The book of my shelf that I keep daring myself to read, is Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. Recently bought a fresh edition from Borders Books. Get that cup of chocolate readied, put my feet up on the ottoman, set the lights just so, everybody is quiet or must be out of the house, and I turn the book over in my hands (a great big heavy big, you know) and read what it has to say, look at the youthful photo of Norman Mailer, and then open to the first part of---of--- zzzZzzzz ZZZ zzz

Bummer, I know how that is....

Just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was excellent. I started Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream which I garnished from Amazon because it is so scarce along with a fatty book called The Essential Ellison. Not sure what's next, definitely back into the sci-fi fray!

Braling II,
I don’t remember recommending any of the titles you listed. Are you sure?

Well, I thought it was your recommendation, but, after searching, I couldn't find a hint of it. It is good, though!

Well, I read this http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/2/3/1239/1239.txt "The Spirit of the Border: A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley," by Zane Grey, finished on February 28. This was the second book Zane Grey wrote and the second one I read by him.

I must confess, after years of hearing how awful James Fenimore Cooper's books were, I read one and was surprised to find it much better than I expected. After years of hearing how great Zane Grey's were, I read two and was surprised they were much worse.

I found the first book overrun with hackneyed phrases and clichéd characters and situations. I figured, well, it was his first, maybe he got better, only to find the second much worse. What's more, either he didn't understand the meaning of certain words or couldn't keep things straight about his characters, or they had hair dye or bleach out there on the frontier, as his heroine started out with chestnut hair and ended up with golden locks. (I always wonder...WHERE are the editors when these things happen?) Not to mention that two of his fictional characters (brothers) are named Joe and Jim when he could have named them anything, while a real-life character is also named Jim. There might be reasons--certainly in real life, brothers, heroes, and villains have similar names--but in fiction that's just annoying.

The book was a real page turner, with the fascination of a somewhat bad but well-intentioned old western, where you sort of know what everyone's going to do but just want to see how they pull it off. That it wasn't boring was about the only good thing to be said for it.

Most objectionable was its use of history. Having fictional characters interact with real ones in actual historical events is a gray area--to me it really depends on the event--for instance, Gettysburg is fine as so darn many people were there you'd never document all the names. This book, though, seemed a singularly poor attempt to recount events including the Moravian Massacre at the "Village of Peace" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten_massacre (maybe he couldn't spell Gnadenhütten) in 1782. The book never gives the date, just sort of makes the reader do the math. The author has not only fictional characters present at the massacre, but real ones who had actually left beforehand, and has it taking place in October rather than March. (Of course, in March his fictional characters couldn't take cover in the woods!)

Worst of all, though, Grey presents the massacre of Indians as being carried out by other Indians under the direction of border ruffians, while a troop of Pennsylvania militia stand by neither participating nor intervening. In fact, the entire massacre was carried out by some of the Pennsylvania militiamen with no Native American participation. Presenting events the way Grey does is rather like the historical theory that Lee Harvey Oswald was in the School Book Depository window for the purpose of firing warning shots to try to save President Kennedy from the "real assassins." (Yes, I know at least one person who claims to believe this.) I consider this book a literary, historical, and racist insult. Other than those three points, it was an okay read.

Dandy, speaking of (well, writing of) historical fiction, have you read much Alistair Maclaine? Probably best known for "The Guns of Navarone", his era of interest is around WWII. Though considered by many as "appealing only to guys", his stuff is well-researched and well-written.

I was lucky enough to attend a talk and book signing at Orange Coast College, a JC in Southern CA, to listen to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talk of his life and his writings. I have read all of his books, on his early life, basketball etc, but I highly recommend two that have nothing to do with basketball per se:

Black Profiles In Courage - will give you some history of famous African Americans who had such a drive to be free of slavery that they sacrificed all to achieve freedom, and paved the way for those who could then come into freedom in their own time. All students of history should read this book, much of which is not readily available in the usual history books that are read in schools.

On The Shoulders Of Giants - My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance. If you are a student of Jazz, basketball or the struggles of the Black Man to achieve equality, it is an eye opener. Kareem, represents excellence in all that he has done. These books are another fine example of his passion for history and he shines light on facts that have not been readily known to most people, younger blacks and older whites, who lived through these times. I attended UCLA with Lewis Alcindor, but I have gained emense respect for the achievements of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Peter, I really enjoyed your comments about having known Lew Alcindor aka Kareem. Did you get to know him personally or in general?

Philnic of Great Britain, my wife and I have enjoyed Dick Francis' books on steeple chase jumpers and sluething. He refers to the M4. Is this comparable to our Interstates such as 70 90 and 94 going east and west and 95 going north and south?

"Philnic of Great Britain" - I like that; it sounds terribly grand!

Yes, the M4 is one of major motorways (freeways). It runs approximately east-west from London in the east to Bristol in the west.

The "M4 Corridor" is the commuter belt that runs along the M4, and is one of the more affluent parts of the UK.

I am now about a third of the way through "The Benchley Roundup", a selection (of Robert Benchley pieces) by Nathaniel Benchley of his favorites.
This one has had me laughing out loud a lot!

Braling II, would that be "LOLAL?"

[QUOTE]Originally posted by biplane1:
Peter, I really enjoyed your comments about having known Lew Alcindor aka Kareem. Did you get to know him personally or in general?

biplane1: actually it is Philip, not peter. I only met Lewis, as John Wooden called him, in the Ackerman Student Union a few times when we were attanding UCLA. I met my wife while there, some 37 years ago, and she didn't like sports even then. Someone asked Kareem about the seventh game of the series with the Celtics and if that was his favorite, he said of course. I did not get to tell him that I almost lost my wife over that game, as it was on her birthday, and I told her she would have to wait until it was over before we could go out for dinner. She still is mad over that one. But hey, how many times can one experience the victory over the hated rivals and with Show Time and Bird in the same game? Ah, it is still sweet after these many years, and now I know that Kareem feels the same way. The man is all class and a fine example to all youth of striving for excellence in all that you do.

Patrask, sorry about the faux paux. Somehow I got the idea of your name from some photos posted that you had attended an event that Ray was at. Sorry about that.

Thank you for the information regarding Kareem. Indeed, some people, no matter their fame, i.e. Ray Bradbury, Kareem, Larry Graham, and others remain really true-to-heart people.

Actually, I haven't read any Alistair Maclaine.

Oh yeah, besides the mirth-provoking Benchley book, I'm rereading Clarence Oddbody's favourite: "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer"!