The Cocktail Waitress by James M. Cain

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Once, years ago, while buying a couple of Black Lizard editions of James M. Cain books, the cashier looked at the books, frowned slightly and said, "You know, he only wrote three good novels. The rest are crap." I was as much surprised by this opinion of Cain's oeuvre as I was at finding a bookstore cashier who had actually read all of Cain's novels.

With every subsequent book I've read of Cain's since The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity, I've begun to fear that that cashier might have been right after all.

Cain's writing is at times mediocre, which tends to point to the quality or amount of editing by publishers. The Cocktail Waitress is no exception, or, I should say, the first half of it. It would appear that Charles Ardai, the editor, took more of a hand in the latter part of the novel and, interestingly enough, the writing improves vastly as the story goes on. But unless you've read and enjoyed Cain's later books, you might not like this one.

Although Charles Ardai seems to have information that the book was written around 1975, the book is actually set in about 1961 or '62. I suppose, judging from the number of manuscripts Charles uncovered, Cain might have originally started the book in the early to mid-sixties and reworked it over and over again until his death.



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Redheads Die Quickly and Other Stories by Gil Brewer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Professor David Rachels, English professor and crime blogger has launched his career as a scholar of 1950s crime fiction with this collection of Gil Brewer's short stories he's put together. His well-written introduction is the most information on Brewer's life I've read since Bill Pronzini's sketch on Mystery File and only hints at his tortured life.

One aspect of Brewer's writing that comes into sharp focus with the reading of this collection is his misogyny. What an interesting case study this book would be for the student of psychoanalysis. Just about every one of the 25 stories collected here has as its focus a depraved, scheming, evil woman who brings the mail protagonist to his demise, be it physically, emotionally or spiritually.

Besides the informative introduction there is a complete bibliography of Brewer's short fiction. Suffice it to say there are enough uncollected Brewer stories to fill quite a few more volumes and, in fact, David has said that he's working on a volume of Brewer's unpublished stories.

If I could find any fault with this nearly perfect collection it would simply be with the title. I don't think the story, "Redheads Die Quickly" was very representative in plot or title of the rest of the stories contained therein. In fact, it was one of only three stories that didn't feature a femme fatale and actually one of the weaker stories. I think David probably chose it as the title story because its a good noir title. But I think the book would have been better titled My Lady is a Tramp and Other Stories, or better yet, Femme Fatales: Stories by Gil Brewer.

Bottom line: If you're a fan of noir fiction, especially if you're a fan of Gil Brewer's, this volume is a must.


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Coney Island, 1940

Naked City by Arthur Fellig Weegee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Weegee's Naked City is, of course, New York City and this photo essay of the city is a must for anyone interested in the history of this great city. Written in 1945 it mostly covers the early forties, the war years, and includes now famous photos such as the beach shot at Coney Island (see below), opening night at the Met and bobbysoxers at a Sinatra concert.

Weegee (Usher Fellig) also includes a chapter of advice for those who would choose photography as a profession as well as brief chapters on the photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Pat Rich.

Although many of the photos included are familiar, reading Weegee's captions and insight add a new dimension.



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Romney--Great for 68 Posters
Make your own large poster at Zazzle.

A lot of young people don't realize that Mitt Romney's father, George Romney, ran for president in 1964 and 1968, while he was governor of Michigan.

Canadian Pacific by Jeff Vorzimmer

Click on the poster if you're interested in
purchasing a copy or to check out our gallery on

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" by David Bianculli

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The first three-quarters of this book rates five stars, but the last quarter, which should have been omitted, turns into a political rant in which Bianculli offers idiotic opinions and lame-brain conclusions. Bianculli obviously sees the canceling, or firing, of The Smothers Brothers as some kind of conspiracy and some kind of right-wing conspiracy at that, rather than what it was--Tommy Smothers self-destructiveness spiraling out of control. Rather than spending so much time trying to uncover blame elsewhere for the battles that ultimately led to the cancellation, why didn't Bianculli try to find out what was really going on with Tommy Smothers at the time, since he seemed to have unfettered access to the brothers during the writing of the book.

This book offers no new insight into the story, although the story itself is chronicled in interesting and lively detail. What it doesn't offer is much perspective from Tommy and what was going through his mind when he pulled some of the stupid stunts he did with CBS. He doesn't take Tommy to task at all, nor challenge him in any way on his actions. Nor does Tommy seem to take any real responsibility for the cancellation. Instead its offered up as political censorship, ignoring the fact that those who censored and ultimately canceled the show weren't opposed to the brothers politics, they simply didn't want to offend the viewers on topics such as religion and sex or to offend anyone personally. It was never about the political ideas espoused.

The book could have been great if Bianculli had just kept his left-wing snarking asides out. It wasn't about Democrats versus Republicans as it so often is today. It was the younger generation versus the establishment. In fact, the Democrats of the 1960s were even more conservative than the Republicans. It was a Democrat, Pastore, who talked of censoring the brothers and most everyone involved in the censoring and ultimate firing of the brothers were Democrats. As is still the case in recent years when government censorship is pursued by Democrats such as Tipper Gore.

Here's a passage from the book that shows how much Bianculli wanted to uncover a right-wing conspiracy:
"Finding a smoking gun connecting Richard Nixon directly to the demise of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a task at which I proved unsuccessful, but not for lack of effort." Doesn't this guy have an editor at Simon & Schuster?

How can someone who spends so much time researching a story ignore the facts he uncovers and come to such idiotic conclusions? This is what partisan politics does to a writer.






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Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-And-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Interesting take on the 1960s and 70s as seen from Laurel Canyon in L.A. Walker includes a lot of anecdotes about the musicians who lived in the Canyon and the groups that came out that environment. A good read, though Walked does indulge in a few tangents. Recommended for anyone interested in the history of those decades



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The Label: The Story of Columbia Records by Gary Marmorstein




I guess you really have to love the music business to read a 600 page book about a single label, but, if you do, you really should consider Gary Marmorstein's The Label.

How do you distill that many pages to a paragraph or two? The three most influential people at Columbia Records during the 20th century were actually the A&R men John Hammond and Mitch Miller in addition to it's long-serving president Godard Lieberson.

If you are of the belief that Mitch Miller nearly killed, or at least limited the careers of many a great singer, this book will not alter that view. It's not that Mamorstein is an apologist for Miller, although he did interview Miller for the book before his death at the age of 99, but I think Miller's career, for better or worse, speaks for itself. So the fact that Miller outlived everybody whose career he had an effect on and, therefore, had the last word, doesn't really alter the way history has and will perceive him.

I do however have renewed respect for Hammond and Lieberson. Hammond brought so many musicians to the label who would eventually become its biggest stars such as Dylan, Springsteen, Streisand, Diamond, etc. As president Lieberson created the Masterworks division and brought so many of the biggest-selling shows and soundtracks to the label.



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