Friday Flashback: Rec. #212: Ultraviolet (UK TV serial)

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: First, we need to clarify several things.

1. This does not have any connection whatsoever to the Milla Jovovich movie.
2. I mean, look at the DVD cover! They are very serious and British and are wearing so many clothes!
3. But, er, it is about vampires, actually.
4. But the word "vampire" is never, ever used. They are Code 5s, and they are rarely seen.
5. I know, yes, lots of vampire stuff around these days!
6. But this is from 1998, so ha.
7. And the focus is heavily on scientific methods and police investigation.
8. And each episode name is in Latin. Classy!
9. Also, no thinly veiled antiabortion rhetoric here.
10. Oooh, and there is Jack Davenport! We adore Jack Davenport.
11. And! You get to see Jane Bennet (Susannah Harker) and Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) work together!
12. Plus, someone from True Blood played a vampire here first.

Comparable to: It is kind of X-Files-ish. But British.

Representative quote: "Our free range days are over."

You might not like it if: You cannot stand one more vampire thing, ever, not even for Stringer Bell.

How to get it: You can watch it on IMDb and Hulu.

[Originally posted 11/21/11.]

Rec. #270: Started Early, Took My Dog

What: Started Early, Took My Dog is the fourth novel from Kate Atkinson that features former private detective Jackson Brodie. As if we weren't invested enough in Brodie's adventures already, this time around he acquires a formerly abused dog as he winds his way through various rumbling tragedies.

Opening lines: "1975: April 9. Leeds: 'Motorway City of the Seventies.' A proud slogan. No irony intended. Gaslight still flickering on some streets. Life in a northern town."

Representative quote: "Jackson wondered what a dog might need. Food and a bowl to eat it out of, he supposed. He found both in a shop called Paws for Thought. He sensed he was entering deep into unknown territory. He had a new role. He knew who he was, he was a dog owner. He found it hard enough coping with having a son, the dog felt like even more of a stretch."

You might not like it if: When I first read the book, I yelled "AND?!" at the last page. More, please, Ms. Atkinson, and quickly.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Start at the beginning with Case Histories (Rec. #3 and FSoM #14), move on to One Good Turn (Rec. #69), and finish your prep with When Will There Be Good News? (Rec. #192).

First Sign of Murder #17: Tied Up in Tinsel

"How far these impressions were to be attributed to hindsight and how far to immediate observation, Troy was unable to determine, but she reflected that after all it was a tricky business adapting oneself to a domestic staff entirely composed of murderers."

---Tied Up in Tinsel, Ngaio Marsh, 1972

Also: Death and the Dancing Footman (Rec. #37), Night at the Vulcan (Rec. #102), List #5, Colour Scheme (Rec. #190), Death of a Peer (First Sign of Murder #1)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #215: The Last of Sheila

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Stephen Sondheim (yes, the composer/lyricist) and Anthony Perkins (yes, from Psycho) co-wrote this 1973 mystery film. In The Last of Sheila, a successful movie producer invites several people aboard his yacht for a one-week cruise that is actually an epic "Sheila Greene Memorial Gossip Game." The unpredictable host's game involves disguises, puzzles, secrets, and nightly scavenger hunts. As anyone who has ever read a mystery novel knows, parlor games inevitably lead to murder, and this game is no exception.

Comparable to: It's a classic Christie set-up with a '70s Hitchcock vibe and a sharp, jabbing streak of cruelty. It's also kind of like Deathtrap.

Representative quote: "Just enough time to get dressed as a Catamite, if I knew what it was."

You might not like it if: The borderline-campy tone means that the genuinely unsettling parts take you by surprise. And you don't appreciate being taken by surprise.

How to get it: Watch it instantly on Amazon, or rent it, or buy it.

Connection to previous Wreckage: James Coburn plays the multimillionaire/movie producer/yacht owner/game master. Coburn's threatening drawl is also a key feature in the Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant film Charade (Rec. #97). Also, when I refer to "a '70s Hitchcock vibe," I basically mean Family Plot (Rec. #120).

Two additional fun facts:

• The cast also includes Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Raquel Welch.
• The plot was inspired by the elaborate scavenger hunts Sondheim and Perkins used to arrange for their friends. (No one was ever murdered during these real-life scavenger hunts. As far as I know.)

[Originally posted 12/3/11.]

Gift Idea #7: P.G. Wodehouse as published by Overlook Press

Around this time last year, I presented Gift Ideas #1-5. You can find a list of them here. 

I think they're still pretty good ideas, but I'm giving you more this year, too. See Gift Idea #6 here.

What: P.G. Wodehouse is hilarious and the Overlook Press editions of his books are absolutely gorgeous.

Who to give it/them to: Book design snobs, Anglophiles, anyone whose eyes light up when they hear the word "Jeeves."

Gifting tip: Pair this with the much beloved television series Jeeves & Wooster.

How to get it/them: According to the Overlook Press website, as of right now you've got 85 titles to choose from.

Also: For example, you could get Cocktail Time (Rec. #24), or Jill the Reckless (Rec. #136), or Much Obliged, Jeeves (Rec. #153), or Uncle Dynamite (Rec. #204), or The Mating Season (Rec. #254).

First Sign of Murder #16: A Study in Scarlet

"My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:

There has been a bad business during the night at 3, Lauriston Gardens, off the Brixton Road. Our man on the beat saw a light there about two in the morning, and as the house was an empty one, suspected something was amiss."

--- A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887

Friday Flashback: Rec. #216 (abbrev.): The Cabal and Other Stories

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Ellen Gilchrist, short stories and one novella, town psychiatrist, cousins in exile in San Francisco, thirty-six gold Krugerrands, rugby player, cross-country pilgrimage, Dakota in Kansas City, letters in a safe deposit box, Miss Crystal cleans up, one for Darwin, the surcease of biscuits

Representative quote: "This is the story of a group of people who had a bizarre and unexpected thing happen to them. Their psychiatrist went crazy and started injecting himself with drugs."

Connections to previous Wreckage: I mentioned The Cabal and Other Stories during Personal Wreck Week (List #5). Other Gilchrist collections include Nora Jane: A Life in Stories (Rec. #25) and Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle (Rec. #159).

[Originally posted 12/7/11.]

First Sign of Murder #15: Death in Autumn

"Even so, if the body had gone over the weir there would be nothing for it but to wait three days until it came up and was spotted by some passer-by in one of the small towns through which the Arno wound its way towards Pisa.

Unless, of course, the whole thing was a sick joke. It happened now and then."

--- Death in Autumn, Magdalen Nabb, 1984

See also: List #6 (A Few Seasonally Inappropriate Options for the Northern Hemisphere) and Rec. #144 (Death of an Englishman).

Rec. #269: 2D Goggles

What: Today, Google is celebrating Ada Lovelace's 197th birthday, and who are we to argue? After all, Ada Lovelace --- a genius mathematician and the daughter of Lord Byron --- absolutely rocks.

Graphic designer Sydney Padua appreciates this and has created a webcomic all about Ada Lovelace and fellow mathematician Charles Babbage. Fighting crime for Queen Victoria. Using a difference engine. As you do.

Comparable to: Very Kate Beaton sense of humor, but with a lotta lotta footnotes about how much Charles Babbage hated street musicians (fact!).

Opening lines: "Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of mad, bad, and dangerous to know poet and nutcase Lord Byron. Her mother Anabel fled the exploding planet her husband yet worried that Ada had inherited his wild blood."

Representative panel:

Bonus representative panel:

How to get it: The main page is here. Meet the cast here. See the Pocket Universe Guide here. Access the archived stories here. Start reading the current story ("User Experience") here.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Yes, as a matter of fact I did mention Kate Beaton. I also mentioned her in Rec. #95, List #2, List #3, List #8, Rec. #186, Gift Idea #2, List #14, and List #21.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #208 (abbrev.): Three Men in a Boat

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Novel by Jerome K. Jerome (yes), self-diagnosis of overwork, boating holiday, misadventures, River Thames, barometers, mustard, Waterloo Station, bribes, fishing, pubs, bagpipes, camping, plaster of paris trout, food hamper, inns, the contrariness of teakettles, J., Harris, George, to say nothing of Montmorency

Meet J. (the narrator): "It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours."

Meet Harris: "That's Harris all over - so ready to take the burden of everything himself, and put it on the backs of other people."

Meet George: "George suggested walking back to Henley and assaulting a policeman, and so getting a night's lodging in the station-house."

Meet Montmorency: "Fox terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs are."

Also: Previously mentioned during Personal Wreck Week (List #2).

And: Don't forget To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis (Rec. #100).



[Originally posted 11/9/11.]

Gift Idea #6: A New Leaf

Around this time last year, I presented Gift Ideas #1-5. You can find a list of them here. I think they're still pretty good ideas, but I'm giving you more this year, too.

What: At long last, the cult classic film A New Leaf is finally on DVD*. In Elaine May's story, a newly penniless member of the entitled elite marries a hapless heiress-slash-botanist as a last resort. He immediately starts plotting her demise, but is thwarted at every turn.

Movies like this are why the phrase "darkly comedic" was invented.

Who to give it to: Any friend whose favorite movie is Harold and Maude.

Gifting tip: Round out the present by including an oh-so-thematically-appropriate fern frond token, like a necklace or cufflinks.

Also: Read some representative quotes (and revisit a not-long-ago time when A New Leaf was still difficult to find) at Rec. #56.



*Granted, we've reached a time when some people have basically stopped using any non-streaming video media, but still.

First Sign of Murder #14: Case Histories

"Police helicopters flew low over outlying villages and countryside as far as the county borders, truck drivers were alerted to keep an eye out on the motorway, and the army was brought in to search the fens, but none of them --- from Amelia screaming herself sick in the back garden to the Territorial Army recruits on their hands and knees in the rain on Midsummer Common --- could find a single trace of Olivia, not a hair or a flake of skin, not a pink rabbit slipper nor a blue mouse."

--- Case Histories, Kate Atkinson, 2004

See more: Case Histories was Rec. #3.

See also:

One Good Turn (Rec. #69)

Human Croquet (Rec. #137)

When Will There Be Goods News? (Rec. #192)

7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive (List #4)

Rec. #268: Meme

What: Susan Wheeler's exploded, layered elegy is riddled with cliches in the best possible way. The poems spiral the reader down past a variety of voices, from chiding/petulant to jaded/smirking, all within 100 pages that are filled with plenty of white space.

Meme is also a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. If you want to jump into some contemporary poetry, this is a pretty good place to start.

Comparable to: The tone is similar to a very  s t r e t c h e d  o u t  snippet of Kira Henehan's novel Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles, which I loved the heck out of.

Opening lines:
"She was a real stickler.
Well, I couldn't get it for the life of me. All I remember is, Mademoiselle Skeen, vous êtes une tête du bois!"

Representative quote:
"It could have been the sea
It could have been the stars
It could have been
that girls not men
were the ones from Mars."

You might not like it if: Well, poetry. It's poetry all over the place.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles was Rec. #195.

If you want more poetry, try Monologue of a Dog (Rec. #19), The Best of It (Rec. #50), or Ripple Effect (Rec. #118).

Friday Flashback: Rec #205: How to Steal a Million

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: How to Steal a Million is my very, very favorite Audrey Hepburn film. Before you get all outraged on behalf of Roman Holiday or Breakfast at Tiffany's, hear me out. In this caper, Hepburn gets a chance to show off her underrated comedic timing as a woman protecting her father, an art collector-cum-forger. "Society burglar" Peter O'Toole is her reluctant accomplice, and the two rub against each other delightfully, with much sparky dialogue (see below).

Comparable to: It's directed by William Wyler, who had previously worked with Hepburn on The Children's Hour and, yes, Roman Holiday. He also directed The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, and Funny Girl. Dude got around.

Representative quote: "Okay. You're the boss. Just do as I tell you."

Bonus representative quote: "I want you to take a long look at the trees, the blue sky, and the river, all of which I personally loathe, which is why a juicy stretch in a French prison doesn't bother me at all."

Bonus representative dialogue: "There's the bathroom; take off your clothes." "Are we planning the same sort of crime?"

You might not like it if: Your eyes burn from the dazzle of Hepburn's ridiculous Givenchy wardrobe. Or you don't like witty, urbane heist comedies from the mid-'60s. Or you have an irrational dislike of boomerangs, which play a pivotal role here.

How to get it: Watch it instantly on Amazon or rent it or borrow it. But if you borrow my copy, be forewarned that the loan period for this one is very short.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Get more Audrey with Wait Until Dark (Rec. #26) and Charade (Rec. #97).


[Note: How to Steal a Million is currently also available to watch instantly on Netflix.]


[Originally posted 11/3/11.]

First Sign of Murder #13: Octagon House

"The continued headlines, of course, were not due to the post office, or even the mural. But like the Octagon House and the Pickle Lime Lady, they continued to provide an important and bizarre background. They were what the press meant when it referred to the Incredible Background of These Startling Incidents."

--- Octagon House, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, 1937

Friday Flashback: List #13: 5 British Miniseries to Watch Instantly on Netflix

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

Here in the U.S., it is Thanksgiving weekend. One thing I am very thankful for right now is the selection of BBC miniseries literary adaptations that are available to watch instantly on Netflix over the long weekend. If you have a few days off, there are worse ways to spend your time.

My top five picks within the BBC-miniseries-literary-adaptations-Netflix-instant-viewing parameters:

1. Bleak House (Dickens) (2005): A powerhouse cast strides purposefully through this surprisingly suspenseful story about the remorseless machine that is the Court of Chancery. Plus lots of people die!

2. The Buccaneers (Wharton) (1995): The soapiest option here concerns four American heiresses who travel to England to find husbands. The resulting marriages are mainly ill-fated. Plus lots of people die!

3. North & South (Gaskell) (2004): This is about the industrial North and the pastoral South in England. Nothing to do with the U.S. Civil War. (Lots and lots and lots of people die, but not in battle.) Now please excuse me, I come over a bit faint around Richard Armitage.

4. The Way We Live Now (Trollope) (2001): It's all about money and swindles and guys basically being pricks and some very shady financial dealings. The way we live now, indeed! (A fair number of people die, but, frankly, not as many as one might expect.)

5. Wives and Daughters (Gaskell) (1999): This is the most domestic, least political selection. Tortuous family dynamics lead to many, many secrets and much, much subterfuge. Oh, and lots of people die.


Connections to previous Wreckage: Elizabeth Gaskell's novel Mary Barton (Rec. #57) hasn't been adapted since the 1960s. It is time, BBC! Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend (Rec. #88) has a very good 1998 BBC adaptation, but it's not available instantly on Netflix right now.

I previously mentioned the adaptation of Wives and Daughters during Personal Wreck Week (List #3).

General warning: Be careful when choosing literary adaptations on Netflix! The DVD cover art on the site is not always for the right version. Proceed with caution.



[Originally posted 11/24/11.]

First Sign of Murder #12: Smilla's Sense of Snow

" . . . it's the sort of silence that is waiting for something to burst. From where I'm standing, two things happen.

First, Julianne falls to her knees and puts her face to the ground, and the other women leave her alone.

The second event is internal, inside of me, and what bursts through is an insight.

All along I must have had a comprehensive pact with Isaiah not to leave him in the lurch, never, not even now."

--- Smilla's Sense of Snow, Peter Høeg, 1992

See also: List #4: 7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive, List #6: A Few Seasonally Inappropriate Options for the Northern Hemisphere, and Rec. #150.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #213 (abbrev.): The Partly Cloudy Patriot

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Sarah Vowell, essays, Thanksgiving, presidential libraries, walking tours in Paris, teen cinéaste, Al Gore at Concord High, Pop-a-Shot, maps of California, voting, road trip to inauguration, nerds vs. jocks, Buffy, Rosa Parks analogies, Sports Night shout-out, "Tom Cruise Makes Me Nervous," guidebooks, twins, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, citizenship as argument not sing-along, asthmatic hopes

Representative quote: "I guess Gettysburg is a pilgrimage. And, like all pilgrims, I'm a mess. You don't cross state lines to attend the 137th anniversary of anything unless something's missing in your life."

Also: Take the Cannoli (Rec. #32)



[Originally posted 11/22/11.]

First Sign of Murder #11: Love Lies Bleeding

"'Very well,' he said, and stumbled over the words. 'This--this is a most tragic business, Mrs. Love. I don't know what to say . . . my utmost sympathy . . . I'll get in touch with a doctor and with the police . . . Yes. . . Yes, of course . . . Good-bye.'

He rang off, controlling himself with difficulty, and turned to Galbraith.

'It's Love,' he said. 'Shot.'

Galbraith looked bewildered; his professional competence seemed incapable of coping with anything like this. 'Shot?' he echoed foolishly. 'You don't mean killed?'

'Yes. Killed.'

'Suicide?'

'I don't know. His wife was too upset to say very much. But in any case ---'

The telephone rang again. The headmaster took it up; listened, incredulous and appalled.

'All right,' he said at last. 'Stay there and don't touch anything. I'll make the necessary arrangements.' He replaced the receiver. 'That was Wells, speaking from Hubbard's Building. He's just found Somers in the common room . . .'

He put out one hand to brace himself against the back of a chair. His face for a moment was livid.

'Somers is dead, too,' he said. 'Shot through the eye.'"

---Love Lies Bleeding, Edmund Crispin, 1948

Friday* Flashback: Rec. #206: Get Away from Me

*Cleverly disguised as "Saturday."

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Singer Nellie McKay's 2004 debut album is a double-disc set because when you're a precocious genius you can do things like that. Also, it takes that much space to allow for McKay's full scope of self-penned chamber pop, jazz, reggae, cabaret, hip-hop, and torch songs.

Comparable to: Every drooling review of Get Away from Me got a lot of mileage out of gleefully comparing McKay to such disparate musicians as Rufus Wainwright, Ethel Merman, Van Dyke Parks, Ani DiFranco, Randy Newman, Missy Elliot, Bob Dylan, Peggy Lee, Eminem, Julie London, Flight of the Conchords, and Doris Day.

Representative lyrics:

When it says goodbye
You don't hear it sigh

Does that it mean
That it's gone far far away
Is this your day to
Buy a paper
Draw a mustache
Make the mayor a giraffe
Try and tempt fate
Get pneumonia
Recuperate with soy bologna

You might not like it if: If you don't like it, don't tell me. I don't want to know.



[Originally posted 11/6/11.]

First Sign of Murder #10: The Falcon at the Portal

"Reason told me he would not crash to the bottom, since the length of the rope had been carefully measured. Reason did not prevent me from letting out an involuntary cry. Emerson let out a flood of bad language and jumped for the spinning handle of the windlass. By sheer brute strength he managed to stop the rope unwinding; but by that time most of it was already in the shaft, and Ramses was at the bottom.

A light appeared below. It was the beam of the candle Ramses carried in his pocket, and it illumined the chair frame and a huddled, featureless shape beside it.

There could be no doubt that the shape was that of a human body, or the remains of one."

---The Falcon at the Portal, Elizabeth Peters, 1999

Friday Flashback: Rec. #180 (abbrev.): Ghostwritten

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: David Mitchell's first novel, interconnected, episodic, East Asia, doomsday cult, jazz, money laundering, diabetes, tea shack, ghost, Russia, art heist, Mongolian hit man, UK, drummer/ghostwriter, world destabilization, men in suits, chance and destiny, casino, quantum cognition, on the run, goat, USA, late night radio, the Zookeeper, possible nuclear annihilation

Representative quote: "Perhaps in a few years some widower pig farmer might be persuaded to take me in as a mistress and nurse for his old age. If I was lucky. I resolved then and there not to be lucky."

Also: Black Swan Green (Rec. #72) and Cloud Atlas (Rec. #140)



[Originally posted 9/17/11.]

Rec. #267: Blackpool

What: Well, where else will you get a chance to see some of your favorite British television faces singing along to "Viva Las Vegas," "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," and "The Gambler," all during the investigation into a messy murder?

There's David Morrissey* as a megalomaniac arcade owner; Sarah Parish** as his long-suffering wife; and David Tennant*** as the conflicted investigating detective. Did I mention that they all sing?

It's dark and funny and a bit twisted, and I don't know why it works, but it does.


*(currently dictating all over The Walking Dead)
**(regular lead of British TV and reliable supporter in U.S. romantic comedies)
***(widely adored tenth Doctor of Doctor Who)


Opening lines: "The gaming industry creates gambling addicts, misery, and family breakup . . . That's what they say, eh? The do-gooders, the lentil-jockeys outside."

Representative quote:
"Well, I wouldn't know about that. I run a family entertainment center."
"And I'm a crime-citizen-interface consultant."

You might not like it if: It's a British mystery/crime/drama series set in Blackpool with intermittent singing. You probably know yourself well enough to decide whether this will be your thing or not.

How to get it: Rent it or buy it or watch it in pieces on YouTube. It might also be helpful to know that when it aired on BBCAmerica several years ago, they called it Viva Blackpool.

Connections to previous Wreckage: I mentioned Blackpool before in part 3 of my post "Some Dishy British Male Actors and Where to Find Them. Phwoar" (List #16). And you can also see David Morrissey in State of Play (Rec. #104).

First Sign of Murder #9: In a Dark House

"Hemmed in on one side by a sofa, on the other by what seemed to be stacks of lumber, Rose tried to turn back the other way. As she maneuvered her body round, her gloved hand came down on something that yielded beneath her fingers. It felt malleable, like flesh, with the brittleness of bone beneath.

Rose looked down, blinking eyes burning and swollen from the heat, and felt the bile rise in her throat. 'Jesus Christ,' she said. 'We've got a body.'"

--- In a Dark House, Deborah Crombie, 2004

See also: Dreaming of the Bones (Rec. #55) and List #4: 7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #194 (abbrev.): Midnight

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Screwball comedy, 1939, Claudette Colbert, showgirl, would-be gold-digger, stranded in Paris, taxi cabs, Don Ameche, evening gown, the Ritz, noses, party crashing, John Barrymore, missing luggage, railway station, fake barons and baronesses, Billy Wilder, millionaires, divorce court, Mary Astor, hats, taxi driver cafe

Representative quote:
"I landed a lord, almost."
"Almost?"
"Well, the family came between us. His mother came to my hotel and offered me a bribe."
"You threw her out, I hope!"
"How could I, with my hands full of money?"

Also: Claudette Colbert and Mary Astor reteamed for more screwball in 1942's The Palm Beach Story (Rec. #17).

[Originally posted 10/12/11.]

First Sign of Murder #8: The Club Dumas

"The flash projected the outline of the hanged man onto the wall. He hung motionless from a light fixture in the center of the room, and as the photographer moved around him, taking pictures, the flashes threw the silhouette onto a succession of paintings, glass cabinets full of porcelain, shelves of books, open curtains framing great windows beyond which the rain was falling.

The examining magistrate was a young man. His thinning hair was untidy and still damp, as was the raincoat he wore while he dictated to a clerk who sat on a sofa as he typed, his typewriter on a chair. The tapping punctuated the monotonous voice of the magistrate and the whispered comments of the policemen who were moving about the room."

--- opening lines, The Club Dumas, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, 1993

Rec. #266: All About Emily

What: In this fast romp of a novella, Connie Willis demonstrates, once again, her adeptness at taking samples from every depth of pop culture (from All About Eve and Isaac Asimov to the Rockettes), submerging those fragments in thought exercises on free will and identity, and then sprinkling them with snow and sending them on their merry way.

Comparable to: All About Emily fits nicely alongside Willis's other celebrated short(er) fiction, like "The Last of the Winnebagos" and "Inside Job."

Opening lines: "All right, so you're probably wondering how I, Claire Havilland --- three-time Tony winner, Broadway legend, and star of Only Human --- ended up here, standing outside Radio City Music Hall in a freezing rain two days before Christmas, soaked to the skin and on the verge of pneumonia, accosting harmless passersby."

You might not like it if: You are familiar enough with Willis's work to know that she writes both comedies and tragedies and you can't always tell which is which until someone dies, and you can't bring yourself to take that risk right now. (Hint of Reassurance: This is a comedy . . . mainly.)

How to get it: Your best bets are getting it from your library or downloading it to your Kindle.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Enjoy more Connie Willis with To Say Nothing of the Dog (Rec. #100), Blackout/All Clear (Gift Idea #1), Bellwether (Rec. #218), and Lincoln's Dreams (Rec. #248). Not all of them are comedies.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #196 and Rec. #197: Paul Schneider and the Real Girls

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

Sometimes I feel a bit bad for Paul Schneider because Parks and Recreation became widely and fervently adored right after he left the show. Sure, his movie career is doing just fine, thanks, but is it enough? Can it be enough, when he must see "Leslie + Ben forever!" scrawled on all the lockers of the metaphorical showbiz high school?

What: Amusingly (for me, at least), Paul Schneider is in both Lars and the Real Girl and All the Real Girls. Both films are excellent, and he is excellent in them.

In Lars and the Real Girl, he plays a key supporting role as the older brother of Lars, a troubled and introverted young man whose new companion is a doll he ordered online. The movie does not go in for cheap laughs. It is careful instead of knee-jerk, thoughtful instead of facile, and generous instead of petty. (Also, Patricia Clarkson does a superb job and . . . whoops, she's been on Parks & Rec recently. Sorry, Paul.)

In All the Real Girls, he takes the lead as a womanizer who forces himself into sincerity when he falls for his best friend's sister. It is not a romantic comedy. (The currently overexposed Zooey Deschanel is also in this, but don't hold that against the movie. It came out in 2003.) (And, also, Patricia Clarkson is here, too.)

Representative quote from Paul's character (Lars and the Real Girl): [on what it means to be a man] "Like, you don't jerk people around, and you don't cheat on your woman, and you take care of your family, you know, and you admit when you're wrong, or you try to, anyways. That's all I can think of --- it sound like it's easy and for some reason it's not."

Representative quote from Paul's character (All the Real Girls): "When people from before come up, I want you to understand what they hate when they see me."

Connection to previous Wreckage: Paul Schneider played Mark Brendanawicz on the first two seasons of Parks and Recreation. And the show was very good! But season 3 was a-maz-ing (Rec. #119).

[Originally posted 10/15/11.]

First Sign of Murder #7: At Bertram's Hotel

"It was a fine night and he walked home to Bertram's Hotel after first getting into a bus which took him in the opposite direction. It was midnight when he got in and Bertram's Hotel at midnight usually preserved a decorous appearance of everyone having gone to bed. The lift was on a higher floor so the Canon walked up the stairs. He came to his room, inserted the key in the lock, threw the door open and entered!

Good gracious, was he seeing things? But who -- how -- he saw the upraised arm too late. . .

Stars exploded in a kind of Guy Fawkes' display within his head. . ."

--- At Bertram's Hotel, Agatha Christie, 1965

Friday Flashback: Rec. #195: Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Kira Henehan's debut novel is about Investigations, puppets, a snake named Lavender, mimed bowling, yellow eyes, surf memorabilia, gravel, Assignments, marbles, red hair, contemporary art, memory loss, savage pocketry, Russians, baseball jerseys, framing, shrimps, Lolita, and golf carts. Finley is the painstakingly accurate --- but never reliable --- narrator.

Comparable to: It's a little bit like George Saunders and Jaclyn Moriarty went on a road trip with some Tom Robbins characters and then wrote a book about it. Which is to say, it's free-spirited, impressionistic, episodic, and highly stylized, but nonetheless often an incisive reflection of how people really do act and speak.

Representative quote: "It was all over gravel, but better than the last place. There was all over swampland and crocodiles."

You might not like it if: At its most self-indulgent, the book skirts the edges of impenetrability. So watch out for that.

How to get it: Look at me, recommending a fairly new book that's in print and everything! (And, yes, Kindle-able.)


[Originally posted 10/13/11.]

First Sign of Murder #6: First Hit of the Season

"Like most of Jocelyn's domestic resolutions, this one was doomed to come to naught, but this time for the worst of reasons. Just as they were about to go for their coats, the door of the study burst open and Jason Saylin came staggering into the room, looking like a puppet who'd just been electrocuted."

--- First Hit of the Season, Jane Dentinger, 1984

Friday Flashback: Rec. #188: Metropolitan Life

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand. 

What: Fran Lebowitz, author of the 1974 essay collection Metropolitan Life, has often been compared to Dorothy Parker. This comparison is trite, but accurate. Which, of course, leads us to . . . lots of quotes (below).

Comparable to: Dorothy Parker. I just said so. Also, all those collections of humorous essays that have been published in the last ten years? By David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, and basically anyone else from This American Life? They all owe a heck of a lot to Lebowitz.

Representative quotes:
"Having been unpopular in high school is not just cause for book publication." --- from "Letters"

"Children respond inadequately to sardonic humor and veiled threats." --- from "Children: Pro or Con?"

"He is audibly tan." --- from "My Day: An Introduction of Sorts"

"I love sleep because it is both pleasant and safe to use." --- from "Why I Love Sleep"

"There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness or death. Any attempt to prove otherwise constitutes unacceptable behavior." --- from "Manners"

You might not like it if: Like Parker, Lebowitz will go a long way for a pun. This can get exhausting.

How to get it: After the success of Martin Scorsese's documentary on Fran Lebowitz (Public Speaking), we got a rerelease of The Fran Lebowitz Reader. It includes both Metropolitan Life and Social Studies. It's also Kindle-able.

Connection to previous Wreckage: I suggested The Portable Dorothy Parker during Personal Wreck Week (List #3).



[Originally posted 10/2/12.]

Rec. #265: Dead Again

What: Goodness gracious, there is an awful lot going on in this early-'90s wannabe-neo-noir flick. Amnesia! Hypnosis! Flashbacks! Reincarnation! Double dual roles! Accents! Fakeouts! Hitchcock nods! Twists! Brief appearance by Robin Williams!

A Los Angeles private detective stumbles across a mysterious mute amnesiac who keeps having nightmares about a murder that took place in the 1940s. Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson each play two roles: We get the modern-day story in color and the flashbacks to the doomed '40s couple in black and white.

Representative quote: "This is fate we're talking about, and if fate works at all, it works because people think that THIS TIME, it isn't going to happen!"

You might not like it if: You can't get over how Kenneth Branagh can't get over himself. (Who gives themselves two starring roles for their sophomore directing effort?) But you can have a good giggle at the various accents he tries out.

How to get it: Buy it, rent it, borrow it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Emma Thompson is excellent, as always, even in the unlikely dual roles of "mute amnesiac" and "soon-to-be-murdered pianist." Also see her in Wit (Rec. #132).

First Sign of Murder #5: The Thin Man

"She gave me a newspaper and a cup of coffee and said: 'Read that.'

I patiently read a paragraph or two, then put the paper down and took a sip of coffee. 'Fun's fun,' I said, 'but right now I'd swap you all the interviews with Mayor-elect O'Brien ever printed --- and throw in the Indian picture --- for a slug of whis--'

'Not that, stupid.' She put a finger on the paper. 'That.'"

---The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett, 1933

For more, see also: Rec. #234

List #21 (Part 2): If I Had the Sort of Job Where I Could Spend Time Doing Things on the Internet, Here Are Some of the Things I Would Spend Time Doing

See Part 1 here!

Watching Smart, Funny, Incisive Web Videos

David Mitchell's Soapbox (http://www.youtube.com/user/davidmitchellsoapbox?feature=watch): It's always comforting to know there's someone a little grumpier and more ranty than you.

Ill Doctrine (http://www.illdoctrine.com/): I've already gushed over Jay Smooth a couple of times before. (See List #10 and List #19.) He's still great.

Side by Side by Susan Blackwell (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE42B5E0DACC3305C): The delightful Susan Blackwell interviews various Broadway stars. Sometimes she licks them. Once, she had Daniel Radcliffe clean a toilet.


Reading Web Comics

Bad Machinery (http://scarygoround.com/): Those British youths keep solving crimes. Go, youths, go! (See Rec. #138.)

Gunnerkrigg Court (http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archives): My advice is to start from the beginning and read it like a book. You could also actually buy it in book form. We're up to three full volumes and 40 chapters now.

Hark! A Vagrant (http://harkavagrant.com/): Everyone loves Kate Beaton! (Like me. I do. For evidence, see Rec. #95, List #2, List #3, List #8, Rec. #186, Gift Idea #2, and List #14.)

Hyperbole and a Half (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/): Allie Brosh is very talented. Don't just take other people's word for it, though (Rec. #7), go see for yourself, if you haven't already. If you have already, go see again.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #178: The Half

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand. 

What: The Half collects more than 300 photographs of actors backstage in British theaters over the past few decades. Photographer Simon Annand has captured the actors during the sacrosanct thirty minutes before curtain-up known as "the half." Here you'll find fascinating and revealing shots of dreamboats (Laurence Fox, Ioan Gruffudd, David Tennant), look-at-them-thens (Colin Firth in 1985!), stage goddesses (Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith), and thespian lions (Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen) . . . I could go on.

Representative quote (caption): "Dan Stevens, Hay Fever by Noel Coward, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2006. Leaping downstairs towards the stage, past Judi Dench's dressing room."

You might not like it if: You're looking at the book in my general vicinity and you get annoyed as I keep gasping about the presence of several of my personal favorites: Sinead Cusack, Anne Marie Duff, Jennifer Ehle, Stephen Fry, Romola Garai, Michelle Gomez, Richard E. Grant, Tamsin Greig, Damian Lewis, Joanna Lumley, Jonny Lee Miller, Maxine Peake, Rufus Sewell, Toby Stephens, David Suchet, Catherine Tate, Ruth Wilson . . . I could go on.

How to get it: Well, I just got it at the bookshop of the National Theatre in London. Not sure what you're going to do.




[Originally posted 9/14/11.]

First Sign of Murder #4: Death in Kenya

"She dropped the roses, and with a choking sob of relief began to run, tripping and stumbling over the rough grass in the uncertain light. She was within a yard of that dimly seen figure when something checked her. A sound . . .

There was something wrong. Something crazily and impossibly wrong. She stopped suddenly, staring. Her eyes widened in her white face and her mouth opened in a soundless scream. For it was someone else. Someone suddenly and horribly familiar."

--- Death in Kenya (aka Later Than You Think), M.M. Kaye, 1958

Connections to previous Wreckage: Death in Zanzibar (Rec. #183), Death in Berlin (Rec. #244)

List #21 (Part 1): If I Had the Sort of Job Where I Could Spend Time Doing Things on the Internet, Here Are Some of the Things I Would Spend Time Doing

Looking at Pictures/Images/Charts

The Big Picture (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/): Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, three picture editors at The Boston Globe add a new set of stunning photos to their blog.

Design Sponge's "Living In" series (http://www.designsponge.com/category/living-in): All the accoutrements of favorite pieces of pop culture, lovingly laid out in purchase-ready form for your acquisitive side.

Exactitudes (http://www.exactitudes.com/): See how people align themselves with different social groups through their clothes, and marvel at the stark beauty of individual conformity.

Information Is Beautiful Awards (http://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/): These global awards are for "excellence in data visualization and information design." You know what that means --- lots of lovely, lovely charts. Mmmm.

1000 Frames of Hitchcock (http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/wiki/1000_Frames_of_Hitchcock): I'm quite a Hitchcock fan. I don't know whether I've mentioned that before.

Sociological Images (http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/): More charts! These sociological finds are sometimes startling, occasionally hilarious, not infrequently depressing, and always fascinating.



Indulging in Pop Culture Shenanigans . . .

. . . like methodically going through every single one of Price Peterson's photo recaps for shows I've never watched . .

. . . and trying to start a dialogue with Richard Lawson via Twitter. Among other things, I should apologize for straight-up stealing his "you do you, [insert name here]" phrasing and using it to such an unnecessary extent.



Commenting on My Friends' Blogs

Day Zero Countdown (http://dayzerocountdown.wordpress.com/): I would say things like, "Flash mob!" and "Flippah!"

Let's Eat Grandpa (http://letseatgrandpa.com/): I would say things like, "Maybe instead of doing that intensive physical trial you should just sleep in? Sleep is nice."

Metropotamia (http://metropotamia.org/): OK, commenting on Tumblr is weird. But I really liked that Stanley Tucci call-out and the PSA about a turtle.



Continue with Part 2 here!

Friday Flashback: Rec. #182: Party Down

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Another TV series from Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars), two seasons, Los Angeles, struggling actors, cater waiters, crisp white shirts, Adam Scott, alcohol, pink bow ties, Ken Marino, Soup 'R Crackers, helpful gay pirate, Lizzy Caplan, texting, spitting, crushes, Jane Lynch, singles seminar for seniors, prescription drugs, Martin Starr, Baja condos, prop gun, illegal drugs, Jennifer Coolidge, high school reunion, corporate retreat, Ryan Hansen, sun eggs, Uda Bengt, backstage party, Megan Mullally, funeral, company picnic, NFL draft party, wedding, the Gute, other guest stars galore

Representative quote: "It's not lying, it's... acting. Look, I was an actor; it's easy. You just use the true bits and you fake the fake bits. Most actors aren't bright, so it has to be simple."

Bonus representative quote:
"Hey Roman, Google me in ten years, that's going to be me."
"The only way I'm Googling you in ten years is if you get very creative in the way that you kill yourself."

Also: Veronica Mars (Rec. #168), and don't forget to visit Adam Scott on Parks and Recreation (Rec. #119)

And: Seriously, folks, it's time to get on this boat if you haven't already. We've already delved headfirst into the nostalgia phase of Party Down's life cycle.

[Originally posted 9/20/11.]

Rec. #264: Selected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay

What: Another installation of my continuing erratic series "Maybe try reading some poetry?" This time, it's Edna St. Vincent Millay, who combined the sonnet-craft of Milton with the dry sighs of Dorothy Parker and the home life of Tilda Swinton.

Here are some first lines to get you started:

"The room is full of you!" --- "Interim"

"My candle burns at both ends;/ It will not last the night;/ But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—/ It gives a lovely light." --- "First Fig"

"To what purpose, April, do you return again?/ Beauty is not enough." --- "Spring"

"We talk of taxes, and I call you friend" --- "Sonnet 1"

Connections to previous Wreckage: More poetry! Monologue of a Dog (Rec. #19), The Best of It (Rec. #50), and Ripple Effect (Rec. #118). Also, you can see some of the aforementioned dry sighs of Dorothy Parker in What Fresh Hell Is This? (Rec. #237).

First Sign of Murder #3: The Estate of the Beckoning Lady

I think quotes from a book's key moments often give you a better idea about whether you'll like the book than any summary could. For First Sign of Murder (title subject to change), I'll be sharing --- you guessed it --- the lines from mystery novels that first alert readers to the fact that a murder has occurred.

"Presently he said: 'There's a man asleep down there.' Watching her slyly out of the corner of his eye, he saw that she was suitably startled.

'Really?' she said at last. 'How do you know?'

'Because I saw him when I looked under the bridge. I couldn't get near because Choc kept pushing me out. He is an enormous dog; soft, but enormous.'

'Yes,' she agreed absently. Her light-brown eyes were worried, and she stared down at the two men who were now both in the ditch by the bridge, peering at something.

Rupert continued to contemplate the infinity of the sky. The blue had turned into a million colors, he noticed, like hundreds and thousands." 

--- The Estate of the Beckoning Lady, Margery Allingham, 1955

Connections to previous Wreckage: Sweet Danger (Rec. #133), Black Plumes (Rec. #156)