Some books I've read 66

Pursued by Death by Gunnar Staalesen

Not one of his best, mostly staying out of Bergen this time. Give us another one, Staalesen!

Harold by Steven Wright

Starts off well enough, capturing some of Wright's stand up spirit, but then drags in the second half, apparently going nowhere and nothing really having any consequences. 

Mr. Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll

After some disappointing books, I thought this was a return to form for Carroll. Some of his dialogues can be a bit too cloy for my taste, but everything in this Russian doll novel came together at the end.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

A bit uneven collection of stories, more fantasy than science fiction.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez

Interesting mix of reality and fantasy in these stories mostly taking place in Buenos Aires and mostly with female protagonists, but also a bit repetitive, nothing really standing out in my memory having finished the books some time ago.

The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Visé

Not only about the movie - they start shooting it on page 200 - but also biographies of Belushi and Aykroyd, their start in improv and their period at Saturday Night Live. This movie shockingly got bad reviews when it came out! A disgrace! It's a comedic masterpiece! And we're wearing sunglasses.

Lonely Boy by Steve Jones

Well written book by Jones about compulsive stealing in his youth (including David Bowie's microphones), his time in Sex Pistols and then a solo career before becoming a radio dj. Doesn't hide the less appealing parts of his personality.

All The Madmen by Clinton Heylin

A book about Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies and Nick Drake. A generation of English singers, through drugs or not, that moved towards the limits of sanity and sometimes stepped over. 

Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies by Paul M. Sammon

Okay book, but short, about Ridley Scott's films, some masterpieces, some not so much. And ending just before Gladiator, that would have been Scott's triumphant return. Should have waited another year!

The Romita Legacy by Tom Spurgeon

An art book about John Romita senior and junior. Interviews and lots of great drawings by both. Who's the best Spider-Man artist of the two? I'd say senior, but junior is not far behind.

Got this in the mail

 

Happy birthday, Tom Waits!

 

Nick Drake

 

...left this cruel world 50 years ago, November 25, 1974.

No-one expects...

 

WTF, Charlie Brown!

 

Nancy & Lee

 

Quiet Life

 

Molly and Gabrielle Drake

 

Sure, why not?

 

New book is out!

 

...in Norway.

Joe Boyd and Nick Drake

 

Happy 40th, Rattlesnakes!

 

Oh, must you tell me all your secrets when it's hard enough to love you knowing nothing

27 club

 

Working

 

Pencil a bit and then ink it

The Bee Gees

 

La Mort à Trieste

 

La Mort à Trieste, le nouveau livre de Jason, le plus français des auteurs norvégiens, présente trois histoires distinctes mais qui, toutes les trois, s’amusent et jonglent avec les références pour créer des hybridations inédites.
Dans L’Affaire Magritte, deux super agents façon Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir doivent faire face à des disparitions mystérieuses liées au monde surréaliste du célèbre peintre belge.
Dans La Mort à Trieste, qui donne son titre au livre, nous voilà propulsés dans le Berlin des années 20, où l’on croise des dadaïstes, Raspoutine, David Bowie en voyageur du temps, Nosferatu, Marlène Dietrich ― et l’ombre du nazisme qui vient.
Enfin dans Sweet Dreams, les «Nouveaux Romantiques» des années 80, version super-héros, doivent sauver le monde de l’arrivée inexorable d’une dangereuse météorite.
Le tout est raconté dans le style si caractéristique de Jason, avec une belle économie de moyen et un humour pince-sans-rire qui fait mouche. Si les références et clins d’oeil sont légion, ils n’empêchent jamais d’apprécier ces histoires pour ce qu’elles sont, des nouvelles fantastiques, drôles et décalées, jouant avec les codes et les archétypes des récits d’aventures, et racontées avec une joie et un plaisir communicatifs.

RIP, Pierre Christin

 

Happy birthday, Leonard Cohen!

 

New book!

 

Bray Head Loop

 

Some books I've read 65

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

It's a classic, up there next to Brave New World and 1984. But is it any good? Not completely. It's dated, at least. Feminists would most likely want to have a word about the portrayal of women in the book. And was he better as a short story writer? 

Baumgartner by Paul Auster

His last novel. It would have been great if it was a masterpiece. It's not. It's sort of messy, a bit all over the place, an old man looking back at his life while also trying to move forwards. But I already have all his previous books, so whatcha gonna do, NOT read it?

We'll Always Have Casablanca by Noah Isenberg

Tbe backstory for the film and how it lives on. No big surprises here, anecdotes that already have been told. -Hey Bogey, look over there and nod. -Why? - Just do it for fuck's sake. And Ronald Reagan was never seriously considered for Rick. Some debates from the writers about who wrote what. Understandable, since it's pretty much a perfect script. And as a pure comfort movie, it doesn't get any better. -Such much?

Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack

A great biography about Nick Drake, with the writer given full co-operation by Nick's sister, Gabrielle and access to the diaries written by Nick's dad. Which means we get a complete description of a mentally ill Nick spending the two last years of his life mostly at home. It's not a pretty picture. And a final answer to the question, did he kill himself or take an accidental overdose?

Deliver Me from Nowhere by Warren Zanes

A book about Bruce Springsteen and the making of his record Nebraska, still a timeless masterpiece, between The River and Born in The U.S.A. He was never able to top the demo in a studio, alone or with his band, finally realizing, this is it, this is the record. And luckily, he didn't lose the demo cassette. 

Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby, volume 1

Kirby is Kirby. What is included and what is missing can maybe be debated. Some of the recolouring is ugly. The reproduction is bad as well. Thin lines are missing. The artwork actually looks better in the cheap black and white Essential books. Which is a shame, you would hope for something better from such an expensive hardcover.

Marvel Visionaries: Stan Lee

Reproduction is even worse than in the Kirby book. I didn't even try to read it. Avoid!

Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier

A coffee table book about Jack Kirby. So who said "Comics will break your heart.", was it Kirby or Charles Schulz? Anyway, Kirby saw some of that from Marvel, the company that would have been nowhere without him. Luckily, towards the end of his life he experienced the accolades he deserved and could move past the bitterness. Stan Lee got a lot of the credit, but also the shame. Where is the truth in who created what? Most likely somewhere in the middle. 

Art for sale

 

https://sundero-gallery.com/shop/?filtering=1&filter_artist-store=jason

Krigstein!

 

No particular reason...

 

Next book

 

March 2025, from Atrabile

The White Stripes

 

Just discovered this band. Or duo. I had heard the name before and seen them in Coffee & Cigarettes, even listened to the Jack White interview on WTF with Marc Maron, but until now never heard their music. Then I watched the Fell in Love With a Girl video.

New extended edition

 

Karl Holtz

 

Olaf Gulbransson

 

Happy birthday, Chris Isaak!

 

Some books I've read 64

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

Intriguing, and of course beautifully written, but for me the book starts to drag a bit in the second half.

The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons

Great oral history of the TV show and the movies. Some bitterness shows up towards the end (Eric Idle!). You can see the similarity to The Beatles, how the members of the group wanted to go in different directions.

Local Hero: Making of a Scottish Classic by Jonathan Melville

Another great book. About a great little film. "Whose baby?"

The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard

Book one in a longer series. So far four have been published in Norway. Not bad, but the book has a TV series feel to it, including a cliffhanger at the end. Do I want to go on? Not sure.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

A collection of strangely sincere short stories. I read this book back in my teens. I should read The Martian Chronicles next. 

Poem Strip by Dino Buzzati

An early graphic novel. A pop art re-telling of Orpheus and Eurydice taking place in Milan. 

The Silver Surfer: Sentinel of the Spaceways by Stan Lee and John Buscema

Nice art by Buscema, but the whole Woe is me! tone by Lee gets old pretty fast.

Daredevil: Unmasked by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

Great drawings by Colan, never trying to copy Kirby, but man, are the plots silly! Daredevil pretends to have a twin brother, and it goes downhill from there. DD has a lot of quippy lines of dialogue, that probably worked better in Spider-Man. And the villains are boring, too. 

Amazing Spider-Man: Big Apple Battleground by Len Wein and Ross Andru

The final book drawn by Ross Andru. He was on that book a loooong time. Unfortunately, some chapters are inked by Jim Mooney, who was never as good as Giacoia and Esposito. One of the villains is Green Goblin, but with a clever twist. Peter Parker leaves college at the end.

I have no idea what happened to Spider-Man after this and have no interest. This whole story from Steve Ditko through John Romita and Gil Kane to Andru, The Amazing Spider-Man #1 - 185, now collected in ten Epic Collections, is superhero comics at its best. And this is how you colourize superhero comics, with flat colour, no shadings and for pete's sake no blurs!

Happy birthday, Paul McCartney!

 

PAM

 

Out now in Brazil

Finally!

 

...I have Saul Steinberg's The Passport, The Labyrinth, The Inspector, All in Line, The Art of Living and The New World on the same shelf. My life is hereby complete.

Should I sue James Gunn or what?!

 

RIP, Paul Auster

 

Some books I've read 63

Catastrophe and Other Stories by Dino Buzzati

This writer was a new discovery for me, a sort of Italian Kafka. It's a collection of short stories, some sort of Twilight Zone-ish. Will look for more. There's a new collection of his work published this fall.

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Real purty, this book. What does it mean? Haven't the foggiest. But I enjoyed reading it, and will find If On A Winter's Night A Traveller that I gave up some years ago and give it a second try.

U2: The Definite Biography by John Joblin

A critical biography of U2, especially of Bono and his work as an activist, that there is some hypocrisy involved, which is fair enough, I guess, stopping at No Line on the Horizon, that I never bought. So, basically, U2 has become the establishment, no longer taking chances, they've become the sort of band they once hated and fought against. Maybe. 

Seventies by Howard Sounes

The writer defends this decade "that taste forgot", pointing to Monty Python, Woody Allen, Scorsese and Coppola, Sex Pistols, David Hockney, David Bowie, Andy Warhol and Jack Nicholson among others. And yes, there was some good stuff made, wide lapels and sideburns be damned.

Woody Allen on Woody Allen

The expanded edition, going up to Hollywood Ending.  Allen doesn't really like to talk much about his previous work, which is a problem for a book like this. Or, he talks about it, but not with any real passion. I still like the early stuff, haven't seen that much after Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Terry Gilliam on Terry Gilliam

So, I got some mixed feelings about Gilliam. Brazil, yes, was very good. I intensely disliked Twelve Monkeys and haven't seen any of his films after that. But he's still fun to listen to. Both about his work as a director and about being a Python. You always know you're watching a Gilliam film, for good or for bad.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Secret of the Petrified Tablet

Not one of the best, this Epic Collection. The stories don't feel fresh anymore. Peter worries about aunt May. Oh, no! Stan Lee can write this stuff in his sleep now. Several stories drawn by John Buscema who does decent work, but he's no Ditko or Romita.

Captain America: To Be Reborn

Forgettable stories, but great art by Jack Kirby. Not a fan of the inking by Syd Shores, that is not as strong as the ones by Joe Sinnot and Dan Adkins. 

And back cover

The cover

 

New book finished

Oops! OH, NO!

These boots are made for

   

Amanecer roto

Some books I've read 62

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A good book about one of the first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and then try to warn the world. Some listened, some didn't. Apparently, Churchill already knew. We also follow him later in life and see how it affected him. Surely, a movie version must be on the way.

Butcher's Crossing by John Williams

Great Western, with impressive research, lots of details about buffalo hunting. Masterfully written as well. After this and Stoner, it makes me want too read Augustus, his Roman novel.

The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

I read this in Norwegian as a teenager, but remembered almost nothing besides a detective trying to solve a murder case and there being robots involved.  I wanted to re-read it out of curiosity. It turns out... I didn't like it. Flat, boring language. Not much story, just a lot of dialogue.

A Masterpiece in Disarray by Max Evry

Or, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dune, But Were Afraid to Ask. A 500 page oral history about the making of David Lynch's Dune. A flawed semi masterpiece? It's not perfect, but has some great stuff in it. And it's not the 3 hour version Lynch wanted. They ran out of money at the end doing the special effects, and he also had to cut it down to 2 hours, 17 minutes on orders from Dino De Laurentiis. What could have been...

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli by Mark Seal

The story of the making of The Godfather. Some of these stories I already knew, but a lot of the gangster stuff, how they pulled strings to help filming, was new. I didn't see The Offer. Should I?

Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher

A solid biography of Coppola, from the glorious 70's to the downfall of Zoetrope and his period of being a director for hire. That maybe meant less personal films, but still being excellent work, like Rumble Fish and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Let's hope Megalopolis will be a return to form.

Revolution in the Air by Clinton Heylin

I'm about halfway into this book about every song Bob Dylan has ever written. There is good stuff here, but also Heylin being his usual snooty self to other Dylan biographers.

Silver Surfer: Black by Donny Cates and Tradd Moore

Got this in a used French version. The story I didn't connect to, but the drawings are amazing. Like, far out, man!

Mystery, drama, action!