Book Review: Just Jerry - How Drawing Shaped My Life - A Memoir

Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life: A Memoir
by Jerry Pinkney (j Biography Pinkney)

I learned about this book at a Library Conference that I attended recently. As a fan of Jerry Pinkney’s illustrations for many years, I was thrilled to hear that a biography of the award-winning author had been published just this year. The book was written to encourage young people to fulfill their dreams in spite of obstacles that stand in their way. For Jerry, those obstacles included dyslexia, which had not even been named as a condition when he was young, and being Black, at a time when schools were still segregated and opportunities for a young Black youth far and few between. Jerry describes in great detail the difficulties he had in school until he gets the opportunity to express himself through his art with the encouragement of his teacher. Once Jerry decides on a career in art, he fought racism to be able to win a scholarship to art school beyond high school and began a career which demonstrated his talents over many decades. This was a wonderful true story of one boy’s dream to become an artist and all the people who believed in him and helped him to make his dreams come true. I really enjoyed the art and the story of his life; I highly recommend this book.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Art of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter.)

 

( official Jerry Pinkney web site )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: Misery by Stephen King, narrated by Lindsay Crouse

Misery
by Stephen King (Compact Disc King)

Misery was best-selling author Stephen King’s 20th book (approximately), originally released in 1987. King, to that point, was known primarily as a horror writer who often featured supernatural elements in his stories — ‘Salem’s Lot, Carrie, The Shining, Cujo, Christine, The Stand, Firestarter, Pet Sematary — he wrote Misery in part as a reaction to being pigeonholed by his fans as a particular type of writer. His ardent fans did not gracefully appreciate his classical fantasy novel, Eyes of the Dragon, and insisted he return to what he was best known for. Also, and King has been clear about this in his own non-fiction writings, he had been dealing with drug addictions and abuse, and Misery was a chance to anthropomorphize those addictions as a destructive human character.

 

In Misery, Paul Sheldon is the author of a best-selling series of Victorian romantic suspense novels featuring plucky heroine Misery Chastain — a series he has grown to despise. Sheldon has just finished a personal writing retreat at a lodge in the Rocky Mountains, having completed what he believes to be his first “serious novel”, and after too much to drink, he drives off a mountain road, overturning his car and doing himself grave bodily harm. When he next awakens, he finds himself in the remote mountain home of ex-nurse Annie Wilkes, who identifies herself as “his #1 fan” and tells Paul she pulled him from the wreckage of his car and has been treating his two broken legs. Unfortunately, Annie has more than a few screws loose, and has a hair-trigger temper. When she discovers in the latest Misery Chastain novel that Sheldon has killed off her beloved literary hero, Annie goes off the deep end. Reliant on Annie for illicit pain meds and help surviving his injuries, and aware that no-one knows where he is, Paul Sheldon has no recourse but to agree, when Annie buys him a second-hand typewriter and demands that he write a new Misery novel, resurrecting the doomed character. What follows is a terrifying game of cat-and-mouse and psychological terror. But Paul has yet to realize just how demented Annie Wilkes truly is…and how many people may have died at her hands already.

As the tagline for the novel Misery says, “Paul Sheldon used to write for a living. Now he’s writing to save his own life!”

 

I’ve seen the 1990 feature film adapted from King’s novel by Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman. That film starred James Caan as author Paul Sheldon and Kathy Bates as “his #1 fan”, the psychotically obsessive Annie Wilkes. Bates won the Best Actress Oscar as Wilkes, and most fans of King agree that the film Misery is probably one of the best adaptations of a King novel to film or TV. Screenwriter Goldman later also adapted his own film screenplay into a stage play, which premiered in a limited theatrical engagement in 2015, starring Bruce Willis as Paul Sheldon and Laurie Metcalfe as Annie Wilkes. The news that a local community theatre production of Misery is being mounted for early 2024 excited the actor in me, and made me realize I’d never actually read the original novel…so I fixed that by listening to the audiobook, narrated very effectively by actress Lindsay Crouse.

 

(The novel Misery is much like many of King’s early works from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, though in this case there is no supernatural element, only an all-too-human psychopath. Considering that there's only two primary characters, and one of those is left by himself a lot of the time -- there's a LOT of internal monologues, frequently peppered with "adult language". It was intended to be released under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman, but King was "outed" as Bachman before that could happen, so it came out under his own name. I do recommend seeing the Misery film, directed by Rob Reiner. You’ll never look at a sledgehammer the same way again, much like you’ll never look at an axe the same way after reading or listening to the novel.)

 

( official Misery page on the official Stephen King web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld

Revenge of the Librarians
by Tom Gauld (741.5 Gau)

For the past several years, I’ve been seeing the wry, comic art panels of artist Tom Gauld regularly showing up in my Facebook feed, shared by many of my friends…especially those with a love of literary humor. Gauld’s comic strips (frequently seen on the online features of The Guardian) feature simple, uncomplicated art, with “characters” that are often little more than stylized stick figures. His works always appear as variations on the traditional “comic strip” format — long horizontal boxes that can sometimes be just a single box, but can also be subdivided into the traditional 3 or 4 boxes that are reminiscent of newspaper comic strips, but he also frequently uses the space to create a multitude of tiny art boxes.

 

Gauld’s humor is dry, wry, slightly sarcastic, and pokes fun at tropes and established traditions. This particular book collects dozens of his strips that all share a thematic connection — books, reading, libraries, writers, publishing and more along these lines. I absolutely adored this entire collection, and will be looking to purchase a copy for my own personal library. If you, too, appreciate the ability to have fun with literary traditions, you’ll appreciate this collection as well.

 

( official Tom Gauld web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Best Sellers

Best Sellers
(DVD Best)

Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza turn in bravura performances in what may very well be Michael Caine’s last feature film — he was quoted in interviews as saying it was likely his final film.

 

Aubrey Plaza plays Lucy Stanbridge, a young woman who has inherited her late father’s publishing house, only to discover that it is on its last legs, and she is being aggressively pursued by buyers for a larger publisher wishing to absorb and liquidate her family business. Looking for something, anything, that could save and reinvigorate her floundering business, when Lucy’s assistant discovers that legendary eccentric/reclusive author owes her father a new work, Lucy decides that Harris Shaw (Michael Caine) is her last hope. Unfortunately, Harris Shaw hasn’t had a new published work in decades, and has no desire to go on a road trip to promote any new work he might come up with.

 

Lucy manages to guilt Harris into finishing and submitting a new work, but the bulk of this film is the awkward, painful road trip Lucy and Harris go on to dive bars across the country, where Harris uses every opportunity he has to sabotage Lucy’s promotions. But the longer they’re together, the more this odd couple starts to understand each other and bond.

 

The DVD box promotes Best Sellers as “heartwarming”, and the ending does have a good upturn. But these two characters are both bitter, desperate, emotionally-damaged people and watching them crash and burn over weeks on the road was a bit painful. None-the-less, the two actors turn in stunning performances, and if Caine has to retire after this one, he gave one of the best performances in his life to close out his acting career — as a cranky, curmudgeonly, profane and lonely old man.

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Audiobook Review: Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote by Craig Fehrman

Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote
by Craig Fehrman (Compact Disc 973.09 Feh)

I had read a pre-publication review of Author in Chief, and it sounded fascinating, so I placed it on hold as soon as it showed up in the libraries’ online catalog.

Author Craig Fehrman does not try to do an exhaustive exploration of every book ever written by every ex-U.S. President — that’s been done before, and would tend to make for rather dry reading, considering some of the laborious books they created. Instead, he focuses on the Presidents who produced truly noteworthy works of non-fiction, and looks at what the writing process was for each author (or ghost writer, in many cases), and what the impact of each book was — if the book was written before their election, did it serve as a useful campaign tool? If it was written afterwards, was it a look back at their time in office as a “legacy” volume, or was it more honest and personally reflective? Therefore, not every President is featured. This tome is broken up into ranges of time, from the works of the Founding Fathers at the front, to the period from Truman to Obama at the back — the last section is titled “Truman to Trump”, but there is very little about Trump’s literary contributions, other than his ghost-written The Art of the Deal.

A great deal of time is spent on Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Fehrman makes many of their works sound absolutely fascinating, particularly Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Lincoln’s compiled debate speeches against Douglas, Calvin Coolidge’s autobiography and Obama’s Dreams of My Father.

I learned a great deal while listening to this as a Book-on-CD, and narrator Fred Sanders really brings the subject matter to life. I was particularly impressed by the contributions of Nebraskans to significant portions of our Presidential literary history. Nebraska authors Bess Streeter Aldrich and Willa Cather are both mentioned — Aldrich was an inspiration to one person being profiled, and Cather was the ghost writer of a non-presidential “autobiography” that greatly influenced another presidential biography. And Lincoln High School’s own Theodore “Ted” Sorensen, chief speechwriter and counselor for John F. Kennedy, is clearly identified as the author of Profiles in Courage, for which Kennedy accepted a Pulitzer Prize, as well as much of JFK’s other supposed literary output.

Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote is an engaging volume about United States history, and the world of publishing. Definitely worth taking the time, even if it is a very large book. I hope you, too, will find yourself fascinated by what you learn! It was interesting that the 13-disc audiobook was really only 11 discs long — most of the last two discs were extensive appendices!

[ publisher’s official Author in Chief web site ] | [ official Craig Fehrman web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Review: The Man in the Willows by Matthew Dennison

The Man in the Willows
by Matthew Dennison [Biography Grahame] 

As a lifelong fan of the children’s books written by English author Kenneth Grahame, I was excited to see a new biography come out about his life. Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows is one of my all-time favorite books, one that I re-read over and over. I knew very little about Graham’s personal life until I read this new biography and found myself depressed to discover that his entire life was one of sorrow, loss and tragedy. Grahame used escapism and fantasy worlds to cope with his life all through childhood and well into his adulthood. Knowing more about the author has helped me to appreciate his writing even more. I recommend this book for fans of his work even though I found parts of it difficult to get through.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Wind in the Willows, The Reluctant Dragon, and The Golden Age, all by Kenneth Grahame.]

[ publisher’s official Man in the Willows web site ] | [ publisher’s Matthew Dennison web page ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Curtain Up: Agatha Christie - A Life in the Theatre by Julius Green

Curtain Up: Agatha Christie — A Life in the Theatre
by Julius Green [Biography Christie]

I was part of the play reading committee for our local community theatre last year, as that group was contemplating producing an Agatha Christie play. As part of that process, I read a dozen of Christie’s sixteen published/produced stage plays, helping the Lincoln Community Playhouse select “Black Coffee” (Christie’s one-and-only full-length Hercule Poirot play), and the Beatrice Community Players select “A Murder is Announced” (an adaptation for stage of one of Christie’s Miss Marple novels).

In the process of reading all of these plays, I became fascinated by Christie’s long and successful relationship with the world of the theatre, so I was incredibly please to stumble across this marvelous book and be able to recommend it as a purchase for the libraries. Curtain Up is a biography of Christie, but focusing only on her involved with writing and producing stage plays. There are many other excellent biographies about Christie that cover the rest of her life, but few of them take much notice of her play-authoring experiences. From a very young age, Agatha Christie was fascinated with the world of the theatre. In her teens and twenties she acted in a few plays and/or musicals, and wrote many playscripts, none-of-which were produced at that early age. It was not until 1930, nearly a decade after she had achieved success as a novelist, that her first full-length play was produced in London — Black Coffee, a Hercule Poirot story written directly for the stage (and not novelized until 20 years after her death). Christie took a bit of a hiatus from writing her mystery novels in the early 1950s and wrote several successful plays — in fact, she still holds the record of being the only female playwright to have three hit shows running in London’s West End theater district simultaneously (in 1954).

Of Christie’s play output, readers may already be familiar with The Mousetrap (which has run now for 67 straight years in London), And Then There Were None, and Witness for the Prosecution. But she has several other very entertaining works to her credit. I have to admit to a little bit of bias in enjoying Black Coffee (since I ended up getting to actually portray Poirot in the Lincoln production of the play), but I also recommend Spider’s Web, Towards Zero, Verdict and The Unexpected Guest. This highly-detailed and extensively-annotated volume goes into the writing and producing of each and every one of her plays, as well as those that have never been produced. If you have even the slightest interest in Agatha Christie, play-writing in general, or the the history of the British theater scene, you’ll enjoy this book.

In all honesty, I will have to admit, even I found the writing of this one a bit dry and academic at times, but at the same time, author Julius Green injects quite a bit of humor into his writing, which lightens the academic parts quite a bit!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Mousetrap and Other Plays, by Agatha Christie — a collection of 8 of her 16 produced plays (sadly not including Black Coffee!] [ publisher’s official Curtain Up web page, including online addendums ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 75-minute presentation at the Bennett Martin Public Library on the evening of, November 7th, 2018, 6:30-7:45 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. But first, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, starring Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in late October 2018.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life
by Laura Thompson [Biography Christie] 

A fascinating look at “The Queen of Crime”. Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and died in 1976. Over the years, there have been several biographies of the world’s best-selling novelist, including her own posthumously published autobiography, which came out in 1977 (thought it was written in 1965). Thompson’s tome is one of the better looks at Christie’s life, and peeks at some of the elements of Dame Agatha’s background that often get short shrift in other biographies, including her many works written specifically for the stage.

Using extensive excerpts from Christie’s own writings, Thompson explores what made Agatha tick. Special attention is given to the 11-day disappearance of Christie in late 1926. Thompson’s writing style tends to wander a bit, and while I appreciate the inclusion of so many Christie “clips”, there could probably have been fewer of them, in order to streamline the book a bit. At the same time, since I’m a huge Christie fan, seeing those excerpts just made me want to re-visit the Christie works from which they were pulled. To be honest, I think Agatha’s own autobiography is a slightly more entertaining read, but for anyone interested in Agatha’s life, this book is definitely a recommended read.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try An Autobiography, by Agatha Christie.]

[ official Agatha Christie web site ] | [ official Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life page on the official Laura Thompson web site ]

Special Event: Don’t miss “The Mystery of Agatha Christie”, a special 90-minute presentation at the Gere Branch Library on Sunday, September 30th, 2018, 2:00-3:30 p.m. — a celebration of all things “Christie”, covering the author and her life (including her mysterious 11-day disappearance), her entire body of written work, and the stage, screen and television adaptations of her stories. Then, join fellow theater-goers in attending the play Black Coffee, starring Hercule Poirot, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in late October 2018.

If you’re a fan of the works of Agatha Christie, check out the Agatha Christie Reviews page on BookGuide!

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days

No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
by Chris Baty [808.3 Bat]

Amusing, insightful and inspirational guide to writing from the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). NaNoWriMo started in 1999, as an experiment to challenge a small number of aspiring writers to put their noses to the grindstone and crank out a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and November 30 (or at least a first draft). Each November since then, hundreds and now thousands of participants have pushed themselves to reach a 50,000-word-count goal, so that they can claim the honor of "winning" NaNoWriMo! Numerous professionally published novels have resulted from this intense "writing camp" (including The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern). In this book, Baty provides a great deal of humorous insight on good ideas for preparing for a month of intense writing, and what kind of hurdles to expect during the month of November, including how to have a life outside of the writing environment, how to deal with family members seeking your time, and how to deal with inevitable issues of writers block and other technical complications. For anyone wanting to participate in NaNoWriMo, this is an excellent tutorial. For writers not wanting to push themselves quite so hard, this volume still has come good ideas about the basics of a writer's life. [If you enjoy this, and you're interested in other books that will help you participate in NaNoWriMo, I encourage you to check out the booklist for my 2011 NaNoWriMo booktalk -- Write? Right! -- also available as an audio podcast!.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official National Novel Writing Month web site ] | [ official Chris Baty web site ]
 
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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

On your mark...get set...WRITE!

It's midnight, turning from October 31st 2011 to November 1st. If you're a wordsmith, you're probably one of the thousands of aspiring writers around the world who've just started your latest novel...as part of annual authorial event known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short).

Participants can go to the NaNoWriMo website, sign up for a free account, and then begin writing their own version of the Great American Novel. Everyone who takes part is encouraged to aim for the ultimate goal -- start with 0 words on November 1st, and finish with a complete 50,000-word novel (or longer!) by the stroke of midnight at the end of November 30th.

Looking for some moral support as you keyboard your way to literary greatness? You can hang out with the 475+ other Lincolnites who are registered participants -- bemoan your progress in the discussion forums -- identify your friends as Writing Buddies and track their daily word count -- get together at regularly scheduled NaNoWriMo gatherings (known as Write Ins) in Lincoln -- and look forward to the big celebration party for local writers after the November 30th deadline has passed! You can keep your writing completely private or open it up to everyone else to read and critique.

Although a complete 50,000 novel in a month may prove to be too much for you, the creative and supportive environment of NaNoWriMo is sure to get your literary juices flowing, no matter whether you're writing a political thriller or Chick Lit!

So...check out NaNoWriMo.org, get started writing, and drop us a note in the comments here to let us know what your "handle" is on the NaNoWriMo site...we'll keep an eye on your progress!

P.S.: NaNoWriMo also has a Young Writers Program, aimed at more youthful participants.

Enchanted Cornwall: Her Pictorial Memoir

Enchanted Cornwall: Her Pictorial Memoir
by Daphne DuMaurier [914.23 DuM]

I picked up this photograph filled memoir by one of my favorite authors. Daphne Du Maurier tells the story of how she first came to Cornwall on a holiday with her mother and her sister Jeanne when she was nineteen. They stayed at a farm in Cumberland and Du Maurier writes "earlier holidays could not compare with this my first experience of rugged scenery, of running water coursing through the hills down to the lake." It was love at first sight. Later that year Du Maurier, her mother and two sisters returned to Cornwall to buy a house to use for their holidays. They settled on Ferryside near the village of Fowey. After the house was renovated, twenty-year-old Daphne moved in to pursue her writing career. She roamed the hills and sailed along the Cornish coast soaking up the atmosphere and finding inspiration for her novels. It was on one of her walks that she found Menabilly, a deserted manor hidden away down a long driveway. This house was the model for Manderlay in Rebecca and for the estate in My Cousin Rachel. Du Maurier found Jamaica Inn, the setting for her book with the same name by accident. Daphne Du Maurier and her friend Foy Quiller-Couch were out riding and got lost in the dark, desolate Bodmin Moor. They stumbled upon the inn. Once inside, Daphne and Foy learned stories about smuggling, wrecking and legends of the Moors. The entertaining glimpses of Du Maurier's past is illustrated will color photographs taken by Nick Wright. -- recommended by Donna G. - Virtual Services Department

[ official www.dumaurier.org web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Time Travel

Time Travel

by Paul J. Nahin [808.388 Nah]

Third of four volumes in Writers Digest's Science Fiction Writing Series. Author Nahin approaches the science behind theoretical methods of time travel from a literary perspective by highlighting popular time travel methods used in classic novels and stories to date. He then explores a wide variety of scientific theories about time travel, with concrete examples of how to incorporate these into your own speculative fiction. Interesting chapters include "Time as the Fourth Dimension", "When General Relativity Made Time Travel Honest", "Time Machines That Physicists Have Already 'Invented'", "Quantum Gravity, Splitting Universes, and Time Machines" and "Reading the Physics Literature for Story Ideas." As with earlier volumes in this series, there is a helpful glossary of terms and concepts, and an extensive bibliography of additional reading on the topic. Of the four volumes in this series, I found this one to be the most technical, dealing as it is with theoretical physics. Still, a useful tool for writers of science fiction. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Paul Nahin bio ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Thomas M. Disch, R.I.P. 1940-2008

Thomas M. Disch, writer of hard-edged science fiction, social critic and poet, committed suicide in his New York City apartment on July 4th, 2008.

Born in the Midwest in 1940 (Des Moines) and raised in Minnesota's Twin Cities, Disch first connected with literature in high school classes, before being sidetracked by numerous jobs in multiple fields. By his twenties, Disch had moved to New York, ultimately taking classes at New York University. It was there that his writing finally kicked in, and although he worked a series of odd jobs to pay the rent, it was his short story and poetry writing that started to get him noticed in the literary world. His body of work ultimately included science fiction novels and stories, 10 poetry collections, plays, criticisms, an opera libretto for an adaptation of Frankenstein, gothic works and childrens' books.

His 1968 novel Camp Concentration is about an inmate in a US concentration camp who's treated with experimental drugs, and 1974's 334 is an experimental collection of linked stories all set in a New York City apartment complex. Disch' 1980 novella, The Brave Little Toaster was adapted into an animated film from Disney. His 1998 collection of essays, The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of won science fiction's Hugo Award for best non-fiction book of the year.

In recent years, Disch had maintained a blog at LiveJournal, where he continued to present original poetry and make acerbic observations on the world at large. Disch had suffered from depression at various times in his life, and the recent loss of his long time companion (and occasional writing partner) Charles Naylor, as well as a fight to maintain possession of his rent-controlled apartment, are rumored to have spurred him to take his own life.

Wikipedia entry on Thomas M. Disch

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008, R.I.P.

Arthur C. Clarke, one of the last remaining giants from the formative years of science fiction literature, died on March 19, 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90.

Clarke, the author of almost 100 books as both a non-fiction writer as well as a genre novelist, is probably best remembered for his work, 2001. He co-created the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, with director Stanley Kubrick, and went on to write the novel for the film, based mainly on his own shorter work "The Sentinel."

In the field of science fiction, Clarke was an influential trendsetter, who won most of the genre's highest awards, including: the Hugo, the Nebula, the International Fantasy Award, and the John W. Campbell Award. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1985. Key novels by Clarke include: Prelude to Space [1951], Childhood's End [1953], Earthlight [1955], A Fall of Moondust [1961], 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968 plus 3 follow-up volumes], Rendezvous With Rama [1973, plus sequels], Imperial Earth [1975], The Fountains of Paradise [1979], and The Songs of Distant Earth [1986 -- one of ACC's personal favorites]. He was also the master of the short story, with a dozen collections published over the years. Some of his short works are among the most republished short stories in genre history, including "Against the Fall of Night" and "The Star."

In addition to his fiction, Clarke was well-known for popularizing science for the masses. He was a strong proponent for the idea that technological developments were ultimately beneficial, and that humanity's destiny lay among the stars. Clarke is credited with inspiring the development of telecommunications satellites -- he first wrote about them in 1945, over a decade before they became a reality.

Clarke had suffered from post-polio syndrome for over 20 years, and for the last two decades most of his writing was in collaboration with younger writers, who took his detailed story ideas and fleshed them out. Clarke's passing leaves few of his contemporaries from science fiction's golden age still among the living, and fewer still with his landmark stature.

New York Times obit

BBC obit

LA Times obit

Arthur C. Clarke's credits at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

R.I.P. - Ira Levin

Ira Levin, American novelist and playwright, died on November 12, 2007 in New York City, at the age of 78.

Born and raised in New York City, Levin attended the prestigious Horace Mann high school, then both Drake University and New York University. He had known he wanted to be a writer since he was 15, and as a senior in college he submitted a script to a screenwriting contest that was ultimately produced as an episode of NBC's Lights Out. Levin spent his Army years writing training films for the armed services, then sequed into scripts for 1950s television.

Levin's first novel was 1953's A Kiss Before Dying, a mystery which ultimately won him the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best "first novel". Levin then focused on stage plays for a dozen years, authoring No Time for Sergeants, which helped launch the career of comic actor Andy Griffith. In 1967, he returned to the novel form, producing the darkly atmospheric horror novel Rosemary's Baby. Horror also dominated his next two novels, This Perfect Day (1970) and The Stepford Wives (1972). 1976 brought international thriller The Boys From Brazil, and Levin continued to write for the stage as well, producing Veronica's Room (1973) and perhaps his best-known play, Deathtrap (1978), a comic mystery, among others.

Though his output was less prodigious in more recent years, he managed the thriller Sliver in 1993 and Son of Rosemary: The Sequel to Rosemary's Baby in 1997. Levin may not have produced a huge number of novels, but his style influenced many other genre writers, including Peter Straub, Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk, and his works continue to entertain and thrill to this day.

Here are some links to additional Ira Levin information:

Ira Levin's works in the Lincoln City Libraries catalog

Ira Levin's entry in the Internet Movie Database
New York Times article on his death
Obituary in The Guardian