna Research Foundation Now isn't that more interesting? You can't help but wonder if anyone ever bought any of that poodle-pelt fabric. Would you want a chair upholstered in Cocker Spaniel? Even FAKE Cocker Spaniel? And is there still a Tuna Research Foundation somewhere, thinking up still more uses for unfortunate fish? THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE is a comprehensive overview of 20th century American culture disguised as easy reading--as funny, tragic, excessive, and embarrassing as the American people themselves. ************************ SLEEPING WITH A SUNFLOWER A Treasury of Old-Time Gardening Lore by Louise Riotte (Garden Way, 224 pages, $7.95, ISBN 0-88266-502-2) Cuddle up with what's likely to become the Farmer's Almanac of the nineties. From best-selling gardening author Louise Riotte is pure gardening folk wisdom: planting by the moon, fishing when and where the bass will bite, and more. Wonderful charts, companion planting, insect repellents, and herb uses. HOSTING THE BIRDS How to Attract Birds to Nest in Your Yard by Jan Mahnken (Garden Way, 200 pages, $10.95, ISBN 0-88266-525-1) This beautifully illustrated book takes the reader beyond simplistic instructions and shows how to enhance one's landscape to provide nesting sites and habitat for a variety of birds, from hummingbirds to owls. Part One discusses the various stages of the nesting cycle, from courtship to migration. Part Two is a reference section containing information on 175 species, including range, preferred habitat and food, nesting site, clutch size, and incubation and nestling periods. Part Three presents plans for birdhouses, nesting shelves, and nesting boxes. ************************ THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA The Comprehensive Family Resource for Safeguarding Health and Preventing Illness from the Editors of the University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter (1991, Houghton Mifflin) review by Howard Frye An invaluable reference work on all health-related subjects, THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA presents the state of medical knowledge today. There are no trendy remedies here, no magazine-style "Fifty Fun Ways to Excell With Hypertension", just clear and concise information. I think Edward R. Tufte would approve of the easy-to-read typestyles and the judicious use of color, sidebars, and illustrations, too. (A review of Tufte's ENVISIONING INFORMATION appears elsewhere in this issue.) Part 1, Longevity, gives an overview of health management, starting with a discussion, and a Self-Assessment Quiz, on health risks. There are sections devoted to diet and exercise, cholesterol, hypertension, smoking, and alcohol. This information will help you make some major decisions on the basis of fact, not fear and ignorance. Part 2 covers Nutrition, with all the information you'll need to pick the foods that are the best for you. I particularly appreciated the sections on fiber, caffeine, and food additives, and The Wellness Food Guide gives the straight scoop on just about any food you'll find at the grocery store. Part 3, Exercise, gives you a workout guide, discussing the various activities to enhance your cardiovascular system, your strength, and your flexibility. I got some good tips on these pages about how to choose appropriate athletic shoes. Part 4 is about Self-Care, the place to look up your specific health problems or worries, and with a wonderful section on Common Diagnostic Tests that will let you know what to expect. There is a section here on AIDS, as well as information on other sexually transmitted diseases, material that can be tough to dig out from other sources. I thought the facts about minoxidil, that baldness drug, were fascinating. The most unusual section of THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA is Part 5, Environment and Safety, which covers not only airplane, boating, and driving safety, but ventures into relatively new territory with discussions of household toxins, computer screens, Lyme disease, radon, passive smoke, noise pollution, and the ozone layer. Possibly the most amazing aspect of THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA is its readability. Most health information is either given out in dry-as-dust books or in pamphlets containing cartoon critters that talk down to readers. I've had THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA on my desk for two weeks now and I've looked up half a dozen subjects as they've come up in life. Each time I've gotten the answers I wanted, and I got them fast, without having to pore through many pages of dense text. It's hard not to browse in related sections, but you don't *have* to. THE WELLNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA is well worth its $29.95 price, and this oversize volume deserves a handy spot on your reference shelf. Highly recommended to everyone who wants to take a more active role in their physical, and mental, well-being. ************************ For readers on a budget, Dover Publications has a line of classic fiction, drama, and poetry in affordable $1 editions. That's not a typo--$1. Here is what's available right now: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Complete Sonnets by William Shakespeare The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Candide by Voltaire Five Great Short Stories by Anton Chekhov Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Call of the Wild by Jack London Bartleby and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville Selected Poems by Emily Dickinson The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: First and Fifth Editions translated by Edward Fitzgerald A Shropshire Lad by A.E. Housman Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems by Rudyard Kipling Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde See you local bookstore, or write for Dover's terrific catalog. Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501 ************************ VIETNAM REMEMBERED IN VERSE On a recent visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, R. Franklin Pate stood on the knoll overlooking the monument, and realized that the Wall reminded him of a large, black *boomerang*. The closer he came, the more the memories came flooding back. "Vietnam is like that: we can throw it away, but it keeps coming back, again, again, and again..." --R. Franklin Pate, poet You can get THE BOOMERANG POEMS by R. Franklin Pate, for $6 plus $2 shipping and handling, from Rowan Mountain Press, PO Box 10111, Blacksburg, VA 24062-0111 (phone 703-961-3315). ************************ ENVISIONING INFORMATION by Edward R. Tufte (1990, Graphics Press, ISBN 0-961-3921-1-8, $48) review by Cindy Bartorillo We live in the Information Age, with vast quantities of data coming at us from all sides: TV, radio, books, computers, newspapers, magazines, telephones, signs, mail, maps, airline schedules, weather reports, stock quotes, bills, conversation, menus, photographs... As more people try to communicate more information to more other people, effectiveness and efficiency become increasingly important. Which is where Edward R. Tufte's book, ENVISIONING INFORMATION, comes to the rescue. As he says: "We envision information in order to reason about, communicate, document, and preserve that knowledge--activities nearly always carried out on two-dimensional paper and computer screen. Escaping this flatland and enriching the density of data displays are the essential tasks of information design." For those of us involved with some form of communications, whether it be designing computer software, creating visual aids for business presentations, or putting together a literary news magazine, ENVISIONING INFORMATION could be the most important book you'll read this year. Not only does Mr. Tufte have much to say about what works visually and what doesn't, everything, absolutely EVERYTHING, is demonstrated with practical examples in the form of beautiful, finely crafted illustrations. We see different ways of displaying the periodic table of chemical elements; a graphic timetable for a Java railroad line; computer-plotted views of Californian air pollution; a chart of the criminal offenses committed by several specific government informants on organized crime; a beautifully-drawn map of midtown Manhattan in which individual windows, telephone booths, and sidewalk planters are visible; variously-scaled plottings of space debris; a diagram of the innards of an IBM Series III Copier/Duplicator; an enormous hospital bill, carefully translated for the lay reader; the cleverly-designed diagrams in Oliver Byrne's 1847 edition of Euclid's GEOMETRY; examples of poorly-designed computer screens, as well as more elegant and efficient ideas; examples of good and bad map design; a satellite photograph of Manhattan used as a map; numerous design ideas for schedules and timetables; and many examples of the ways in which choreography has been rendered on paper. There is also a discussion about why the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is laid out chronologically instead of alphabetically. Which brings me to my second point: ENVISIONING INFORMATION could easily be the most beautiful volume to grace your humble bookshelves. Thick, acid-free pages are copiously decorated with a wide variety of graphic art, even a three-dimensional photograph you don't need special glasses to appreciate. Finally, ENVISIONING INFORMATION is a fascinating look behind the veil for information consumers. You'll find out why some maps are harder to read than others, and why, after years of practice, you STILL have trouble reading an airline schedule. In response to those who claim that some information displays are difficult to read because of the complexity of the information, Tufte replies, "Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information." You'll see graphics that are nearly impossible to decode and graphs where the information practically leaps out at you. You'll discover that many of the designs you've been exposed to are what Tufte calls "chartjunk". A beautiful, useful, and fascinating book--easily one of the best nonfiction titles of 1990. For your copy, contact the publisher at: Graphics Press, Box 430, Cheshire, CT 06410. ************************ Did you know that a McDonald's McD.L.T. hamburger sandwich, large fries, and a milk shake has 1,290 calories, 13 teaspoons of fat, and 1,380 milligrams of sodium? You would if you had the "Fast Food Eating Guide" wall chart from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The chart compares the current calorie, fat, sodium, and sugar content of over 250 popular foods and meals. Favorite foods offered by more than a dozen restaurant chains, including McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and Burger King, are included. A unique aspect of CSPI's chart is the exclusive "GLOOM" rating for each food. The GLOOM rating is a summary score that reflects a food's content of fat, sodium, and refined sugar, as well as its vitamins and minerals--the higher the GLOOM factor, the worse the food. CSPI's 18" x 24" "Fast Food Eating Guide" is available by sending $4.95 (or $9.95 for a laminated, damage-resistant version) to: CSPI-Fast Food Eating Guide, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW #300, Washington, DC 20009. Special prices are available for quantity purchases. (CSPI is a non-profit health advocacy organization supported largely by its 230,000 members.) ************************ This is from Andrew I. Porter's magazine SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE (November, 1990): "There are 3 types of readers: serious, who count the reading of certain novels among the important experiences in their lives; plain, who read what everyone else is reading; paperback, who browse novels instead of actually reading them, according to Thomas J. Roberts, author of THE ESTHETICS OF JUNK FICTION (University of Georgia Press). He places fiction into 4 categories: Canonical, Serious, Plain and Junk. Guess which category SF, fantasy and horror falls into? Right! Roberts has a psychological profile of his 3 reader types. A serious reader reads by author, a plain reader by the book, a paperback reader by genre. Serious readers write about books, plain readers chat about them, paperback readers read alone. Serious readers seek originality, plain readers information, paperback readers gratification. Sounds like SF/fantasy readers--or at least fans--mostly manage to fall outside his neat pigeonholes." Is everyone properly insulted? By the way, SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE is $27 for 1 year, $51 for 2 years. Send check to Science Fiction Chronicle, Box 2730, Brooklyn, NY 11202-0056. ************************ WOULD THE BUDDHA WEAR A WALKMAN? A Catalogue of Revolutionary Tools for Higher Consciousness by Judith Hooper & Dick Teresi (1990, Fireside, $16.95, ISBN 0-671-69373-5) review by Cindy Bartorillo If you're still optimistic enough to think that the quest for Higher Consciousness has meaning, but are dismayed by all the crackpots and nonsense out there, WOULD THE BUDDHA WEAR A WALKMAN? is the book you need--a map through the forest of books, products, and ideologies. There are ideas, sources, and products listed here for the ethereal, out-of-body types, the mystic channeling types, the serene meditators, the spiritual Goddess worshipers, the high-tech brain salon types, and many, many others. What are the best books available about Lucid Dreaming? How much will it cost to modify your brain waves with electric goggles? Where should you go for the latest consciousness-expanding computer programs? What are some of the major alternative religious movements? What are scientists doing today with "altered states of consciousness"? What are some of the leading Crazy Conspiracy theories, and just how crazy are they? Answering these questions, and a slew of similar ones, is what WOULD THE BUDDHA WEAR A WALKMAN? is all about. In slick, engaging prose the authors take the reader through the entire supermarket of possibilities for "higher" consciousness, always with a light tone and touch. Gentle fun is poked at everything, making the book fun to read, and making it difficult to take offense when they take the occasional potshot at your favorite subjects. This book would make the perfect gift for someone who likes to keep up with more than just Wall Street and the latest hairstyles. Someone like you, for instance. With all the hundreds of "tools" covered, some you will find blatantly silly, some will be thought-provoking, and some will probably lead you to further reading and possible life-changing insights. No matter what your orientation, you're sure to find something of value in WOULD THE BUDDHA WEAR A WALKMAN? ************************ THE COMPLETE JAMES BOND MOVIE ENCYCLOPEDIA by Steven Jay Rubin (1990, Contemporary Books, $25, ISBN 0-8092-4161-7) Here is the book that James Bond fans have been waiting for--the absolutely definitive, totally complete encyclopedia! While exploring the Bond mythology in depth, this comprehensive guide discusses the identities and backgrounds of the many film characters, including the actors who have played Agent 007 (from Sean Connery to Timothy Dalton) and the numerous leading ladies who have graced the Bond films. It also takes an in-depth look at the filmmakers, set designers, stuntmen, high-tech secret weapons, intriguing plots, and exotic settings for each Bond film, from DR. NO to LICENSE TO KILL. Did you know that 20.003 grams is the individual weight of Francisco Scaramanga's golden bullets? Have you heard about the infamous "garlic incident" between Diana Rigg and George Lazenby? Do you know the name of the only actress to play two different characters in two different films? In addition to answering these kinds of questions, THE COMPLETE JAMES BOND MOVIE ENCYCLOPEDIA is invaluable for more standard types of film information. For each film you get a complete (and I do mean complete) list of cast and crew, and there is an entry for each actor and actress, putting their James Bond film role into the broader perspective of their careers. Couple this with Rubin's critical appraisals and his behind-the-scenes journalism and you have a book with everything the James Bond fan needs and wants to know. Steven Jay Rubin is a film historian and a devoted James Bond himself, and is the author of THE JAMES BOND FILMS: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES HISTORY. He lives in Los Angeles. ************************ "I am forever reading books prefaced by writers praising the patience-and-forbearance of their wives and frequently giving them credit for reading, correcting and even rewriting every single word. I am amazed: I had thought that the editor's job. So that I hereby dedicate this book to Esther Whitby and Howard Davies in London and Michele Slung in New York. My own wife does nothing like other people and quarreled with me during every day of the writing. When it was finished, she refused pointblank to read the book. But since she has been the beat of my heart for 37 years I must add: 'To Renee.'" ---Nicolas Freeling (the dedication of THOSE IN PERIL) *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* * * * FRIGHTFUL FICTION * * * *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Editor: Annie Wilkes --------------------------------------------------------------------- Frightful Fiction is a division of Reading For Pleasure, published bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used freely by all. Catalogs, news releases, review copies, or donated reviews should be sent to: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303, Frederick, MD 21702. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURED AUTHOR: CHET WILLIAMSON Chet Williamson was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1948 and now lives in Elizabethtown with his wife and son. Though he sold his first story only 10 years ago, his fiction has already appeared in The New Yorker (a humorous piece), Playboy, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Twilight Zone, the New Black Mask, and in many anthologies. He has earned his reputation as one of the finest horror writers working today. Below you will find a list of all of Chet Williamson's novels, along with a brief description or review, as well as listings of some of his short stories. "Offices" (in TWILIGHT ZONE Magazine, October 1981) This was Chet Williamson's first sale. SOULSTORM (1986) "Williamson has created a dark gem of a novel, the kind of terrifying story that compels you to finish it." ---WEST COAST REVIEW OF BOOKS "I had to work on a relatively small scale with that book [SOULSTORM], because I didn't want to get lost in a large cast of characters and many locations. So I thought the classic haunted-house story would be a good place to start. It's a real head-bashing horror kind of thing, not too subtle, but I think a lot of fun." ---Chet Williamson ASH WEDNESDAY (1987, Tor) Merridale's dead have returned. All hell is about to break loose. Scattered through the streets and homes of Merridale are glowing, transparent blue forms, frozen in their death agonies. They do not speak--and are all the more terrifying for their silence. "A rich, carefully constructed novel about the ravages of guilt and the real horror of life. The brew is grim, unrelenting, and compelling." ---FANTASY REVIEW "Disturbing, challenging...a cold, hard look at the terrors of death, ghosts, and madness...a haunting vision of purgatory on earth." ---Ramsey Campbell "What I wanted to do was a passive horror story, in which there are no monsters, no things that come after you. The situation is that one day a small town wakes up to discover that all its dead have returned as semi-transparent, naked wraiths. They don't move. They don't speak. The entire action of the book is dependent on the reactions of the people in the town to these intimations of mortality." ---Chet Williamson [ASH WEDNESDAY was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers of America. See the RFP review of ASH WEDNESDAY in RFP #12, line 2017.] McKAIN'S DILEMMA (1988, Tor) review by Annie Wilkes "I write a lot about the way one approaches death, and confronts his own mortality. The clearest example of that theme is McKAIN'S DILEMMA. It's also my shortest novel, and my tightest. For those who haven't read me before, that might be a good place to start, even though it's not a horror novel." ---Chet Williamson McKain is a private investigator with a wife he's very close to and a seven-year-old daughter he adores. As the story begins, McKain is hired by Carlton Runnells to find Christopher Townes, a lover of his who has disappeared. Runnells is very wealthy, thanks to a 5-year marriage to a much older rich widow, and is in love with Townes, who lives with a violent and jealous man with mob connections. When Townes disappears, Runnells is worried. McKain doesn't have to do anything but locate Townes and make sure he's still alive and well, which he does. When Townes is brutally murdered the next day, McKain suspects that his client is responsible. Runnells finally confesses, but says that Townes knowingly gave him AIDS, which Runnells' appearance confirms, and which McKain can easily understand since he just found out he has a virulent form of leukemia. Since Runnells is dying anyway, McKain decides to keep quiet about the evidence he knows of that connects his client to the murder. Imagine his surprise when he finds Runnells a year later, in the very pink of health. Runnells now tells the whole story, of how he brutally murdered his wife for gain and Townes for personal security. Now McKain must face the dilemma promised in the title: how can he bring down Runnells without ruining his own career/reputation/life? As a subplot, McKain faces a second dilemma at home. To protect his family from his impending death, he tries to distance himself from them, but this is only causing everyone a separate agony. How can you hug your family close, and yet die alone? Williamson has written a short, spare story with no fat in it anywhere. The characters are very real and their emotions are made vivid. As with ASH WEDNESDAY, the author has set two men on a collision course, with the resulting explosion forming the climax of the novel. Williamson has said that McKAIN'S DILEMMA makes a good introduction to his books, and I wouldn't argue. It's a fast-paced and intriguing story about a man juggling life, death, and integrity. "...a suspense novel set in Lancaster County where I live. That was an attempt to create a very realistic private eye." ---Chet Williamson "Return of the Neon Fireball" (1988, in SILVER SCREAM edited by David J. Schow) Mike Price is going to buy an old, run-down drive-in theater, refurbish it, and make the Fifties live again. Or are the Fifties coming back to get him? LOWLAND RIDER (1988, Tor) Jesse Gordon lives in New York City, on the trains and in the tunnels of the subway system. Jesse, a young businessman, has been driven mad with despair after the brutal murder of his wife and child by common thugs. Hellbent on revenge, Jesse disappears into the weird and awful darkness beneath the city's streets, forever abandoning the light of day. The world below is stranger and darker than even Jesse's twisted mind can imagine. There is a pattern to the horrible, bestial crimes he sees committed. An eerie, inhuman figure dressed in white is the center of terrible evil. Jesse Gordon's quest for vengeance forces him into a confrontation with the ultimate source of a horror older than time. "...a descent-into-Hell story, in this case Hell being the New York subway system, which I certainly look on as pretty hellish." ---Chet Williamson "Blood Night" (1989, in HOT BLOOD edited by Jeff Gelb & Lonn Friend) Wet dreams can seem so very REAL sometimes, and Richard Bell is about to learn that fantasies can be fatal. "'Yore Skin's Jes's Soft 'n Purty...' He Said." (1989, in RAZORED SADDLES edited by Joe R. Lansdale & Pat LoBrutto) An almost-traditional story about a man who longs for the Wide Open Spaces, where a man can be his own kind of man. But watch out for the splattery ending and the absolutely perfect last line. This short story was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. DREAMTHORP (1989, Avon) A sleepy little Pennsylvania resort town where city folks can get away from it all....A town where a woman who saw her best friend mutilated by a crazed sex killer can hide--and forget....until haunted relics of another age awaken an ancient evil and unleash a human horror that has no place outside of Hell... "DREAMTHORP is a winner...packed with enough cool chills and bloody horror for two novels!" ---F. Paul Wilson "A lot more graphic and explicit than anything I've done to date. It had to be, because I was dealing with a sociopathic killer. In that one, also, the protagonist turned out to be a woman. I hadn't intended that, but she took over the book, and I was very glad. The story is ultimately her triumph." ---Chet Williamson NIGHT VISIONS 7 edited by Stanley Wiater, illustrated by Charles Lang (1989, Dark Harvest) review by Annie Wilkes Chet's work made up one third of this volume, and included the following stories: "Blue Notes" -- A pleasant enough mood piece, but it struck me as contrived, as if the author thought of the ending, or maybe just the title, and then tried to come up with a story that fit. "The Confession of St. James" -- Stanley Wiater called this novella "one of the most unforgettable portraits of a flesh-eating Methodist minister as you might ever hope to meet". I agree, and was also impressed by the style of the story--the author adopted a different vocabulary and rhythm for this minister's confession. The words are ever-so-slightly stilted and the tone is careful, plodding, and a bit fussy. "Confessions" was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. "Assurances of the Self-Extinction of Man" -- Chet Williamson calls this "the most depressing eighty words I've ever written", which gives you a fair idea of the piece. "It's kind of tough to survive when your books are placed in that--dare I say--horror ghetto, where there are fifty of those books out on the shelves, and they all look the same, and your last name starts with W." ---Chet Williamson REIGN illustrated by John & Laura Lakey (1990, Dark Harvest) review by Annie Wilkes In the Overture of REIGN (appropriately laid out in the format of a musical stage play), we meet our hero (Dennis), our heroine (Ann), the other major characters of the impending drama, and just the barest hint of the villain (the Emperor). During the course of Act I we meet all the major characters of REIGN and start our mental map of their connections and interactions. Dennis Hamilton has spent 25 years as an actor but is known almost exclusively for his first role: as the lead of a musical play called A PRIVATE EMPIRE in which he played the Emperor. It was a hit on Broadway, toured for years and, after a very successful revival much later, Dennis became the first actor to win two Tony awards for the same role in the same play. It now appears that when Dennis speaks of acting as a creative art, he's more accurate than he knows: the Emperor has split off and become a separate entity, a creature who feeds off of Dennis' own emotions and life force. Unfortunately for the people in Dennis' life, the Emperor represents the more unpleasant side of the Dennis/Emperor meld--I might say the "Dark Half" (with a nod to Stephen King, who has also used the same idea recently). Dennis is trying to start a new life in an old theater (or "theatre", as REIGN spells it). He is renovating the old Venetian Theatre in Kirkland, Pennsylvania, where A PRIVATE EMPIRE began, and will produce and direct original musicals in an attempt to breathe life into a stagnant American artform. The cast of REIGN includes Dennis and his wife Robin, his manager John and John's secretary Donna, personal assistant Sid, stage manager Curt and his assistant Tommy, old flame Ann and her daughter Terri, Dennis' son Evan, costume designer Marvella and her granddaughter Whitney, and the cleaning crew of Abe and Harry. Not all of them will live to see the end of REIGN--one won't last 50 pages. Soon Dennis, and his remaining supporters, will be locked in a showdown with his alter ego. REIGN is Chet Williamson's best novel yet; a thrilling page-turner that combines the best of old-fashioned gothic fiction with a very modern perspective that makes the whole story seem fresh and vibrant. I particularly liked the theatrical structure of the novel--the first act curtain is spectacular. REIGN will very likely turn out to be one of the best horror novels of the 1990s. "His Two Wives" (1990, in INIQUITIES magazine, Autumn 1990) A change of pace story that reads more like Poe than Williamson's usual more modern prose. WEIRD TALES Magazine (Fall 1990) This was a Special Chet Williamson Issue, and contained an interview with C.W. conducted by Darrell Schweitzer as well as "Jabbie Welsh" (She was crazy before she died...and she's just as crazy now.), "The Heart's Desire", and "The Treasure of the Nassasalars". "A lot of people have said that they write horror primarily to scare the reader. I don't. That's one of the furthest things from my mind. If the reader wants to be scared and my books keep him awake at night, that's fine, because it shows that I've touched inside them. But primarily what I want to do is write a novel, and I don't especially care if it's a horror novel or not. But because of the way I think, that's what it's probably going to be. What I'm mainly concerned with are my characters, and their problems, and the way they solve them. Primarily I want to tell a good story with characters that are going to interest the reader from the beginning and make him or her stay with me till the end." ---Chet Williamson ************************ THE LOOK OF HORROR Scary Moments from Scary Movies by Jonathan Sternfield (1990, Running Press) review by Annie Wilkes Here is a book that is an unusually nice blend of pictures and text: the pictures predominate, but the text holds up well as thoughtful and enjoyable commentary. Sternfield takes up 70 horror movies, some classics, some barely watchable, but all significant in some way. Each entry of Sternfield's commentary is accompanied by one or more stills from the film--indeed, the whole book is oversized, printed on slick paper, and the vast majority of space is given over to the photographs (yet the book is only $14.98). Such classic movie stills! A closeup of Boris Karloff as Ardath Bey (aka The Mummy). Another of him as Frankenstein's monster. (Sternfield says that, according to makeup man Jack Pierce, those weren't bolts on either side of his neck, they were electric plugs.) A mature Alien, dripping alien-goo. Rod Taylor being screamed at by a crow. The Amityville house with the two quarter-circle upstairs windows aglow. Chucky with his knife (and Cro-Magnon eyebrows that I had never noticed before). Such wonderful movie memories. Chances are that your favorite movies are here, along with some you may not have seen yet. (I've still never seen THE OLD DARK HOUSE.) I found Sternfield's opinions to be generally very canny; which means, of course, that his opinions agree with mine more often than not. Here's a sampling: Don Siegel's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS: "The film has been endlessly analyzed, and is seen as an indictment of 1950s conformity. Whatever it means, it's scary, and one watches it with the creepy feeling that some of the people one knows are like this [devoid of emotion], and that the takeover may already be happening." THE BLOB: "In his first cinematic role, Steve McQueen steps to the fore as one tough character, a man clearly able to stand up to amorphous aliens." THE HOWLING: "But, overall, the film's campy quality too often distances viewers from the story's horrific possibilities. It IS the genre's first glimpse of mating werewolves, and that's a howl. If they would have just given those guys a little more...respect." HALLOWEEN: "What makes this nightmare stand out is not the story but the telling, the almost perverse trickery of John Carpenter's direction." THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: "Even after all the slasher films that have followed in its wake, this movie remains one of the most horrifying visions ever put on film." JAWS: "The combination of Bob Mattey's mechanical shark, footage of actual great whites, Verna Fields's editing, John Williams's score, and Steven Spielberg's direction yields horrific action sequences of remarkable power. The seashore hasn't been the same since." THE LOST BOYS: "Neither truly scary nor funny, THE LOST BOYS manages to by stylish, but to little purpose." THE LOOK OF HORROR makes a great addition to any horror bookshelf, and is an economical present for movie buffs and horror fans on your gift list. Try your local bookstore, but if they can't help you, you can send the $14.98 (plus $1.50 shipping per book) to the publishers at: Running Press, 125 South Twenty-Second St., Philadelphia, PA 19103. ************************ JOHN STANLEY'S REVENGE OF THE CREATURE FEATURES MOVIE GUIDE Third Revised Edition - Coded for Video Cassettes (1988, Creatures At Large Press) review by Cindy Bartorillo I've got Halliwell's and Ebert's movie guides as well as Tom Wiener's BOOK OF VIDEO LISTS, but as a horror film buff, my shelf is just not complete without Stanley's CREATURE FEATURES MOVIE GUIDE. Inside you get almost 4,000 small write-ups of horror, science fiction, and fantasy movies, many of them movies that most guide-writers wouldn't be caught dead watching. You get everything you need to know: title, date, notable credits, plot summary, Stanley's opinion, and a "(VC)" notation if it's available on videocassette. And the whole book is liberally laced with black & white movie stills. My copy cost $11.95 a couple of months ago ($12.95 if you order through the mail), which makes this 420-page guide a Best Movie Buy. It should be available at any specialty book store, or you can write to the publishers: Creatures At Large Press, PO Box 687, Pacifica, CA 94044. ************************ BEST NEW HORROR edited by Stephen Jones & Ramsey Campbell (1990, Carroll & Graf, 416 pages, $18.95, ISBN 0-88184-630-9) review by Cindy Bartorillo Here's a valuable anthology for the horror enthusiast, not only because of the many fine horror stories within, but because, being a bit slanted toward the British, there are a number of stories (and authors) that Americans would not otherwise be exposed to. This is planned to be a regular yearly anthology, and after reading this first volume, I'm anxious for the series to continue. The "Introduction: Horror in 1989" by the editors provides valuable wideband coverage of horror in all its artforms: books of all kinds, movies, television, comics, magazines, and awards. This is an excellent place to get a reading list, even if they do misspell James Ellroy and Gary Brandner. The first selection is Robert McCammon's "Pin", a short and painful view of crazy from the inside. "The House on Cemetery Street" by Cherry Wilder is an effective holocaust tale that manages to be bone-chilling without ever entering a death camp or meeting a Nazi. Stephen Gallagher's "The Horn" is a wonderfully atmospheric winter story. I read it in the middle of a winter's night, and by the end I was jumping at every small noise. The idiosyncratic style of Alex Quiroba's "Breaking Up" put me off at first, but turned out to be perfect for depicting the mental disintegration of the lead character. Editor Ramsey Campbell's contribution, "It Helps If You Sing" is a nasty little piece about a depressing future world and the walking dead who inhabit it. You'll think you're watching an old Twilight Zone episode when you read "Closed Circuit" by Laurence Staig. A terrifying view of the future where our consumerism has reached the next stage of its evolution. The story has a particular resonance during the Christmas season when I read it. "Carnal House" by Steve Rasnic Tem is a gruesome, appropriately-titled mood piece. Kim Newman's "Twitch Technicolor" envisions a high-tech, nightmarish future in which the art of colorizing movies has reached a new level of wizardry. In "Lizaveta", author Gregory Frost gives us a newly-written story that is effectively told in the style of old European legends. It reminds me of Hawthorne and LeFanu. One of my favorites, the story that scared me the most, was Donald Burleson's "Snow Cancellations", which derives all of its terror from as quietly beautiful a phenomenon as a snowstorm. Of the less successful pieces, there is "Archway" by Nicholas Royle, a depressing story about poverty. And "The Strange Design of Master Rignolo" by Thomas Ligotti, a surreal tale that was too obscure for me. But we get back on track with Chet Williamson's "...To Feel Another's Woe", about vampire-like beings on the New York stage. You can see the seeds of his novel REIGN here. Another favorite of mine was "The Last Day of Miss Dorinda Molyneaux" by Robert Westall, an entertaining tale of the unquiet dead. We get a variation of Richard Connell's famous "The Most Dangerous Game" with "No Sharks in the Med" by Brian Lumley in which pampered city people face physical danger while on vacation in Greece. "Mort Au Monde" by D.F. Lewis was too subtle, too fractional for me to appreciate, but Thomas Tessier's "Blanca" is a chilling story about one of life's all-to-real horrors. "The Eye of the Ayatollah" by Ian Watson is a metaphorical story about vision and reality. Followers of the Ayatollah won't like this one either. The longest story in the anthology, and the most fun, is Karl Edward Wagner's "At First Just Ghostly", where you'll find lots of action, lots of horror-writer "in" jokes, and very smooth writing. The editors say that this is part of a novel that the author has been working on--I hope so because I'd love to find out what happens next. As an aside, this tale contains more alcohol consumption than I've seen anywhere outside of a Fredric Brown story. And, just in case you thought BEST NEW HORROR was running low on gore, they finish with "Bad News" by Richard Laymon, an extremely grisly story about a not-so-average day in the suburbs. The anthology finishes with a Necrology of 1989 by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (the same pair that gave us HORROR: 100 BEST BOOKS)--a list of notable people who died, divided into Authors/Artists, Actors/Actresses, and Film/TV Technicians. This is a great start for the series: it's part literary survey, part reference work, and I found it to be about 75% great reading. Recommended. ************************ CEMETERY DANCE Fall 1990 review by Peter Quint This was another superb issue, with a nice balance between short stories and columns. Here's a rundown on the specifics: "Depth of Reflection" by David L. Duggins -- As powerful a psycho-killer story as you could ask for, with more plot than many novel-length works, all in five magazine pages. First rate. "The Gift" by Jessica Palmer -- This is the story you read to counteract the syrupy sweet taste of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". These are the gifts that the modern urban poor exchange. A great story to slit your wrists to. There's an extensive profile of writer F. Paul Wilson (THE KEEP, THE TOMB, THE TOUCH, REBORN) by T. Liam McDonald that is fascinating and informative, and added two new books to my reading list. "Talk Dirty To Me" by Barry Hoffman is both chilling and sad, about an obscene phone caller and his current victim. Edward Bryant is certainly one of the finest celebrity horror reviewers today, but nowadays he also seems to be the ONLY celebrity horror reviewer. Here is another fine column in which he discusses Stephen King, Dan Simmons, Nancy A. Collins, Lawrence Watt-Evans, and Al Sarrantonio. The interview with J.N. Williamson offers a welcome peek at the man behind a much-seen byline. And then there's the column called "Gormania" by Ed Gorman, who tells us that while fictional ghosts may do OK, the life of the ghost-writer isn't as fun as it sounds. There's an excerpt from a new novel by Brian Hodge called NIGHTLIFE, a story that mixes the perils of drug trafficking with the supernatural terrors of a potent new drug called skullfish. "Art Is Anything You Can Get Away With" by Stefan Jackson is not so much a horror story as it is a grisly mystery, and very enjoyable. It concerns tattoos as an artform--tattoos on skin that is NOT on a person (originally it was, but not any more). Here's another artistic endeavor that the National Endowment for the Arts would never pay for. Stefan Jackson is another writer to watch for. Joe Citro interviews John McCarty (THE OFFICIAL SPLATTER MOVIE GUIDE), and we find that McCarty watches his movies in his 22 x 22 home office on a Sony 52-inch projection television. (Can you imagine turning off all the lights and watching a 52-inch version of your scariest movie, at night, all alone?) "The Mole" by David Niall Wilson is a tense story about the psychological rigors of war. Paul Sammon's movie column, "Rough Cuts", explains the pros and cons of being a film's "unit publicist". And then there's another of A.R. Morlan's great horror movie trivia quizzes. Toward the end of the magazine there's another book review column, Lori Perkins' "Dreadful Pleasures". It's a nicely written review, but unfortunately it covers the very same book that Ed Bryant wrote the bulk of his column about--FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT by Stephen King. Surely there are enough horror books published that a quarterly magazine doesn't have to print duplicate reviews. Gary A. Braunbeck's novella "To His Children In Darkness" is an interesting mythological tale; fun to read even if the plot had a few holes. (I didn't understand why there were 3 Furies and 5 dead boys.) Cemetery Dance leaves another great issue with the promise of more goodies in the Winter Issue (#7). It's a Joe R. Lansdale Special, with both Lansdale fiction and a Lansdale interview. There will also be previews of HOT BLOOD II, Joe Citro's DARK TWILIGHT, a new column from Matthew Costello, and fiction from Graham Masterton and Ronald Kelly. Cemetery Dance is $15 for 4 quarterly issues, $25 for 8. Make your check out to Richard T. Chizmar and send it to: Cemetery Dance, PO Box 858, Edgewood, MD 21040. ************************ HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS by Peter Straub (1990, Dutton) review by Annie Wilkes "Think about what reading a book is really LIKE. A novel, I mean--you're reading a novel. What's happening? You're in another world, right? Somebody made it, somebody selected everything in it, and so suddenly you're not in your apartment anymore, you're walking along this mountain road, or you're sitting on top of a horse. You look out and you see things. What you see is partly what the guy put there for you to see, and partly what you make up on the basis of that. Everything means something, because it was all chosen. Everything you see, touch, feel, smell, everything you notice and everything you think, is organized to take you somewhere. Do you see? Everything GLOWS!" ---from "The Buffalo Hunter" "Sanity was what took over when you got too tired for anything else." ---Ibid. Short stories have a "put up or shut up" quality about them. In a longer piece a writer can dither long enough to convince at least some readers that there was more there than there actually was. But in a short story, pretense isn't possible. The six stories and seven brief "interludes" in HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS give us a clearer look at Peter Straub than we've ever had in all of his bestselling novels (KOKO, GHOST STORY, THE TALISMAN with Stephen King, and most recently MYSTERY), and it becomes obvious what a fine storyteller he really is. The six longer stories in HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS divided themselves neatly into two groups, in my opinion. The first three were less successful, if only in comparison to the last. "Blue Rose", the best of the three, is an unpleasant story about a perfectly poisonous little boy named Harry Beevers (who can also be found in Straub's novel KOKO). "The Juniper Tree" is another involving story about childhood trauma, but it was marred for me by an indeterminate ending. And "A Short Guide to the City" is very interesting, but is a couple of quarts low on plot. The last three stories are simply wonderful. "The Buffalo Hunter" is my favorite--an unforgettable story with much to say about parents, children, big cities, happiness, security, and the lure of literature. The aptly-named Bunting, plagued by toxic parents, loneliness, and the city of New York, finds comfort in baby bottles and novels. Straub's descriptions of the reading experience are brilliant. "The Buffalo Hunter" is the one tale in HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS that has a genuine sense of closure, a definite and satisfying ending. "Something About Death, Something About a Fire" is a surreal little piece, a bit like an inkblot. (What do YOU see in it?) And, bringing up the rear, is the masterful "Mrs. God". William Standish seeks career advancement, knowledge, and understanding, but his chosen path leads him directly into a magical realm not found on any map. Once he's found his way to Esswood, will he ever find his way back out? It's a dreamy, intense atmospheric piece that takes place in an old English mansion that is possibly diabolical and most certainly haunted. ---------------------------------------------------------------- By the way, if you like "Mrs. God", you'll be interested to know that the version in HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS is not the original. The original story was longer and has been published by Donald M. Grant (the same one who does Stephen King's DARK TOWER series). The Grant book is illustrated with paintings in full color by Rick Berry. A special limited edition of 600 copies is signed by both author and artist, bound in leather, with a linen slipcase, for $65. A hardcover trade edition is also available, with the Berry illustrations, for $30. "Besides being quite a bit longer, this version of MRS. GOD is different in a thousand stylistic and thematic details from the later one included in my collection HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS. In at least one sense, it is "purer"---that is, closer to my original intentions. It represents MRS. GOD as I originally intended it to be, an enigmatic, bizarre, dream-like experience in which most of the usual narrative signposts and road maps are inaccurate, concealed, or missing altogether." ---Peter Straub You can get the expanded MRS. GOD from Donald M. Grant by sending your check for the cover price listed above, plus $2 shipping per order, to Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc., PO Box 187, Hampton Falls, NH 03844. ************************ DARK DREAMERS Conversations With the Masters of Horror by Stanley Wiater (1990, Avon) review by Annie Wilkes I had been looking forward to this book for over a year, being familiar with Wiater's interviews from the old Twilight Zone magazine and his "Cineteratology" column in the much-missed Horrorstruck magazine. The main attraction of Wiater's interviews are, 1) he does his homework, and 2) he's a fan. When he asks questions, they are often very specific, because he's not only read this author's works and can discuss them intimately, he's also widely-read in the field in general which allows him to place the author's works in context. What all this means to the reader of his reviews is that you get a chance at enhanced understanding, not just fannish trivia. The authors interviewed are: Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Gary Brandner, Ramsey Campbell, Les Daniels, Dennis Etchison, John Farris, Charles L. Grant, James Herbert, Stephen King & Peter Straub, Dean R. Koontz, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Laymon, Graham Masterton, Richard Matheson, Robert R. McCammon, David Morrell, Anne Rice, John Saul, John Skipp & Craig Spector, Whitley Strieber, Chet Williamson, J.N. Williamson, Gahan Wilson. On the down side, there's the typography, which is cramped---I sure wish they could've added about 50 pages to the existing 227 and had a tiny bit of space between questions and answers. And then there are Wiater's sentences, which have a slight tendency to lose themselves midway: "For with the exception of two books, Farris has written screenplays for--or has options on--such popular titles as SHARP PRACTICE, SHATTER, THE UNINVITED, NIGHTFALL, and SON OF THE ENDLESS NIGHT." DARK DREAMERS makes very interesting reading, and I particularly liked seeing some important questions thrown at almost all of the writers, like the place of gore in modern horror and how their workday is laid out. It's fascinating to see these questions answered by a whole group of authors, one after the other. Some of the answers are surprising. Wiater says in the beginning that he realizes everyone will complain about certain writers being left out, but that he had to stop somewhere and actually produce the book. For the record, the authors I particularly missed are: T.E.D. Klein, David J. Schow, Edward Bryant, Ray Garton, F. Paul Wilson, and Karl Edward Wagner. ************************ "I think that [Stephen] King amplified and perfected something that Richard Matheson first pioneered with his classic novel I AM LEGEND: King took horror out of the dungeon and brought it to the small town, the suburbs, and the malls. He made the genre immediately accessible to people who may have been turned off by horror because of its traditionally baroque trappings." ---Stephen Spignesi (author of THE SHAPE UNDER THE SHEET: THE STEPHEN KING ENCYCLOPEDIA) ************************ UNIVERSAL HORRORS The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 by Michael Brunas, John Brunas, Tom Weaver (1990, McFarland & Company, Inc., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640) review by Cindy Bartorillo If your taste in horror films goes beyond the ordinary, you could be ready for UNIVERSAL HORRORS. Every picture marketed as "horror" during Universal Studio's classic era is given the serious consideration that genre films so seldom get from the popular media. I think I can safely guarantee that you'll be glad you splurged for this mammoth 616-page $45 volume. You can rent as many of the films as you can find at your local video rental, and keep this book handy to enrich your viewing experience. You'll find fascinating background details here. For instance, on THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, Jack Pierce made $450 for his makeup, James Whale took home $15,000, Boris Karloff $12,500, Colin Clive $6,000 and Ernest Thesiger $3,000. Isn't that amazing? This is the makeup that they've defended their exclusive rights to for all these years, and they only paid $450 for it in the first place! I also enjoyed the biographies that are hidden amongst the commentary, like the continuing saga of Bela Lugosi's so-close-and-yet-so-far-away career. The authors' opinions are fun to argue with too: "While popular in its own era, the novel DRACULA is a crashing bore today..." The critical opinions are vigorous and often cranky, but never dry or boring. These appraisals are usually given as spice to the meal, except in the commentary on MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, where the writer has such an axe to grind that the movie under discussion gets lost in an attempt to convince the reader that another critic's position on the director is without merit. It also may irritate some readers that the authors' opinions are more often than not presented in an aggressively egotistical manner, as facts, and that the opinions of other critics are referred to as being either "right" or "wrong". This scientifically academic approach to an art form misses much of its exuberance, but it doesn't infect the reader, nor does it occlude the wealth of fascinating information included in the article on each and every movie. Having, and reading, UNIVERSAL HORRORS, I feel that I am a better-informed movie buff and can appreciate dimensions of the older films that I never even noticed before. I highly recommend this book to novice horror fans and old pros alike. McFarland & Company also have another book you might be interested in: INTERVIEWS WITH B SCIENCE FICTION AND HORROR MOVIE MAKERS: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup by Tom Weaver (425 pages, 139 photographs, $29.95). You can order both books from the publisher at the address above. Add $2 shipping/handling for the first book, and 75 cents for each book after that. You could also place an order over the phone if you like: 919-246-4460. ************************ STEPHEN KING SPEAKS: "For comedians and for writers of horror, part of what we're supposed to be doing is talk about things that other people don't talk about." ---Stephen King, in a speech given October, 1990 for the San Francisco Public Library "The way [a good horror novel] is supposed to work is, you read this thing and you say, 'You know, that's pretty good, but when is it going to scare me?' And hopefully, when the light goes out, that's when the thing is really supposed to work. It's like fear Ex-Lax. That's the thing about the human imagination. It can get out of control, if you just tweak it enough, and that's really my job, to try and get that muscle to jump as much as possible. It's clearly a sick way to behave, but hey, that's the way that I am. The way it seems to work is, I get rid of it by giving it to you, and you pay me to do it." ---Ibid. ************************ WHISPER...HE MIGHT HEAR YOU by William Appel (1991, Donald I. Fine, $18.95, ISBN 1-55611-190-8) review by Andrew Bartorillo WHISPER...HE MIGHT HEAR YOU takes you on a terrifying journey inside the psyche of a man with an irresistible urge to kill, who can be stopped only by a woman whose all-too-accurate predictions about his victims place her family at the center of his deadly game. WHISPER...HE MIGHT HEAR YOU pits New York City's top criminal psychologist Kate Berman, a serial killer expert who retired from the New York Police Department after being stabbed by a suspect, against Carl Nasson, a deeply disturbed criminal genius who has been killing women without leaving a single clue. Bill Casey, NYPD Chief of Detectives and an old friend of Kate's, convinces her to take the case because of her unique talent, an ability to get inside the killer's mind, to think like him, and, hopefully, provide the police with a much-needed clue. When Kate is misquoted in a sensationalist tabloid, Nasson turns his wrath on Kate's family and on her niece Jennifer in particular. Forced to surpass the boundaries of psychology and travel even deeper into the killer's twisted world, only she can prevent the consequences of her investigation from reaching disastrous proportions. I enjoyed WHISPER very much and at times found myself comparing WHISPER's serial killer Carl Nasson with the famous serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Thomas Harris's RED DRAGON and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. William Appel's killer Nasson is in a way even more deadly in that he enjoys seeking out his victims and goes to great pains to ensure that NO clues are available for the police to collect. From the shaving of his body of every bit of hair to his wearing a dental implant in his mouth to prevent his saliva from being left on his victims, his planning of every murder scene is very precise. How Kate Berman, with the aid of her medical examiner husband Josh, is able to track down Nasson before he kills a loved one who is very close to Kate is the central theme of WHISPER. The book is well-paced and very difficult to put down before its climactic ending. I am a big fan of this type of book and found WHISPER to be up there with the best I have read. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give WHISPER a solid 10! ************************ THE DARK DOOR by Kate Wilhelm (1988) What a strange book! Series detectives that have jumped genres to appear in what is, without question, a horror novel. Wilhelm's Charlie Meiklejohn and his wife Constance Leidl, normally seen in mystery stories, here officiate at the tracking down and eliminating of a Nameless Horror From Beyond. It's an exciting book, the kind where you just can't seem to turn the pages fast enough to keep up with the pace. Something is setting up shop in old, boarded-up hotels. People who come within range of its influence get a fierce headache, dizzy spells, and occasionally go completely insane. As we begin the story, Carson Danvers is inspecting an old hotel in Virginia as a potential buyer. He's inside with a friend called John Loesser, his wife is outside on the hotel's porch, and his son Gary is around somewhere. When he hears his wife scream, he runs outside to find her lying on the porch missing half of her face, apparently shot by son Gary, who then shoots his father as well. Carson isn't killed, only wounded, and when he regains consciousness he finds no bodies, but bloody footprints lead from where his wife had fallen to an interior doorway that is filled with endless blackness. It seems that every time a Dark Door is destroyed one place, it just springs up someplace else, and Carson Danvers makes it his life's work to seek out and burn each one. When the insurance companies not only notice arson, but also some kind of weird pattern, they hire Charlie to figure out what's going on. They picked him because Charlie is one of the great authorities on fire fighting and arson, and he's a lone wolf who won't make newspaper headlines. They want him to find an arsonist. Unfortunately, what he finds is a cosmic phenomenon. THE DARK DOOR is a thrilling read for anyone, and will particularly satisfy the horror fan. My one complaint is the characterization of Charlie and Constance--they are surely wonderful, likeable people, but must we nominate them for sainthood? I think the author laid it on a bit thick in this volume: they're both just *so* good at everything, and are such intelligent, thoughtful, moral, loving.... You get the idea. I enjoy an old-fashioned hero in a white hat as much as anyone, but too much is just too much. This is still a mere quibble, though, and won't interfere with the suspense at all. Enjoy. ************************ WHAT'S NEWS * There will be a third in the anthology series, STALKERS, edited by Ed Gorman. It will include stories by F. Paul Wilson, Rick Hautala, and Nancy Collins, among others. * Ramsey Campbell sure started something with his collection of erotic horror stories called SCARED STIFF. After that came HOT BLOOD (there's a sequel of this one on the way), and in May 1991 there will be an anthology edited by Michele Slung called I SHUDDER AT YOUR TOUCH. * Every horror fan should have a copy of the Weinberg Books catalog. Robert and Phyllis Weinberg carry all the major publishers, as well as the specialty houses like Dark Harvest, Arkham House, Starmont, Ziesing, and a wide selection of magazines too. The catalog is a joy to read, and is free. Write to: Weinberg Books 15145 Oxford Drive Oak Forest, IL 60452 * T.M. Wright's novel, MANHATTAN GHOST STORY, is due to be made into a feature film--the script to be written by Ron Bass (who won an Oscar for his script of RAIN MAN) for a record-breaking $2 million. The big bucks for a ghost story probably has something to do with the recent success of the movie GHOST. * Clive Barker has bought a $1.95 million house (that formerly belonged to Robert Culp) in Beverly Hills and apparently plans to live there full-time. It's odd to think that some people with his imagination wind up being institutionalized, while he winds up in a mansion in Beverly Hills. All a matter of finding acceptable outlets, I guess. * I hear AFTER HOURS magazine has moved. The new address is: PO Box 538, Sunset Beach, CA 90742-0538. * Look for a brand new horror line from Dell, called Abyss, aiming for the better-educated, more literate reader. Their first release is a February title, THE CIPHER by Kathe Koja. According to Dell editor Jeanne Cavelos, in THE CIPHER "a failed poet discovers a strange black space [and] can't quite figure out whether the hole is part of him or he is part of it." Sounds...ummmm...recondite. Whatever it is, look for a review in RFP #16. * Don't forget Horrorfest '91, August 2-4 at the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago. Authors Joe Lansdale and Paul Dale Anderson will be there, and the festivities will include readings, guest speakers, panels, videos, a banquet, a costume ball, and a Horror Flea Market. For more information, send a long SASE with 45 cents postage to: Horrorfest '91, PO Box 277652, Chicago, IL 60627-7652. * Like vampires? Why not let the Vampire Archives keep you up-to-date on all the latest vampire lore by sending you frequent (at least once a month) issues of what's happening in film, books, articles, anything and everything on vampires. A year is $30, half-year $15, sample issue $3 (Foreign prices are $45, $22.50, and $5 respectively). Vampire Archives, 2926 W. Leland, Chicago, IL 60625. #:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:# # MURDER BY THE BOOK # #:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:# editor: Cindy Bartorillo --------------------------------------------------------------------- Murder By The Book is a division of Reading For Pleasure, published bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used freely by all. Catalogs, news releases, review copies, or donated reviews should be sent to: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303, Frederick, MD 21702. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 ANTHONY AWARDS Announced at the 21st annual Bouchercon in London: Best Novel: THE SIRENS SANG OF MURDER by Sarah Caudwell Best First Novel: KATWALK by Karen Kijewski Best Paperback Original: HONEYMOON WITH MURDER by Carolyn Hart Best Short Story: "Afraid All the Time" by Nancy Pickard Lifetime Achievement: Michael Gilbert Best Film: CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS Best Television Series: INSPECTOR MORSE ************************ TROPHIES AND DEAD THINGS by Marcia Muller (1990, Mysterious Press, ISBN 0-89296-417-0, $16.95) review by Carol Sheffert Marcia Muller is one of the very few always-reliable mystery authors. Every story satisfies, and each one lingers in the memory, distinct and vivid, long after the last page is turned. TROPHIES AND DEAD THINGS is no exception. Sharon McCone, an investigator for the All Souls legal cooperative, is back, this time hunting down people who were involved in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in the 1960s. One of All Souls' clients, Perry Hilderly, becomes the most recent victim of a random serial killer, and a new holographic will is found in his apartment, a will that disinherits his children and leaves his largish estate to four strangers. Sharon must track these people down and discover the nature of their relationship with Hilderly. One is an up-and-coming news anchor, one is a sleazy divorce lawyer, one is a no-nonsense lady who rents horses, and one is a hopeless alcoholic. During the course of her investigation, Sharon will dig up a lot of dirt from the 1960s, for the characters of this story and most likely for the reader as well. Purists may be slightly disturbed by the liberties Marcia Muller has taken with the mystery form, but the combination of interesting characters, an absorbing plot, and pounding suspense make for a very fine novel, whatever shelf you want to put it on. Indeed, anyone who crabs that mysteries are too formulaic should be locked in a room with Marcia Muller's entire output. She tells a mystery not only in her own way, but never in quite the same way twice. Recommended. ************************ JUROR by Parnell Hall (1990, Donald I. Fine, $18.95, ISBN 1-55611-230-0) reviewed by Drew Bartorillo JUROR, Parnell Hall's sixth Stanley Hastings mystery, finds our affable if somewhat bemused hero stuck in court serving jury duty. As always where Hastings is concerned, seemingly routine situations evolve into unexpected adventures. Stanley does his best to be picked for any trial, just so he can get back to his hum-drum life as a private detective, investigating accident cases on a piecemeal basis. Stanley never figured he'd be involved in a murder case when he was picked to fulfill his civic duty, and it seems that the murder has nothing to do with the trial he is on--or so he thinks. Stanley is thrilled when one of his co-jurors, a beautiful, young aspiring actress, takes a liking to him; a liking that causes Stanley lots of aggravation when he "tells all" to his wife. Stanley is pleased to chauffer his co-juror to and from the courthouse. One day, after the usual dull hours of jury duty, Stanley drives his co-juror to her apartment and, in his rear-view mirror, spots her being accosted by a man. Stanley rushes to her rescue, only to have her reject him and run off. But it isn't until the next morning that she turns into major trouble for Stanley. She is late for her ride to jury duty--permanently late due to strangulation. Stanley decides to investigate his co-juror's murder, mainly because there is a strong chance that the police might consider him the prime suspect in the case (he was the last one to see her alive). Ultimately, in his own inimitable, bumblingly clever fashion, Stanley gets to the dark heart of the matter, as the key to her murder and the resolution to the trial intertwine in a dramatic climax. I found JUROR to be thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover. Stanley Hastings' trials and tribulations as a juror were especially humorous, from the little nicknames he gave everyone involved in the jury process to the way he attempted to meld his jury duties with his everyday detective activities. After all, one cannot live on jury duty pay alone, and Stanley tries to perform both activities with some very humorous results. In fact, I found that the mystery took second place to Stanley Hastings' personality in my enjoyment of JUROR. I had difficulty comprehending what the jury duty part of the book had to do with the murder case, but eventually it all fell into place, as I suspected it would, and the ending was completely satisfying. Parnell Hall's first Stanley Hastings mystery novel, DETECTIVE, was an Edgar Award nominee for Best New Mystery and, after reading JUROR, I intend to try to find the rest of the books in the series (DETECTIVE, MURDER, FAVOR, STRANGLER, CLIENT, and now JUROR. SHOT is due from Donald I. Fine in June.) On a scale of 1 to 10, I give JUROR a 9. ************************ OVER THE SEAS TO DIE by Richard Grindal Charles Mackinnon, a London doctor, finds that his Scottish vacation is not the pleasant rest he expected. Within hours of his arrival on the island of Skye, he sees a person being thrown off a cliff into the sea. When the body of Jamie Gillespie is found in the ocean, the police refuse to believe it's anything but suicide. Charles is an outsider in this tight little community, but that doesn't keep him from being drawn into the dark menace that grips the place. (A St. Martin's mystery for $15.95) MURDER, I PRESUME by Gillian Linscott Fashionable London throngs to the funeral of the late Dr. Livingston. Peter Pentland, a former explorer who had to change careers after losing a leg on an expedition, is charged with looking after the wives of two of his colleagues as they plan rival expeditions. When still another member of the exploration fraternity dies from a rare African poison, Peter turns sleuth, risking not limb, this time, but lives. (A St. Martin's mystery for $15.95) ************************ THE YEAR'S BEST MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE STORIES 1990 edited by Edward D. Hoch (1990, Walker and Co.) review by Cindy Bartorillo Edward D. Hoch has edited a great many anthologies, and he's written more than 750 short stories, which explains the extraordinarily high quality of this volume--the man knows a good mystery story when he reads one. We get off to a great start with Jack Adrian's "The Phantom Pistol", in which The Great Golconda, master magician, is murdered on stage in front of an entire audience of eyewitnesses in 1912 London. How could he have been shot when there is no suitable firearm on the premises? Superintendent Stanley Hopkins of Scotland Yard and his tall, gaunt, older friend "Mr. H" are fortunately on hand to solve this impossible crime. "Star Pupil" by Doug Allyn is an unforgettable story about a writer teaching a writing class in a prison. The teacher learns a few lessons himself as he finds the prison environment is reaching out to envelop his life as it does the inmates. And Brendan Dubois' near-perfect "Fire Burning Bright" is about small-town arson, and small-town justice. Along the way newsman Jerry Auberg learns the difference between a house and a home. Then there's the atmospheric "The Moon Was to Blame" by Antonia Fraser. That's unlikely to work as an excuse if the police ever find out what they did on the beach under the full moon. Edgar nominee "Ted Bundy's Father" by Ruth Graviros is a fascinating speculation about the unknown father of mass-murderer Ted Bundy. Ruth Graviros, by the way, is a pseudonym of Eleanor Sullivan, editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. "Hawks" by Connie Holt is a small gem: adults and adult business seen through the eyes of children at a funeral in the Arkansas hill country. And Peter Lovesey's "The Haunted Crescent" is a charming, old-fashioned Christmas Eve mystery, complete with ghost. A very different kind of Christmas story is told in Marcia Muller's "Silent Night", as investigator Sharon McCone searches for her runaway nephew among the city's homeless. In "The Love Motel" by Shizuko Natsuki, a girl is poisoned by the drinks stocked in the fridge of what we would call an "adult" hotel. And Elizabeth Peters tells one of her period pieces in "The Locked Tomb Mystery". How can I describe James Powell's "A Dirge for Clowntown"? Imagine if Philip Marlowe worked in clownface. I guess all you really need to know is that when Inspector Bozo is on the case, things are never dull. "A Pair of Yellow Lilies" is as good a story as you would expect from author Ruth Rendell. Bridget Thomas finds that justice sometimes comes in unexpected form. And in Henry Slesar's "Possession", Skip will try anything to solve the murder of his friend Mitch--even going to a seance. The whole volume comes to a brilliant and hilarious close with Edgar Award-winning Best Short Story "Too Many Crooks" by Donald E. Westlake. What is the world coming to, when you have to make a reservation to rob a bank? John Dortmunder has his usual run of luck, and so does the reader. There is also a valuable Appendix in the back of this volume that gives you an overview of the year in mystery. THE YEAR'S BEST MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE 1990 is exactly that. Highly recommended. ************************ MURDER AT TEATIME by Stefanie Matteson A New Mystery Series Starring Charlotte Graham! What better antidote to the pressures of Broadway than a vacation on an elegant island off the Maine coast? That's what Charlotte Graham thinks...until her seaside getaway lands her knee-deep in local intrigue. A fanatical book collector, a witch specializing in herbal remedies, and a crusty old lobster fisherman are at odds over land, love, and money. And when someone spikes a cup of tea with poison, our snooping Charlotte may end up in a lethal brew of double, double toil and trouble...and murder. (Look for MURDER AT TEATIME in March, from Berkley, $3.95) ************************ THE MYSTERY TRAIN DISAPPEARS by Kyotaro Nishimura (translated by Gavin Frew) 1990, Dembner, ISBN 0-942637-30-5, $16.95, December 30, 1990 review by Cindy Bartorillo The ailing Japanese National Railways sponsors specialty trains to get more business--like the Mystery Train, a weekend excursion for its passengers whose itinerary is unknown. One particular Mystery Train lives up to its name spectacularly by disappearing between two stops. The train behind it arrives on time, so apparently the entire Mystery Train, all 400 passengers and the JNR crew, have simply vanished! Soon a ransom demand is made (for one billion yen) and authorities must try to determine what has happened to the Mystery Train and all who were on board. This intriguing premise is the beginning of a 1982 novel, MISUTERI RESSHA GA KIETA, by one of Japan's leading mystery writers, Kyotaro Nishimura. It is one of Nishimura's very popular "train series" that also includes MURDER ON THE BLUE TRAIN and THE TERMINAL MURDER (winner of The Mystery Writers of Japan Award). In addition to the fascinating impossible-crime setup, THE MYSTERY TRAIN DISAPPEARS held my interest well, and the suspense of deadlines ticking ever nearer was enjoyable. Beyond that, however, western readers may be baffled by the style. The characterization is more like that of Golden Age "puzzle" mysteries--nonexistent. Unfortunately, this is coupled with a style of detection that is most unlike Golden Age stories: here there is more luck than logic. Throughout THE MYSTERY TRAIN DISAPPEARS the authorities, and the railway personnel who help them, are jumping to conclusions and making assumptions that are poorly supported by the available evidence. Sometimes they turn out to be right, and take credit for solving a puzzle when they've only been lucky. Other times they're wrong and complain about bad luck when they've really behaved illogically. One example: The kidnappers instruct railway officials to put the ransom money in a train berth that turns out to be in a car that has been completely booked. As it happens, the passenger assigned to that berth never shows, and when they check his home, they find he's been murdered. In his apartment they find a small notation where he has divided 1,000 by 8. Those trying to solve the mystery immediately realize that this notation could very well mean that: 1) the murdered man was one of the kidnappers, 2) there are eight kidnappers in all, and 3) the murdered man was speculating about how many million yen his share would be. I call this pretty thin. The characters in THE MYSTERY TRAIN DISAPPEARS don't seem to agree. Perhaps all of my complaints stem from a difference in culture. Maybe I am incorrectly insisting that the Japanese be as coldly scientific in their crime fiction as we generally are in ours. If an FBI agent can use ancient Tibetan wisdom to solve a murder (thanks, Mr. Lynch), then policemen should be allowed to follow their hunches. In any case, THE MYSTERY TRAIN DISAPPEARS held my interest through the very last page, and I enjoyed the tour through Japan's trainyards. ************************ If Sherlock Holmes is one of your favorite detectives, you absolutely MUST have the Gaslight Publications catalogue. Call 1-800-243-1895 (1895, get it?) anytime day or night and ask for their free catalogue of Sherlockiana, or write to: Gaslight Publications, Inc., 626 North College Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47404. They have a collection of the Sherlockian writings of Christopher Morley (founder of The Baker Street Irregulars), the complete Schlock Homes stories of Robert L. Fish, a Sherlock Holmes cartoon book, a budget Sherlock Holmes (complete) collection for $12.95 in hardcover, and a whole lot more. You won't be able to decide what to order first. ************************ THE BEDSIDE COMPANION TO CRIME by H.R.F. Keating (1989) review by Cindy Bartorillo I took them at their word and read this book mostly at night in bed, and they were right--it's the perfect atmosphere for this charming collection of essays. Keating talks about authors, books, villains, title changes, collaborations, poetry, and how authors get started writing mysteries. There's a great deal of information and enjoyment packed into the less-than-200 pages of BEDSIDE COMPANION, making it kind of a short version of MURDER INK (by Dilys Winn, remember?). If the proofreading was a bit hurried, and names a bit confused (Edgar Allan Poe became Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph McInerny became Roger McInerny, etc.), and Keating's writing style convoluted, it doesn't interfere with the basic purpose of this book and it would make a nice addition to any mystery library. It's particularly good, I think, at pointing you to a few older mysteries that you may never have heard of and might want to try reading. ************************ SMART HOUSE by Kate Wilhelm (1989, St. Martin's Press) review by Carol Sheffert This is the story of Gary Elringer, eccentric computer genius, and the people he had gathered around him in his successful computer company. He has invited all of them to the unveiling of his newest creation, the completely computer-controlled Smart House. The guests are: estranged wife Beth, devoted mother Maddie, jealous brother Bruce, second-in-command Jake, handsome lawyer Milton, mountain-climbing Harry and his too-beautiful wife Laura, architect Rich, and ace programmer Alexander. The tensions amongst the group are many. Beth wants to sell her share of the company to Gary to get money (she also wants a divorce). Bruce is furious about all the money Gary has imprudently sunk into Smart House and wants to get control of the company. Maddie wishes her two children would get along better. And Gary wants everyone to agree with him that Smart House is worth every penny. The group gathers for the weekend to experience Smart House, with the board meeting scheduled for Monday. Everyone arrives at Smart House and admires the complexity of house operations, and the elegance of the decor. They are also made nervous by the house computer, which knows where everyone is and tracks their movements, addressing them (vocally) by name whenever necessary. Sort of a Big Brother Is Watching kind of a feeling. Almost immediately the group is argumentative and snappish, and their mood is not improved when Gary proposes that they all get to know the house by playing Assassin. The computer will give everyone the name of someone else for them to "kill", which they will accomplish with one of the chosen toy "weapons". The restriction is that they must make the "kill" in the presence of one, and only one, witness. The payoff is that the killer inherits the victim's voting share. Gary maintains that by Monday they will all be so impressed with Smart House that it won't matter who has what shares, but others don't seem to agree. Many don't want to play, but when Gary says play, you play. With this situation, the reader is just waiting to see where violence will break out, and very shortly Rich is found suffocated in an elevator and Gary is parboiled in the jacuzzi. Both bodies are free of bruises or any other signs of violence, or of having been moved. Did the computer malfunction and suck the air out of the elevator? Did it later close the top on the jacuzzi after Gary had somehow fallen in? Milton fetches series sleuths Charlie Meiklejohn and his wife Constance Leidl, and all the remaining characters gather one more time to try to discover just who, or what, killed Gary and Rich. Charlie and Constance are fascinating separately, and even more so together. They have a mature, loving relationship and after years of living together they are in perfect sync. Following them around Smart House is the most enjoyable aspect of this above-average mystery. ************************ The Ben Perkins Mysteries Written by Rob Kantner The Backdoor Man (1986) The Harder They Hit (1987) Dirty Work (1988) Hell's Only Half Full (1989) Made in Detroit (1990) ************************ MASQUERADE by William X. Kienzle (1990, Andrews & McMeel) review by Cindy Bartorillo You can see why many people would want to kill televangelist Klaus Krieg, founder of Praise God Press that publishes super-steamy sleazoid novels about other religious groups. When you hear that a writers workshop being held at Marygrove College will be discussing religious mysteries, with the speakers including Klaus Krieg along with four religious mystery writers, you have a feeling that this isn't a particularly good idea. The Reverend David Benbow, Rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, is the author of mysteries solved by Father Emrich, a fictional Episcopal priest. Sister Marie Monahan is a nun who writes mysteries featuring a nun. Father Augustine is a Trappist monk who writes mysteries about a monk who solves crimes. Rabbi Irving Winer writes about a rabbi detective. And, filling out the program, there's Roman Catholic priest Father Koesler (creation of William X. Kienzle, a former Roman Catholic priest---have you got all this straight?), who has has previously worked with the police on eleven cases (listed below). All four of the religious mystery writers seem to despise Klaus ("Blitz") Krieg, kind of strange when you reflect, as Father Koesler does, that religious people aren't usually the sort to *despise* anyone. So when a shot rings out and Krieg is found dead on the floor no one is particularly unhappy, at least not until it is pointed out that one of their own number must have done it. By including the varied cast, Kienzle gives himself a lot of room to wander around in, illuminating the religious life, as usual, while getting away from his standard Roman Catholic setting. I worry about his using all this material up in one book, but it does make for interesting pages. I have a few small problems with the solution to the murder--there are a couple of points left unexplained that I don't believe are explainable--but then this is not a classic 1930's puzzle mystery, this is a modern novel of character with a mystery happening in the background. To my disappointment, the background is where Father Koesler spends most of the book, too. But I guess I can't insist that Kienzle keep writing the same book over and over; he *insists* on expanding his field, and that is exactly what he's done in MASQUERADE. And I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. The Father Koesler Chronicles by William X. Kienzle The Rosary Murders Death Wears a Red Hat Mind Over Murder Assault With Intent Shadow of Death Kill and Tell Sudden Death Deathbed Deadline for a Critic Marked for Murder Eminence Masquerade ************************ Then there is the phenomenon that Don Thompson, the editor of THE COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE, calls "ego shock". Some writers--Mary Higgins Clark, Elmore Leonard, Mickey Spillane--are no doubt immune to this by now. People know who they are in practically any context. The rest of us, though, step into a different world when we're thrown in among the knowledgeable enthusiasts who attend Bouchercons. In the neighborhood, here, I'm just that strange guy who's always home. At the Bouchercon, I'm a Celebrity. People stand in line to get my autograph, for God's sake. One person, about my age, told me what an honor it was to meet me. It's hard to know how to take something like that. If the person means simply, "I really like your books," that's okay. I mean, that's why we write them, for people to like. But if it's meant literally--an HONOR to meet me, for God's sake--that's too much even for an ego the size of mine. It's an honor to meet Mother Teresa; to meet a mystery writer should be (I hope) a pleasure. ---William DeAndrea, in his column "J'Accuse!" in the Spring 1990 issue of The Armchair Detective. ************************ NOT ENOUGH HORSES by Les Roberts (1988, St. Martin's) review by Howard Frye Saxon, the hero of Les Roberts' mystery series, is a part-time actor, part-time private investigator. This time, an actor acquaintance of Saxon's, Robbie Bingham, has been killed by a car bomb and Saxon wants to know what happened. He discovers that Robbie was also just acting part-time--the rest of his working hours were spent as a male prostitute in West Hollywood. This was certainly a job guaranteed to put Robbie into contact with any number of sleazy, murderous types, but still, a car bomb seems a bit stylish for that crowd, don't you think? Saxon is an old-time P.I. with an unshakeable code of ethics that are never explained or apologized for. It felt nice to get away from the more common modern antiheroes and read about a guy who does the right thing simply because it is the right thing. Which brings me to another thought: there was a lot about the character of Saxon that reminded me of Lew Archer, and a lot about Les Roberts' writing that reminded me of Archer's creator, Ross MacDonald. That's a compliment, of course, and this book deserves it. NOT ENOUGH HORSES is a great old-fashioned P.I. story set in modern Hollywood. Recommended. (Oh, yes, the title. It refers to the observation that there aren't enough horses in the world to account for all the horse's rear ends walking around.) ************************ THE MARK TWAIN MURDERS by Edith Skom (1989, Council Oak Books) review by Cindy Bartorillo Beth Austin, a faculty member in the English Department of Midwestern University, has a nose for plagiarism, and her nose tells her that an award-winning student paper is definitely not original. But then the suspected plagiarist is murdered in the college library, and a new faculty member is discovered to be an FBI agent placed there to solve an epidemic of thefts from that very same library. Surely the murder must be connected with the thefts, but how? As much as I enjoy stories of exotic locations and unusual people, I also enjoy relaxing with more familiar characters and settings--and you can't get more familiar than a library, at least not for me. I thoroughly enjoyed looking over Beth Austin's shoulder as she researched the plagiarized essay (on Mark Twain) to discover the source. Edith Skom's first novel is a great read, and a recent paperback reprint will give the book the wider distribution that it richly deserves. ************************ I wrote the very last of the Ellery Queen novels--THE BLUE MOVIE MURDERS (Lancer, 1972). Although they didn't want me to talk about it at the time, it has since been revealed in Al Hubin's bibliography that I wrote it. So I guess it's no secret any more. Manny Lee handled all of the novels. Fred Dannay didn't really want to have anything to do with them. Manny had a writer's block in the '60s, which is why Fred had gotten some others--mainly science-fiction writers for some reason, people like Theodore Sturgeon--to do a couple of the novels. ---Edward D. Hoch, in an interview with John Kovaleski, in The Armchair Detective Spring 1990 issue. Note: Manny Lee and Fred Dannay together made up the pseudonym known as Ellery Queen. ************************ THE TELLING OF LIES: A Mystery by Timothy Findley (1986) review by Howard Frye "The telling of lies is a sort of sleight of hand that displays our deepest feelings about life." ---John Cheever, in an interview The pace is a bit slow, but the rewards are many in this Edgar-winning mystery from Canada. Findley's writing style is more elegant than most of us are accustomed to in a mystery novel, where stylistic niceties generally take a back seat to plot. There is even a nice supply of literary symbols and metaphors for readers who enjoy that sort of thing: from the obvious (a gigantic iceberg that appears early on and haunts the remainder of the story) to the subtle. But enough of that. Explaining literary devices sounds too much like high school English class, and I'm sure we've all had our fill of THAT experience. THE TELLING OF LIES is made up of journal entries made by Vanessa Van Horne, age 59, on her last season at a summer resort on the coast of Maine. The hotel, which has been the summer residence of Vanessa's family, and her friends' and acquaintances' families, for almost 150 years, has been sold and will be torn down in the fall to make way for condominiums. At the beginning we're made aware that we are to be present at the passing of an era. Calder Maddox, pharmaceutical king who "owns half the world and rents the other half", dies in a beach chair of an apparent stroke. Vanessa discovers that someone who arrived on the scene shortly after the death has told what appears to be a very trivial lie to the police. But there's no such thing as a trivial lie--people tell lies for very important personal reasons. Soon Vanessa is involved in a struggle to understand not only how Maddox died, but WHY, and the reader is drawn along with her as she ponders THE TELLING OF LIES. Recommended reading for mystery fans with a taste for elegance. ************************ DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: And Other Untimely Exits by Robert Barnard (1989, Scribner's) review by Carol Sheffert Robert Barnard's insights into human failings and his talent for black humor have never been more abundantly displayed than in this first collection of short stories. Sixteen examples of humankind at their worst. You can read about the feminist who gets a lesson in female solidarity she'll never forget in "Sisters". And there's "The Woman in the Wardrobe", where a husband discovers that his dead wife had a secret life. And "The Oxford Way of Death", about the Oxford college determined to retain its 18th-century customs. My favorite, "Happy Release", is the story of a romantic triangle appropriately resolved. DEATH OF A SALESPERSON is an excellent introduction to Robert Barnard, as well as being an all-around superb collection of miniature wickednesses. ************************ P.M. CARLSON Mysteries MURDER UNRENOVATED--($2.50, Bantam) Nick and Maggie are expecting--and they've found their dream house. Except for the peeling paint, the lousy plumbing, the cantankerous downstairs tenant--and the corpse. MURDER IN THE DOG DAYS--($3.95, Bantam) Nick and Maggie's family vacation to Civil War sites is interrupted by murder--and tough, icy Detective Holly Schreiner thinks Maggie ought to be locked up. MURDER MISREAD--($14.95, Doubleday) Maggie takes her kids to visit her alma mater. But nostalgia gives way to tragedy when a nosy professor is shot, and innocent lives will be ruined unless Maggie reads the clues correctly. (Look for an RFP review of MURDER MISREAD, and probably other Carlson mysteries, in #16!) ************************ TOUCH OF THE PAST by Jon L. Breen (1988, Walker) review by Cindy Bartorillo Bookseller Rachel Hennings (your typical Spunky Young Gal Heroine) is told that retired mystery writer Wilbur DeMarco plans to sell his collection of old books. The collection is an unusual one--every book was published in 1937, their only common feature. Rachel is also intrigued to discover that DeMarco's last mystery was published--you guessed it--in 1937. It turns out that DeMarco's entire house is a museum dedicated to the year 1937, right down to the magazines on the coffee table. Why is he so interested in that particular year? DeMarco just smiles and explains that it was an interesting year. And now he's selling everything he's collected through the years. Once again--why? DeMarco won't say, and that night he's murdered. After this fascinating setup, TOUCH OF THE PAST settles down into a standard mystery where spunky Rachel insists on finding out who murdered DeMarco, even though it's tough getting anyone to take her seriously. It's an enjoyable read all the way, though not very taxing. ************************ ARCHAEOLOGY & ARCHAEOLOGIST DETECTIVES Arnold, Margot various books Bell, Josephine Bones in the Barrow Berckman, Evelyn The Strange Bedfellow Blackstock, Charity Foggy, Foggy Dew Blake, Nicholas Widow's Cruise Canning, Victor The Golden Salamander Carter, Youngman Mr. Campion's Quarry Christie, Agatha Murder in Mesopotamia Clare, Marguerite Pierce the Gloom Cory, Desmond Height of Day Courtier, Sidney H. One Cried Murder Farrer, Katherine The Cretan Counterfeit Fitt, Mary The Late Uncle Max Sweet Poison Garve, Andrew Riddle of Samson Gruber, Frank The Greek Affair Harvester, Simon Paradise Men Hawton, Hector The Nine Singing Apes Langley, Lee several books Lemarchand, Elizabeth Buried In The Past Levi, Peter Grave Witness Mann, Jessica several books Martin, Shane The Man Made of Tin The Saracen Shadow The Third Shadow Twelve Girls in the Garden Mitchell, Gladys Come Away, Death Munslow, Bruce J. Deep Sand Orgill, Douglas The Death Bringers Peters, Elizabeth The Curse of the Pharaohs The Mummy Case Peters, Ellis City of Gold and Shadows Death Mask Stein, Aaron Marc Moonmilk and Murder many other books Tranter, Nigel The Enduring Flame Stone Trench, John Beyond the Atlas Dishonored Bones The Docken Dead Van Arsdale, Wirt The Professor Knits A Shroud Wallis, Ruth Satwell Blood From A Stone Too Many Bones ************************ LIVING WITH REPTILES by Roger L. DiSilvestro (1990, Donald I. Fine) review by Carol Sheffert Independently wealthy Jackson Black has something that billionaire Mr. Ritz wants to rent--the power of total recall. Mr. Ritz was rendered almost completely paralyzed by an airplane accident, and he hopes to find an alien cure for his physical difficulties. So where will he find such an alien? From a UFO shot down over a Brazilian forest, of course. Just in case there is any trouble leaving the area with any alien artifacts he needs, Mr. Ritz wants to have Jackson on hand to memorize everything on the scene. Jackson is initially disinclined to help Mr. Ritz, but after a proverbial offer he can't refuse, Jackson changes his mind and joins Mr. Ritz's team. What follows is a rollicking Time Travel tale with Monty Python overtones. It's all a great deal of fun and author DiSilvestro (an editor of Audubon Magazine and the author of THE ENDANGERED KINGDOM) works in large doses of environmentalist lore. A good read. ************************ BURN MARKS by Sara Paretsky (1990, Delacorte) review by Cindy Bartorillo Chicago detective V.I. Warshawski is back, in a story about public, and private, corruption. Late one night Vic's aunt Elena shows up needing a place to say. Elena, the family embarrassment for being an alcoholic ne'er-do-well, had been living in an SRO hotel (single room occupancy) which had just burned to the ground. Vic puts her up for the night and the next day pulls some minor political strings to find another inexpensive room for her aunt to live in, only when Vic returns home the next day, Elena has disappeared. When she reappears, she has brought a friend, Cerise, who wants to hire Vic to find out what happened to her baby. Cerise had dropped her baby off with her mother, who lived at Elena's SRO, and now can't find either mother or baby. Since babies weren't allowed in the hotel and they don't want to get Cerise's mother in trouble, neither Cerise nor Elena will give the mother's name. Vic smells a rat (maybe an insurance scam?) and is only moderately surprised when both Cerise and Elena disappear within hours. Vic tries to drop the subject, but events conspire against her. Soon Cerise, a junkie, is found dead of an overdose on a construction site. And there's the puzzling behavior of the police, who seem much too angry about Vic's investigation. At the same time as all this, there's a political campaign raging, and Vic's candidate (and her people) seem to be convinced that Vic is out to sabotage their campaign. As you might expect, all of this will dovetail nicely when Vic solves the murders (yes, plural). BURN MARKS is a great mystery with a plot that is not too simple, not too complicated, just right. The down side is the cast: a more hostile, rude, and selfish bunch you couldn't find anywhere, and that includes our heroine Vic. The few minor characters who are decent people are portrayed as being tiresome, silly, or pathetic. This subculture of hostility is unpleasant to read, and would be soul-shrinking to live in. BURN MARKS is a fast-paced and suspenseful read, but I'm not entirely sure I want to read any more V.I. Warshawski stories. ************************ BUM STEER by Nancy Pickard (Pocket Books, January 1991, ISBN: 0-671-68042-0, $4.95) review by Cherie Jung Format: paperback Character: Jenny Cain, 6th appearance Locale: Kansas Status: Amateur, director of Port Frederick Civic Foundation Setting: Cattle ranch - murder for inheritance If you haven't yet discovered the Jenny Cain series by Pickard, you have a treat in store. Her titles include: GENEROUS DEATH (tied with BUM STEER for my all-time favorite Jenny Cain mystery), SAY NO TO MURDER, NO BODY, MARRIAGE IS MURDER, DEAD CRAZY and BUM STEER. The newest Jenny Cain mystery I.O.U., will be available in hardcover in the Spring. Jenny heads for Kansas in this one, to check out an unusual bequest to the Port Frederick, Massachusetts Civic Foundation, of which she is director. An unheard of benefactor, Charles W. "Cat" Benet IV, has bequeathed a $4 million cattle ranch to the Foundation, providing it is not sold (the Foundation must provide lifetime employment for the ranch's two ranch hands) and "Cat's" heirs are forbidden to ever step foot on the property or interfere with its management or they will forfeit their inheritance. By the time Jenny arrives in Kansas to try to sort things out with this mysterious benefactor, he has been murdered in his hospital bed. Jenny, of course, sets about finding the murderer. The best aspect of this book, for me, is that Jenny's husband (a cop) is essentially absent. He is on vacation, where Jenny is supposed to join him after meeting and talking with "Cat" Benet. Things don't work out quite as she had planned. While her husband is spending his vacation sailing, she is tracking a murderer. Without the assistance and advice of her policeman husband, Jenny is forced to handle things on her own, making her own mistakes and solving the problems as they develop. This made for a much more interesting female lead character in my opinion. I am looking forward to the next Jenny Cain mystery! ************************ Dorothy Gilman's latest, MRS. POLIFAX AND THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, is currently under development at Disney--due to be an Angela Lansbury film. ************************ KILLED ON THE ROCKS by William L. DeAndrea (1990, Mysterious Press, 224 pages, $17.95, ISBN 0-89296-210-0) Matt Cobb is both a troubleshooter for a television network called simply the Network and the lead character of a series of light-toned mysteries from Edgar Award-winning William L. DeAndrea. (The Edgar awards were for KILLED IN THE RATINGS, another Matt Cobb mystery, and THE HOG MURDERS.) Cobb is the head of Special Projects, a euphemism for a section that handles "everything too nasty for the Legal Department, and too sensitive for Public Relations". So what's so nasty-yet-sensitive this time? It seems that the Network is the target of a takeover by G.B. Dost, eccentric millionaire and corporate raider. When major corporations change hands, public relations are very sensitive, as the company's stock fluctuations can make or lose millions for the stockholders. The nasty part is an anonymous note that was sent to one board member, saying that insanity, treachery, and murder surround G.B. Dost and will bring down both him and the Network if he's allowed to take over. Matt's job is to accompany major-stockholder Roxanne Schick and various Network lawyers to a remote Victorian mansion in the Adirondack Mountains (called Rocky Point) where negotiations with Dost will be held. The snow that began when they left New York City soon turns into an unexpectedly major blizzard, and everyone is snowed in at Rocky Point. "Everyone" includes: Dost, his third wife Aranda, his friend and business partner Jack Bromhead, his emotionally unstable son Barry, his household staff Mr. & Mrs. Norman, chauffeur Ralph, Network lawyer Wilberforce and his assistant Carol, various other legal and financial wizards, and of course Matt's dog Spot. DeAndrea gives us an absolutely classical mystery of a mismatched group of people stranded in a large mansion with no contact with the outside world. And within 12 hours G.B. "Gabby" Dost is found dead out in the snow, on the titular rocks, forty yards from the house with no footprints (or any other kind of prints) leading to or from the body. What follows is great fun, and the mysteries are absorbing. How did Dost's body get so far from the house without leaving any sign in the snow? Is Aranda Dost a lesbian or not? Why is Barry so upset? Who sent the anonymous letter? Who is Dost's mole in the Network? What role has the weather played in the murders? In the course of answering these questions we get another murder and even a haunted television set. KILLED ON THE ROCKS is the best Matt Cobb mystery yet. Recommended. (Catch up on your Matt Cobb mysteries. The previous titles are: KILLED IN THE RATINGS, KILLED IN THE ACT, KILLED WITH A PASSION, KILLED ON THE ICE, and KILLED IN PARADISE.) ************************ If you like police procedurals, then you must like Ed McBain's books, in which case you probably should check out: THE 87TH PRECINCT REPORT, Russell W. Hultgren, 425 Merryman Road, Annapolis, MD 21401. ************************ REAL MURDERS by Charlaine Harris (1990, Walker) review by Carol Sheffert Aurora Teagarden (called Roe) is a librarian in Lawrenceton, Georgia, and a member of a group called Real Murders. They get together once a month at the VFW Hall and devote a couple of hours to the discussion of a real murder case, with one member presiding. This month it's Roe's turn, and she's chosen the Wallace case of 1931. Julia Wallace was found battered to death in her home by her husband William Herbert Wallace and a couple of neighbors. The husband's only alibi was a wild goose chase he went on at the request of a stranger who called on the phone and gave his name as Qualtrough. Nobody ever managed to find Qualtrough, and the address Wallace was supposedly sent to was a fake. The husband was convicted but the verdict was later set aside. If you like interesting historical mysteries, the Wallace case is a nice place to start. Before the meeting can begin, Roe finds Mamie Wright battered to death in the VFW Hall's kitchen, and she notices almost immediately that the scene of the crime looks exactly like a photograph she's seen of Julia Wallace. Before you know it, the murders (and attempts) are piling up, all patterned carefully after true crimes of the past. At the same time, Roe finds herself with two new boyfriends; one of them a member of Real Murders and a policeman who's working the case, the other a well-known mystery author who's just moved in next door. REAL MURDERS is an absolute delight from first page to last, with the light tone of a cosy capped by an ending of breathtaking grittiness and brutality. The red herrings were handled brilliantly as well. Usually there are either too many people with too much motivation and no alibis, or they are just left dangling at the end with insufficient explanation, causing the reader to wonder just how they managed to look SO guilty without actually BEING guilty. In REAL MURDERS the red herrings are presented very naturally, and their false colors wash off gradually, realistically, and at different times. (I always hate it when ALL questions are answered on the last 3 pages.) Charlaine Harris plays fair too--the clues are there for you to find. Highly recommended. [NOTE: The front of the book lists two more books by Charlaine Harris, SWEET AND DEADLY and SECRET RAGE. I'll be scouring bookstores and libraries looking for those two. In addition to getting the books to read, I'd like to know if Roe is a series character, or a one-shot amateur sleuth.] <-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*-> < > < LOOSEN YOUR GRIP ON REALITY > < > <-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*->:<-*-> << Editor: Darryl Kenning >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- Loosen Your Grip On Reality is a division of Reading For Pleasure, published bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used freely by all. Contributions of information, reviews, etc. should be sent to: Darryl Kenning CompuServe: 76337,740 6331 Marshall Rd. or GEnie: D.Kenning Centerville, Ohio 45459 HeavenSoft BBS 513-836-4288 The Annex BBS 513-274-0821 --------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD FANTASY AWARDS Best Novel: MADOUC by Jack Vance (Underwood-Miller/Ace Books) Best Novella: "Great Work of Time" by John Crowley (NOVELTY, Bantam-Spectra) Best Short Fiction: "The Illusionist" by Stephen Millhauser (Esquire) Best Anthology: THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY: SECOND ANNUAL COLLECTION edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling (St. Martin's Press) Best Collection: RICHARD MATHESON: COLLECTED STORIES (Scream/Press) Best Artist: Tom Canty Special Award--Professional: Mark V. Ziesing Special Award--Non-Professional: Peggy Nadramia (Grue) Life Achievement Award: R.A. Lafferty ************************ WHAT'S NEWS * HUH? British magazine INTERZONE and American magazine ABORIGINAL SF have agreed to exchange the contents of their respective magazines for one issue. The May-June 1991 issue of ABORIGINAL SF will appear both here and as the July issue of INTERZONE in Britain, and the July-August issue of ABORIGINAL SF will contain the entire June issue of INTERZONE. This will give both magazines loads of extra exposure, to say nothing of the double fees to contributing authors. If you've been wanting to sample either (or both) of these periodicals, it sounds like now would be the best time. * Talk about your major changes. Pulphouse, the quarterly hardcover magazine, is about to become the weekly paper magazine. Starting in late May--the first issue will be dated June 1, 1991--every week we'll get 40 to 48 pages of fiction and commentary, including serializations of novels and novellas. You can recognize the first issue because it'll be the one with Harlan Ellison on the cover. * Donald A. Wollheim, founder of DAW Books, the only paperback publisher devoted entirely to SF and fantasy, died on November 2 of a heart attack in his sleep. * I hear Peter David is going to do a STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION novel about "Q". ************************ NIGHT OF THE COOTERS: More Neat Stories by Howard Waldrop (February 1991, Ursus, 250 pages, ISBN 0-942681-05-3) review by Cindy Bartorillo This unusual and eclectic collection starts with the title story, "Night of the Cooters", a story that is dedicated to Slim Pickens. (How many stories dedicated to Slim Pickens have you seen?) It's a rousing western variation of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, starring Slim Pickens as the smarter-than-he-appears hick sheriff. Movie themes continue with "French Scenes", which demonstrates that the auteur theory of filmmaking can be carried too far. Waldrop's movie references (real and imaginary) reach their crescendo in "The Passing of the Western", a story about a fictional series of westerns made in the 1930s, as told through interviews and a magazine article written by "Formalhaut J. Amkermackam" (in other words, Forrest J. Ackerman). There are lots of insider details about '30s film techniques and special effects, and you need a program to tell what's real and what's made up. The atmosphere changes as we get to the next story, "The Adventure of the Grinder's Whistle", a Sherlock Holmes pastiche in which the great man *almost* solves the Ripper murders. In his introduction, Waldrop says: "Like with most things from the Seventies, this is Philip Jose Farmer's fault. (As, in the Fifties in the field, everything was Boucher's, Gold's or Campbell's fault, and in the Sixties, it was Harlan Ellison's fault--I'm talking bad and good here, folks.)" If you watch the SF shelves at your bookstore, you're at least aware of the WILD CARD series edited by George R.R. Martin. The first story in the first volume of the series, the story that got the whole saga started, is the next entry in COOTERS, "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" This was the story where aviator-hero Jetboy tries, and fails, to stop the bad guy from dumping the Wild Card virus on New York City. The continuing Wild Card story is a shared-world series of short stories, novellas, novels, etc., and as I type this I am awaiting volume #8. Who can forget Jetboy's famous last words, "I can't die yet. I haven't seen THE JOLSON STORY." Next up is "The Annotated Jetboy"; notes about many of the references in "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" Howard says, "The research was to lend what we in the rip-roaring days of Postmodernist Fiction used to call *verisimilitude*, but what is now referred to in the Reagan '80s as 'making it seem real-like'." And while you're still in a nostalgic mood for a period most likely before you were born, there's "Hoover's Men" a short piece about the early days of radio and television. The second most well-known story in COOTERS (after "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!") is "Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance?", a homage/regurgitation of the Sixties that was nominated for many awards but won none, I suspect because no one knew quite what to make of this. I'm not exactly sure what Howard did either, but I'm sure glad he did it. This story brings back a lot of emotional baggage: memories, feelings, embarrassments, regrets. More of an experience than a short story. After the raw edges of his Sixties story, it's a nice change of pace to read his Ancient Roman story, "Wild, Wild Horses". P. Renatus Vegetius has always wanted to hunt lions from a chariot in the wet marshlands of Libya, but another odyssey claims him first. Not quite Homer, but a lovely story nonetheless. Finally, there's the novella that is original to COOTERS, "Fin de Cycle". A few pages into this story I decided that Howard Waldrop must've dropped a little too much acid in the Sixties; this story just wasn't making much sense. A few pages after that a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon, and soon I had a fair grip on the plot. This is a story about the Dreyfus Affair, about the 1890s (and, by extension, the 1990s), and about bicycles. It's odd, quirky, and captivating, which is the best description for all of these stories. Howard Waldrop doesn't write like anyone else; The Washington Post Book World called him "the resident Weird Mind of his generation" (now if we could only figure out which generation that is). If you'd like to visit with a Weird Mind, NIGHT OF THE COOTERS is just what you need. If you have any trouble locating NIGHT OF THE COOTERS, just write to: Mark V. Ziesing Books, PO Box 76, Shingletown, CA 96088. NIGHT OF THE COOTERS has color and b/w artwork by Don Maitz, Terry Lee, Janet Aulisio, Karen Barnes, Jim Fanning, and Arnie Fenner. There is a $25 trade edition and a special, signed slipcased edition of 374 copies for $65 (but you better hurry if you want one of those). You can also contact the publisher at: Ursus Imprints, 5539 Jackson, Kansas City, MO 64130. ************************ THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS by Poul Anderson (1991, Tor) review by Robert A. Pittman Not often does a Science Fiction story have most of its focus in the past rather than the future. In Poul Anderson's book, that is exactly what happens--he takes the reader on a long trip through history before boarding his spaceboat for the voyage into the future. THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS introduces us to a group of eight immortals. The first one we meet is born around 300 B.C. and others are brought into the story one by one. Ample time is taken to thoroughly develop each of the characters and the historical background from which they came. Through them, the reader gets interesting segments of history about Asia, Europe, the Roman Empire, the Mediterranean area and early North America. We also enjoy following the characters as they develop the personalities and skills that allow them to exist through the cultural and societal changes that are occurring around them. The characteristics of these immortals are somewhat unique. They are not "superbeings" and have no advanced mental capacities. They are just humans who have metabolic processes that cause them to resist disease, repair damage and renew cell growth. They can be killed, however, and that possibility causes them to be cautious and rational as they relate to other humans. Early in life they learn about their vulnerability to the envy and suspicions of others and the talent for hiding their immortality becomes a primary skill. In fact, they hide from each other and it is not until late in the twentieth century that the eight principals come together and the author moves the story into the future. Mr. Anderson opens the future quickly and takes us far across time in relatively few pages. But they are exciting pages! We encounter a society that has matured and developed and can accept and honor the presence of these few immortals. Humankind has also found its own means of achieving immortality and thus, the original mortals loose their uniqueness. They do not, however, loose the insights gained through their long experience in observing and dealing with the human character. Those insights restore the uniqueness of the eight and gives them the credentials for tackling a pervasive dilemma confronting humanity; a dilemma that involves humanity's drift into complacency and isolation. It then becomes a story about the value of long-standing human characteristics as opposed to new human characteristics that are emerging in the all-immortal society. THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS is an exciting story of adventure on earth and in space. It is also a clever and subtle lesson in human values and relationships. Get on board--you will enjoy the ride even though it takes a million years! ************************ THE HEMINGWAY HOAX by Joe Haldeman (1990, Morrow) review by Cindy Bartorillo In 1922, struggling writer Ernest Hemingway had a suitcase stolen from a train car that was full of the only copies of his first novel and dozens of short stories. It has never been found, though Hemingway fans still hope it will turn up someday. Wouldn't this make a great money-making hoax? A Hemingway expert, say maybe a college professor who teaches a course on him, could write half a novel or a few short stories and, with a little expert forgery, say it was real Hemingway material--early stuff from the famous lost suitcase. What would NEW Hemingway material be worth? Millions, of course. This is the initial premise of THE HEMINGWAY HOAX, but Haldeman takes it even further. Suppose that creating NEW Hemingway fiction disrupts the flow of history? In that case, the Time Police would have to get involved and straighten everything out. By popping in and out at various points in time, and by changing parallel time lines, the Time Police... That's where this summary ends, because that's where my understanding of this book ends. I have literally explained everything I know about THE HEMINGWAY HOAX by Joe Haldeman, and I read every word. It was very disappointing to me because I had toughed it out through the ridiculous caricatures that populate this story, waiting for the Time Travel idea to be explained. And then the whole last part of the book was unintelligible to me. Very frustrating. Even so, if you like Time Travel stories, you might want to try this one because it has received several good reviews, indicating that at least SOME people understand it, and it won't take much of your time (it's only 155 pages). On the other hand, reviewer A Watson, in his "Overkill" column in a recent Mark V. Ziesing catalog had this to say about THE HEMINGWAY HOAX: "...this book is one hundred percent technique and absolutely zero substance. The characters are jokes, less than cardboard. The dialogue is lame. The writing is predictable, uninspired. I found it easy enough to wade through, easier still to dismiss." ************************ BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES by Mark Mueller GOLDEN FLEECE by Robert J. Sawyer, 1990, Popular Library Books, 198pp, $4.50 What's the worst sin a mystery reviewer can commit? Why, it's telling "who dunnit" in the review, right? Well, here I go, sinning again--the computer did it; the computer's the murderer and you heard it here first. Well, actually, you only heard it here first if you haven't picked up a copy of GOLDEN FLEECE yet, because the cover of the paperback edition of GOLDEN FLEECE (as far as I know, this is the only edition of GF available) contains not only the title, the author's name, the publisher and price, but also the words "Programmed to serve man, it became all too human--it committed murder." If you missed that clue on the front cover, the back cover's blurb describes a death and the victim's ex-husband's certainty that she was done in by the computer. And just in case you're REALLY day-dreaming, there is also a quote by John Stith that tells you the computer "...is capable of murder, too." What's going on here? The action takes place on an immense spacecraft named the Argo which is mounting the first expedition to another star system. There are over 10,000 people in the crew, and the ship had to be big enough to accommodate them for the ten subjective years that the trip will take. All of the vital functions of the Argo are managed by JASON, the ship's computer. JASON is one of the new breeds of Artificial Intelligences (AI's) and is capable of independent action and decision making. The book opens with JASON carrying out his latest decision--the murder of one of the ship's astrophysicists, Diana Chandler. The blurb on the back cover of the book reads as if this is the story of Diana's ex-husband, Aaron Rossman, assembling clues that prove that Diana's death wasn't suicide, but murder. Nothing could be further from the truth. This isn't Aaron's book, this is JASON's. GOLDEN FLEECE is written in first person narrative, told by JASON. Sawyer takes a chance by not only writing the story from the perspective of the murderer, but also by making the murderer an "intelligent" computer. But JASON is more than intelligent--he's fascinating. He has a really wry sense of humor (the first line is "I love that they trusted me blindly.") and is extremely self-confident. Did I say earlier that JASON manages everything aboard the Argo? That's a bit of an understatement--JASON manages EVERYTHING aboard the Argo. Aside from the fact that there are communication links in every section of the ship (monitored by you-know-who) each crew member has a vital signs telemetry implant that sends data (such as respiration rate, EEG, heart rate, blood pressure, etc) directly to JASON. With all that information available, it's not easy to sneak up on him (it's a little bit like the song Santa Claus Is Coming To Town--you know, "...He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!"). I don't want to say too much more about the book because a lot of the mystery is in unraveling just exactly what is going on (and how much does Aaron suspect--remember, JASON is telling the story here). This is one of the best written books I've read this last year, both in style and inventiveness. It also has a twist at the end that is so unexpected that I didn't have an inkling of the direction it was coming from. Go now and search for the GOLDEN FLEECE; it may be your most fulfilling quest of 1991. ************************ NEBULA AWARDS -- Preliminary Ballot The annual process of selecting five finalists for the Nebula Award for best science fiction novel of the year is nearly complete. Following are the six titles that reached the top of the preliminary ballot. 28 recommendations: REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS by John E. Stith 25 recommendations: ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow 21 recommendations: WHITE JENNA by Jane Yolen 19 recommendations: PARADISE by Mike Resnick 16 recommendations: THE FALL OF HYPERION by Dan Simmons 16 recommendations: TEHANU by Ursula Le Guin (The preliminary ballot includes thirty-six additional novels receiving fewer recommendations.) Between now and February 16, 1991, members of the Science Fiction Writers of America will vote on five finalists, often found at the top of the preliminary ballot. The final ballot will be announced in late February 1991, and the winner will be announced in May 1991. You can read a review of REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS in RFP #12 and a review of THE FALL OF HYPERION in RFP #13. RFP congratulates all the recommended novelists. ************************ PAST NEBULA WINNERS 1965 Best Novel: Dune by Frank Herbert Best Novella: "The Saliva Tree" by Brian W. Aldiss "He Who Shapes" by Roger Zelazny (tie) Best Novelette: "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny Best Short Story: "Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison 1966 Best Novel: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (tie) Best Novella: "The Last Castle" by Jack Vance Best Novelette: "Call Him Lord" by Gordon R. Dickson Best Short Story: "The Secret Place" by Richard McKenna 1967 Best Novel: The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany Best Novella: "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock Best Novelette: "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber Best Short Story: "Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel R. Delany 1968 Best Novel: Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin Best Novella: "Dragonrider" by Anne McCaffrey Best Novelette: "Mother to the World" by Richard Wilson Best Short Story: "The Planners" by Kate Wilhelm 1969 Best Novel: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Best Novella: "A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison Best Novelette: "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" by Samuel R. Delany Best Short Story: "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg 1970 Best Novel: Ringworld by Larry Niven Best Novella: "Ill Met in Lankhmar" by Fritz Leiber Best Novelette: "Slow Sculpture" by Theodore Sturgeon Best Short Story: No Award 1971 Best Novel: A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg Best Novella: "The Missing Man" by Katherine MacLean Best Novelette: "The Queen of Air and Darkness" by Poul Anderson Best Short Story: "Good News from the Vatican" by Robert Silverberg 1972 Best Novel: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov Best Novella: "A Meeting with Medusa" by Arthur C. Clarke Best Novelette: "Goat Song" by Poul Anderson Best Short Story: "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ 1973 Best Novel: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke Best Novella: "The Death of Doctor Island" by Gene Wolfe Best Novelette: "Of Mist, and Grass and Sand" by Vonda N. McIntyre Best Short Story: "Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death" by James Tiptree, Jr. Best Dramatic Presentation: Soylent Green 1974 Best Novel: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin Best Novella: "Born with the Dead" by Robert Silverberg Best Novelette: "If the Stars Are Gods" by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford Best Short Story: "The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin Best Dramatic Presentation: Sleeper Grand Master Award: Robert A. Heinlein 1975 Best Novel: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman Best Novella: "Home Is the Hangman" by Roger Zelazny Best Novelette: "San Diego Lightfoot Sue" by Tom Reamy Best Short Story: "Catch That Zeppelin!" by Fritz Leiber Best Dramatic Presentation: Young Frankstein Grand Master Award: Jack Williamson 1976 Best Novel: Man Plus by Frederik Pohl Best Novella: "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" by James Tiptree, Jr. Best Novelette: "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov Best Short Story: "A Crowd of Shadows" by Charles L. Grant Grand Master Award: Clifford D. Simak 1977 Best Novel: Gateway by Frederik Pohl Best Novella: "Stardance" by Spider and Jeanne Robinson Best Novelette: "The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon Best Short Story: "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison Special Award: Star Wars 1978 Best Novel: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre Best Novella: "The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley Best Novelette: "A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye" by Charles L. Grant Best Short Story: "Stone" by Edward Bryant Grand Master Award: L. Sprague de Camp 1979 Best Novel: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke Best Novella: "Enemy Mine" by Barry Longyear Best Novelette: "Sandkings" by George R.R. Martin Best Short Story: "giANTS" by Edward Bryant 1980 Best Novel: Timescape by Gregory Benford Best Novella: "The Unicorn Tapestry" by Suzy McKee Charnas Best Novelette: "The Ugly Chickens" by Howard Waldrop Best Short Story: "Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak 1981 Best Novel: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe Best Novella: "The Saturn Game" by Poul Anderson Best Novelette: "The Quickening" by Michael Bishop Best Short Story: "The Bone Flute" by Lisa Tuttle * Grand Master Award: Fritz Leiber *This Nebula Award was declined by the author. 1982 Best Novel: No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop Best Novella: "Another Orphan" by John Kessel Best Novelette: "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis Best Short Story: "A Letter From the Clearys" by Connie Willis 1983 Best Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin Best Novella: "Hardfought" by Greg Bear Best Novelette: "Blood Music" by Greg Bear Best Short Story: "The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois Grand Master Award: Andre Norton 1984 Best Novel: Neuromancer by William Gibson Best Novella: "PRESS ENTER []" by John Varley * Best Novelette: "Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler Best Short Story: "Morning Child" by Gardner Dozois * The symbol "[]" used here is in place of a solid block used to represent a computer cursor. 1985 Best Novel: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Best Novella: "Sailing to Byzantium" by Robert Silverberg Best Novelette: "Portraits of His Children" by George R.R. Martin Best Short Story: "Out of All Them Bright Stars" by Nancy Kress Grand Master Award: Arthur C. Clarke 1986 Best Novel: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card Best Novella: "R&R" by Lucius Shepard Best Novelette: "The Girl Who fell Into the Sky" by Kate Wilhelm Best Short Story: "Tangents" by Greg Bear Grand Master Award: Isaac Asimov 1987 Best Novel: The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy Best Novella: "The Blind Geometer" by Kim Stanley Robinson Best Novelette: "Rachel in Love" by Pat Murphy Best Short Story: "Forever Yours, Anna" by Kate Wilhelm Grand Master Award: Alfred Bester 1988 Best Novel: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold Best Novella: "The Last of the Winnebagos" by Connie Willis Best Novelette: "Schrodinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger Best Short Story: "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge" by James Morrow Grand Master Award: Ray Bradbury 1989 Best Novel: The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Best Novella: "The Mountains of Mourning" by Lois McMaster Bujold Best Novelette: "At The Rialto" by Connie Willis Best Short Story: "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" by Geoffrey A. Landis HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa a H H THE LAUGH'S ON US a a H HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa Editor: Name Withheld By Request --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Laugh's On Us is a division of Reading For Pleasure, published bimonthly. This material is NOT COPYRIGHTED and may be used freely by all. Catalogs, news releases, review copies, or donated reviews should be sent to: Reading For Pleasure, 103 Baughman's Lane, Suite 303, Frederick, MD 21702. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SIMPSONS XMAS BOOK transmutated by Matt Groening teleplay by Mimi Pond (1990, HarperPerennial) review by Cindy Bartorillo OK, I know it's not Christmas anymore, but we got the book late. It seems that too many of you out there were buying THE SIMPSONS XMAS BOOK, leaving no copies left for us. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, this is a book version of the Christmas episode of the prime time television show, THE SIMPSONS, that average, everyday family just like yours and mine. Everytime I see/read this story, I can't help thinking about the now-classic Peanuts Christmas Special, a show this one bears NO resemblance to. The big difference is Perfect Moments. In the Peanuts show, as in most fictional creations, life is just one Perfect Moment after another: the people look great, they speak beautifully, and they carry this fabulous musical backup wherever they go. And cute freckled kids, or moms and dads with hearts of gold, save the day every single time. I don't know if you've noticed, but life ain't like that. In the middle of your Big Date you spill coffee down your shirt. You announce to your guests that it's time to eat just as the dog throws up in the middle of the room. Perfect Moments are mighty hard to find. That's why THE SIMPSONS are so popular--their luck with life is just a shade worse that ours, which makes them a very comforting and reassuring family. And, as real people all know even if they don't admit to it in public, Christmastime is when a lot of us real people need comforting and reassuring the most. And for that we get THE SIMPSONS XMAS BOOK, or at least we would have if everybody else weren't so greedy, which kind of brings us full circle doesn't it? Anyway, here's the deal: If you are one of the 37 people who haven't yet bought this book, buy it quick, because the last person left without will be "It" and suffer some dreaded, degenerative consumer disease. Merry Christmas. ************************ ALL I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM MY CAT by Suzy Becker (1990, Workman) review by Cindy Bartorillo I feel silly recommending a book that's been on the bestseller list for many weeks, but if you haven't seen Suzy Becker's book of cartoons featuring Binky the cat, you definitely should get your hands on one (if your bookstore has any left). It's easy to see why the book is selling so well--it has more in common with Robert Fulghum than just the title. (In case you've forgotten already, Robert Fulghum wrote the runaway bestseller, ALL I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN.) Binky has the same brand of gentle wisdom: kind and funny, without ever being saccharine or precious. It's obvious that Suzy Becker chose Binky as spokescat because of her personal knowledge and love of cats, not just to have a cute character to draw. Anyone who shares living space with a cat will recognize every one of the 90 scenes in ALL I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM MY CAT. From "Don't always come when you're called" to "Recognize the toy in everything", Binky shows us how to avoid ulcers and hypertension, by simply enjoying the days we have, and putting our own special stamp on them. Suzy Becker is the founder and president, as well as the designer, of a company called The Widget Factory that has a line of more than 150 greeting cards. Suzy also says that she never forgets to follow Binky's favorite recommendation: "There is always time for a nap." ************************ GROUCHO AND ME by (of all people) Groucho Marx (1959; Fireside edition, 1989) review by Carol Sheffert There's no doubt about who wrote this book. From the first paragraph: "The trouble with writing a book about yourself is that you can't fool around. If you write about someone else, you can stretch the truth from here to Finland. If you write about yourself, the slightest deviation makes you realize instantly that there may be honor among thieves, but YOU are just a dirty liar." Every chapter, every sentence, has the Groucho cadence. And, as you'd expect, the story of his life is told with a light touch, without sentimentality, pathos, or anger. In other biographies of the Marx brothers you will undoubtedly get a more detailed narrative, but you'll never find one with more charm. His stories about the early days when he and his brothers played vaudeville are fascinating, humorous, and touching. (I thought it was interesting that Groucho spoke of vaudeville performers as "actors", a term I don't think I would have used.) There is also a running gag in the book with the name Delaney--a lovely touch of Groucho's brand of humor. The family photographs are nice, but they are old-fashioned posed shots, not the more candid type, or seemingly candid type, we prefer nowadays. GROUCHO AND ME is one of the more engaging autobiographies you'll find, and would make half of a great gift (the other half would be a videotape of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, or other Marx film of your choice). ************************ Watch for RFP-16 to be released April 1, 1991. ************************