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What I’ve Been Listening To: August (II) 2024

What I’ve Been Listening To: August (II) 2024

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I posted last week about several audiobooks I’ve been listening to. Audiobooks totally fit in with my lifestyle (to the extent I have one). I can listen to them while working, driving, writing, falling asleep, walking outside, and even watching soccer which I’m not too invested in.

I wouldn’t get to a lot of the stuff I listen to, if I had to read it. I mean, you have never heard such caterwauling as the folks in the carpool when I read a paperback while driving. Yeesh!

I re-listen to a lot of stuff. But between Audible Premium, and select library borrows through the Hoopla app, I have audiobooks going a lot of the time.

Here are some more recent listens – some repeats, some brand new to my ears.

LEAPHORN AND CHEE – Tony Hillerman

I did a rather in-depth three-part series on Tony Hillerman and his terrific police procedurals set on the Navajo reservation. I have read/listened to this series a dozen times over the years. I absolutely love it. Somewhere I’ve got some cassette tapes, read by Hillerman himself. But between DVDs and Audible, I’ve managed to get unabridged (do NOT get the abridged versions. Not nearly as good) versions of each novel, read well by George Guidall.

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Margaret Hamilton: Wicked Forever

Margaret Hamilton: Wicked Forever

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She’ll get you, my pretty!

The marketing blitz for the upcoming two-part film version of the 2003 stage version of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked (itself a “reimagining” of L. Frank Baum’s seminal 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) has begun. Years ago, I succumbed to hype exhaustion and saw the musical; I found it mildly diverting, which hardly seemed adequate, considering the superlatives the enterprise was swathed in.

As for the movie, which stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba (Maguire’s name, not Baum’s, though it’s supposedly constructed out of his initials – LFB) and Ariana Grande as Glinda, so far all we have to judge it by is the trailer, and from those carefully culled three-and-a-half minutes it looks like all the stops have been pulled out in terms of lavish production values (though in a time when spectacle can be generated on a laptop, one wonders if that means anything anymore). As for the frantic media bludgeoning we’re about to experience, it’s hard to blame the producers for the incipient panic evident in such all-out campaigns; it’s not their fault that movies just don’t mean as much to people as they once did.

Nevertheless, I’m sure that when Wicked is released in November, it will be a smashing financial success and may even be an artistic one; certainly, a lot of talented people are giving it their all. Whatever the size of the film’s box office or cultural footprint, however, I suspect that not many people will still be watching it in 2109, eighty-five years from now — not coincidentally, the same gap separating 2024 from the 1939 that gave us one of the most enduring and beloved of all films, the MGM Wizard of Oz, a flawlessly-cast classic that starred Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan.

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What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024

What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand takes another week off, as I’ve continued listening to audiobooks daily. Last month I talked about some of my Audible choices. Whether I’m working, writing, driving, or trying to fall asleep, I am often listening to an audiobook. Often it’s a repeat, so my attention doesn’t have to be focused. But also, new things I wouldn’t get to otherwise.

EGIL & NIX – Paul S. Kemp

My Dungeons & Dragons-playing middle-school self devoured Elric, and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser; loving both series’. But while I’ve re-read the Melnibonian many times, Leiber’s series lost its appeal. I’ve tried re-reading it a couple times, and just wasn’t into it.

I did enjoy, however, the first two of three Egil & Nix novels by Paul Kemp. These are absolutely an homage to Leiber’s duo. Anyone who likes Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser should really enjoy this pair. The constant non-swearing swearing (shite, farkin) is tiresome, but some authors seem to think it’s useful. Whatever.

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It’s Only a Matter of Time

It’s Only a Matter of Time

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The human mind daydreams its way around certain specific topics with exceptional regularity. We fret about personal security, we hope for love (in its innumerable forms), and to round out the likely top three, we focus on death. This last in particular invites a speculative element: we can hardly help fantasizing about an extended or perhaps immortal life span.

But not far down the list comes the earnest desire to travel in time. Backward, forward, sidelong –– “over, under, sideways, down” –– any shift in our current path will do. We want to zip back in time to visit places now impossible to see, or connect with loved ones we’ve lost. We want to zoom forward to get a preview of what is to come.

The urge is powerful, atavistic. It’s as if our very cells, so prone to decay (a driving force of time as we experience it), insist that here lies a field that demands investigation.

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Hammett & ‘The Girl with the Silver Eyes’ (My intro)

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Hammett & ‘The Girl with the Silver Eyes’ (My intro)

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“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

 

Pulp Fest took place last week in Pittsburgh. It’s a really cool event, and the Hilton Doubletree is a nice site. Steeger Books rolls out its summer line at this event. And for the second year in a row, there was a new Continental Op collection, with a brand new intro by yours truly. This is my sixth intro for Steeger, and getting to write about Dashiell Hammett is a definite thrill. It’s about four times as long as my Fast One Intro. I could dig into Hammett for months. Check out my intro to that Volume Two, and then check out the book itself. Hammett is regarded as the Master, for good reason.

The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Volume One: Zigzags of Treachery, ended with “The House in Turk Street.” That was the tenth Op story, and as I wrote in the introduction to that volume:

‘For me, it’s in “The House in Turk Street” (which was adapted for the 2002 Samuel L. Jackson movie, No Good Deed) where we really see the classic Hammett for the first time. The characters, the pace, the tension, the plot elements: he was moving from learning, to improving, to the verge of mastering.’

Hammett had been honing his craft, and “The House on Turk Street” really saw things come together. While that was the first Hammett story to appear under Phil Cody’s editorship, it was surely accepted by George Sutton.

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Rules for Me and Thee, It Turns Out

Rules for Me and Thee, It Turns Out

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Good afterevenmorn!

My social timelines have been abuzz… alright, they were abuzz a couple of weeks ago, I’m slow… with the news that a certain writer is a wee bit miffed that their attempts to be included in the programming at Worldcon this year had been left unanswered, resulting in their exclusion in the programming. Which on the surface, is not a great look for Worldcon.

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Paul Cain’s ‘Fast One’ (My intro)

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Paul Cain’s ‘Fast One’ (My intro)

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“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

Last year, Steeger Books put out its first deluxe edition hardback, containing all of Paul Cain’s short stories, as well as his lone novel, Fast One. I wrote the intro for Fast One, which is on every list of the greatest hardboiled Pulp novel (it battles The Maltese Falcon for my top spot). That was my sixth intro for Steeger, and it’s this week’s column. Clearly, I recommend reading this slim, recklessly-paced Pulp masterpiece.

Paul Cain’s Fast One is a relentless roller coaster ride, which never lets the reader catch their breath before the next heart-stopping drop. The hero, Gerry Kells, plays a never-ending chess game, in which new pieces are constantly added to the board. He maneuvers a constantly shifting labyrinth of players, alliances, and plots, like a Machievellian chess master. He doesn’t just respond to developments: He consistently moves to turn matters to his advantage. He is a hard guy, but he has a heart – which prevents him from being ruthless. A little more ruthlessness would have served him well.

Kells continually responds to the situations (which are often backed by a gat) thrown at him, by turning up the heat. Police, a newspaper, other gangsters – he’ll use, or take on, anything in the mix. It’s a continual sense of “What’s gonna happen next?” as you turn the pages. And when Kells gets an upper hand, a new wrench gums up the works.

Power, politics, and money: Kells continues to navigate this trilogy of shark-infested waters, right up to the final scene. If Kells had been willing to put a bad guy out of the story – or at least put a bullet in a knee or two, he would have had an easier time, moving forward. He leaves players on the board. And they’re not allies. He’s a tough guy, but he’s more honorable than his enemies.

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What I’ve Been Listening To: July, 2024

What I’ve Been Listening To: July, 2024

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It’s a week off from A (Black) Gat in the Hand, as I am currently reading Pulp, but except for the constant revisiting of Norbert Davis’ Max Latin, I’m not listening to it (though The Continental Op is on tap).

I am constantly listening to audiobooks. I’m fortunate that my mind can multi-task, and I listen to them while driving, working, writing, when I go to sleep at night. It lets me get to things I wouldn’t have time to read. It’s often re-visiting something I read before. And I can fall asleep to something that isn’t new – no damage done. Here are some things I’ve listened to recently.

 

THE BLACK COMPANY – Glen Cook

A couple months ago, I scored a rare Q&A with the socially reclusive Glen Cook. It was mostly about his terrific Garrett, PI series, which I love. But it did touch on The Black Company. That series about a mercenary company is a foundation block for Dark Fantasy. I’ve read through the whole thing (except Port of Shadows, which I haven’t gotten around to yet) three times.

And over several months this year, I listened to the entire series on audiobook. As when I read it, I definitely like some books more than others. But it remains an epic, gripping saga. Again excluding 2018’s Port of Shadows, it’s ten books. I simply didn’t have time to re-read it (especially after re-reading most of the Garrett series for that Q&A). Listening to the books worked great. At least a book or two had a different narrator, based on gender needs. I liked the four narrators, with Marc Vietor reading the majority. That’s a key part of the audiobook experience. Definitely recommended.

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Little Madhouse on the Prairie: Wisconsin Death Trip

Little Madhouse on the Prairie: Wisconsin Death Trip

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Like many of you, I own a lot of books. Like perhaps not quite as many of you, I own a lot of very strange books, among them Aleister Crowley’s autobiography, a volume of Criswell’s predictions, a collection of “poems” by Victor Buono (he was King Tut to Adam West’s Batman; the title of his book is It Could Be Verse), a paranoid little volume called The Enemy Within that showed up one day on every driveway in my neighborhood in a rock-weighted plastic bag, and that blames literally everything bad that’s ever happened on the Jesuits (I’m probably the only person in town who actually read it — God, I hope I’m the only person in town who actually read it), the Exegesis of Philip K. Dick (the Lord talked to Phil, and boy, did they have some weird conversations), the collected works of Charles Fort, several volumes of the Shaver Mystery… it goes on and on.

There is no stranger book on my shelves, though, than Wisconsin Death Trip. Catchy title, huh?

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand: 7 Upcoming Attractions

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: 7 Upcoming Attractions

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“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

My life gets crazy busy in July, and stays busy to Christmas, when I get a break. It’s a task to get my planned weekly column done. Which can shift the ‘current one’ into ‘in progress’ status. Which is the case this week. So, here’s a look at some of the stuff I hope to cover in the current incarnation of A (Black) Gat in the Hand.

DAY KEENE

Last week I posted (finally) the Jo Gar essay which I started in 2018. Nice to check that off the list. The current ‘in progress’ essay is on a Day Keene story from the September, 1949 issue of New Detective. I’ve already written one post on Keene here. I think he is an under-appreciated hard boiled writer. That issue also has a story by Frederic Brown. And one by my all-time favorite writer, John D. MacDonald. So, maybe I’ll mine that one for more material. The fact you’re reading this post right now, means I still haven’t finished my Keene essay.

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