Tag: Russell J.

We’re Bringing Scary Back

October 26, 2010

Oooh, scary!

Somewhere along the way the vampires hired an incredible publicist.  In the blink of a soulless eye, these bloodthirsty spawns of Satan have become the new media darlings by remaking themselves into a harmlessly hunky bunch of brooding night owls.  Good for the vampires.  But with Halloween lurking right around the darkened corner, you might be surprised to find yourself wishing that these pale heartthrobs would return – at least briefly – to their more evil ways.  If so, have no fear, or actually, have a big, heaping bowl of fear because there are still plenty of blood-chilling books that capture the vampires in all their former undead glory.  If you’re looking for laughs, romance, or Abe Lincoln, you’ve probably come to the wrong place.  But if you’re in the mood for some serious seasonal spookiness, check out the following terrifying reads for all the spooky you can handle:

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An Interview with Barbara Freeman

October 23, 2010

Barbara Freeman is a local photographer, film director, and the latest artist to be featured in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  Her show – titled Road Light – is currently on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Branch and captures the mystery in local, vintage road signs with a photographic series in eye-popping color.  You can catch Road Light through the end of October, and after that, you can check out more of Ms. Freeman’s photography and film work at the website for her production company Freeman Pictures, Inc.  I recently spoke with Ms. Freeman via email about her artistic “Aunt Babe,” urban inspirations, and desire to preserve the past through photography.

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Huston, We Have Lift Off

September 30, 2010

Writer Charlie Huston

Charlie Huston is a writer on a serious roll.  Over the past year, in fact, the genre-bending author has been riding the literary version of a Vegas hot streak warm enough to make even the coolest Blackjack dealer sweat.  For starters, last October Huston published My Dead Body, the much-anticipated final book in his brilliant and brutal “Joe Pitt” mystery series about a hard-boiled vampire PI working in New York City.  A mere three months later, Huston went on tour to support his newest stand-alone Sleepless, a noir-style thriller set in a near-future L.A. that’s been devastated by a fatal insomnia epidemic.  Not one to rest, the versatile writer also spent early 2010 penning the Marvel comic book series Deathlok: The Demolisher, a slightly-satirical sci-fi adventure that was collected in hardcover this summer.  Clearly, the man’s been on a creative tear.  And there’s more.  In August, Huston signed a three-book deal with Mulholland Books that kicks off with his forthcoming novel Skinner in early 2012.  That very same month Marvel whet fans’ appetites with a preview of Huston’s new comic Wolverine: The Best There Is which is slated for release this December.   Believe it or not, however, it is yet another project in addition to these recent and upcoming works that’s making the biggest noise for Huston these days.  Teaming with True Blood creator Alan Ball, Huston has adapted his 2009 novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death into an HBO series pilot that’s poised to launch him into a new stratosphere of popularity. Continue reading “Huston, We Have Lift Off” →

So Bad It’s Good

August 3, 2010

Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton may no longer be a household name, but back in Victorian England, he was something of a big shot.  Besides serving in Parliament for nearly 25 years, Bulwer-Lytton was a popular and epically-prolific novelist, poet, essayist, and historian who coined the term “the almighty dollar” and claimed Charles Dickens as a close friend.  Despite these lifetime achievements, however, history has not been particularly kind to Lord Lytton.  Thanks – or probably no thanks – to an overly-florid writing style considered more imitation than invention, Bulwer-Lytton has been largely banished by modern critics to the unread B-list of Victorian authors.  In fact, his most-lasting literary legacy seems to be as the author of this cringe-inducing first line from his 1830 novel Paul Clifford:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents – except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Widely considered one of the all-time worst opening sentences to a novel, Lord Lytton’s editor-defying monstrosity has inspired an international effort to turn bad writing into good fun by way of an annual parody competition aptly called the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.  Fortunately for our literary entertainment – and less so for Lord Lytton’s reputation – the hilariously creative winners for 2010 have just been announced.

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In Stieg’s League: Millennium Trilogy Readalikes

July 6, 2010

If you count yourself among author Stieg Larsson’s many legions of fans, it’s likely that these days you’re caught in somewhat of a predicament.  If, on the one hand, you were one of the fortunate first to devour Larsson’s new The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, you’re probably already wondering what new crime fiction fare could possibly satisfy your continued hunger for the tragically-shortened Millennium Trilogy.  If, on the other hand, you find yourself buried deep on the waiting list for Larsson’s last, the chances are good you’re in need of a literary elixir to both stoke the pleasures and soothe the pains of anticipating your third and final date with what Entertainment Weekly recently dubbed “the hottest books on the planet.”  Whichever your situation, however, rest assured that there’s still a wealth of incredible Scandanavian crime fiction just waiting to be discovered.  In particular, Larsson’s native Sweden boasts a bumper crop of talented authors writing books that explore their country’s dark underbelly and feature mesmerizing characters, complex mysteries, and seat-of-your-pants suspense in the same vein as Larsson’s international bestsellers.  So, as they do in Sweden, pour yourself a coffee from the table thermos, stretch out on an IKEA-brand futon, and give one of the following thrilling translations a try:   Continue reading “In Stieg’s League: Millennium Trilogy Readalikes” →

A PKD Trifecta

May 26, 2010

Author Philip K. Dick

If good things truly come to those who wait then patient readers of sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick will soon have much to celebrate.  With word of a future festival, film, and book all cropping up this past month, it seems that for PKD fans good news has been multiplying faster than the android hordes in one of the late author’s dystopian future worlds.

First up for the PKD faithful was the late April announcement that the inaugural Philip K. Dick Festival will take place this summer on August 13th, 14th, and 15th.  Set to convene in the Colorado setting of PKD’s Hugo Award-winning novel The Man in the High Castle, the festival boasts an impressive line-up of speakers including the author’s former wife Anne Dick, the respected fan blogger David Gill, and PKD scholars from Fordham University and the University of Nebraska.  Don’t fret, however, if your summer schedule is already bursting with too many barbeques, ball games, and beach blankets for a trip to this mountaintop extravaganza.  There’s still plenty of PKD fun willing to travel to you.

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Some Verse for the Earth

April 22, 2010

If after waking this morning you noticed a palpable buzz in the air, fear not for your senses do not deceive you and your coffee is not to blame.  Today is simply a big day.  As you are almost certainly aware after three weeks of non-stop poetic feasting, National Poetry Month is still going strong.  What’s more, today is Earth Day, and when two celebrations of this magnitude converge, the resulting super holiday demands proper commemoration.  Thankfully, we have the wonderfully unique poetry collection News of the Universe with which to mark this worthy occasion.  Whether you’re looking to motivate your first reducing, reusing, and recycling efforts, to renew your vow to live a leaner, greener lifestyle, or to simply read some breathtaking poetry, News of the Universe is a book that will leave you awestruck and inspired.

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Rock You Like a Quatrain

April 16, 2010

David Berman
Poet & musician David Berman

Jeff Tweedy wrote one.  Billy Corgan and Jewel did too.  2Pac and Jim Morrison have posthumous collections, and Bob Dylan’s began as an underground bootleg.  What, you may ask, is the connection between this diverse group of musical artists?  The answer may surprise you.  Believe it or not, all of the aforementioned rockers and rappers have a published volume of poetry to their credit, and though the critical and commerical response to each has differed, the books are a collective reminder of the following oft-forgotten fact.  Simply put, the arts of writing songs and writing poetry are not one and the same, and it’s no given that a great lyricist will make a great poet.  There are a few rare talents, however, who are accomplished in both music and verse, and one such artist is Virginia-native David Berman.  Pulling double duty as an indie rock cult hero and a critically-acclaimed poet, Berman’s debut book Actual Air is a sure bet for connoisseurs of fine poetry everywhere.

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From London with Love

March 20, 2010

Click above for an NPR interview with David Rose, creator of the LRB's personal ads column.

Spring has officially arrived, and if you choose to believe the hype, love is in the air.  Truth be told, however, the springtime air is also filled with pollen, mold, bees, and countless other love-inhibiting allergens and insects.  So, if you’d rather not trust your love connection to a seasonal weather change, allow me to suggest a matchmaking option you may have missed:  the London Review of Books.

Established in 1979, the London Review of Books is best known for its highly-regarded commentary on literature, film, art, and politics from such distinguished contributors as Martin Amis, John Ashbery, Julian Barnes, Christopher Hitchens, Hilary Mantel, and Susan Sontag.  But make no mistake, the LRB isn’t all business.  When advertising director David Rose joined the magazine in 1998, he spearheaded the creation of a personal ads column to help LRB readers with “similar literary and cultural tastes get together.”  Rose envisioned “a sort of 84 Charing Cross Road endeavour, with readers providing their own versions of Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft finding love among the bookshelves.”  The ads Rose received, however, were anything but expected. 

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A Little Birthday Cash

February 26, 2010

Johnny Cash a San Quentin, 1969.
Johnny Cash performing at San Quentin State Prison, February 1969. Click on the photo to watch footage from the show.

On February 26, 1932, he was born to poor Southern Baptist sharecroppers in the tiny town of Kingsland, Arkansas.  In 1950, he was stationed in West Germany to eavesdrop on Soviet radio traffic for the U.S. Air Force.  By 1956, he was perched atop the Billboard charts with his song “I Walk the Line” and well along the road to becoming an American legend.  He was Johnny Cash, and today would have been his 78th birthday.

Over a career that spanned nearly 50 years, Cash’s distinctively deep baritone and “freight train” rhythm resonated with fans of country, rock, blues, folk, and gospel music and carried him to the pinnacle of musical success.  He won 17 Grammy Awards, sold over 90 million records, hosted a successful primetime T.V. show, and was inducted into both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame.  But along with these great heights there also came devastating lows.  Cash’s struggles with drugs and alcohol cost him his first marriage, wreaked havoc upon his health, and saw him jailed for smuggling amphetamines across the U.S.-Mexico border.  Through it all, however, Cash remained true to his humble roots while singing both to and for the downtrodden, downhearted, and down-and-out.  He was a rebel, a reformer, and above all, a relevent artist who continued to reach new audiences up until his death in 2003 from complications with diabetes.

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