Sunday Morning Book Thread - 06-26-2022 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(click image for larger view)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (full disclosure: I was a copy editor/proofreader for the author). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material, even if it's nothing more than the economic predictions of Paul Ehrlich. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, drizzle warm caramel over those cinnamon rolls, and crack open a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Last week, I tossed out the idea of doing a Sunday Morning Book Thread focusing on short stories. That seemed to be very well received, so here we go! The pic above shows three stacks of books. The stack on the left contains anthologies, which are collections of stories by different authors. They may or may not have a theme tying them all together. For instance, in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, all of the stories involve mad science in some way or another. However, Mindblowing SF is simply a collection of awesome stories.

The center stack contains collections, which are groups of short stories by the same author. As with anthologies, there may or may not be a central theme. For instance, The Complete Chronicles of Conan features the titular character in all of his adventures. The Essential Ellison has a lot of Harlan Ellison's nonfiction writings in addition to numerous stories.

The third and final stack contains omnibus editions of various series. An omnibus is simply a group of novels packaged into a single volume. Many of them revolve around a particular series, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, but they can also be somewhat random, such as Dick: Five Novels of the 1960s and 70s, which is just five books written by Philip K. Dick with no central series or theme tying them together, other than being written during a particular time in his life.

What are some of YOUR favorite short stories? Why are they meaningful to you?

Who are some of your favorite short story authors? Why do you enjoy them so much?

BONUS QUESTION: One of the books is in the wrong stack. 500 quatloos if you can identify which book is in the wrong stack and also identify the correct stack in which it should be placed.

THE ART OF THE SHORT STORY

As you can see from the pic above, my interests in short stories tend to be in the realms of fantasy and science fiction. However, short stories can be found in any genre (romance, mystery, horror, western, spy thriller, etc.), including creative nonfiction. I once took a class on how to teach students to write creative nonfiction. I had never really thought about that genre before, but it was an excellent course. We had to write our own nonfiction stories and critique each other in class. It was a very fun experience. You can see some of my work HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE (Long Live the Queen!).

Short stories have been around as long as there has been literature. One of the oldest and greatest anthologies is One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern fairy tales that in its oldest form is more than a thousand years old. It's been radically expanded upon over the centuries. As it was created in a region of the world that was at the heart of many different cultures, it draws upon those cultures for inspiration, such as India and Persia in addition to Arabic culture. There's no question that One Thousand and One Nights has been hugely influential in Western culture as well, even serving as the inspiration for the classic Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales

Another classic colletion of short stories is Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which documents a fictional pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Along the way, each pilgrim tells stories to help pass the time. Apparently there's some debate over whether or not Chaucer actually finished his writing. Whether he did or not, though, doesn't detract from the fact that the Canterbury Tales, like One Thousand and One Nights, has influenced Western literature for centuries.

In more modern times, short stories were often written for "pulp" magazines, so named because they used rather poor quality paper (it was cheap). They could be mass-produced and were quite popular reading material for generations of young men (mostly). Quite a few prominent authors started out by writing for pulp magazines as a way to break into the market. They didn't pay very well, though. So authors had to write a lot of stories just to pay the bills. You can find an awesome archive of pulp fiction magazines HERE.

What does it take to write a "good" short story? I'll leave the answer to that to our actual published Moron Authors who have successfully sold their short stories.

If you are interested in writing short stories, a good way to get started is to simply submit your stories whenever you see a call for submissions. For instance, L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest offers cash prizes every quarter for the best science fiction stories. Taco Bell Quarterly also accepts story submissions as long at there is even a wisp of a connection with Taco Bell and its products...(ht: Peter Zah)

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BOOKS BY MORONS

My name is Matt DeLorenzo and I'm a longtime lurker at AoSHQ. I've just written a book titled How to Buy an Affordable Electric Car: A Tightwad's Guide to EV Ownership.
While saving the planet is a laudable pursuit, this book is more about saving a couple of bucks. I largely avoid the environmental and political issues of electric cars and focus primarily on the fact that these vehicles are now here in the market and there may or may not be good reasons why you should buy one. I focus primarily on EVs that cost less than $40,000 (there's currently about eight) and talk about the advantages and pitfalls of driving electric, including range, charging issues including cost as well as tax incentives and rebates that might make an electric a good buy at a time of record gas prices. There are also tips on buying used EVs as well as hybrid and plug-in alternatives. The bottom line is that yes, we will be seeing a lot more electric cars, but they're not going to totally replace gas cars in the foreseeable future. I hope I provide a clear-eyed look on the realities of buying and owning an EV.
How To Buy An Affordable Electric Car: A Tightwad's Guide to EV Ownership: DeLorenzo, Matt: 9798831769586: Amazon.com: Books
Thanks much,
Matt DeLorenzo

Comment: As I told Matt, I think there are some areas where electric vehicles can make sense. For instance, small communities where you just need to get around quickly from point A to point B (e.g., a retirement village). We already see them all over the place in retail stores (e.g. Walmart) for mobility-impaired customers. I see a lot of electric-powered personal mobility devices at the campus where I work. Students love them. I don't think we'll ever see them for large commercial vehicles (trucks, planes, ships, etc.) unless we discover some radical new physics or minitiarization of nuclear technology (or both). We'll probably see some marginal improvement in battery technology for tools and electronic devices. I know EVs can be something of a controversial topic in the comments, so please play nicely below...

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MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

It seems to be a badge of honor of sorts to be featured in the Moron Recommendations section. I do remember how thrilled I was when I first saw one of my recommendations posted by OregonMuse (RIP). Here are a few tips on how to get your recommendation posted here (NOTE: I wish I could include all recommendations, but 3-4 is about the limit. You can always find more Moron Recommeded books at our Libib site.)

Delurk! - I especially like to find recommendations from commenters I've never seen before. Delurking on the Sunday Morning Book Thread led me to become a more frequent commenter at AoSHQ. From there I became a full-fledged member of the most amazing community on the internet. That eventually led me to becoming a COB. If I can do it, so can you!

Provide title of work and author(s) - I know some of you like to provide multiple books in your comments, which is fine because I know you read A LOT. However, a single comment per book, complete with author and title, makes it easier for me to single out as a good recommendation. Although if you want to recommend a series of books, that can also work as a good recommendation.

Tell us something interesting! - What was most interesting and meaningful to you when you read your book? Is it relevant to current events? Does it tell an exciting tale of adventure and heroism? What does it get right? What does it do wrong? You don't need to provide a full review of the book, though you can certainly do that if you like. A short paragraph explaining just WHY you recommend the book gives us a reason to read it ourselves.

I also like to highlight comments from people who have read Books by Morons. I'm sure they appreciate your feedback!

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Sunday afternoon, I read A. H. Lloyd's Three Weeks with the Coasties. Could be subtitled "A Portrait of Bureacracy." It was a quick and entertaining read, and though he says it's fiction, I wonder.
Then I read The DA Breaks A Seal, a Doug Selby mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner. Published in 1946, this is one that I picked up at an antique store. DA returns from the War on furlough, and gets involved in the investigation of a murder caper. Also quick and entertaining.
Posted by: April--dash my lace wigs! at June 19, 2022 09:23 AM (OX9vb)

Comment: This is a great example of a commenter posting about a Moron Author's works. According to the author, it's a work of fiction, but based on real events drawn from his own experiences assisting in the Deepwater Horizon disaster relief efforts.

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I've been in a re-reading mood this month and am currently involved in A Confederacy of Dunces. This is a crazy book with several crazy characters! Funny is many ways.
Posted by: LRob in TX at June 19, 2022 09:24 AM (KTPXo)

Comment: Depending on who you talk to, this book is often hailed as one of the funniest novels ever written. According to TV Tropes, there have been numerous attempts to adapt the book into a movie version. However, the actors who could have played the lead role of Ignatius (John Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley) all died before they could accept the role. Other weird events seem to conspire to prevent the film from being made, such as the murder of the head of the Louisiana State Film Commission (the book takes place in New Orleans) and Hurricane Katrina devastating Louisiana.

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The Americana in the Eric Sloane books put me in the mood for such things. I got out my copy of Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan, With More Than 100 Logging Camp Tales and The Hair of the Bear by Eric A. Bye. (He wrote an excellent book on fllintlocks.) These are imaginative, silly, sometimes absurd stories that might be told around a campfire. Between bouts of laughing I can feel my blood pressure lowering. Wonderful, relaxed reading.
Posted by: JTB at June 19, 2022 09:35 AM (7EjX1)

Comment: Tall tales are a proud American tradition. Other classically rugged American folk heroes include Pecos Bill and John Henry. I loved reading these stories when I was a kid.

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I'm still reading Pliny's Natural History. I'm actually learning a lot about ancient place names.
There are a lot of questionable facts though. For example, I learned of the Himantopodes, which are "a race of people with feet resembling thongs, upon which they move along by nature with a serpentine, crawling kind of gait" and the Blemmyæ who are said to "have no heads, their mouths and eyes being seated in their breasts." I remember an old Tarzan comic strip with a tribe of characters like that, the Onoes or something like that. I wonder if that's where they got the idea.
Posted by: Guy who stores nuts in his pants at June 19, 2022 09:37 AM (vrz2I)

Comment: Based on the description above, it's possible Pliny had overindulged on particular mushrooms while compiling his Natural History. But it does seem to be pretty comprehensive, covering a wide range of topics from astronomy to mineralogy to geography to art history and more. You can find a translation at Project Gutenberg.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (240 Moron-recommended books so far!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton -- Book 3 in The Void Trilogy. It really is like a mashup of Star Trek V and Star Trek: Generations, but quite good.

The Devil You Know Better edited by R. J. Carter -- Except for a couple of short stories at the end, very enjoyable. Troy Riser's story could easily be the introduction to a series of novels about a hard-boiled detective hot on the trail of the Devil as he makes deals with Hollywood celebrities.

The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis -- Very thorough deconstruction of the Leftist mindset through reasoned argument. Absolutely recommended.

Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) edited by Susan D. Blum -- This is for my day job. We're hosting a summer book reading program with several of our faculty. We will be discussing this book, which looks at alternative forms of assessing students instead of assigning them a grade.

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding my Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or writing projects that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 06-19-22 (hat tip: vmom stabby stabby stabamillion) (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hey there, two-spirit non-binderary book-kin!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:00 AM (Dc2NZ)

2 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:01 AM (2JoB8)

3 Currently doing a re-read of the Last Jihad series

Posted by: vic at June 26, 2022 09:01 AM (mZwKe)

4 I have not read a book in 4 years.

Come at me bro.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:01 AM (5p7BC)

5 Should finish Richard Pipes Russian Revolution today, read 3 chapters yesterday. Now I'm getting to the murdering parts

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:02 AM (2JoB8)

6 Dave no hobbies and no books, you need diversions

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:03 AM (2JoB8)

7 Read To The Last Man by Zane Grey. He's an awfully wordy fellow. It's hard for me to see show not tell, but he does use a lot of dialog. I suppose it was the writing standard of the time. Book originally published in 1922 he says.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 09:03 AM (7bRMQ)

8 What are some of YOUR favorite short stories? Why are they meaningful to you?
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I do not like short stories.

Posted by: vic at June 26, 2022 09:03 AM (mZwKe)

9 Should finish Richard Pipes Russian Revolution today, read 3 chapters yesterday. Now I'm getting to the murdering parts
Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:02 AM (2JoB

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Do any of the chapters actually start with, "And then the murders started?"

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:03 AM (K5n5d)

10 hiya

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:05 AM (arJlL)

11 Yay book thread!

I'm planning on taking some time off work to get power writing done on China. I'm up to 1937, so not much more left to do in the first draft.

To that end, I've taken up Richard B. Frank's Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. I'm about halfway through it, and it's great but also not for people who can't handle the awful truth of war.

The description of what actually happens during fire bombing is pretty rough reading. That being said, Frank is clearly on the side that dropping the Bomb was necessary and saved lives. He points out that once the Japanese got used to it, firebombing was much less lethal. The Tokyo raid was sort of the perfect storm. I'll do a full review when I finish it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:05 AM (llXky)

12 "The Impossible Fortress" by Jason Rekulak is the story of a 14 year old computer nerd, Will Marvin, and his two buddies set in 1987 New Jersey. He's an indifferent student but an absolute demon on his Commodore 64, staying up all night programming computer games. His friends hatch a plan to discreetly lift copies of Playboy featuring Vanna White from the local newsstand/office equipment store. They fail several times, but in one visit Will chances upon the owner's daughter tapping away on a computer, and a friendship blossoms into a plan to enter a program into a game contest. Their friendship is later exploited to get to the magazines, and very bad things happen when plans go awry, as they are wont to do.

It has genuine nostalgia, not just an endless diet of "memberberries" like Ready Player One.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:06 AM (Dc2NZ)

13 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading. Mine was a bit different.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:06 AM (7EjX1)

14 I'll take a stab at the quiz. The Conan book belongs on the right?

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:07 AM (5p7BC)

15 We have hundreds of books on our shelves. In prep for moving, our agent said most of them have to be boxed up, removed and stored elsewhere. There is a monster pile of empty boxes in front of the bookcases this morning.

I haz the sadz.

Posted by: Tonypete at June 26, 2022 09:07 AM (Msys3)

16 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:08 AM (Dc2NZ)

17 Good morning morons

My favorite short story author is Jorge Luis Borges.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (EZebt)

18 Skip - I need a job where I don't do the work of 5 people.

But no, we won a $700m contract last week, and I am in the contract by name.

And they say slavery was abolished.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (5p7BC)

19 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Is there anyone that doesn't do this? LOL

Posted by: Tonypete at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (Msys3)

20 I'll take a stab at the quiz. The Conan book belongs on the right?
Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:07 AM (5p7BC)
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Not quite.

All of the Conan stories in this volume are authored by Robert E. Howard, so it would be in the "collection" stack. However, there *are* many Conan stories by other authors (Robert Jordan wrote several before he wrote The Wheel of Time).

Good guess, though!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (K5n5d)

21 Marvel comics. Old school. The Avengers. Roy Thomas. Purple prose. Colorful art. Evil Jarvis. (Not really.) Evil robot. (Guess who.) 'Nuff said.

Posted by: Weak Geek can write short at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (Om/di)

22 Barnes and Noble does have some nice hardcover editions. I have (of course) the Lovecraft anthology, plus Poe, ERB, H.G. Wells, and others.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)

23 Short stories?! Oh, my - in my opinion, Rudyard Kipling's short stories were almost without peer. The Jungle Books, after all, are collections of short stories, most of them about Mowgli and his friends. My other favorite short story writer was Saki, AKA HH Munro ... many of whose stories had a memorable punchline. Saki did have one novel, but honestly, the short stories are better. (Although overage, HH Munro volunteered for Army service in WWI, serving as an NCO. He was killed on the Western Front in 1916, and reportedly his last words were "Put out that bloody cigarette!"

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (xnmPy)

24 Thanks, Mr. NaCly, for the nood.

Posted by: Emmie at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (6RgRK)

25 Another book I'm reading right now Origins of the Chinese Revolution 1915-1949 by Lucien Bianco.

This is a very lucid and readable account of what happened in China to cause the Communist victory. The author is French (it was translated from the French by Muriel Bell) and there are lots of parallels drawn to French history which the translator explains.

I can't imagine it is still in print as my copy is from 1971 (original publication 1967). This is part of a trove of books I picked up at Curious Books/Archive Books in East Lansing.

In yet another example of divine providence, a retired professor of Chinese/Asian history elected to liquidate his collection at exactly the time I started my project. Rather than dump them all on the shelves at once, the book store owner has been putting them out in batches, and that's how I've acquired them. Very helpful.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (llXky)

26 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster

Eris has a camera in my house ! (puts pants on....)

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (arJlL)

27
g'mornin', book-ish 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (ENBF0)

28 OT, but I have to leave in a minute. Perfesser Squirrel, the ESO guild name is AOSHQMoronHorde.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 26, 2022 09:10 AM (nC+QA)

29 My son introduced me to an author , Hakuri Murikaml. If I remember correctly the spelling. Reading The Windup Bird Chronicles. His writing is solid and stories are somewhat fanciful. I recommend.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at June 26, 2022 09:11 AM (0Qrr3)

30 No need, JT! Relax! A robe will suffice.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:11 AM (Dc2NZ)

31 What are some of YOUR favorite short stories? Why are they meaningful to you?

I like short stories that take me out of my comfort zone and are somewhat disturbing. Early Raymond Carver that Gordon Lish severely edited into skeletal entities (and Carver and his later dipshit friends hated) was one example. Paul Bowles is another. A current example is Ron Rash although he committed a major sin by using a plot device in more than one story; don't do that again, Ron.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:11 AM (y7DUB)

32 Is Poe often declared the creator of the short story?

Posted by: davidt at June 26, 2022 09:11 AM (oTZbj)

33 I don't think the pants guy owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift....)

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (arJlL)

34 Is omnibi the plural of omnibus?

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (/NCI4)

35 Oh well, never read a Conan book. I thought they were all the same author.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (5p7BC)

36 Getting through Catch 22 here. Funny, absurd, tragic..

Posted by: Joe Kidd at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (RMN7W)

37 Barnes and Noble does have some nice hardcover editions. I have (of course) the Lovecraft anthology, plus Poe, ERB, H.G. Wells, and others.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (Dc2NZ)
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Yep. I love their special hardcover editions of classic works. I have Lovecraft, Holmes, Douglas Adams, and many more. Unfortunately, my cats also like them, and not in a good way. My Lovecraft was irreparably damaged by Penny...Oh, well.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (K5n5d)

38 >Is omnibi the plural of omnibus?

Fleet

Posted by: davidt at June 26, 2022 09:13 AM (oTZbj)

39 Okay,
here we go...
Comin' out...
Open the door Richard ...

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:13 AM (arJlL)

40 Good guess, though!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (K5n5d)
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How about an omnibus collection of anthologies?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:13 AM (llXky)

41 Perfesser, did you get an email from me?

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:14 AM (y7DUB)

42 Perfessor, maybe Penny sensed nameless horrors haunting the book.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:14 AM (Dc2NZ)

43 What are YOU reading this fine morning?

GeoServer Doumentation

Posted by: Reuben Hick at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM (AHeqJ)

44 Oh well, never read a Conan book. I thought they were all the same author.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM (5p7BC)
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There's a lot fascinating stuff about Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, and numerous authors that created a shared universe collectively known as the "Cthulhu Mythos" (it's still alive and strong today).

REH created the Conan universe, but then other authors played in it as well. Same with Lovecraft. They were quite happy to let other authors contribute to their shared universes.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM (K5n5d)

45 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes. As I expected, my local rag is absolutely unstuck concerning Roe, with screaming shrieks about coat hangers, anti-gay lynch mobs and the return of slavery. And if I had a dime for every dimwitted, constitutionally-ignorant "opinion" writer who started out with, "A right has been taken away. . ." I'd never have to work again.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM (2JVJo)

46 Perfessor,

I have a good number of the books in those three stacks. Some of my favorite reading.

One of us should probably be concerned. The question is: which one?

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:16 AM (7EjX1)

47 Perfesser, did you get an email from me?
Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:14 AM (y7DUB)
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Yes I did. I think it will make a fine topic for discussion next week!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:16 AM (K5n5d)

48 Speaking of short stories, I recently attempted to read No Middle Name, a compilation of Reacher short stories, most of which were of when he was a teen, pre-teen, not very believeable, and not very good.

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:17 AM (arJlL)

49 Yet ANOTHER book added to the collection this past week was Edward Ezell's Small Arms of the World 12th Edition.

It's not a doorstop so much as a cornerstone.

While part of my China research, it is of course a trove of information, and will - once I get the block and tackle set up to move it - set next to Ezell's Handguns of the World on my reinforced Ace-compliant shelves.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:17 AM (llXky)

50 All work and no play makes Dave a dull boy

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:17 AM (2JoB8)

51 One of us should probably be concerned. The question is: which one?
Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:16 AM (7EjX1)
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I didn't choose those books at random. I picked the ones in my library that were most likely to be shared among members of the Horde, more or less. Or at least the ones that might be most recognizable (even if you haven't read Asimov, you almost certainly know who he is).

Happy reading!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:18 AM (K5n5d)

52 Nice stack of books there, Perfesser.

I've not been doing much writing the last few years, though hope to get back to it this summer, so won't weigh in on what it takes to write a good short story.

But I will toss out a few names of writers who wrote terrific short work. Fritz Leiber, Gerald Kersh, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, Barry Malzberg, Roger Zelazny, Damon Knight, Lawrence Block, Stanley Ellin, Dennis Etchison, Kealan Patrick Burke, Ramsey Campbell, John D. MacDonald, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and though he may not be too popular in these parts much of the time, Stephen King.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:18 AM (JzDjf)

53 Those pants....sure.

Pimp Squirrel don't drive no "EV". Pimp Squirrel should drive a 1971 Cadillac Eldorado like that pimp in "Magnum Force".

More coffee.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 26, 2022 09:18 AM (R/m4+)

54 Speaking of short stories, I recently attempted to read No Middle Name, a compilation of Reacher short stories, most of which were of when he was a teen, pre-teen, not very believeable, and not very good.

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:17 AM (arJlL)

But yet, the author was paid for them....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 09:19 AM (7bRMQ)

55 created a shared universe collectively known as the "Cthulhu Mythos" (it's still alive and strong today).

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM (K5n5d)
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We're living in it! So who is who? I'm going with Biden as the Crawling Chaos. Soros is the Black Goat of the Woods with the Thousand Young.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:19 AM (llXky)

56 My favorite short story author is Jorge Luis Borges.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (EZebt)

I think he makes readers work too hard to be a fave of a large number of people.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:20 AM (y7DUB)

57 So, reading . . .

Right now I'm slowly making my way through Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier. It's a kindle version, so the transcription leaves a lot to be desired. Right now, ol' Eric is talking about how he wants to drop class distinctions, but how hard it is for him - and how ashamed he is - to gt over his middle-class nature.

Also in the pile to read are The Day the Laughter Stopped by David Yallop, a mid-1970s book on the Roscoe Arbuckle Case, Boston Ways: High, By and Folk by George Weston, which is a sort of travelogue and history of the Hub, though since it came out in 1974, it's horribly out of date.

Also reading The Graves are Walking by John Kelly, which is a history of the Great Famine of Ireland.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 09:20 AM (2JVJo)

58 Sounds like talk that has been going on in the gaming community for a few years. There are some massive detailed worldscapes that have been created. Cyberpunk 2077 is 100 square miles of fully rendered and explorable terrain.

Various proposals have been discussed for a company to create a base system and license it to developers so that multiple games could be hosted in the same world.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:20 AM (5p7BC)

59 My favorite SF shorts, in order:

"Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov. The short, not the novelization of the movie based on the short.

"Johnny Mnemonic," by William Gibson. Read it before reading Neuromancer.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:21 AM (nfrXX)

60 And if I had a dime for every dimwitted, constitutionally-ignorant "opinion" writer who started out with, "A right has been taken away. . ." I'd never have to work again.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM (2JVJo)
---
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women.

Posted by: Conan on what is best in life at June 26, 2022 09:21 AM (llXky)

61 Sounds like talk that has been going on in the gaming community for a few years. There are some massive detailed worldscapes that have been created. Cyberpunk 2077 is 100 square miles of fully rendered and explorable terrain.

Various proposals have been discussed for a company to create a base system and license it to developers so that multiple games could be hosted in the same world.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:20 AM (5p7BC)
---
Game modding has been around since the early days of Doom, if not before that (e.g., MUDs). And of course, tabletop gaming has always encouraged creativity to build your own worlds...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:22 AM (K5n5d)

62 Probably my favorite short story author is Robert E. Howard of Conan fame. And not just the sword and sandal stories. His horror, westerns, general adventure, and humor tales are first class. He had a wonderful ability to bring the reader into the time, place, and plot of his writing. How long does it take for Howard to establish the mood and details in "Tower of the Elephant" or "Wolves Beyond the Border"? About two paragraphs.

Conan Doyle has the same knack but an easier task since he usually dealt with a familiar place and time.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:23 AM (7EjX1)

63 Well I have to go be boring. I have some specifications to write.

Later all!

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 26, 2022 09:23 AM (5p7BC)

64
Getting through Catch 22 here. Funny, absurd, tragic..

Posted by: Joe Kidd at June 26, 2022 09:12 AM

Such an inspirational book, in fact it inspired me to sell Uranium to the Russians.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at June 26, 2022 09:23 AM (dQvv7)

65 If you like Pliny or the early zoology or explanations of the world, you might like the book by Willy Ley, Dawn of Zoology.

Besides being one of the early members of the VfR, and an Analog magazine writer, Willy was also a Zoologist by training

Dawn of Zoology is a review of the study of zoology from ancient times when it was part of hunting, to classical times when it was a way of understanding the world, to becoming a way of classifying the world.
He discusses Herodotus, Aristotle, Pliny, the various medieval "wonderboks", Gessner and up through the modern naturalists.

It is a fascinating look at the thinking behind the classification, and my version by Prentice-Hall has copies of woodcuts and engravings galore.

Ley was a very clear, and readable author, precise but very approachable

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:23 AM (xhaym)

66 David Koepp's "Aurora" is about a triple whammy coronal mass ejection that slams into Earth and shuts down most of the grid. There are several character threads weaving through and ultimately together by the end: Aubrey and her mouthy stepson; Thom, Aubrey's estranged tech billionaire brother, who has been giddily anticipating just such a disaster and has a nicely repurposed missile silo in the middle of the desert to wait it out with his family and staff; Rusty, the methhead and gambling addict ex; a NOAA scientist; and other characters. It's gruesome but funny.

There were a couple laughable lib comments in it -- can't get published without it -- but I kinda anticipated that going in, seeing as Stephen King had a blurb on the jacket. One character bemoaned that the grid couldn't be shut down centrally but was done at the state level -- even states that didn't "embrace the science". Those Red states! Another noted that the equatorial nations were relatively undamaged and were banding together to feed and supply the very nations that had historically oppressed them. Yeah, they totally would do that.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:24 AM (Dc2NZ)

67 To me, the titans of the short story are Edgar Allan Poe and O. Henry.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 26, 2022 09:25 AM (ecUdR)

68 I know the Horde tends more to SF and fantasy, which are not my genres, but I will put PG Wodehouse forward as a master of short stories - not just the Bertie Woosters, but the Psmiths, as well. IMO, the longer-form novels, with rare exceptions, just don't work as well.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 09:26 AM (2JVJo)

69 "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov. The short, not the novelization of the movie based on the short.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:21 AM (nfrXX)
---
I think the practice of elongating short stories into novellas generally doesn't work. The strength of short stories is that they are sufficient to cover the premise and get you thinking.

Trying to stretch them out dilutes the impact. Today we have tons of very very padded books.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:26 AM (llXky)

70 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:08 AM (Dc2NZ)

That is how I order books online, you have to buy a bunch to justify the postage, after all . . .

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:27 AM (xhaym)

71 I am currently reading The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story ever told by G.B. Giorgio.

And it stinks !

The author repeats herself over and over again and includes MANY letters of correspondence between she and her publisher (in my opinion to fatten the book, and to distract the reader from the fact that she is NEVER gonna get to the point !)

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:27 AM (arJlL)

72 Morning, book thugs,

Is Poe often declared the creator of the short story?
Posted by: davidt at June 26, 2022

***
Of the mystery story, yes. But there were short stories before that; Hawthorne's stuff, for example. (I think. I know they were contemporaries.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:28 AM (c6xtn)

73 "Nightfall," by Isaac Asimov. The short, not the novelization of the movie based on the short.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:21 AM (nfrXX)
---
I did not know there was a novelization based on a movie version. However, there is a novelization cowritten with Robert Silverberg. The first half covers the original story (with more details/padding). The second half covers the aftermath when the world goes mad...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:28 AM (K5n5d)

74 Another noted that the equatorial nations were relatively undamaged and were banding together to feed and supply the very nations that had historically oppressed them. Yeah, they totally would do that.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:24 AM (Dc2NZ)
---
It's fascinating to see just how ignorant "educated" people are.

"So, like if the US was crippled, Africa would totoally just sort itself into Wakanda!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:29 AM (llXky)

75 Favorite short stories? The Saint adventures by Leslie Charteris and the Retief tales by Keith Laumer.

I like the Saint shorts because they offer examples of Charteris' matchless prose while providing a full story. I prefer them to the novels.

Laumer creates such distinct worlds. I first met Retief in a collection of shorts, "Retief at Large," and was instantly sold on him.

Oh, just remembered -- the Mad Scientists' Club stories by Bertrand Brimley. My grade school library had the first collection, and I read it repeatedly.

I now own a collected edition of every MSC story, but I have yet to read the later ones. Should remedy that.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 09:30 AM (Om/di)

76 Of the mystery story, yes. But there were short stories before that; Hawthorne's stuff, for example. (I think. I know they were contemporaries.)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:28 AM (c6xtn)
---
Washington Irving ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") was another contemporary of both Hawthorne and Poe. Also wrote quite a few short stories...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:30 AM (K5n5d)

77 "I'm still reading Pliny's Natural History"

I confess to being the guy who stores his nuts in his pants. Is that wrong?

And I am still reading Natural History. The version I got from Gutenberg is heavily footnoted, which is good because they footnote the place names with the (somewhat) modern name. Some of the other footnotes take you down rabbit holes that need more investigation, which accounts for how long it is taking me to get thru it.

The version I am reading is the 1855 translation by John Bostock.

Posted by: Uterus Man at June 26, 2022 09:30 AM (vrz2I)

78 >Is omnibi the plural of omnibus?
Fleet
Posted by: davidt at June 26, 2022 09:13 AM (oTZbj)

Is it called a "Fleet" because it seems like it was crapped out uncontrollably in one giant bolus?

(Sorry, I am not a fan of omnibus collections - they sometimes lack discernment)

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:31 AM (xhaym)

79 Oh dang it off Superhero sock.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 09:31 AM (vrz2I)

80 Favorite short story? Couldn't possibly. But just a few off the point at the top of my head:
Harlan Ellison - "Paladin of the Lost Hour," "Jeffty Is Five," "All the Lies That Are My Life."
Theodore Sturgeon - "Bright Segment," "The Graveyard Reader"
Jorge Luis Borges - "The Intruder," "The Aleph," "The Book of Sand"
Robert Silverberg - "To See the Invisible Man," "Born with the Dead"
Fritz Leiber - "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes"
Ray Bradbury - "The Town Where No One Got Off"

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:31 AM (JzDjf)

81 Oh, how could I have forgotten to include Aesop's Fables? They qualify as short stories.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 09:32 AM (Om/di)

82 Now you all know my superhero alter ego. How embarrassing.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 09:32 AM (vrz2I)

83 I have an extensive collection of mostly science fiction short stories. Cordwainer Smith is a master here. Too many to cite.

But there are several that really stuck with me.
"In a Good Cause—" by Isaac Asimov
"Rescue Party" by Arthur C. Clark
"Minor Ingredient" by Eric Frank Russel
"And Then There Were None" by Eric Frank Russel
"Uplift the Savage" by Christopher Anvil

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 09:32 AM (u82oZ)

84 ...I will put PG Wodehouse forward as a master of short stories - not just the Bertie Woosters, but the Psmiths, as well.

I have not read the latter, but the Jeeves shorts are pure gold. Now that I think about it, in the non-SF genres, most all of my favorite short story authors are Brits: Wodehouse, Conan Doyle, Christie, Herriot.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:33 AM (nfrXX)

85 I think he makes readers work too hard to be a fave of a large number of people.
Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:20 AM (y7DUB)
===
Es verdad.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 26, 2022 09:33 AM (EZebt)

86 I read Catch -22 in high school, thought it was a great book, seen the movie a few times well after but it's nor as good.

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:33 AM (2JoB8)

87 But I will toss out a few names of writers who wrote terrific short work. Fritz Leiber, Gerald Kersh, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, Barry Malzberg, Roger Zelazny, Damon Knight, Lawrence Block, Stanley Ellin, Dennis Etchison, Kealan Patrick Burke, Ramsey Campbell, John D. MacDonald, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and though he may not be too popular in these parts much of the time, Stephen King.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022

***
A great list! I've never read Etchison or Burke, and little of Campbell, but the other names, yes indeed.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:34 AM (c6xtn)

88 After the King by Tolkien should be in collections, not anthologies?

Posted by: zube at June 26, 2022 09:34 AM (m+kht)

89 I was going to say I don't have any collections of short stories. Then, I remembered Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown and Poe.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:35 AM (eGTCV)

90 64 Milo!

Posted by: Joe Kidd at June 26, 2022 09:35 AM (RMN7W)

91 (Sorry, I am not a fan of omnibus collections - they sometimes lack discernment)
Posted by: Kindltot

An omnibus once bit my sister.

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:36 AM (arJlL)

92 In his Night Shift collection, King has 2 gems, "Battleground" and "Trucks" (which unfortunately he turned into the poor film Maximum Overdrive). "Battleground" would have made a superb Alfred Hitchcock 30-min. TV episode, or perhaps a Twilight Zone, though King wrote it 10 years too late for those and far too early for the special effects it would require. "Trucks" is also superb and should be studied by anybody who wonders how a short story should work and how long it's supposed to be.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:36 AM (c6xtn)

93 I did not know there was a novelization based on a movie version. However, there is a novelization cowritten with Robert Silverberg. The first half covers the original story (with more details/padding). The second half covers the aftermath when the world goes mad...

I just assumed it was a novelization of the movie since they both appeared around the same time. I have not seen the movie and I started but never finished the novel. I suppose it may have been a movieization of the novel. Or they could have been completely independent things, although that seems unlikely.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:36 AM (nfrXX)

94 After the King by Tolkien should be in collections, not anthologies?
Posted by: zube at June 26, 2022 09:34 AM (m+kht)
---
Nope.

It's an anthology edited by Martin H. Greenberg. All of the stories are by different authors who wanted to write a story honoring the life and literature of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (K5n5d)

95 Wolfus -

Kealan Patrick Burke's "Empathy" is one of the creepier things I've ever read. And my favorite Etchison is "It Only Comes Out at Night," which is almost enough to put you off ever using highway rest stops ever again.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (JzDjf)

96 At any rate, the short is perfect and should never have been tampered with.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (nfrXX)

97 That is how I order books online, you have to buy a bunch to justify the postage, after all . . .
Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:27 AM (xhaym)
---

True. And today's ignored new purchases are tomorrow's old books chosen over new ones. It's a beautiful circle.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (Dc2NZ)

98 While part of my China research, it is of course a trove of information, and will - once I get the block and tackle set up to move it - set next to Ezell's Handguns of the World on my reinforced Ace-compliant shelves.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:17 AM (llXky)

Spain was exporting Astra copies of the C-96 select fire pistol to the warlords and to the Nationalists. The section on Spain is interesting

Just for completeness, the Chinese had a pretty interesting "craft" gun manufacturing system going, with hand made pistols on a lot of different designs, made individually. You can find a lot of one offs with really odd mix of design features.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (xhaym)

99 Kindly move "Before The Golden Age" from anthologies to collections.

Posted by: Java Joe at June 26, 2022 09:38 AM (VsPm9)

100 How it might go at an LAA meeting (Lurking Authors Anonymous):

Moderator: We have a new attendee today, would you care to introduce yourself?

Lurking Author: I'm Seamus, I'm a Lurking Author

Group: "Hi Seamus!"

Lurking Author: None of you know me, but I have been lurking here at this fine outstanding smart military blog for many many weeks now and enjoy the camaraderie and snappy reparteé in the comments section. I have written a book about one of the many topics that all of you like-minded fine folks talk about. None of you know me, because I have never bothered to engage in any discussions here. Please buy my book.

Group:. Meh! We've all read the section on "Ways to Market Your Book". What else ya got?

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 09:39 AM (kXYt5)

101 Most of my reading this week was about the use and maintenance/restoration of traditional hand tools. I've accumulated some nice examples of these tools over the years (wooden body planes, auger bits, pliers that belonged to my grandfather, etc.) and want to get them back in good, usable condition.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:39 AM (7EjX1)

102 We're discussing short stories and no one has mentioned Encyclopedia Brown? Or, "The Mad Scientists Club?"

Who are you people?

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 09:40 AM (5pTK/)

103 I just assumed it was a novelization of the movie since they both appeared around the same time. I have not seen the movie and I started but never finished the novel. I suppose it may have been a movieization of the novel. Or they could have been completely independent things, although that seems unlikely.
Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:36 AM (nfrXX)
---
It looks like the version I have (by Asimov & Silverberg) is an independent collaboration. No mention of the movie at all in the front or back matter or cover. It's dedicated to John W. Cambell, Jr., the editor that helped both of them achieve greatness.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:40 AM (K5n5d)

104 I'm going to give a shout-out to Joseph Conrad. Much of his work is really novella length, and of course he focuses a lot of stories on life at sea. "Typhoon" is darkly amusing in its own way.

In fact, while I own a bunch of his work, he's hard to collect because so much is out of print. If you aren't into maritime stories, he also wrote "The Duel" which is great (and was made into a movie).

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:40 AM (llXky)

105 Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon"!

Perfessor, I zoomed in on your pic of the stacks. Looks to me like the Black Wings of Cthulhu, edited by Somebody or Other, is not a collection of Lovecraft's own work and should be in the Anthologies stack?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:41 AM (c6xtn)

106 What are some of YOUR favorite short stories?

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. Diana Moon Glampers is a an amped-up version of Scary Poppins, Biden's Minister of Truth

Posted by: cool breeze at June 26, 2022 09:41 AM (UGKMd)

107 Black Wings of Cthulhu would be a great name for an evil scout troop.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (Dc2NZ)

108 I like Larry Niven's Flatlander (The Collected Tales of Gil "The Arm" Hamilton). It's a collection of S/F detective stories based on an idea that as he says is "is terrifyingly and uncomfortably real". That idea being: There is a shortage of transplantable organs; people disappear, capital crimes are increased to solve that problem. His term for that is "organlegging".

The stories have all the pleasures of the detective story combined with a psychokinetic element thrown in for fun, all in a future with too many people and asteroid mining.

I liked this book enough that when my paperback version disappeared (or fell into my french drain; can't remember which) and I switched over to the Kindle, I bought a copy.

Posted by: yara at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (hBsVD)

109 Ray Bradbury - "The Town Where No One Got Off"

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:31 AM (JzDjf)

So, a ghost town story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (7bRMQ)

110 Kindly move "Before The Golden Age" from anthologies to collections.

Posted by: Java Joe at June 26, 2022 09:38 AM (VsPm9)
---
BZZZ! Sorry, that is incorrect!

Before the Golden Age is an anthology of stories written in the 1930s, edited by Asimov. Features some great stories by Edmond Hamilton and one of my all time favorites by Clifford D. Simak, "The World of the Red Sun." Has an awesomely dark twist at the end...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (K5n5d)

111 Hey y'all

Posted by: Nearsighted Cyclopes at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (4TZI4)

112 Kindly move "Before The Golden Age" from anthologies to collections.

Posted by: Java Joe at June 26, 2022

***
Isn't that an anthology of various authors who wrote before the Golden Age of SF, edited by Asimov, and not a collection of his own stories?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (c6xtn)

113 Lurking Author: I'm Seamus, I'm a Lurking Author

Not that I'm cynical or anything but someone should write a 'bot to search for "long time lurker" authors and find out how many different places they lurk.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:43 AM (nfrXX)

114 Greetings:

Sunday morning coming down.

Maple syrup: Warmed, chilled, or room temp ???

Posted by: 11B40 at June 26, 2022 09:43 AM (uuklp)

115 Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 09:39 AM (kXYt5)

heh

You should copy and paste this every Sunday on the emt at 0859 eastern, Doc.

uncanny but not really

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 26, 2022 09:43 AM (cknjq)

116 Mightn't a short omnibus be more apt for a group of Morons?

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 09:44 AM (kXYt5)

117 Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon"!

Perfessor, I zoomed in on your pic of the stacks. Looks to me like the Black Wings of Cthulhu, edited by Somebody or Other, is not a collection of Lovecraft's own work and should be in the Anthologies stack?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:41 AM (c6xtn)
----
DING, DING, DING!

We have a winner!

Go to the window to collect your 500 Quatloos, my good reader!

Yes, it's an anthology of stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos, edited by S.T. Joshi.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:44 AM (K5n5d)

118 > My other favorite short story writer was Saki, AKA HH Munro ... many of whose stories had a memorable punchline.

The Shartz-Metterklume Method

https://tinyurl.com/schartz

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 09:45 AM (bW8dp)

119 Two SF writers who are really good short story writers but nobody knows it: Harry Turtledove and George R.R. Martin. Seriously! I remember being sad when Martin started his giant tiresome War of the Roses With Dragons series because that meant he quit writing shorts.

And Harry Turtledove is great at short fiction. Useful rule of thumb: if there's an SF story you remember vividly but can't recall the author of, it's by him.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 26, 2022 09:45 AM (QZxDR)

120 So, anyway, I'm on page 142 of 195 pages and I'm gonna finish reading it because I'm a Lunkhead !

It seems there is an Elvis impersonator Named Orion who wears a mask and sounds like Elvis and that there are TWO Orions and I suspect the author is going to postulate that they are in reality Elvis and his twin brother Jesse who died at birth but didn't really die and that Elvis didn't die either !

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:45 AM (arJlL)

121 One of my favorite short stories, and I cannot remember the name, appeared in an anthology edited by Alfred Hitchcock, I think it was.

Summary: Drunk staggers into police station. Asks cops if it's possible to get so blackout drunk, one wouldn't remember killing someone. Cops investigate. Turns out wife had killed lover, but, blamed it on drunken husband.

Final line, wife screaming at husband, "You don't really care, you're just trying to get rid of me!"

Husband, to wife, "You're beginning to get the idea."

(as near as I can remember. Always struck me as amusing)

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (5pTK/)

122 Most of my reading this week was about the use and maintenance/restoration of traditional hand tools.

Titles and authors, please? I used to have a copy of Dunbar's book but I haven't seen it since two moves ago.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (nfrXX)

123 Re "Town Where No One Got Off"

Nope, not a ghost story at all, and not fantasy or science fiction, but creepy as hell all the same. It may have originally been published in one of the pulp mystery magazines, but I'm too lazy to look up the citation right now.

The Ray Bradbury Theater series did an adaptation of it with Jeff Goldblum, and that's well worth checking out too.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (JzDjf)

124 I like Larry Niven's Flatlander (The Collected Tales of Gil "The Arm" Hamilton). It's a collection of S/F detective stories based on an idea that as he says is "is terrifyingly and uncomfortably real". That idea being: There is a shortage of transplantable organs; people disappear, capital crimes are increased to solve that problem. His term for that is "organlegging".

The stories have all the pleasures of the detective story combined with a psychokinetic element thrown in for fun, all in a future with too many people and asteroid mining. . . .

Posted by: yara at June 26, 2022

***
I know the Gil Hamilton Tales, but "Flatlander" is from the later Known Space period, from the Neutron Star collection. Beowulf Shaeffer is the hero and narrator. It is one of LN's finest stories. In fact I have a copy of the original If magazine publication, with some pen-and-ink illustrations and a few small differences in text from the paperback edition.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (c6xtn)

125 I read Catch -22 in high school, thought it was a great book, seen the movie a few times well after but it's nor as good.

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:33 AM (2JoB

---
Not a fan. It's too slapstick for my tastes. I prefer Evelyn Waugh's approach in Sword of Honour, which goes for more absurd but plausible jokes. For example, no one believes the Air Force would bomb its own base.

However, you can believe that the makeshift headquarters for HOO (Hazardous Offensive Operations, itself a joke) is built in and around plaster dinosaur skeletons in a museum that couldn't be feasibly moved or stored elsewhere.

Plus, Waugh's just such a great writer.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (llXky)

126 The best short story that has never been written: The Giant Rat of Sumatra.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (eGTCV)

127 Maple syrup: Warmed, chilled, or room temp ???
Posted by: 11B40 at June 26, 2022 09:43 AM (uuklp)
-----------

Yes.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 09:47 AM (5pTK/)

128 There once was a lurking author named Seamus...

Posted by: Wannabe limerick writer at June 26, 2022 09:47 AM (zxfvR)

129 > which unfortunately he turned into the poor film Maximum Overdrive

There are multiple examples of this. King's own adaptation of The Shining sucks rocks compared to the brilliant Kubrick film.

"More accurate to the book" is not always a good idea. Books and films are different media.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (bW8dp)

130 "Miss Gentilbelle," by Charles Beaumont is topic. A single mother forces her son to live as a girl. It ends well -- well it ends.

Posted by: Marooned at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (w6hJ9)

131 Black Wings of Cthulhu would be a great name for an evil scout troop.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:42 AM (Dc2NZ)
---
Didn't they do a tour with GWAR?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (llXky)

132 Speaking also of Larry Niven: I have a copy of one of his early stories, "By Mind Alone," in a 1966 issue of If. It's a teleportation story, one that has never been collected that I know of . . . and it has one of the most vivid and shattering climaxes in all of his work.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (c6xtn)

133 Warmed !

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (arJlL)

134 We're discussing short stories and no one has mentioned Encyclopedia Brown? Or, "The Mad Scientists Club?"

Who are you people?

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 09:40 AM (5pTK/)

I read the Brown stories, and the Henry Reed stories and some others, but for some reason I just can't remember most of what I read as a kid. Except for Holmes. A lot of classics, but I know many of the ones mentioned here I never read. Not interested in fantasy stuff, or most sci-fi except for Star Trek.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (7bRMQ)

135 Twain wrote a lot of short stories. I have a collection around here somewhere. One of them was about a guy who gets talked into buying a burglar alarm system by a door to door salesman, which not only does not stop the burglars, but it gets stolen too!

I think the frog jumping contest story was the one that really got him noticed . A lot of those stories are still really funny. One of my favorites tells about when Twain became the editor of an agricultural newspaper, but didn't know the first thing about agriculture.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (vrz2I)

136 And Harry Turtledove is great at short fiction. Useful rule of thumb: if there's an SF story you remember vividly but can't recall the author of, it's by him.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 26, 2022 09:45 AM (QZxDR)
---

I didn't know he wrote short stories. I've read a lot of his alternate histories and the Volcano trilogy but I thought he just wrote seemingly endless series.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:49 AM (Dc2NZ)

137 Conrad has an unusual number of detractors, including Nabokov, far exceeding the quality of his work. The only thing that makes sense to me is Rooskie/Pole animosity.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:50 AM (y7DUB)

138 19 ... "Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?"

This used to happen all the time. But the local library system (and nearby) seldom have titles or authors I'm looking for, at least in physical, killed a tree, editions. Historical accounts, full of maps, footnotes and illustrations, require a real, hold-in-your-hands book. E-books just don't work for that.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 09:50 AM (7EjX1)

139 I replace the switch in my Harbor Freight electric impact wrench last week. Does that qualify?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 26, 2022 09:50 AM (zxfvR)

140 Just for completeness, the Chinese had a pretty interesting "craft" gun manufacturing system going, with hand made pistols on a lot of different designs, made individually. You can find a lot of one offs with really odd mix of design features.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 09:37 AM (xhaym)
---
Historic Investments (which now has a somewhat uneven youtube channel up) seems to have a good collection of "warlord pistols." Fascinating how the Chinese gunsmiths didn't really understand what they were building in many cases. I like the one serial number that kept popping up all over the place.

Whoever finds that original Browning will have discovered the craft pistol Ur-text.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (llXky)

141 For many years, there was a publisher that specialized in do-it-yourself books -- often reprints of books from the 19th and early 20th centuries, but sometimes original books.

I think they used to publish the Gingery metalworking books, which Gingery now publishes himself.

This publisher went out of business some years ago when the owner died or retired.

I'm drawing a blank on the name of the publisher. Anyone have it in the front of their mind?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (bW8dp)

142 Drifting off. I'll have to read this celebrated Thread later.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (Dc2NZ)

143 Hmmm. Maybe John Goodman for A Confederation of Dunces? I haven't read the book, but he seems in the same vein as Candy and Farley.

I've been reading A Church of Cowards by Matt Walsh. The beginning at least is an excellent calling-out of our culture.

Posted by: Catherine at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (ZSsrh)

144 Finally finished The War of Wars: The Epic Struggle Between Britain and France 1793-1815 by Robert Harvey.

It is a topic I wanted to know more about. Even at 962 pages, it moves at a fast pace. But it reads like People Magazine covers the entire period. A lot on personalities & who slept with who -- appears that there was a lot of sleeping around. Limited analysis, and full of strong opinions from the author.

The reason it took so long is I would read a couple of pages and fall asleep. So this is an extremely valuable book.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (u82oZ)

145 Well, off to a family gathering today, so can't hang around - will make sure to look at the comments and recommendations later.

Isaac Bashevis Singer's short work ain't too dusty either.

Bests to all.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 26, 2022 09:52 AM (JzDjf)

146 The best short story that has never been written: The Giant Rat of Sumatra.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (eGTCV)
---
I actually have a novel length version: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by Alan Vanneman.

It's in my TBR pile. Found it on a community bookshelf outside the English department where I work.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:52 AM (K5n5d)

147 The best short story that has never been written: The Giant Rat of Sumatra.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022

***
In Fantasy and Science Fiction in the '70s, though, Reginald Bretnor (? I think) wrote a pastiche of a Holmes tale in which the protagonist -- never named, but it's clear to us that he is Holmes -- battles a giant rat creature in the South Seas. It was the cover story, and pictured the Giant Rat in all its glory. Darned if I can be sure of the author, or the title, but I know I read it and it was fun.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (c6xtn)

148 Elmore Leonard wrote some short stories.....

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (arJlL)

149 Heresy here: I think it was an entirely reasonable thing to leave Bombadil out of the film version of LOTR. The Scouring of the Shire should've been left in, though, at least as a montage sequence or something.

Me, I think Tolkien stuck in the Bombadil stuff when he was just starting out and was worried he wouldn't have enough material. :-)

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (bW8dp)

150 When is a piece of prose no longer considered a short story?

Charteris once wrote that his Saint novelettes -- 10 chapters -- could be read in one sitting, "while waiting for the wife to put on her hat."

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 09:54 AM (Om/di)

151 I actually have a novel length version: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by Alan Vanneman.

Read it sometime and review it. Please and thank you.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:54 AM (eGTCV)

152 'Night Eris. Sleep well !

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:55 AM (arJlL)

153 Two of my favorite short stories.

The Star by Arthur C. Clark.
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick.

I liked them for the same reason; because they blew my mind (and my mind is my second favorite organ to be blown).

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Summer Of Our Discontent! at June 26, 2022 09:55 AM (FVME7)

154 The reason it took so long is I would read a couple of pages and fall asleep. So this is an extremely valuable book.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 09:51 AM (u82oZ)
-------------

I want to say the French upper class, circa mid 1700's, it was the fashion to have a mistress or two.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 09:56 AM (5pTK/)

155 Elmore Leonard wrote some short stories.....
Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (arJlL)

--------------------

You don't say?

Posted by: Raylon Givens at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (5pTK/)

156 I have written a book about one of the many topics that all of you like-minded fine folks talk about. None of you know me, because I have never bothered to engage in any discussions here. Please buy my book.

Group:. Meh! We've all read the section on "Ways to Market Your Book". What else ya got?

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 09:39 AM (kXYt5)
---
LOL. The thing is, if you are writing a book people care about, the reason to talk about it is that people can get you extra sources and may know a few things.

Long Live Death would be a much weaker book - heck, I might not have written it - without Moron input! I'm not the only Moron author who uses the power of the Horde to help with concepts, edits, etc.

Several 'rons have reached out to me as test readers and I am very grateful because this latest one is going to be a beast to edit. Lurkers, do yourselves a favor and get talking!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (llXky)

157 We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick.

Another perfect short ruined by movieization and novelization (in that order this time, I think).

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (nfrXX)

158 I know the Gil Hamilton Tales, but "Flatlander" is from the later Known Space period, from the Neutron Star collection.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:46 AM (c6xtn)

----------------------

Not to disagree w/the comment, but "Flatlander.(The Collected tales...)" is the title of the Kindle book I've got. I'll have to look up the Neutron Star Collection.

Posted by: yara at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (hBsVD)

159 I think the frog jumping contest story was the one that really got him noticed . A lot of those stories are still really funny. One of my favorites tells about when Twain became the editor of an agricultural newspaper, but didn't know the first thing about agriculture.
Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (vrz2I)

I used to leave near a largely French town that called their annual town fair Frog Follies. The highlight was a frog jumping competition.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (eGTCV)

160 After that slog, reread my favorite Terry Pratchett Diskworld novel Going Postal. Still great.

Dawnman Planet, the final Section G, United Planets story by Mack Reynolds was the last one. My Ace paperback is falling apart, but reading it today, I will not replace it with a better copy. The story is slight and dated to my older eyes.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (u82oZ)

161 Speaking also of Larry Niven: I have a copy of one of his early stories, "By Mind Alone," in a 1966 issue of If. It's a teleportation story, one that has never been collected that I know of . . . and it has one of the most vivid and shattering climaxes in all of his work.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:48 AM (c6xtn)

---
FOUND IT!

https://archive.org/details/1966-06_IF/page/n1/mode/2up

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 09:58 AM (K5n5d)

162 I also highly recommend Jack Schaefer's "Sergeant Houck," one of the great Western short stories. Schaefer's tremendous literary skill and storytelling are both on display. A film was made out of it, Trooper Hook in the '50s with Joel McCrea in the title role, and they did a pretty good job with it. But the original is fine stuff.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:58 AM (c6xtn)

163 Famous Jewish Athletes was always my favorite short story.

Posted by: Early Bird Special at June 26, 2022 09:59 AM (Nqs/a)

164 Could The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury be seen as a collection of short stories?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:59 AM (eGTCV)

165 Conrad has an unusual number of detractors, including Nabokov, far exceeding the quality of his work. The only thing that makes sense to me is Rooskie/Pole animosity.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 09:50 AM (y7DUB)
---
Ford Madox Ford was a big fan and collaborated with hi. And yes, Nabokov's axe seems to have been envy rather than quality.

Conrad's prose is great and he's also writing in a third language, which is amazing.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:00 AM (llXky)

166 Fritz Leiber - "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes"

Leiber's father, also Fritz, played Julius Caesar in the 1917 Theda Bara epic Cleopatra and had Jr on-set one day, where the younger Leiber met Bara. He later said her eyes always stayed with him and later gave him the idea for the story.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 10:00 AM (2JVJo)

167 Elmore Leonard wrote some short stories.....
Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (arJlL)

--------------------

You don't say?
Posted by: Raylon Givens

LOL !!!

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 10:00 AM (arJlL)

168 I don't care if anybody wastes their money on an electric car or anything else. My problem is with the suspension of common sense in favor of a lefty nitwit scheme of control based on climate change nonsense. My freedom is being taken away by people who hide behind faulty "science".

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 10:00 AM (vrz2I)

169 Could The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury be seen as a collection of short stories?
Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 09:59 AM (eGTCV)
---
Yes, of course! I have an omnibus that contains three of his collections: The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and The Golden Apples from the Sun.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:01 AM (K5n5d)

170 I've taken up Richard B. Frank's Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire.

-
I quite liked Frank's Guadalcanal. It was comprehensive and objective.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Summer Of Our Discontent! at June 26, 2022 10:01 AM (FVME7)

171 Goodman's way too old to play Ignatius Reilly. The character's in his early thirties, at most.

Seems like a lot of producers interested in the project can only think of fat guys, even if they're unsuitable for the role of Ignatius.

Belushi might have done it -- he was a good actor when he bothered to be. But Ignatius isn't a gonzo "wild man" type. He's an annoying, patronizing know-it-all who isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

John Candy's characters all have too much earnestness and good-naturedness. He would have been terrible. Ditto Chris Farley.

Anybody know of an actor who could be properly annoying but still sympathetic to the audience?

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 26, 2022 10:01 AM (QZxDR)

172 That there ain't no ordinary frog, no siirree! That's the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. You just don't eat a frog like that all at once!

/Owner of a one-legged frog

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:01 AM (kXYt5)

173 Another perfect short ruined by movieization and novelization (in that order this time, I think).
Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 09:57 AM (nfrXX)
--------------

Yeah, the short story is actually somewhat amusing.

I remember watching the movie, not knowing it was based off the short story, and, realizing part way through, it was a very badly done ripoff of the short story.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 10:02 AM (5pTK/)

174 FOUND IT!

https://archive.org/details/1966-06_IF/page/n1/mode/2up

This* place is amazing. Is a list of TBR links the 21st century version of a TBR stack?

* by which I mean this place, not the one linked to, which also looks pretty cool

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 10:02 AM (nfrXX)

175 blake - semi lurker in marginal standing

Napoleon's wife Josephine, took a handsome Hussar lieutenant, Hippolyte Charles as a lover just after the honeymoon, and also took him along as she traveled with Napoleon in Italy. Awkward.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 10:02 AM (u82oZ)

176 Favorite non-speculative fiction short story: "The Girl-Friend" by P.G. Wodehouse. An absolute gem of characterization and fun. (Note: not the kind of girlfriend you take on dates. She is a literal little girl and befriends the foggy gardening enthusiast the Earl of Emsworth).

For science fiction, my favorite is "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper. Not only does it use Real Science to solve the problem, the main character is a woman and uses her brain to achieve her goal. And this was a Golden Age SF story! But then Piper didn't care much for liberal idiocy. Every one of his characters was real, regardless of melanin level or dangly bits. Also I love a good logic puzzle. On Mars.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at June 26, 2022 10:02 AM (t0O2k)

177 I believe that The Complete Sherlock Holmes should be in Omnibuses.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (LJSpF)

178 @135 --

Yes, Twain's "How I Edited an Agricultural Newspaper" is a fun story.

In that same vein, try "Journalism in Tennessee."

The jumping frog story got Twain noticed, but it never did anything for me.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (Om/di)

179 Thanks for the Book Thread Perfesser !

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (arJlL)

180 Heresy here: I think it was an entirely reasonable thing to leave Bombadil out of the film version of LOTR. The Scouring of the Shire should've been left in, though, at least as a montage sequence or something.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 09:53 AM (bW8dp)
---
The problem was not what Jackson took out, but what he put in. You cut all his crap about orc origins, the b.s. Eowyn flirtation, elves at Helm's Deep and you find space to include some of those items.

As for Bombadil, he's enigmatic and also foreshadows the Ents (Old Man Willow) as well as the Unseen (Barrow Wights). The Barrow Wight alone is reason to keep him in - arguably the scariest scene in the whole book.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (llXky)

181 One short story, which has stuck with me for years and still sticks with me is -

"Mimic" by Donald A Wollheim.

I read it long and ago and far away when I was somewhere in the teens and it just blew my mind.

Though very different, they used this short story to "inspire" the movie, "Mimic".

The short story is a sort of creepy mystery with a shocking reveal that's no longer shocking given the prominence of the movie "Mimic".

And the end hints at a much larger hidden world than does the movie. The short story is superior to the movie, however without the surprise it might seem dull to some/most.

However, for me, "Mimic" still rattles around upstairs and inspires me(writing-wise).

Posted by: naturalfake at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (5NkmN)

182 That there ain't no ordinary frog, no siirree! That's the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. You just don't eat a frog like that all at once!

/Owner of a one-legged frog
Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:01 AM (kXYt5)
---
At the risk of angering PETA, we should put the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County in a cage match with the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka and the Hypnotoad (ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!)

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (K5n5d)

183 One of the extra values on this week's book thread will be the reminders of short story authors I love but forgot to mention. Best example so far: Sgt. Mom bringing up Rudyard Kipling. His Jungle Book tales are always a pleasure.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 10:04 AM (7EjX1)

184 > b.s. Eowyn flirtation

? Eowyn absolutely did have a thing for Aragorn in the books.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:04 AM (bW8dp)

185 > The Barrow Wight alone is reason to keep him in - arguably the scariest scene in the whole book.

Eh... would be more effective if (say) Frodo got his courage up, seized the blade, and drove off the wight himself.

As it is, Bombadil is just a deus ex machina savior. Not once, but twice.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (bW8dp)

186 I believe that The Complete Sherlock Holmes should be in Omnibuses.
Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 10:03 AM (LJSpF)
---
I suppose there's an argument to be made there, so I can award you partial credit (100 quatloos). Collect your winnings at the window.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (K5n5d)

187 151 I actually have a novel length version: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by Alan Vanneman.

I just found it as a free pdf.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (eGTCV)

188 I also highly recommend Jack Schaefer's "Sergeant Houck," one of the great Western short stories. Schaefer's tremendous literary skill and storytelling are both on display. A film was made out of it, Trooper Hook in the '50s with Joel McCrea in the title role, and they did a pretty good job with it. But the original is fine stuff.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 09:58 AM (c6xtn)

A Century of Great Western Stories is waiting for me at the library. Also ordered a Hopalong Cassidy story to see how Mulford wrote.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (7bRMQ)

189 FOUND IT!

https://archive.org/details/1966-06_IF/page/n1/mode/2up
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022

***
Yes, that's it!

Does that archive have F & SF magazines from the '70s? I recall a quiet and sad little tale of a superhero (name never given, but clearly it's Superman) whose day has passed; either people no longer believe in him, or the need for his kind of heroism is gone. He even has trouble flying short distances now or using his other powers. But I can't recall the title or the author!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:06 AM (c6xtn)

190 Anybody know of an actor who could be properly annoying but still sympathetic to the audience?

Jack Black? Tilted way more to the annoying side IMO but I don't hate him in everything.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 26, 2022 10:06 AM (nfrXX)

191 Isaac Bashevis Singer's short work ain't too dusty either.

Gimpel the Fool is a fine short story; one of many.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 10:07 AM (y7DUB)

192 Eowyn absolutely did have a thing for Aragorn in the books.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:04 AM (bW8dp)
---
And it was entirely unrequited. In the movie he very obviously flirts with her and oh, there's a stupid CGI-heavy scene with Wargs where he goes off a cliff. Cut that out and you have more room for material central to the story.

Seriously, Jackson cut the spectacle of the Out Companies marching into Minas Tirith for that???

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:07 AM (llXky)

193 Does that archive have F & SF magazines from the '70s? I recall a quiet and sad little tale of a superhero (name never given, but clearly it's Superman) whose day has passed; either people no longer believe in him, or the need for his kind of heroism is gone. He even has trouble flying short distances now or using his other powers. But I can't recall the title or the author!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:06 AM (c6xtn)
----
This archive seems to be pretty comprehensive. You'll probably just have to wade in there and see if you can find it. I was only able to find the story you referenced because you gave excellent details.

If you can't recall the author, title, or magazine, that will be a challenge!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:09 AM (K5n5d)

194 Conrad writes amazing stories in the most cumbersome way imaginable.

Posted by: Catherine at June 26, 2022 10:09 AM (ZSsrh)

195 151 I actually have a novel length version: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra by Alan Vanneman.

I just found it as a free pdf.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (eGTCV)
---
The internet is awesome!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:10 AM (K5n5d)

196 This archive seems to be pretty comprehensive. You'll probably just have to wade in there and see if you can find it. I was only able to find the story you referenced because you gave excellent details.

If you can't recall the author, title, or magazine, that will be a challenge!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022

***
I will have to poke around in there. The name "Sterling Lanier" caught my eye; he might have been the one who wrote the Giant Rat of Sumatra Holmes pastiche I mentioned above.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:11 AM (c6xtn)

197 As it is, Bombadil is just a deus ex machina savior. Not once, but twice.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM (bW8dp)
---
No, you're missing the point. Bombadil's first rescue informs us about Ents (sentient trees) and also the fact that he has considerable power over nature. He then instructs the Hobbits in the long history of evil that he himself is restraining. Their security is fragile - see also Scouring of the Shire.

The second time Frodo is saved not by the power within him, but because he utters "holy words" calling for aid (see also the name of Elbereth).

Both of these incidents - showcasing Bombadil's power - then are an essential part of the Council of Elrond. If Bombadil can't stop Sauron, no one can.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:12 AM (llXky)

198 > oh, there's a stupid CGI-heavy scene with Wargs where he goes off a cliff.

That scene wasn't very good, granted.

But I don't think the Out Companies marching into Minas Tirith would be any more effective. It would just be one more confusing scene of marching warriors in a movie that already has far too many of them (it was one of the first major motion picture where they could easily clone thousands of characters, and by God they were going to take advantage of it).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:12 AM (bW8dp)

199 Conrad writes amazing stories in the most cumbersome way imaginable.

Posted by: Catherine at June 26, 2022 10:09 AM (ZSsrh)
---
It varies with topic. Some are very slow.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:13 AM (llXky)

200 The Ray Bradbury Theater series did an adaptation of it with Jeff Goldblum, and that's well worth checking out too.

holy hell Just Some Guy! thank you for this!

I'll just point to Neil Gaiman's best short stories since I'm the Black Orchid (his version) after all:

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
Feeders and Eaters

JG Ballard has a lot of incredible short stories as well.

Posted by: BlackOrchidOfDerp at June 26, 2022 10:14 AM (w0NJk)

201 > No, you're missing the point. Bombadil's first rescue informs us about Ents (sentient trees) and also the fact that he has considerable power over nature.

Then the character is completely abandoned for the rest of the book, except for the mention at the Council of Elrond.

Chekov's gun.

> Both of these incidents - showcasing Bombadil's power - then are an essential part of the Council of Elrond.

I'm pretty sure that everyone there already knew Sauron was a badass.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:15 AM (bW8dp)

202 But I don't think the Out Companies marching into Minas Tirith would be any more effective. It would just be one more confusing scene of marching warriors in a movie that already has far too many of them (it was one of the first major motion picture where they could easily clone thousands of characters, and by God they were going to take advantage of it).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:12 AM (bW8dp)
---
The point of that scene is to build tension and let you know how serious everything really is. Jackson makes it a cartoon - look at goofy Pippin setting off the war beacons because Denethor is an idiot! HAHAHA.

Destroys any sense of realism. Really, the strongest citadel of the West is too stoopid to ask for aid?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:15 AM (llXky)

203 Anybody know of an actor who could be properly annoying but still sympathetic to the audience?
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 26, 2022

***
Tim Curry could have done it, played Ignatius. Of course he's gone now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:15 AM (c6xtn)

204 We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick.

Another perfect short ruined by movieization and novelization (in that order this time, I think).
Posted by: Oddbob

Dick, in particular, seems to have suffered from this syndrome.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Summer Of Our Discontent! at June 26, 2022 10:16 AM (FVME7)

205 > look at goofy Pippin setting off the war beacons because Denethor is an idiot!

Denethor was an idiot.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:16 AM (bW8dp)

206 Or to phrase it another way:

The Hero Frog

There once was a farmer named Muntz
Had a three-legged frog that did stunts
"That frog saved my life,
So for me and my wife
We can't eat him up all at once!"

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:16 AM (kXYt5)

207 The best ghost short story is -

"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by MR James.

It's the only ghost story that actually ran a chill up my spine and caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.

Hopefully, you can find a version that doesn't have an illustration that spoils the reveal.

BONUS! MR James wrote a bunch of very good ghost stories should you enjoy the story above.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 26, 2022 10:16 AM (5NkmN)

208 I read cloud castles as recommended
Very good I gave to my wife who
was laughing out loud while reading
Thanks

Posted by: vizzy at June 26, 2022 10:17 AM (R/9t3)

209 Dick, in particular, seems to have suffered from this syndrome.

hmm and JG Ballard.

I think that funnyish guy who got kicked off of Silicon Valley could give Ignatius a shot?

Posted by: BlackOrchidOfDerp at June 26, 2022 10:18 AM (w0NJk)

210 The whole point of Book V is the growing tension.

Pippin arrives in the sunshine, but the city is already on edge. Refugees are pouring out of the city, which is under strict rationing. Then, near sunset, the armies arrive, diverse, distinct, showing that this is the Last Stand of the West. Yet there aren't enough.

Then the Darkness falls. The Causeway Forts are taken in the gloom, Faramir is stricken and now all seems lost.

Jackson reduced that to a punchline, threw CGI trolls in to make it even dumber, capping things off with the Scrubbing Bubbles of Doom and Luke Skywalker Legolas taking out an AT-AT on a surfboard.

I despise those movies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:18 AM (llXky)

211 My favorite short story is Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation." It's a retelling of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, set in 1950s Georgia, with a comical cast of characters. In the end, Mrs. Turpin, the "Pharisee," gets whacked upside the head with a message from the Holy Spirit to be better. This story doesn't have the violence or the shock factor that O'Connor is known for.

Posted by: Linnet at June 26, 2022 10:19 AM (JFiF/)

212 OK, folks, going to try to enjoy this sunny day without getting blackout drunk. See you later.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 10:20 AM (2JVJo)

213 Denethor was an idiot.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at June 26, 2022 10:16 AM (bW8dp)
---
He's a very tragic figure, a strong, intelligent man who is pitted against an unimaginable evil. He's a cautionary tale as well and a contrast to the goodness of Faramir.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:21 AM (llXky)

214 Lloyd: Destroys any sense of realism.

******

I LOL'ed

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:21 AM (kXYt5)

215 I completely forgot one of my favorite short story authors: O'Henry.

How can one not like, "The Ransom of Red Chief?"

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 10:22 AM (5pTK/)

216 The best ghost short story is -

"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" by MR James.

It's the only ghost story that actually ran a chill up my spine and caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. . . .

BONUS! MR James wrote a bunch of very good ghost stories should you enjoy the story above.
Posted by: naturalfake at June 26, 2022

***
It is terrific! I have it in an Alfred Hitchcock anthology from the late '40s called Fear and Trembling. And James's "Casting the Runes" is the basis for that top-notch supernatural film of the '50s, Curse of the Demon.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:23 AM (c6xtn)

217 One short story of Ray Bradbury's that I loved as a teenager, and has stayed with me ever since, is "Frost and Fire" - his story of a people who have crash-landed on a planet whose radiation speeds up the cycle of life to a mere seven days. A classic not just of sci-fi, but of American literature.

Posted by: Nemo at June 26, 2022 10:23 AM (S6ArX)

218 I have enjoyed some short stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle, he is a prolific author, both novels and shorts. I need to keep a dictionary nearby when I read his prose.

Thanks for another great book thread, Perfessor.

Posted by: Debby Doberman Schultz at June 26, 2022 10:23 AM (a4EWo)

219 Ahoy book nerds!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 26, 2022 10:24 AM (qz+ox)

220 Tim Curry could have done it, played Ignatius. Of course he's gone now.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:15 AM (c6xtn)

---------------------------

It's true! I read it on the internet!

Posted by: No One of Consequence at June 26, 2022 10:25 AM (CAJOC)

221 I LOL'ed

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:21 AM (kXYt5)
---
LotR works because it is so grounded in reality. The 'secondary world' isn't arbitrary.

Jackson's films make it arbitrary. Random things happen for random reasons.

Jackson also sought to strip as much spirituality as he could from the films, something he openly admitted.

Like an orc, Jackson doesn't believe people could really be that noble, so - like an orc - he wrecked what he could that demonstrated it.

Which is ironic, because Tolkien got to visit Mordor, saw the orcs face to face. But he also found grace, which is why his work continues to resonate.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:27 AM (llXky)

222 209 Dick, in particular, seems to have suffered from this syndrome.

hmm and JG Ballard.

I think that funnyish guy who got kicked off of Silicon Valley could give Ignatius a shot?
Posted by: BlackOrchidOfDerp at June 26, 2022 10:18 AM (w0NJk)

--------------------------------

TJ Miller?

Posted by: No One of Consequence at June 26, 2022 10:27 AM (CAJOC)

223 Tim Curry could have done it, played Ignatius. Of course he's gone now.

He's still alive. Had a stroke a while back and has to use a wheelchair, but still alive.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at June 26, 2022 10:27 AM (Bd6X8)

224 I completely forgot one of my favorite short story authors: O'Henry.

How can one not like, "The Ransom of Red Chief?"

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 10:22 AM (5pTK/)
---
"Gift of the Magi," a Christmas classic.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:29 AM (llXky)

225 There is a neat werewolf short called "The Kill" by Peter Fleming (possibly Ian's writer brother?) in the AH anthology Bar the Doors. And a later anthology, Stories for Late at Night, contains the creepiest and most disturbing short story in my experience, "The Cocoon" by one John B.L. Goodwin. I know nothing about him or if he published anything else, but this one tale is very memorable.

Oh, and there's "How Love Came to Professor Guildea," to be found in the AH anthology Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV. You will never regard a parrot the same way again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:29 AM (c6xtn)

226 How can one not like, "The Ransom of Red Chief?"

*********

I always liked that one. So much so that I riffed off of it as the basis for one of the chapters outlining one possible scenario that might explain the curious disappearance in "The Curious Disappearance of Seamus Muldoon"

R.I.P Jack G.

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 10:29 AM (kXYt5)

227 I have enjoyed some short stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle, he is a prolific author, both novels and shorts. I need to keep a dictionary nearby when I read his prose.

I saw him speak at John Carroll University once. He's a pretty funny guyS

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 10:30 AM (y7DUB)

228 One source of good short stories can come from established novel authors. Spencer Quinn (Chet and Bernie), James Rollins, and Preston and Child (Pendergast series) periodically put out short stories about their characters, ebook format only.

The early MASH books, especially "MASH Goes to Maine" and "MASH Mania" are a set of short stories linked by some common characters. They vary from funny to poignant (sometimes both) and make me wish Richard Hooker had written more of them.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 10:30 AM (7EjX1)

229 TJ Miller?

yeah maybe?

just the first actor that is around the right age who sprung to mind

he does a lot of voice work now and does well enough at that that I think he's a better actor than he's been allowed to be ... of course I think he's been "cancelled"

Posted by: BlackOrchidOfDerp at June 26, 2022 10:31 AM (w0NJk)

230 "Gift of the Magi," a Christmas classic.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:29 AM (llXky)
------------

They both gave up that which they dearly loved for the person they loved dearly.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 10:32 AM (5pTK/)

231 Speaking of Tolkien, Unfinished Tales is a neat collection and discussion of various minor works of his relating to Middle Earth.

It's also the perfect nightstand book for when you want something light to help you doze off.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:33 AM (llXky)

232 I an reading the "Blood Trials" by NE Davinport. Review. Udder Dreck and waste of paper. The first two chapters give a good hook, but it is all down hill from there.

Posted by: Picric at June 26, 2022 10:34 AM (mHQ1C)

233 Just finished Christopher DiGrazia's second Theda Bara book, "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of". Enjoyed the first book a lot and this one as well, she's filming Cleopatra and a deadly mystery follows Theda and her sidekick Toby. Very well written dialogue and characters, enjoy traveling back in time to the filming of silent movies. There is a hint at the end the series might continue, which I would welcome.

Posted by: waelse1 at June 26, 2022 10:35 AM (pNeon)

234 Greetings:

I like big books.

Posted by: 11B40 at June 26, 2022 10:36 AM (uuklp)

235 How can one not like, "The Ransom of Red Chief?"

***
Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans are a pretty literate bunch, and the fan writers have a lot of clever ideas. One fan fiction story modeled on RoRC features 3 Thrush agents who kidnap the big boss, Mr. Waverly, and wish they hadn't.

(There's also a very funny fan piece called "Things U.N.C.L.E. Staff Are Not Permitted to Do," in the form of a memo from Mr. Waverly to the agents and staff. Example: "Staff files are not to be used as dating tips, Mr. Solo!")

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:37 AM (c6xtn)

236 My favorite short story is "Senses Three and Six", by David Brin, which comes from a collection of his short stores called "The River Of Time". I've probably read it fifty times.

Posted by: Nancy at 7000 ft at June 26, 2022 10:37 AM (0tmoY)

237
It's also the perfect nightstand book for when you want something light to help you doze off.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Are you suggesting it is a sure cure for insomnia?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 10:38 AM (ZoUbb)

238 I forgot to mention, I don't think I really truly appreciated, "The Ransom of Red Chief" until my kids became teenagers.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 10:39 AM (5pTK/)

239 Are you suggesting it is a sure cure for insomnia?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 10:38 AM (ZoUbb)
---
It is relaxing rather than soporific.

Many's the time that I need something to quiet the mind, especially in today's world. What better way to do that than read Tolkien's essay on the Battles of the Fords of Isen? Or Gandalf's version of the events in the The Hobbit?

It's a neat window into Tolkien's creative process and it's grouped into bit-sized pieces perfect for bed time.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:41 AM (llXky)

240 'True Tales of the DCI', Karl W. Detzer; he was a US Army criminal investigator during WWI and immediately afterward into 1919. His stories are about US soldiers getting into trouble and committing crimes, and they're fascinating.
One story, 'The Guilty Party', has stuck with me since I read it when I was maybe 12. There's a murder in it that is simply mind-blowing.
They're presented as fiction, and they might be fictionalized, but honestly they're too crazy to be made up!

Posted by: LenNeal at June 26, 2022 10:44 AM (U11/V)

241
Many's the time that I need something to quiet the mind, especially in today's world. What better way to do that than read Tolkien's essay on the Battles of the Fords of Isen? Or Gandalf's version of the events in the The Hobbit?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

If I pick up a book to read until I am tired I look up and it is 2 or 3:30am.
This was an almost nightly occurrence in HS when I had to be at school at 7:45am. I wasn't ever late.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 10:45 AM (ZoUbb)

242 I don't think a movie of Confederacy of Dunces would work, better off left on paper. Belushi ight have pulled off a credible Ignatius, John Candy would be a good choice, as well. Chris Farley would have failed. In my opinion he;s the least talented and least funny of all three. His only talent was for low-brow slapstick. Not that there's anything worng with that.

Surprised it took to comment 135 for someone to mention my favorite Mark Twain. He wrote some of the best short fiction. Eve's Diary, The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyville, My Military Campaign, Punch, Brothers Punch.

Posted by: who knew at June 26, 2022 10:47 AM (4I7VG)

243 I have some science fiction anthologies, such as "The Hugo Winners" from many years ago. I also have "Before the Golden Age" which I see in your stack.

I have a collection of Arthur C. Clarke, "The Wind From the Sun. The lead story was originally published in Boy's Life in the early 1960s under the title "The Sunjammer". It's about a race in solar sailing, small capsules attached to massive polymer sails powered in space by the solar wind. The ending, like most of Clarke's work, is bittersweet but the story is captivating. It is the story that got me hooked on science fiction.

Posted by: George V at June 26, 2022 10:48 AM (ugbqN)

244 I read Summer of Night and A Winter Haunting both by Dan Simmons. Summer of Night is about a group of kids in Illinois in 1960. It's like a Stephen King story (but way better). I would recommend it just for the descriptions of what it's like to be an 11 year old boy in summer. A Winter Haunting takes place in the same town in Illinois but 30 years later. It was okay, but summer of Night was way better.

Posted by: prophet of the group W bench at June 26, 2022 10:48 AM (s37kI)

245 Most of The Bible is written in short story form.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 26, 2022 10:48 AM (cknjq)

246 122 ... "Most of my reading this week was about the use and maintenance/restoration of traditional hand tools.

Titles and authors, please? I used to have a copy of Dunbar's book but I haven't seen it since two moves ago."

Oddbob,

Here are a few I found helpful.
"Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings" by Aldren A. Watson
"The Handplane Book" by Garrett Hack
"The New Traditional Woodworker" by Jim Tolpin
"Hand Tool Basics" by Steve Branam
There are also several tons of good YT videos on the matter.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 10:50 AM (7EjX1)

247 One of my favorites is the SF short story. The Weapons Shop" by A. E. van Vogt. Iron-clad defense of the right to armed self-defense

Reality is not so safe against infringement.

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 10:50 AM (1G6jP)

248 No one has mentioned the short stories by Ellery Queen. The cousins who wrote under that pen name and about Ellery Queen the detective issued a number of collections, often with a theme (Calendar of Crime, for instance, has 12 stories, one for each month of the year). Of al their shorts I'd say the best are:

"The Lamp of God," really a novelette, a mind-blowing impossible crime;
"The Mad Tea Party," literally Ellery in Wonderland;
"Mind Over Matter," a boxing-oriented story that contains the quintessential Ellery dialog exchange;
"The Dauphin's Doll," another impossible crime tale.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:51 AM (c6xtn)

249 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Is there anyone that doesn't do this? LOL

Posted by: Tonypete at June 26, 2022 09:09 AM (Msys3)

Me, I don't do this. Haven't seen the inside of a library in probably 30 years.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 10:52 AM (VwHCD)

250 My favorite short story is Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation." It's a retelling of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, set in 1950s Georgia, with a comical cast of characters. In the end, Mrs. Turpin, the "Pharisee," gets whacked upside the head with a message from the Holy Spirit to be better. This story doesn't have the violence or the shock factor that O'Connor is known for.
Posted by: Linnet at June 26, 2022 10:19 AM (JFiF/)

Love that story. O’Connor left this vale of tears all too soon.

Posted by: 7man at June 26, 2022 10:52 AM (qwO6y)

251 I went back to reading a book about the early silk road. We're near the end of this book: in the Roman era, and the book went off on a long aside about what the Romans imported from the Parthian empire (Iran and its surroundings). Mostly they imported crystal--quartz and similar minerals--to be carved into goblets, wine decanters, and other such implements. Now I want to dive down a youtube-rabbit-hole on how you actually go about carving quartz into goblets and such....

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 26, 2022 10:53 AM (92RsY)

252 My two favorite sci-fi short stories:

"The Man Who Lost the Sea" by Theodore Sturgeon. Beautiful use of language (once every few years I pull it off the shelf and read it aloud to myself). There's an excellent audio version read by the actor Anson Mount on the otherwise irritating "Escape Pod" podcast. I think they have the text there, too.

"Second Person, Present Tense" (can't recall the author). A perfectly crafted story of a subject that fascinates me, the nature of identity and consciousness. Available online.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at June 26, 2022 10:54 AM (5YmYl)

253 Speaking of short stories, I've been reading Sabrina Chase's Heroes and Rogues collection this week. Ripping good stuff!

I first got into reading SF by reading the short stories in Omni magazine as a teenager. (I was a western reader before that.) I discovered a lot of great writers through Omni - Orson Scott Card, Poul Anderson, Ben Bova, Fred Saberhagen, and more.

Posted by: DIY Daddio at June 26, 2022 10:55 AM (RJscS)

254 As for my man Rex Stout, he didn't write short stories about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. There were novels and ca. 20K-word novellas that stand by themselves and were collected into their own volumes, then reappeared in the omnibus volumes with two of the novels. If you want to count the novellas, then try:

"Die Like a Dog"
"The Gun With Wings"
"Disguise for Murder"

All 3 have some of Stout's best *mystery* plotting -- clever surprises and solutions, I mean.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 10:55 AM (c6xtn)

255 Conrad's prose is great and he's also writing in a third language, which is amazing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 10:00 AM (llXky)

Yes and his grasp of British culture and ethos is impressive too. Times have changed. I recall his works such as Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness were required reading in high school.

Posted by: 7man at June 26, 2022 10:57 AM (qwO6y)

256 Bobo's Star by Glenn Chandler was a SF short story my fifth grade students read. I won't say I enjoyed it but I still remember it. It was just funny enough to keep the kids interested, and the ending was unexpected. We had many good discussions at the end of that book.

Posted by: Mrs. Leggy at June 26, 2022 10:57 AM (Vf4Y7)

257 Walking the dogs, I've been listening to audio books. Unfortunately, I have had to give up on educational reading. Just too many distractions to concentrate, so I'm sticking to entertainment reading

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 10:58 AM (1G6jP)

258 As far as SF goes, read Arthur C Clarkes "The Nine Billion Names of God" when I was a mere lad and I can still retell the tale, and on occasion I do.

Posted by: who knew at June 26, 2022 10:58 AM (4I7VG)

259 My Dad, who escaped reform school when he was about 14 and hobo-ed till he joined the CCC at 16 , became a reader late in life. I have a well worn copy of "Lydia Bailey" by Kenneth Roberts. He read that multiple times. Never figured him for a romantic. I think I'll crack it open and re-read it myself. Better than "Friends" re-runs.

Posted by: Javems at June 26, 2022 11:01 AM (AmoqO)

260 recall his works such as Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness were required reading in high school.
Posted by: 7man at June 26, 2022

***
In my jr. year in HS, our required novel one semester was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. After slogging my way through Conrad's HoD a few years ago, I realize how lucky I was not to have been force fed that.

If I were asked to teach English lit, I'd start with Jackson, and then lighten up with Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Thursday by Steinbeck.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:01 AM (c6xtn)

261 Funny, I just got done re-reading the first Amber series by Zelazny.

One of my favorite fantasies of all time.

Highly recommended.

Posted by: TANSTAAFL at June 26, 2022 11:02 AM (WVJo4)

262 Love warm caramel over buns and crack.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at June 26, 2022 11:02 AM (zKECv)

263 Back in chair on deck, reading the rest of the day

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 11:03 AM (2JoB8)

264 I read "Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli" by Mark Seal. The past few weeks, I'd been seeing ads for "The Offer", a mini series detailing the making of " The Godfather", kvetching because I don't subscribe to the streamer showing it. Then the reviews started rolling in, panning it. A couple reviewers recommended "Leave the Gun". It was a quick, fun read that left me wondering how come Francis Ford Diploma did not wind up in a looney bin. Excellent documentation.

Many years back, I read a series of three books by a British author named Alison Taylor. Somebody said something that triggered a couple of my surviving brain cells, and I looked them up on Amazon. Turns out, there were actually five in the series, but only three had been released here in the U.S. Amazon was selling all five for around $15, so I grabbed them. These are police procedures set in Wales in the 1990s. I had forgotten how absolutely grim and bleak they were. They spend a lot of time trawling through the slums of Wales, depicting generational lives of poverty and governmental dependency. The books are very British, meaning some inconclusive endings and a lot of navel gazing.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at June 26, 2022 11:03 AM (H31K8)

265 Stirling the little black kitten has abandoned his spot on the couch to go do kitten things.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:04 AM (c6xtn)

266 If I were asked to teach English lit, I'd start with Jackson, and then lighten up with Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Thursday by Steinbeck.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:01 AM (c6xtn)

Yes Conrad, true to his period, wrote with a dense prose.

Posted by: 7man at June 26, 2022 11:05 AM (qwO6y)

267 "Who are some of your favorite short story authors? Why do you enjoy them so much?"

I have a Kindle version of Dostoevsky's short stories. I love his writing, in that there is a kindness to it. Characters emerge, behave in ways that I, as an American, find strange, and by the end of the story I feel connected to them.

What I don't love is the Kindle, and if I wasn't such a cheapskate, I'd buy the real copy of the book, rather than let the Kindle and the rest of the stories collect dust.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:06 AM (47mFt)

268 Have been reading Sailing Made Easy, the textbook for the ASA101 sailing course 15 y/o Daughter and I are taking this weekend in St. Augustine, FL. She just bested me on the test (she got a 98%, I got 96%), and now we are about to take a 34 foot sailboat out onto the ocean with our instructor and two other students.

Big fun.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 26, 2022 11:07 AM (aotk2)

269 Here's a book that needs to be published before the author "dies by suicide."
The Black Book of Elite Perverts" by Ghislaine Maxwell.

She's on "suicide, or is it Arkancide watch."

https://tinyurl.com/ycxhnz8n

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:07 AM (7bRMQ)

270 After slogging my way through Conrad's HoD a few years ago, I realize how lucky I was not to have been force fed that

-----

Forced to read Ivanhoe,.David Copperfield and others. I'll grant that I was too immature to appreciate theitrrature and simy do the resting, I hated that

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 11:09 AM (AaHNT)

271 She's on "suicide, or is it Arkancide watch."

https://tinyurl.com/ycxhnz8n
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:07 AM (7bRMQ)

You laugh, but do you know what Hillary had to do to get approved for that watch job?

Posted by: Boswell at June 26, 2022 11:10 AM (5iUNf)

272 There was a book recommended here a few months ago, I think from a list of moron authors. It was a sci-fi. I can't remember the name, and barely remember the details. There was a dude, maybe ex military, or cop that was picked for some mission to do some damn thing. The guy had a sketchy history, but they wanted him. there might have been some technology involved. I wanted to read it, it looked good, but I can't remember what book it was.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 11:11 AM (VwHCD)

273 If I were asked to teach English lit, I'd start with Jackson, and then lighten up with Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Thursday by Steinbeck.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:01 AM (c6xtn)
---
I think the point of English literature used to be to expose children to various forms and styles of writing. At first I was lukewarm to Conrad, but once I 'got' his writing style, I became a big fan.

Sometimes it isn't about what the kids like, it's what they *should know*. Embracing this mentality is how we end up with such monumentally ignorant voters.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:11 AM (llXky)

274 An interesting short story I read for one of my college classes: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Kind of creepy, but enjoyable. It is supposedly one that the feminists like, but I liked it in spite of that, lol.

Her med doc husband locks her in a room to treat her "temporary nervous condition" and she keeps a journal.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1952

Posted by: Bonnie Blue - no longer playing the game at June 26, 2022 11:12 AM (gao0c)

275 Big fun.

Posted by: Sharkman at June 26, 2022 11:07 AM (aotk2)

I took an introduction to sailing class at a community college. I only missed one class. The one where someone brought a boat so we could see in person what the books were talking about.

Missed opportunity. Now there's nothing around for that here, and no money any more anyway....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:12 AM (7bRMQ)

276 Too immature to do the READING

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 11:12 AM (AaHNT)

277 Here's a book that needs to be published before the author "dies by suicide."
The Black Book of Elite Perverts" by Ghislaine Maxwell.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:07 AM (7bRMQ)

No no, perfessor asked to make this a thread about short stories. So instead we need to have published the book of elites who are NOT perverts.

Except, you know, it would be hard to find a publisher who'd be willing to publish a book they ain't in.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:12 AM (47mFt)

278 Short stories:

Nobody mentioned Just So Stories by Kipling yet?

My own favorite is Shirley Jackson, of The Lottery and Life Among the Savages. Her prose is so carefully crafted for sneak-up-behind-you-and-smack-you-upside-the-head, it is poetry.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 26, 2022 11:13 AM (MIKMs)

279 Favorite short stories: The Lady, or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton; The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Required reading in junior high and/or high school so many years ago. All were good for English class discussions (drew most kids in to the conversations) & fine examples of good short story writing. (They held our attention and were/are timeless.)

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 11:13 AM (NIYa7)

280 Hi fellow book lovers.
Don't have much to contribute as I sent two unfinished books back to the library with no thought about ever finishing them. By two well known authors who I fear have lost their way.
Wanted to alert the horde to a new Prime series starting 7/1, The Terminal List by Jack Carr starring Chris Pratt. (Who is still one of my favorite actors even though I just watched the second Jurassic movie).
I read the book a while back and although had a lot of gun trivia which at the time I did not understand was a riveting story. Think I will reread.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 26, 2022 11:14 AM (Y+l9t)

281 This reminds me - I need to buy Evelyn Waugh's short stories.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:14 AM (llXky)

282 An interesting short story I read for one of my college classes: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Kind of creepy, but enjoyable. It is supposedly one that the feminists like, but I liked it in spite of that, lol.

Her med doc husband locks her in a room to treat her "temporary nervous condition" and she keeps a journal.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1952
Posted by: Bonnie Blue - no longer playing the game at June 26, 2022

***
I've seen that story "interpreted" and anthologized separately as a feminist screed, as a straight supernatural story, and as a portrait of mental illness. Amazing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:15 AM (c6xtn)

283 Perfessor,
Thanks. The book thread is always a highlight of my weekend but today's is even more of a gem. And it won't cost a fortune since I have many of the suggested short story authors already.

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (7EjX1)

284 I think the point of English literature used to be to expose children to various forms and styles of writing. At first I was lukewarm to Conrad, but once I 'got' his writing style, I became a big fan.

Sometimes it isn't about what the kids like, it's what they *should know*. Embracing this mentality is how we end up with such monumentally ignorant voters.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022

***
Possibly. But let's not throw them into the deep end of the pool right away!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (c6xtn)

285 Sometimes it isn't about what the kids like, it's what they *should know*. Embracing this mentality is how we end up with such monumentally ignorant voters.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:11 AM (llXky)

Like the Gods of the Copybook Headings.

Posted by: 7man at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (qwO6y)

286 There was a book recommended here a few months ago, I think from a list of moron authors. It was a sci-fi. I can't remember the name, and barely remember the details. There was a dude, maybe ex military, or cop that was picked for some mission to do some damn thing. The guy had a sketchy history, but they wanted him. there might have been some technology involved. I wanted to read it, it looked good, but I can't remember what book it was.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 11:11 AM (VwHCD)
---
Oh yeah, that one. I remember it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (llXky)

287 16 Hey, does anybody else get a stack of books from the library, but then decide to read something that's been gathering dust on your shelves for years?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster

Heh
Happens a lot

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 26, 2022 11:18 AM (kf6Ak)

288 Required reading in junior high and/or high school so many years ago. All were good for English class discussions (drew most kids in to the conversations) & fine examples of good short story writing. (They held our attention and were/are timeless.)

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 11:13 AM (NIYa7)

We don't want that stuff anymore!!!!!!1

We only want stories about our sturggles to b quer and of colored so the rest of yu can be as miser...mizer... angry as us!!!

Posted by: Fat, Purple Hair, Pierced, LesBi, Theythems at June 26, 2022 11:19 AM (7bRMQ)

289 A long time back, I read "And lead us not into temptation" by one Jason Berry. It was all about "Pedophile Zero" and how the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church broke loose and became public. I wasn't sure how much I remembered except I recognized the name Gilbert Gauthe when I came across it, but "Ray Mouton" escaped me.

Years after reading "And lead us not ..." I came across "In God's House" by one Ray Mouton. I started reading: it's a novel about the sexual abuse scandals in the Church. In the meantime, I had become Catholic. I looked up Ray Mouton when I was about halfway through this book and found that he was the attorney from Louisiana who took on the first sexual abuse case involving a priest, and it ruined his life.

I do know that having perverts in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is disturbing and it has to always be in the back of the minds of all parents in the church but (a) Catholics have no monopoly on sexual abusers and (b) I love my church and believe in its doctrines and dogmas on which the sexual abuse scandals have no bearing. I love our parish priests but I do not trust bishops, not one bit.

Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:19 AM (3qAOE)

290 Possibly. But let's not throw them into the deep end of the pool right away!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (c6xtn)
---
High school students should be able to handle Conrad or Dickens etc.

I remember the reaction in English class when people realized that those Bugs Bunny cartoons with the snowman were parodying The Grapes of Wrath.

"Wow, you mean those are more than kids' shows???"

We actually had a society that threw literary references into pop culture as an afterthought.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:20 AM (llXky)

291 He is talking to the stupid part of the World.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at June 26, 2022 11:21 AM (zKECv)

292 Oh yeah, that one. I remember it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:17 AM (llXky)

Yeah exactly, lol. I think it was on one of Perfessor's first book threads. If anybody knows the date he started doing the book thread I can probably find it in the archives.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 11:22 AM (VwHCD)

293 I do know that having perverts in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is disturbing and it has to always be in the back of the minds of all parents in the church but (a) Catholics have no monopoly on sexual abusers and (b) I love my church and believe in its doctrines and dogmas on which the sexual abuse scandals have no bearing. I love our parish priests but I do not trust bishops, not one bit.
Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:19 AM (3qAOE)

There isn't a single institution in this world where sexual abuse isn't possible, and unfortunately, the ones that have access to children, tend to have abuse of children (and the subsequent cover up of said abuse) as part of their hierarchy.

So anyone who thinks it's just those darned Catholics, they're deluding themselves.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:24 AM (47mFt)

294 We actually had a society that threw literary references into pop culture as an afterthought.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:20 AM (llXky)
--------

And classical music.

Posted by: bluebell at June 26, 2022 11:24 AM (aeePL)

295 Morning Hordemates.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 26, 2022 11:25 AM (anj39)

296 I do know that having perverts in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is disturbing and it has to always be in the back of the minds of all parents in the church but (a) Catholics have no monopoly on sexual abusers and (b) I love my church and believe in its doctrines and dogmas on which the sexual abuse scandals have no bearing. I love our parish priests but I do not trust bishops, not one bit.

Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:19 AM (3qAOE)
---
Some years back Pope Emeritus Benedict wrote about this and how it is now clear that the pedophile priests were not weak individuals, but a concerted effort to infiltrate and discredit the Church. There had been whispered references to a Lavender Mafia in the seminaries but those responsible exploited the language of "homophobia" to silence their critics.

If you look at the Church today, you see how different it is in terms of attitude towards doctrine and the type of men going into seminaries.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:25 AM (llXky)

297 Morning Hordemates.
Posted by: Diogenes at June 26, 2022 11:25 AM (anj39)
-------

*hands Diogenes coffee*

Posted by: bluebell at June 26, 2022 11:25 AM (aeePL)

298 And, finally, I will add Stephen Crane to the great short stories list. The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky and The Blue Hotel are classics. While I never wrote anything I often thought that if I was a writer, I would want to write like Crane.

Posted by: who knew at June 26, 2022 11:25 AM (4I7VG)

299 I read Heart Of Darkness because I wanted to not because I had to. It was way after I saw Apocalypse Now but that was not the reason I read it either. I did know the connection though.

I didn't find it a slog and finished it pretty quickly. Another up the river story. Worth reading I guess.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:26 AM (vrz2I)

300 I read Ray Bradbury The October country
Delightful

Posted by: vizzy at June 26, 2022 11:27 AM (R/9t3)

301 Yeah exactly, lol. I think it was on one of Perfessor's first book threads. If anybody knows the date he started doing the book thread I can probably find it in the archives.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 11:22 AM (VwHCD)
---
My first Sunday Morning Book Thread was on Feb 20, 2022.

You might want to check the Moron Recommendations I've compiled on the Libib page: https://www.libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel/l/1384512

It'll probably be quicker than going through the archives on AoSHQ

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 11:27 AM (K5n5d)

302 I forgot to thank the good perfessor for the thread.

Thanks, perfessor!

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (5pTK/) at June 26, 2022 11:27 AM (5pTK/)

303 I love my church and believe in its doctrines and dogmas on which the sexual abuse scandals have no bearing. I love our parish priests but I do not trust bishops, not one bit.
Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:19 AM (3qAOE)

----

This hits close to home since my HS in Chicago had one of the abusive priests who happened to teach my music class. I was never molested but other k
guys were not so lucky.

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 11:28 AM (OOUsj)

304 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:28 AM (Zz0t1)

305 Print is dead.

Posted by: Egon Spengler at June 26, 2022 11:29 AM (Zz0t1)

306 I collect spores, molds and fungus.

Posted by: Egon Spengler at June 26, 2022 11:29 AM (Zz0t1)

307 I expect to come back to the thread later tonight, after all the comments have been posted. I'm going to make a list of short stories and authors; everything from Mark Twain to Man From UNCLE fan fiction and Ellery Queen. I have copies of many of them, certainly Twain, but haven't read them for decades.

Another TBR pile. SIGH!

Posted by: JTB at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (7EjX1)

308 I have a number of "Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year" collections, with some truly amazing stories in them. Of these, I think my favorite is "To Bring in the Steel" by Donald Kingsbury, from the 1978 collection.

It tells the story of a renaissance man named Meddrick Kell, who is astoundingly competent with everything but people. Meddrick is denied his wish to bring his daughter to live on the asteroid he's mining. The loophole is that he can bring his daughter as long as he also brings a governess to take care of her.

In revenge for being denied, he chooses Lisa Maria Sorenti to be the governess. Lisa is a famous, um, courtesan who Meddrick judges will bring chaos to the asteroid as she works her magic on the men and women doing the work.

Lisa is a woman who has tremendous skill at people, but wants to be competent at something else, and doesn't have a clue how. The mining company offers her an amazing amount of money to go to the asteroid and work her magic, but only on Mr. Kell, and only if they bring in the steel.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (LJSpF)

309 I collect spores, molds and fungus.
Posted by: Egon Spengler at June 26, 2022 11:29 AM (Zz0t1)
-------------

Oh, tell me more!

Posted by: Annie Potts at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (5pTK/)

310 " I collect spores, molds and fungus."

Ever heard of a shower?

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (vrz2I)

311 Sponge Brain Poopy Pants slurred his way though that rant!

Posted by: Mean Tweets at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (e7jyQ)

312 Pudding head is giving a speech on the G7 Partnership for Infrastructure. Of course, we're all in to these public/private programs: Vaccine development; digital investment programs; gender; climate & energy. And these are "some of which are in store"...

This isn't aid or charity, it's investments...

-----
But thread related: Ronald Dahl short stories, too. Tales of the Unexpected, Book of Ghost Stories and so many more!

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 11:30 AM (NIYa7)

313 We actually had a society that threw literary references into pop culture as an afterthought.

In 30 years, the references will all be to Beavis and Butthead, and Spongebob.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:31 AM (/NCI4)

314 I had that ANALOG best of science fiction book. Might still I don't know.

Posted by: banana Dream at June 26, 2022 11:31 AM (0fVbu)

315 Morning Hordemates.
Posted by: Diogenes a
-------
*hands Diogenes coffee*
Posted by: bluebell

*******

*Scratches Diogenes*

Posted by: Muldoon at June 26, 2022 11:32 AM (kXYt5)

316 I suppose there's an argument to be made there, so I can award you partial credit (100 quatloos). Collect your winnings at the window.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 26, 2022 10:05 AM

Ooh! I got quatloos!

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 11:33 AM (LJSpF)

317 We started going through the boxes of my mom's stuff yesterday. I know she loved to cook, but she's amassed a thousand cookbooks, I swear.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:33 AM (Zz0t1)

318
Ooh! I got quatloos!
Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 11:33 AM (LJSpF)

If you're not allergic, get a penicillin shot immediately.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:34 AM (Zz0t1)

319 Does anybody else remember the Tarzan comic strip characters that were basically big heads with arms and legs sticking out of them? I thought they were the Onoeos or something like that but can't find them anywhere.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:34 AM (vrz2I)

320 We started going through the boxes of my mom's stuff yesterday. I know she loved to cook, but she's amassed a thousand cookbooks, I swear.

I've tried, unsuccessfully, to get my wife to pare down her enormous collection of cookbooks. If she actually used them, that would be one thing, but she doesn't really like cooking, and only consults a handful, usually for baking.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:35 AM (/NCI4)

321 Does anybody else remember the Tarzan comic strip characters that were basically big heads with arms and legs sticking out of them? I thought they were the Onoeos or something like that but can't find them anywhere.

I don't remember them, but I remember the Schmoos in Lil Abner. That body form was the template they used for Hillary.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:37 AM (/NCI4)

322 OT, but I have to leave in a minute. Perfesser Squirrel, the ESO guild name is AOSHQMoronHorde.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 26, 2022 09:10 A

Holy crap! There's a Moron Guild?!?!

I am a very bad team player, being on a PS4 with no headset or keyboard. Rotten Collarbone's stupid dog has killed me 5 times in the Clockwork City.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 26, 2022 11:37 AM (/+bwe)

323
And classical music.
Posted by: bluebell

Whispers "Leopold"...

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 11:37 AM (ZoUbb)

324 B.C.? Not Tarzan but cavemen?

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 11:39 AM (NIYa7)

325 I think my favorite short story writers are GK Chesterton, Dashiell Hammett, Fritz Lieber, and Rudyard Kipling. I enjoyed the Poirot TV shows, but cannot enjoy or finish any of Agatha Christie's longer Poirot stories. They just go on too long with a tremendous amount of irrelevant padding in my opinion. But her short stories are okay.

Louis L'Amour wrote a ton of short stories for magazines etc but while they are okay reading, they aren't very engaging.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:40 AM (llsW/)

326
We started going through the boxes of my mom's stuff yesterday. I know she loved to cook, but she's amassed a thousand cookbooks, I swear.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:33 AM

look for the ones from various churches..."First Baptist Church of Pigs Knuckle Ladies Cookbook" or some such. they have the bestest recipes

avoid the Lutheran or Methodists ones though; I mean, how many different ways can you suspend shredded carrots in jello?

*ducks & runs away*

Posted by: AltonJackson at June 26, 2022 11:40 AM (ENBF0)

327 Does anybody else remember the Tarzan comic strip characters that were basically big heads with arms and legs sticking out of them? I thought they were the Onoeos or something like that but can't find them anywhere.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:34 AM (vrz2I)

That's strange. They should be easy to spot looking like that.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:40 AM (7bRMQ)

328 That body form was the template they used for Hillary.
Posted by: Archimedes

They had to multiply each schmoo by 1000x to get her body type right.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 11:41 AM (ZoUbb)

329 I grew up on Asimov's fiction and non-fiction
I know he's not great in character development, but the creativity! The collected stories in I,Robot (forget the movie) are great.

And when he wrote that he taught himself to type I was inspired to get a typing book to do the same (in HS).

f-r-f. d-e-d j-u-j k-i-k. Repeat

Posted by: JM in Florida at June 26, 2022 11:41 AM (2h5OL)

330 I'm listening to How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler. The concept of listening to that books is ironic, I admit.

Anyhow he recommends reading works of fiction in a single go, if at all possible--so as best to keep the theme together in your mind.
I tend not to do that.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:41 AM (eGTCV)

331 There isn't a single institution in this world where sexual abuse isn't possible, and unfortunately, the ones that have access to children, tend to have abuse of children (and the subsequent cover up of said abuse) as part of their hierarchy.

So anyone who thinks it's just those darned Catholics, they're deluding themselves.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:24 AM (47mFt)
---
There's a certain irony in how the enemies of the Church went from: "Catholic priests are grooming your kids!" to "there's nothing wrong with US grooming your kids!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:43 AM (llXky)

332 Thank you for all your work Perfessor another excellent book thread.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 26, 2022 11:44 AM (ZoUbb)

333 Whelp, set the wife off for the week. She is an amateur genealogist and grave sleuth, mostly for her own family lines. I was mowing the lower pasture around the old farmhouse, progressively lowering the mower deck over the past few months as there is hidden trash and rocks to uncover and clear. Made it down to 2 1/4 yesterday and uncovered 3 rectangular slabs about the size of headstones behind the house. One is etched in the initials of the original property owner from the 1800s.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at June 26, 2022 11:44 AM (Wx49j)

334 I actually like anthologies because if I don't like a particular story, there's always the next. Maybe I'll like that one. You can find new authors that way. I remember discovering Lois McMaster Bujold in one of the "There Will Be War" books.

I don't like omnibuses because, since they're all about completeness, a lot of the time there are stories in there that are, um, not of the highest possibly quality and reading one often turns into a slog. I suppose they could work as a reference work where you just ignore the stories you don't like.

Collections are hit or miss. As an example, I love the Asimov's collections a lot better than his novels, but others not so much.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 11:44 AM (LJSpF)

335 I would buy an EV in a Miata configuration to get around the city. I would of course retain my gas powered vehicles.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at June 26, 2022 11:45 AM (b9Rih)

336 I've tried, unsuccessfully, to get my wife to pare down her enormous collection of cookbooks. If she actually used them, that would be one thing, but she doesn't really like cooking, and only consults a handful, usually for baking.
Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:35 AM (/NCI4)

I also have a bunch of cookbooks I hardly ever use. They were mostly gifts (is someone trying to tell me something?) It's just easier to look up recipes online, IMO.

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 26, 2022 11:45 AM (DgWEj)

337 avoid the Lutheran or Methodists ones though; I mean, how many different ways can you suspend shredded carrots in jello?

*ducks & runs away*

Posted by: AltonJackson at June 26, 2022 11:40 AM (ENBF0)

Hmph. You must be reading ELCA cookbooks. LCMS uses cottage cheese in lime jello.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (7bRMQ)

338 Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:24 AM (47mFt)
---
There's a certain irony in how the enemies of the Church went from: "Catholic priests are grooming your kids!" to "there's nothing wrong with US grooming your kids!"
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:43 AM (llXky)

To quote Paul Joseph Watson, "It's ok when WE do it!"

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (47mFt)

339 There's a certain irony in how the enemies of the Church went from: "Catholic priests are grooming your kids!" to "there's nothing wrong with US grooming your kids!"

The desperate focus away from how those priests were all homosexuals grooming young teens is amazing to watch as well.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (llsW/)

340 I have this book "International Relations Through Science Fiction". 1978. I don't remember where I got it but it looks to be maybe used as a schoolbook.

It's an anthology of short stories by Clarke (Superiority), Herbert (Committee Of The Whole), Bova (Men Of Good Will), Poul Anderson (I Tell you, It's True), and others. It's intent is, I suppose, as indicated by the title, but it's a loose and frayed thread, depending on the viewpoint of the reader.

There is another book "Criminal Justice Thru Science Fiction" but I don't have that one.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (vrz2I)

341 Time to go to Mass! Thanks again "perfesser"!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (llXky)

342 Made it down to 2 1/4 yesterday and uncovered 3 rectangular slabs about the size of headstones behind the house. One is etched in the initials of the original property owner from the 1800s.

Perhaps a boundary marker. Regardless, very cool.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (/NCI4)

343 I do now have the biggest collection of cast iron cookware I've ever seen.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:46 AM (Zz0t1)

344 N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench

Glad you decided to keep posting. I like your posts.

Wanted to ask you what you thought of the new P.I election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. since you spent some time there.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:47 AM (u82oZ)

345 Other things I learned was my parents divorce was NASTY. She kept all the paperwork. What a terrible read that was.

She got scammed my Nigerian princes more than once.

She also had a pen pal right around the time of the divorce that was, well, steamy, I guess. Wife stopped reading and left that for me to go through. There were a LOT of letters.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (Zz0t1)

346 Anyhow he recommends reading works of fiction in a single go, if at all possible--so as best to keep the theme together in your mind.
I tend not to do that.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:41 AM (eGTCV)

That's what I did reading the Zane Grey book. One sitting, 311 pages. Took me about six hours to finish.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (7bRMQ)

347
Wanted to ask you what you thought of the new P.I election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. since you spent some time there.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:47 AM (u82oZ)

I need to ask my Filipino friends.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (eGTCV)

348 I prefer cookbooks over looking something up online, because I can keep a book open by the stove or on the counter and not worry particularly if it gets wet or dusted with flour, etc. Plus, the text is easier to read than on a phone.

Print is almost always better than digital for research.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:49 AM (llsW/)

349 Finished "What Stalin Knew - The Enigma Of Barbarossa" by David Murphy. Murphy is a former intel guy who took advantage of the temporary opening of many Soviet archives in the 90s to delve into the intelligence information seen by Stalin and the senior leadership in the years leading up to June 22, 1941.

It's very well done, and interesting, though nothing is very surprising to anyone familiar with Stalin's nightmarish regime of terror.

Stalin had a fixed preconception - that Germany would not attack the USSR until Berlin had vanquished the British - and he systematically dismissed as "provocation" (possibly by the capitalist British themselves) the unending stream of solid reporting about German preparation for Barbarossa.

Even when the intel became direct, and concretely military - the enormous build-up of German forces and materiel along the German/Soviet "border" in Poland, in Romania, even in Finland - the lame German explanations (avoiding British bombing, R&R for forces from western Europe) were accepted by Stalin. Or the direct observations and agent reports of the Soviet border guard districts were dismissed - or not passed up the chain.

(cont'd)

Posted by: rhomboid at June 26, 2022 11:49 AM (OTzUX)

350 {{{Jordan61}}}

Write your own cookbook, please:

Bacon Wenching for Fun and Profit.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:49 AM (u82oZ)

351
"I don't remember them, but I remember the Schmoos in Lil Abner."

These things were really nasty and ugly looking and lived as a tribe in the jungle. It would have been the Tarzan strips from early 50's maybe. Back when every panel was a beautiful and detailed drawing.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:50 AM (vrz2I)

352 Attorneys are making abuse claims / suits all about the money as they always do. They are going to turn it into #metoo with recovered memories and questionable accusations that will damage those with true claims.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at June 26, 2022 11:51 AM (b9Rih)

353 I don't remember them, but I remember the Schmoos in Lil Abner. That body form was the template they used for Hillary.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 26, 2022 11:37 AM (/NCI4)

If a Schmoo really loves you, it'll lay a cheesecake.

Posted by: BignJames at June 26, 2022 11:51 AM (AwYPR)

354 I like to check out anthologies from the library, particularly sci fi, because its
A) Short stories and I very rarely enjoy long form sci fi
B) A collection of authors so I can sample several and pick some that I like.

Oddly for someone who writes fantasy, I am not a fan of most sci fi and fantasy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:51 AM (llsW/)

355 Just finished "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," by Lynne Black. It's a memoir of the beginning of his second tour in Vietnam, this time with MACVSOG. A friend who also served with SOG recommended it, and loaned it to me.

It's hair raising and well written.

Posted by: Bones at June 26, 2022 11:51 AM (ef2DQ)

356 Bacon Wenching for Fun and Profit.
Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:49 AM (u82oZ)

Wait, there's supposed to be profit?!

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 26, 2022 11:52 AM (DgWEj)

357 Pleasing the boss is an inherent and constant issue in intelligence work. In Stalin's case, in 1940/41, the terror in which the entire administrative structure lived made this phenomenon an enormous problem. There was one head of military intel, Proskurov, who was a brave and principled guy, who never trimmed his sails. He lasted until summer 1940. His replacement was a compliant toady who simply edited out actual intel that didn't fit Stalin's fixed preconception of German intentions.

Appropriately enough, now starting "Stalin's War" by Sean McMeekin. Though I'll be alternating between that, and the bio of John Moses Browning, for variety.

Posted by: rhomboid at June 26, 2022 11:52 AM (OTzUX)

358 I would buy an EV in a Miata configuration to get around the city. I would of course retain my gas powered vehicles.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at June 26, 2022 11:45 AM (b9Rih)

I was thinking of doing that to my MGB. But, part of the joy is the sound. Sold it instead to another enthusiast. Couldn't afford to fix it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:52 AM (7bRMQ)

359 rhomboid

Did they mention Stalin's monomaniacal focus on killing Trotsky? I believe that was a major factor. He paid no attention to Germany.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:53 AM (u82oZ)

360
Wait, there's supposed to be profit?!
Posted by: Jordan61 at June 26, 2022 11:52 AM (DgWEj)

We benefit greatly getting to watch you saunter around in an apron spreading the bacon wealth around.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:53 AM (Zz0t1)

361 She also had a pen pal right around the time of the divorce that was, well, steamy, I guess. Wife stopped reading and left that for me to go through. There were a LOT of letters.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (Zz0t1)

Might just want to go ahead and throw those out.

Posted by: Jordan61 at June 26, 2022 11:53 AM (DgWEj)

362 She also had a pen pal right around the time of the divorce that was, well, steamy, I guess. Wife stopped reading and left that for me to go through. There were a LOT of letters.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (Zz0t1)

Your wife decided she didn't need to keep reading, and I commend her for it. Parents are fallible.

I should probably tell my mom, if she has any such letters, she should destroy them before she goes. But I don't expect there are. My dad once reluctantly admitted that women he saw in bra/swimsuit ads were nice to look at.

That's enough for me.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (47mFt)

363 I was planning on going to church but I have a flat tire. I think I can fix it but it will be too late for me to make it to church.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (eGTCV)

364 It was not entirely without justification to think that Hitler would deal with Great Britain before turning toward Russia. Its bad tactics to leave an enemy in your back yard before starting another huge campaign to defeat a gigantic enemy, and Hitler definitely had a serious hate for England after they rejected him and bombed his cities.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (llsW/)

365 I was planning on going to church but I have a flat tire. I think I can fix it but it will be too late for me to make it to church.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (eGTCV)

Church is where two or more people gather in the name of Christ.

I think you can do that and all will be well.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:55 AM (Zz0t1)

366 As usual, I comment and then I back up and read. MPPP's comment at 45 resonated chiefly because the very best picture I've seen of a Roe protest involved a little old lady holding a hanger. Alas, it was a plastic hanger, the kind that is at least 3/8" in diameter. I'm still giggling when I even think of it because the cervix that thing is going through is thoroughly misbegotten and mutated beyond any use at all. Goodness gracious, don't these people think?

Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:55 AM (3qAOE)

367
I always thought the fat dumb kid in the goofy hat that lusts after the French hottie in " Better off Dead" would make a great Ignatius.... he's probably too old now tho...

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (UoX9r)

368 EV Miata would probably add 500 lbs more or so. Like cramming Nadler in the passenger seat.

Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (vrz2I)

369 You'd have to be nuts to wear those pants.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (anj39)

370 Two flats in a short time?

Paisley already knows those new words.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (u82oZ)

371 I need to ask my Filipino friends.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:48 AM (eGTCV)

Wife voted for him. Don't know if he's anything like his daddy or not.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (7bRMQ)

372 My dad once reluctantly admitted that women he saw in bra/swimsuit ads were nice to look at.

That's enough for me.
Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (47mFt)

My dad's dad once gave him a copy of a porn movie for his birthday.....

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (Zz0t1)

373 I do not really cook if I can avoid it, but I have a nice little collection of rural church fundraising books - some with fabric covers made pretty by pinking shears. Interesting that so much is dependent on canned goods vs modern everything 'fresh'.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 26, 2022 11:57 AM (MIKMs)

374
I was thinking of doing that to my MGB. But, part of the joy is the sound. Sold it instead to another enthusiast. Couldn't afford to fix it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 26, 2022 11:52 AM (7bRMQ)

I could see myself buying an EV as a second or third car--but some cars just need to have that engine note.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (eGTCV)

375 Soon.

Sooner than we think.

Posted by: Last Days of the Republic at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (FlsAM)

376 360 Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

Shush. Don't stop the magic.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (u82oZ)

377 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes. As I expected, my local rag is absolutely unstuck concerning Roe, with screaming shrieks about coat hangers, anti-gay lynch mobs and the return of slavery. And if I had a dime for every dimwitted, constitutionally-ignorant "opinion" writer who started out with, "A right has been taken away. . ." I'd never have to work again.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 26, 2022 09:15 AM

Every conservative Republican should be reminding the nation, and especially the Black population, about the following:

#PlannedParenthood was originally called "#TheNegroProject" founded by #MargaretSanger, a white supremacist eugenicist who believed Black babies needed to be killed to preserve the white race. The #RoeVsWade ruling was a continuation of that program. But y'all "pro Black" tho.

When speaking to the KKK she gave a eugenics approach to breeding for "the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extinction, of defective stocks... those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of American civilization." Her words, HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

THREAD: https://bit.ly/39SGl37

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (Do5/p)

378 Thank you for the shout-out to Chaucer.
I once tried reading the Prologue to a bunch of fifth-graders to show them that human nature doesn't change much.
They much preferred the story of St. Thomas's martyrdom: "They killed him the church- Kewl!"

I'd add Ovid's The Metamorphoses, as they are little short stories.

Thurber wrote some good short stories. "The Greatest Man in the World" is a favorite- how celebrity is managed.

P.G. Wodehouse's Mr. Mulliner stories are uniformly excellent.

Posted by: sal at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (y40tE)

379 Ephraim Kishon's book, Look Back Mrs Lot is a very fun collection. It is set in Israel after statehood and ranks about the conflict between ancient traditions, current precedents and visions of a new future.
It is hair tearingly funny.

The title refers to the musing that if Lot's wife were to look back today she would only see the potash extracting factory that was running at a loss.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (xhaym)

380 Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:54 AM (47mFt)

My dad's dad once gave him a copy of a porn movie for his birthday.....
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (Zz0t1)

Don't kill me for making this joke, but....

Hopefully it wasn't a father/son incest film.

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 11:59 AM (47mFt)

381 Last Days of the Republic

pbho killed the Republic.

We ca try and get the band back together. Seems difficult.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 11:59 AM (u82oZ)

382 LOL Beavis and Butthead after being lectured on how they have white privilege:

https://youtu.be/r5Ayjnf0eqQ

The full sequence is even funnier, they are lectured by students about what "white privilege" is, and the teacher asks them if they will act differently now, Beavis says "I guarantee it"

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:59 AM (llsW/)

383 Thank you Perfessor, for another fabulous Book Thread.

Short stories are perfect for somebody like me who struggles to put a book down. It's always, one more chapter, one more chapter, and then nothing gets done or I go without sleep.

One of my favorite collections of short stories is With the Snow Queen by Joanne Greenberg who is probably best known for I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. Technically, the title story is a time travel novella, but all of the stories were thought provoking and contain characters I can sympathize with.

I am currently reading A Game of Thrones. My daughter had been begging me to read it for years and went and had a copy sent to my house. Of course I had to open it up to take a look and although I didn't expect to, I'm enjoying it. It is another one of those books I can't put down. And nothing is getting done again and I'm sleep deprived. Sigh.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at June 26, 2022 12:00 PM (ob77J)

384 Goodness gracious, don't these people think?

Posted by: Tonestaple at June 26, 2022 11:55 AM (3qAOE)

Think?! We don't need to think, that's hard. We let our glorious leaders do our thinking!

Posted by: These People at June 26, 2022 12:00 PM (7bRMQ)

385 BUCK IS NOOD

Posted by: Skip advising you of your Nood threads at June 26, 2022 12:01 PM (2JoB8)

386 I was once in a Bentley dealership for whatever reason when one of the salesmen started up one of those V-12s. I'm not a big car lover but that sound was like sex.
If I was in the market for a $300,000 car it would want it to sound like that--silence wouldn't be the same.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 12:01 PM (eGTCV)

387
The full sequence is even funnier, they are lectured by students about what "white privilege" is, and the teacher asks them if they will act differently now, Beavis says "I guarantee it"
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 11:59 AM (llsW/)

My bud saw it the other day. Says it's pretty funny. Starts strong, peters out in the middle a bit, but finishes reasonably strong.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 26, 2022 12:01 PM (Zz0t1)

388 When speaking to the KKK she gave a eugenics approach to breeding for "the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extinction, of defective stocks... those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of American civilization."

Some leftists refuse to believe that photo of her on a soapbox talking to Klan members is real. Sanger's only complaint about the KKK?

That they were too stupid to understand her.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:01 PM (llsW/)

389 Morning everyone!

Finished my friend's book, "Now I Understand You," her book of short essays about her life and dealing with anxiety.
And, I suppose, this gels with the short story topic today, as her essays are, in essence, a short story.
Highly recommend the book if you or a loved one has anxiety. The essays are written from a comedic perspective, but are touching at the same time.

Now I'm on the hunt for some books or info on retired MG Fox Conner- he was influential on coaching and mentoring Eisenhower and Marshall. Apparently he was a staff officer genius, so I'd really like to see what his methodologies were.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel, author of the military SCI FI series Outward Frontier on AMAZON at June 26, 2022 12:02 PM (prNjy)

390 One new (to me) thing in Murphy's book - the private letters between Hitler and Stalin. Only a few of Hitler's survived (in Soviet files), Stalin's were all destroyed by the Germans along with all similar materials, by Hitler's order (and no copies have been found in Soviet archives).

So the full story's a bit murky. Zhukov said that Stalin, in response to the mounting intel worries about German preparations (which the Red Army leadership took very seriously of course), finally one time showed him, in private, one of the letters, in which Hitler gave all the predictable assurances about his intentions.

The final letter has quite a story. A German Ju-87 aircraft was allowed to penetrate Soviet airspace and fly all the way to Moscow, then fuel and return, in May 1941. Obviously the skids here were greased by Stalin, but as usual he kept everything close-hold, so considerable consternation resulted on the military side over such a grievous breach of (weak) Soviet air defenses. The aircraft presumably delivered Hitler's final letter, of May 14.

Posted by: rhomboid at June 26, 2022 12:02 PM (OTzUX)

391 When speaking to the KKK she gave a eugenics approach to breeding for "the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extinction, of defective stocks... those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of American civilization." Her words, HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

THREAD: https://bit.ly/39SGl37
Posted by: Clyde Shelton at June 26, 2022 11:58 AM (Do5/p)

I love how people who are NOT rabid leftists will claim Sanger's words are taken out of context.

Well... in what context WOULD they be more acceptable to us?? How else are we to interpret them?

Posted by: BurtTC at June 26, 2022 12:02 PM (47mFt)

392 EV Miata would probably add 500 lbs more or so. Like cramming Nadler in the passenger seat.
Posted by: fd at June 26, 2022 11:56 AM (vrz2I)

I don't know if that much. The battery thus the range would be smaller. The Tesla model 3 battery weighs about 1000 lbs.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at June 26, 2022 12:03 PM (b9Rih)

393 I recently reread "For a Breath I Tarry" by Roger Zelazny and it was as good as I remembered. His "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" is fantastic, too.

When I was a kid, I thought Robert Frost wrote short stories. "The Witch of Coos" was spooky.

You know what short stories I hate? Hemingway's Nick Adams stories. Forced to read them as a kid. I remember the description of when Nick had sex with his buddy's sister and reneged on arranging for his own sister to get the business. Creepy Hemingway...

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 26, 2022 12:03 PM (/+bwe)

394 I was once in a Bentley dealership for whatever reason when one of the salesmen started up one of those V-12s. I'm not a big car lover but that sound was like sex.

Bentley focuses very hard on sensory experience. Like the doors being weighted in such a way they make that amazing sound then they close. How the seats feel. I mean they make solid mechanical cars (these days) but its a special focus on the experience.

I think they are one of the car manufacturers that pipe engine noise into the cabin through the sound system as well, to "sweeten" it. Because its so sealed and soundproofed inside.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:03 PM (llsW/)

395 Forgot to add the Miata engine weighs about 300 lbs.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at June 26, 2022 12:04 PM (b9Rih)

396 rhomboid

Letters between Stalin and Hitler? I knew they sorta admired each other's approach to power. But not letters. So WWII still has secrets. Cool.

Do not tell Dan Brown about this.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 12:05 PM (u82oZ)

397 Do not tell Dan Brown about this.

"Has someone else already written a book about this that I can copy?"
--Dan Brown

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:05 PM (llsW/)

398 Christopher R Taylor

** Snort **

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 12:07 PM (u82oZ)

399 Putin does Disney Land.

Admissions are mandatory.

Welcome To Land.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at June 26, 2022 12:07 PM (zKECv)

400 Some leftists refuse to believe that photo of her on a soapbox talking to Klan members is real. Sanger's only complaint about the KKK?

That they were too stupid to understand her.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:01 PM

Conservatives need to turn the tables on the Leftist narrative that the overturning of the Roe decision is "a return to slavery". Instead, point out that this is ending 50 years of NAZI-era legalized eugenics against the American Black population, celebrated and promoted by every leftist's favorite Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger.

Every single time the Left brings up "women's health" or "slavery", it should be ignored and Sanger and Planned Parenthood's purpose of eugenics against the Black population should be blamed on the Left. Alinksy the shit out of them. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at June 26, 2022 12:09 PM (Do5/p)

401 I will give Dan Brown this: he popularized a somewhat new genre of historical conspiracy thrillers. Every hack writer is putting one out, based on the emails I get from book publishers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:09 PM (llsW/)

402 Will willow/repeat this above, but:

NaCly, no, nothing at all about Trotsky, which was actually a bit earlier. And Stalin did not ignore Germany, he just thought he had the situation figured out. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was indeed to buy time for Soviet military modernization (which was still only partial by June '41 as it turned out), as Stalin had no illusions about the *ultimate* likelihood of a German-Soviet collision.

CRT, Stalin's fixed preconception that Germany would not turn east before defeating/making a deal with the UK, as you say, was not crazy, obviously that was Germany's initial strategy - it's just that he didn't "update" his view with changing circumstances and intel.

It became clear at one point that Germany had abandoned Sea Lion - Moscow had good solid intel on the discontinuation of German invasion preparations, which buttressed all the other collateral intel on the question - but this is the sort of thing Stalin simply rejected as British disinformation being planted, or was not even reported up the chain, as the Boss didn't like intel that undermined his preconception.

Posted by: rhomboid at June 26, 2022 12:09 PM (OTzUX)

403 rhomboid

Thanks!

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 26, 2022 12:12 PM (u82oZ)

404 401 I will give Dan Brown this: he popularized a somewhat new genre of historical conspiracy thrillers. Every hack writer is putting one out, based on the emails I get from book publishers.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:09 PM (llsW/)

TBH, Chris, I wouldn't mind having Dan's royalty checks coming in every month. Of course, I assume they are halved since his divorce.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel, author of the military SCI FI series Outward Frontier on AMAZON at June 26, 2022 12:13 PM (0L1W8)

405 Yeah I could use his cash flow. The guy definitely made crime pay.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 26, 2022 12:15 PM (llsW/)

406 But thread related: Ronald Dahl short stories, too. Tales of the Unexpected, Book of Ghost Stories and so many more!
Posted by: Lola

Pssst...

Roald Dahl

Posted by: JT at June 26, 2022 12:15 PM (arJlL)

407 406. Thank you for the correction, J.T.

Typing on cellphone is not easy for me but I do need to read thoroughly before sending.

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 12:23 PM (NIYa7)

408 One thing on the chapter of Russian Revolution I'm on about the Romanovs demise since written in 1990 we know a bit more now from released documents and the remains of the royal family have been recovered somewhat.

Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 12:24 PM (2JoB8)

409 And Harry Turtledove is great at short fiction. Useful rule of thumb: if there's an SF story you remember vividly but can't recall the author of, it's by him.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 26, 2022 09:45 AM

"The Road Not Taken" is one of my favorite stories as is "Child of All Ages" both by Turtledove.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 12:24 PM (LJSpF)

410 Oops! JT, not J.T.

Posted by: Lola at June 26, 2022 12:25 PM (NIYa7)

411 "The Road Not Taken" is one of my favorite stories as is "Child of All Ages" both by Turtledove.
Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 12:24 PM (LJSpF)

The one I read was Guns of the South (I think that's what it was called). His descriptions and imagery of the Union soldiers getting mowed down by AK-47s was painted a picture in my brain that I can still see today (and I read that back in high school...mid 90s.)

Posted by: Secret Squirrel, author of the military SCI FI series Outward Frontier on AMAZON at June 26, 2022 12:27 PM (0L1W8)

412 Crap. "Child of All Ages" is P.J. Plauger, not Turtledove.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 12:29 PM (LJSpF)

413 Both of Asimov's "greatest" achievements, Foundation and the Robot series started as short stories.

I think my greatest joy was when I convinced my mom that I absolutely NEEDED subscriptions to both Galaxy and Analog.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at June 26, 2022 12:50 PM (SEa82)

414 Another story that I found particularly memorable is "Emergency Landing" by Zoltan Malocsay which I read in "Boy's Life" magazine almost 50 years ago. I recently sought it out ("Boy's Life" is in the Internet Archive) and now that I know how to fly, I catch nuances that I missed when I was 9.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 12:53 PM (LJSpF)

415 Blindsight by Peter Watts is blowing my mind like no sci fi has done in years.

Posted by: Luigi'sIndexFinger at June 26, 2022 12:53 PM (3zin8)

416 Follow-up to previous post about subscribing to Galaxy and Analog; my first introduction to Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" was through my subscription to Analog.

-SLV

Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at June 26, 2022 01:01 PM (SEa82)

417 The one I read was Guns of the South (I think that's what it was called). His descriptions and imagery of the Union soldiers getting mowed down by AK-47s was painted a picture in my brain that I can still see today (and I read that back in high school...mid 90s.)

Posted by: Secret Squirrel, author of the military SCI FI series Outward Frontier on AMAZON at June 26, 2022 12:27 PM

Guns of the South is a Turtledove novel. A novel that I found profoundly disturbing. I don't have a clue why. I don't generally have that reaction to alternate history.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 26, 2022 01:06 PM (LJSpF)

418 After enjoying the Larry Correia/Steve Diamond Servants of War collaboration so much, I sought out more of Steve Diamond's work.

Alas, there isn't much of it. A short story collection which I have bought, but not read, and only a single novel, Residue.

Residue is an excellent YA/coming-of-age novel with monsters and supernatural elements. I loved it. But it sets up for, and cries out for, a sequel, and it was published in 2018.

I feel like digging out the guy's email address and writing: "Get Back to Work!"

Posted by: Splunge at June 26, 2022 01:33 PM (2hil/)

419 Dune. Looks to be the prime novel.

Posted by: Coelacanth at June 26, 2022 01:53 PM (sZYXm)

420 Just got back. Kicking myself because I forgot one more kind of short stories: The Spirit comics by Will Eisner.

He had only seven pages each week to fill with a complete adventure. He had to trim and innovate. As an example of what I mean, he once drew a page that was a cutaway of a house. In nearly room, different characters were plotting or interacting; at the lower right, the owner is found slain.

He sometimes stretched a story over several weeks, but each part had to carry its own weight.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 01:58 PM (Om/di)

421 Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at June 26, 2022 09:01 AM (2JoB

Seeing this command every Sunday makes my day. And because of it, the next book on my ever-growing spiritual reading list is Confessions of St. Augustine. I know little about him but his story seems relevant: A smart, rich, pseudo-celebrity and one of the true elites of 350 A.D., he lived a life of debauchery worthy of a modern day rapper (or Disney exec). His dramatic decision to renounce that life and follow the Lord must have been extremely challenging. I'm looking forward to learning more about him.

Posted by: LASue at June 26, 2022 02:02 PM (Ed8Zd)

422 Favorite O. Henry tale: "After Twenty Years."

Also, "The Cop and the Anthem."

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 26, 2022 02:39 PM (Om/di)

423 My favorite short story is Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation." It's a retelling of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, set in 1950s Georgia, with a comical cast of characters. In the end, Mrs. Turpin, the "Pharisee," gets whacked upside the head with a message from the Holy Spirit to be better. This story doesn't have the violence or the shock factor that O'Connor is known for.
Posted by: Linnet at June 26, 2022 10:19 AM (JFiF/)

The best unexpected treasure I found at a library sale was Flannery O'Connor: Voice of the Peacock by Sister Kathleen Feeley, President of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland who examined the theological influences on her work. I doubt there's a better resource in analyzing her work.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at June 26, 2022 02:48 PM (y7DUB)

424 I just finished reading Isaac Asimov's "The End of Eternity." I LOVE Asimov and have read many of his books, but I had a hard time getting into The End of Eternity. I started it last summer, read a few pages a few times, and just pulled it out again -- for God's sake, it is short, what was my problem? When I finally got into the plot I really liked it, especially the twists and turns at the end and the philosophical issues it raised.

Posted by: Delilah at June 26, 2022 02:57 PM (PfCku)

425 On a completely different note, last year I hunted down a vintage copy of Gene Stratton Porter's "A Girl of the Limberlost" (hard-working girl makes good) which I had read as a child and always remembered because my copy was missing some pages at a critical point in the plot!! Porter was a well-known author in the early 1900's and an early conservationist of the now lost Indiana wetlands. Her other well-known book is "Freckles" (hard working lad makes good). I am on a bit of a vintage book obsession and anyone who likes turn of the century history will enjoy these.

I'm listening to: "11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month" which tells about the last minute attacks from both sides before the Armistice took effect, along with a good history of WWI.

Posted by: Delilah at June 26, 2022 02:57 PM (PfCku)

426 Wolfus Aurelius @147 & 196, the story you are looking for is "A Father's Tale" by Sterling E. Lanier. It is one of his Brigadier Ffellowes series. First published in F&SF in 1974. Part of the collection "The Curious Quests of Brigadier Ffellowes" 1986. The collection is available for Kindle.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 26, 2022 03:17 PM (w6mSC)

427 I will also add a title for those looking for stories about the Giant Rat of Sumatra ("...a tale for which the world is not yet ready."). It is "The Holmes-Dracula File" by Fred Saberhagen. As one might guess from the title it involves both Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula plus the aforementioned Giant Rat. It is one of Saberhagen's Dracula series (which started with "The Dracula Tape"). I recommend it.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 26, 2022 03:25 PM (w6mSC)

428 I'm listening to How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, there are chickens in my trench at June 26, 2022 11:41 AM (eGTCV)

One of my 10 best books I've ever read. But only the first edition. The second edition he (or Van Doren) expanded it w/how to read different types of literature. but part 1 is excellent.

Posted by: yara at June 26, 2022 03:42 PM (hBsVD)

429 Me, I don't do this. Haven't seen the inside of a library in probably 30 years.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at June 26, 2022 10:52 AM (VwHCD)
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What the hell did you do the last time you were in one?!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Analog Hipster at June 26, 2022 06:42 PM (Dc2NZ)

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