Friday's "Forgotten" Books and More: the links to the reviews: 3 May 2019

This week's books and more, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of some interest (or, infrequently, you should be warned away from); certainly, most weeks we have a few not at all forgotten titles...if I've missed your review or someone else's, please let me know in comments. And a happy birthday to Ben Boulden!

Patricia Abbott: Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Les Blatt: The Case of the Haven Hotel by Christopher Bush

Joachim Boaz: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

John Boston: Amazing: Fact and Science Fiction Stories, March 1962, edited by Cele Goldsmith Lalli

Ben Boulden: The Dragon Man by Gary Disher; Teklords by Ron Goulart and William Shatner

Brian Busby: Gambling with Fire by "David Montrose" (Charles Ross Graham)

Larry Clow: Forfeit by Dick Francis

Martin Edwards: Shock! aka The Black Door by Virgil Markham

Peter Enfantino: Atlas (proto-Marvel) Horror Comics, April 1952

Barry Ergang: Drowned Hopes by Donald Westlake

Will Errickson: Post Mortem edited by Paul F. Olsen and David B. Silva 

José Ignacio Escribano: The Cambridge Companion to Crime

Fiction edited by Martin Priestman 

Curtis Evans: The Running of Beasts by Bill Pronzini and Barry N.Malzberg

James T. Farrell: The Set-Up and The Wild Party by Joseph Moncure March

Olman Feelyus: The Babysitter by Andrew Coburn

Paul Fraser: Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Charles Gramlisch: Spirit Vessels by Dennis Formento

John Grant: These Are the Names by Tommy Weiringa (translation by Sam Garrett); The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson

Aubrey Hamilton: Through the Wall by Patricia Wentworth

Ryan Harvey: The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard

Rich Horton: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith; "A Meeting with Medusa" by Arthur C. Clarke (Playboy, December 1971, edited by Hugh Hefner); Endless Honeymoon by Don Webb; stories by Larry Niven; stories by Alexander Jablokov; Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett; Reality Forbidden by Philip E. High; Contraband from Otherspace by A. Bertram Chandler

Jerry House: The Green Odyssey by Philip José 
Farmer; the inane and troubling 1921 New York  Evening Post comic strip "Our Own Ku Klux Klan" by "Al Zere" (Albert Alblitzer)

Kate Jackson: The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith; The April Robin Murders by "Craig Rice" (Georgiana Craig) and "Ed McBain" (Evan Hunter, ne Salvatore Lombino) 

Tracy K: The Tin Flute (originally Bonheur d'occasion) by Gabrielle

Roy (translation by Alan Brown); Follow Her Home by Steph Cha

Colman Keane: Hard Bite by "Anonymous-9" (Elaine Ash)

George Kelley: The Mysterious Press Anniversary Anthology edited by the Editors of Mysterious Press (Sarah Ann Freed, William Malloy and Otto Penzler, perhaps)

Joe Kenney: Killer at Large by "Don Bannon" (Manning Lee Stokes?)

Rob Kitchin: Design for Dying by Renee Patrick

B.V. Lawson: Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy

Evan Lewis: Zorro and the Jaguar Warriors by Jerome Preisler

Steve Lewis: "The Land of Lost Content" by Chad Oliver (Super Science Stories, November 1950, edited by Ejler Jakobsson); "The Parker Shotgun" by Sue Grafton (Mean Streets, edited by Robert Randisi, Mysterious Press 1986); "Waiting for the Olympians" by Frederik Pohl (Asimov's Science Fiction, August 1988, edited by Gardner Dozois); "One, Two, Three" by "Paul Cain" (Peter Ruric),Black Mask, May 1933, edited by Joseph T. Shaw; Amazing Fantasy, November 2004, edited by Joe Quesada, written by Fiona Avery; "You'll Always Remember Me" by Steve Fisher (Black Mask, March 1938, edited by Fanny Ellsworth)

Francis M. Nevins: the novels of David Goodis

John F. Norris: Nine Days' Panic by Reginald Davis

John O'Neill: On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch

   (Mason on On Wings of Song)

Matt Paust: Death in the Old Country by Eric Wright

Mildred Perkins: The Jedi Handbook by Stephen Massicotte

James Reasoner: Madball by Fredric Brown

Richard Robinson: Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

Gerard Saylor: The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost

Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino: DC War Comics November 1974

Stephen H Silver: A. E. Van Vogt; Locus magazine, edited by Charles Brown et al.

Victoria Silverwolf: Worlds of Tomorrow, May 1964, edited by Frederik Pohl

Kerrie Smith: The Marriage Club by Kate Legge

Dan Stumpf: Two Gentlemen of Lebowski by Adam Bertocci

"TomCat": The Case of the Magic Mirror by Christopher Bush

David Vineyard: "The King Makers" by H. Bedford Jones (Short Stories, 25 April 1932, edited by Roy de S. Horn)

FFB: THE SET-UP by Joseph Moncure March (Covici-Friede 1928) as reviewed in the NYT by James T. Farrell

The other week I saw the neat little noir film The Set-Up (1949), about Robert Ryan as an over-the-hill but not finished boxer, though his wife (played by Audrey Totter) is worried he's sticking with it too long, risking too much. And things don't go well for him, nor for a number of the other folks on the match card with him and sharing a prep and fix-up room, in the small-city athletic club where most of the boxing action is set. Reportedly this was Robert Wise's favorite of the films he directed at RKO and one of his favorites among all his films. A bit heavy-handed (or gloved), not too much, about the brutality of the sport and the milieu in which it exists. 

First edition. Iconography not the most enlightened even for the time. The film makes the protagonist a non-brutish pale Caucasian.

Not quite unrelentingly grim, but the primary trainer and "cut man" (essentially the on-site medic) gets one of the more blatant bits meant to be humorous, when, after the last boxer leaves the prep room, he opens up the issue of the romance-fiction pulp magazine Thrilling Love he's been reading and settles in for more.

Art Cohn's script is loosely based on Joseph Moncure March's narrative poem. In the FictionMags Index, March's "Lyric to Baseball" is listed as a short story...perhaps because the The New Yorker's online archive lists it as a short story...but it's actually, and unsurprisingly with that title, a 12-line filler poem, at the tail end of the theater column, perhaps an intentional transition to the sports column on the facing page (how soon after Harold Ross ceased editing did TNY lose its sports column?):

"I hereby swear--expecting sneers--

That baseball bores me to tears.

While thousands shout at home run Kings,

My yawns escape on mighty wings:

When fielders muff an easy fly

And millions groan--I wonder why:

Always the one spectacular play

Comes when I look the other way:

Last, but not least--a fatal touch!--

The women I see there aren't so much.

I therefore swear--expecting sneers--

That baseball bores me to tears."

--Not so much for his lack of baseball fandom might he expect a sneer or a shrug for the doggerel. And his relative obscurity today...perhaps the film's source poem is a bit more impressive...

James T. Farrell says it is, in his 1977 New York Times consideration of March's two most famous books in verse form: 

[...] There is one interesting exception — he is known to sportswriters as the author of “The Set‐Up,” originally published in 1928, a classic about prize‐fighting. Earlier, in 1926, he had published “The Wild Party.”

These two books, especially “The Wild Party,” had been received with enthusiasm. Among those who saw value in March's work was Edmund Wilson. But even among those who agreed with Wilson there was disagreement. Were these books poetry? They were written in verse form. There was a pattern of rhymes. The language was simple, and some of the words were spelled phonetically.

“My god, Queenie; you're looking swell!”

Quoth Queenie:

“I'm feeling slick as hell”

This from the first section of “The Wild Party.” And in “The Set‐Up”:

“Yes suh!” he said.

“This shirt sure grand!

Ah held four Aces in my hand.

Got this shirt, Got this cap.

Poker suits me

Better'n crap.”

I have selected these two examples at random.

And if that's poetry, I'll eat my hat.

Both books could be described as novelettes following the general form of poetry. There are passages that rise to a poetic level. The stories are taut. In each of them tension mounts to a conclusion of tragedy. At least, they are tragic if the killing of a human because of greed or of drunken desire and jealousy, still can be called tragic. There is a strong sense of reality although some of this reality is sordid. The organization of the work can be termed cinematic. It's as if March anticipated scenario writing for sound films. But “The Wild Party” was written before the first talking picture was publicly released. And after “The Set‐Up,” March did work as a scenario writer in the film industry. In fact, he earned a number of credits as such. His ability to convey drama powerfully and quickly and his ear for dialogue helped him carry a storyline. March was an able writer. In some of his the reader all but feel the atmosphere in which his characters move, speak and act.

The Roaring Twenties was the decade for wild parties, parties where elitist youths could become “free” by drinking too much and daring too much. (In the 20's there was bathtub gin; in the present there is cocaine.) These young people have been immortalized, their anti‐conventional and frequently bizarre conduct romanticized. Few of them had read works of Nietzsche, but this didn't stop them from trying to act out his advice—to live dangerously. The fact is, of course, that wild parties and elitists who “dare” have always existed. But, in the 20's, there were many who felt that they had invented the wild party. In his book, “The Wild Party,” March did more than reflect this attitude, he brought it before the eyes of his readers. One of the popular jazz songs of the age was “I'm Runnin' Wild.” The first two lines, as I recall, of the chorus were: “I'm runnin' wild; I've lost control.” In “The Wild Party,” March developed this idea.

More of Farrell's essay at the link: 

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/17/archives/the-wild-party-and-the-setup-wild-party.html

And the lyrics of "Runnin' Wild" run a bit closer to this:

My gal and I, we had a fight 
And I'm all by myself
I guess she thinks now that she's gone
I'll lay right on the shelf
I'm gonna show her she's all wrong
No lonesome stuff for mine
I won't sit home, all alone
She'll soon find that I'm
Runnin' wild, lost control
Runnin' wild, mighty bold
Feelin' gay, reckless too
Care free mind all the time, never blue
Always goin' don't know where
Always showin', I don't care
Don't love nobody, it's not worth while
All alone, runnin' wild. Runnin' wild
When I first met that gal of mine
It seemed just like a dream
But when she tho't she had me right
She started actin' mean
Like mary led her little lamb 
She led me all the time
Until the worm had to turn
That's the reason I'm
Runnin' wild, lost control
Runnin' wild,…

April 2019 (Further) Underappreciated Music

The (theoretically) monthly assembly of undervalued and often nearly "lost" music, or simply music the blogger/poster in question wants to remind you reader/listeners of... 

Jayme Lynn Blaschke: Friday Night Videos 

Paul D. Brazill: Peter Perrett: "Man of Extremes" and

Scott Walker: "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore"


James Cameron: The Dusko Voykovich Sextet: Swinging Macedonia and
Sharon Tandy and the Fleur de Lys: "Hold On"


Alice Chang: Rosalyn Turek: The Goldberg Variations (1957 recording) (J. S. Bach)


John Clarkson: Big Gold Dreams: A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989

Sean Coleman: Greg Turkington: Neil Hamburger is... Still Dwelling  

Greg Deocampo: Peter Gabriel & Atif Aslam: "Speak (Bol)"


Mario DiMaio: Roseanne Cash: "The Only Thing Worth Fighting For"


Garret Ehrle: Rhiannon Giddens: There is No Other


Christa Faust: Leo Rondeau: "Get On With It"


Jeff Gemmill: Top 5s; Jade Bird: Jade Bird

Sue Granquist: Haunted Abbey Mythos: The Mountain of Souls

Keiko Hassler: One Direction: "History" 
(KH: this is my daughter's high school class graduation theme)


Jerry House: The Top 20: 1964; Music from the Past; Hymn Time  

David Johnson: Jazz/Rock Fusion Before Davis

George Kelley: Durand Jones and the Indications: American Love Call; The Wrecking Crew: The Wrecking Crew; Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace 

Tom Kraemer: The Fearless Flyers: "The Baal Shem Tov"


Kate Laity: The Fall: "All Leave Cancelled"


Barry Malzberg: Anita O'Day: "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Tea for Two" (from Jazz on a Summer's Day/live at the Newport Jazz Festival 1958)


Jeri Mason: Versus: Ex Nihilo 

Todd Mason: some songs I enjoy attempting to sing

Laura Nakatsuka: Max Emanuel Cencic and Sonya Yoncheva: "Pur ti Miro" from L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Claudio Monteverdi) and

Dimitrios Fokianos et al.: The Litany of Completion from the Divine Liturgy in Tone One


Andrew Orley: Teenage Fanclub: "Don't Look Back"


Other Lives: "Dust Bowl III"


Natasha Padilla: Starflyer 59: Young in My Head


Lawrence Person: Shoegazer Sunday

Charlie Ricci: Bambi Lee Savage: Berlin Nashville Express; Jacques Loussier Trio: Play Bach Volume 3

Richard Robinson: Carmell Jones: Business Meetin'; Mosaic Select #2: Carmell Jones


Nancy Ryan: Adrian Belew: (untitled, in concert)


Brad Verter: Anita O'Day and Cal Tjader: "An Occasional Man"


Vox Earworm series of videos

WLIW All Arts music programming streaming

Saturday Music Club (on Thursday): Songs in the shower:

Little Milton: "Lonely No More"

Muddy Waters: "Don't Go No Farther"

"Forty Days and Forty Nights"

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: "Bijou"

"Moanin'"
"Twisted"
"Centerpiece"

Doc Watson: "Walk On, Boy"


The Weavers: "Sinner Man"

"Shalom Chaverim"
"Follow the Drinking Gourd"
"Children, Go Where I Send Thee"

Miriam Makeba: "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane")

"Ye tintu tiz alegn" ("Yetentu Tizaleny")
"Saduva"
"A Piece of Ground"

The Bangles: "I'm in Line"

"Between the Two"

Blue Rose: "River of Change"


The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Ray Eberle and the Modernaires: "Serenade in Blue"