Black Mask Stories

I ordered THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF BLACK MASK STORIES for myself for Christmas, and it was a bit late because it was delivered to another address. But it arrived today, and, thusly, I now celebrate Christmas on January 10th.

Good lord, what a collection. Chandler, Hammett, MacDonald, Woolrich, Halliday, Daly, Dent, Coxe, and, as the cover says, "much much more."

Mr. Penzler outdid himself on this one.

Zackel: Mark Twain, the N Word and Compassion

I’m halfway through ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN and so far I can say Frederick Zackel nailed all the controversy this week regarding a novel that Lionel Trilling said, was "America's most eloquent argument against racism.."

Read Mr. Zackel's piece here. Your continuing (and perhaps differing) comments on this discussion are welcomed.

Guardian: The Big Sleep – review

Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe is tough without a gun and lethal with a wisecrack in this irresistible rerelease. Full review here.

Miscellaneous

My DC.com as I call it had been looking fairly ragged of late. It is still under construction but I think Denise has done a pretty good job thus far. Take a look here and let me know what you think.

#

My good friend Chuck Tyrell has a book trailer for his latest novel called THE SNAKE DEN.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

"The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."

-- from THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde that first appeared in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890. Another classic I've never read and that I just downloaded from Project Gutenberg.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Cranmer Family Chronicles

My grandfather, Fred Cranmer, was born in 1904 and passed away shortly before his birthday in 1993 at the ripe old age of eighty-nine. He loved a good joke, fishing, Murder, She Wrote, dandelion wine, and the music of Loretta Lynn.

In the photo (from left to right) is Grandpa, the young geeky pulp writer, and my dad.

He would have been 107 today. Happy birthday, Grandpa.

PFF is the creation of Leah J. Utas.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

More on Huck Finn

Michiko Kakutani has a good piece in The New York Times appropriately titled Light Out, Huck, They Still Want to Sivilize You.