tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post5680632105849224366..comments2024-03-28T00:23:01.632-04:00Comments on Lem's Levity: Charley and Meyer and OwneyTrooper Yorkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-33382778389271590302017-07-13T19:16:41.630-04:002017-07-13T19:16:41.630-04:00Oh that was good. The tension was well done. I was...Oh that was good. The tension was well done. I was thinking that something would break it and violence would ensue, but one man just sold himself to another for the favor of meeting an old flame. Women. Pass the beer nuts.Methadrashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07828014989470539375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-9040010755465055112017-07-13T18:54:31.322-04:002017-07-13T18:54:31.322-04:00I know what you mean.
Look at the Bible.
The old...I know what you mean.<br /><br />Look at the Bible.<br /><br />The old testament is a lot better then the New one that was written by the son. Just sayn'Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-47058184121661745972017-07-13T18:29:37.718-04:002017-07-13T18:29:37.718-04:00I read True at First Light - ostensibly by Hemingw...I read True at First Light - ostensibly by Hemingway, but probably written by his son Patrick. He was not as earnest as his father.<br /><br />Be sure to tip your waitress...The Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354536924604187137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-50117105255610836682017-07-13T17:56:07.555-04:002017-07-13T17:56:07.555-04:00The later seasons are the work of the writers tryi...The later seasons are the work of the writers trying to ape Elmore Leanords style. Along with another critical error that happens so often with the works of the masters.<br /><br />Elmore Leonard's son was involved in writing several of the episode. Almost always a recipe for disaster.<br /><br />There are many examples of the sons of famous authors trying to carry on their fathers work after their Dad passes or is incapacitated. <br /><br />William Butterworth is pushing out book after book under his father's WEB Griffin's name. He is keeping three or four series going.<br /><br />Jeff Shaara is writing historical novels trading on the good feelings of his father's masterpiece "The Killer Angels" which is one of the best novels I have ever read. He collaborated on one novel with his dad Michael after he passed and then started writing new ones about other wars such as the Revolution and World War 1.<br /><br />Even the two children of Louis L'amour tried to write a few stories after their Dad died to continue the money train. Eventually they turned to issuing his short stories from Pulp magazines in book form.Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-40973596116633161132017-07-13T17:44:20.793-04:002017-07-13T17:44:20.793-04:00Sometimes when we are used to the later work of so...Sometimes when we are used to the later work of some of our favorites we don't realize how bad their initial offerings really are in retrospect.<br /><br />I recently reread the first novels of Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald and they were all sadly lacking. Nowhere near what they were like at the top of their game.<br /><br />Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-75301651102333545602017-07-13T17:41:50.631-04:002017-07-13T17:41:50.631-04:00Boyd is great because Walter is a hell of an actor...Boyd is great because Walter is a hell of an actor. He was great in the "Shield" as well.<br /><br />I think the storyline with Mags Bennett and her three idiot sons was the best season of all.<br /><br />Wait until you get the Jersey Guy pretending to be a Florida Cracker. That's when it really went off the rails. Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-61795385848058316062017-07-13T17:15:31.915-04:002017-07-13T17:15:31.915-04:00He was smart, moreover, he was clever. He ran both...He was smart, moreover, he was clever. He ran both Max Baer an and Primo Cutomeato and made money no matter who won or lost. Brilliant.<br /><br />What must it have been like to go to the Cotton Club and see Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, or the Nicholas Brothers - I can only imagine and I am thankful their performances were preserved on film. What a time and place.<br /><br />Stephen Hunter writes the best gunfights I have ever read. Better than Tolstoy's Battle of Borodino, for example. I am now up to season 4 of Justified and it has devolved, in my opinion, into a soap opera. Housewives of Meth Holler. Not good. Improbable. It is so Californicated that it is just barely watchable, but watch it I will. <br /><br />It is obvious that Elmore Leonard was not involved, what with being dead himself and all, but the writing just tanked. Mr. Leonard could write a gunfight, just sayin'.<br /><br />I will say this, however, Boyd Crowder is still my favorite one of them hillfolk. That actor really brings the menace. The Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354536924604187137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-28510742387707220462017-07-13T14:54:16.638-04:002017-07-13T14:54:16.638-04:00I have always thought that Owney Madden was the mo...I have always thought that Owney Madden was the most fascinating gangster of the era. He was the bridge from the criminal gangs that were portrayed in the "Gangs of New York" and the Mafia. He was the last head of the Dead Rabbits who were the Irish gang on the West Side portrayed in the movie. He was involved in almost every part of the rackets at the time. He was a bootlegger. Extortionist. Had some in the Unions specifically the cab drivers and the stage hands which the Irish Mob controls to this day. He took over a bunch of speakeasies and clubs like the Cotton Club and the Stork Club. He ran boxing for a while with Primo Carnera and Max Baer until Frankie Carbo and the Mob pushed him out.<br /><br />He was above all smart. He saw the writing on the wall. He was being targeted by the government. Being on parole for murder it would be easy for them to put him away to claim a win. When Dewey came in he saw the writing on the wall. Plus he saw that the Italians were going to take over. The only way to keep his patch was to go to war. It just wasn't worth it. He wasn't afraid. Just smart.<br /><br />So he did what a lot of smart New Yorkers do. He went South. <br /><br />Sound familar?Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-72271901342837857992017-07-13T14:47:02.714-04:002017-07-13T14:47:02.714-04:00Thanks Sixty I really respect your opinion. You ar...Thanks Sixty I really respect your opinion. You are my target audience.<br /><br />I have pretty much read everything that Stephen Hunter has written. His fiction it the tough no nonsense writing that I aspire to create in my own small way.Trooper Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978703998566102194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-717986195212622043.post-50119285675271920682017-07-13T07:04:24.361-04:002017-07-13T07:04:24.361-04:00Good one, although I would replace "proper pl...Good one, although I would replace "proper place" with "proper angle" WRT his fedora.<br /><br />Have you read Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter? Part of his Bob Lee Swagger series, this one is about Bob's father Earl. Owney Maddox is based on Owney Madden, who, unlike many in his line of work, died of old age. The Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354536924604187137noreply@blogger.com