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Taking in the Trash: Paul Cantor’s Pop Culture Trilogy

Taking in the Trash: Paul Cantor’s Pop Culture Trilogy

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Having just finished a very lively and thought-provoking book, I did something I almost never do — I decided to write the author a fan letter. Naturally, I hopped on Google to get his contact information, only to discover that he died almost three years ago, in February of 2022. Why do these things always happen to me?

The book I just finished, Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream: Con Men, Gangsters, Drug Lords, and Zombies was published in 2019, and is the third book in a loose cultural criticism trilogy written by Paul A. Cantor, a well-known Shakespearian scholar (Shakespeare and Rome: Republic and Empire) who was for many years a professor of English at the University of Virginia. The other volumes in the “trilogy” are Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization (2001) and The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV (2012).

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Maybe I Am Romantic

Maybe I Am Romantic

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I love them.

Good afterevenmorn (whenever you happen to be reading this), Readers!

I’m still on a Chinese costume drama kick. It has been my crutch when dealing with the terribleness of the world of late. I don’t know why, but there we have it. Everyone who knows me is sick to death of me proclaiming my love for The Untamed, which remains the golden standard for serialised Chinese costume dramas for me. Since then, and since I last mentioned it here, I’ve watched a number of them (when I tell you I’ve spent the majority of my time rotting on the couch watching unfairly beautiful people swan about in obscenely beautiful clothing, I mean it). Some were silly. Most of them were entertaining. One in particular I have added to my ‘would really like to own on DVD/BluRay’ list. It has a dumb as hell title (Wonderland of Love. Had I not seen a short of one of the battle scenes in the series on YouTube, I would not have watched it at all based on that title), but was a great story. I did a review of it on my personal blog.
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What I’ve Been Listening To: November 2024

What I’ve Been Listening To: November 2024

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So, I did not update you last month, on what I’ve been listening to most recently. Let me tell you, the FLOOD of emails and comments, wanting to know what’s been running through my Audible, was deafening. Wait. No. I mean, deathly silent.

MISTLETOE MURDERS 3

I like Hallmark Christmas movies. They’re all similar, but they’re enjoyable. My ex-wife and I even got our son to kind of enjoy them. He would laugh at the tropes when they occurred, like the snowball fight, the misunderstanding, the plot twist at 90 minutes EVERY time.

Sometimes I watch the Hallmark Mystery movies, and the general ones. Mistletoe Murders is an Audible Original series, included with my membership level. On its third season. This radio show about a gift shop owner is like a Hallmark Mystery Christmas series. But with more emphasis on the mystery side, than the ‘sappy/silly’ Christmas side. She has a past that makes her far more than just a store owner.

Seasons have varied in number of episodes and length, running about an hour and-a-half first time out, and between four and four and-half-hours in the next two seasons.

If you like Hallmark Mysteries (which I wrote about here long ago), this wont’ do much for you. If you do like them, then this is pure bonus for your Hallmark-loving heart.

Just a few weeks ago, the first season of a streaming series started on Hallmark+. I don’t have that channel, so I haven’t seen it. But I think it’s cool they took the audio series and put it on screen. I hope to catch it soon.

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What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2024

What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2024

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So, I managed to actually read a few books since September’s What I’ve Been Reading. That was while listening, yet again, to Tony Hillerman’s fantastic Navajo Tribal Police series. I never tire of those. And I’m now listening to The Caine Mutiny – great novel, movie, and even play. Gotta do a major piece on that some day.

I tried to listen to my current Malazan Book of the Fallen, but it’s 44 hours long! I simply couldn’t make myself tune in on something that long. I may try again, or just read it (I’d read all the prior books).

PORT OF SHADOWS – Glen Cook

I’m a huge Glen Cook fan. Hopefully you saw my Q&A with him earlier this year. While it was focused on his fantastic Garrett, PI, series, I did work in a little The Black Company. Last year, I listened to the entire series; except for Port of Shadows. I had bought the hardback when it came out in 2018, but had not read it yet. I wanted to read it, rather than listen.

Ala Raymond Chandler, this was created out of three short stories, published in 2010, 2011, and 2014. It takes place between the first two in the series: The Black Company, and Shadows Linger. There are two stories going on set in different times, and I didn’t see the link-up until about two-thirds of the way through the book. You’ll probably get it a lot sooner.

It was good to read about this incarnation of the Company, and I enjoyed it. Recommended for Black Company Fans. If you’re new to the series, I would definitely start with the first volume, and you could read this second.

If you read my Q&A (you DID, right???), you know that the next three volumes are completed, with a fourth in progress. Still hoping they get published soon.

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Bob’s Books – Shelfie #11 (Dashiell Hammett)

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Bob’s Books – Shelfie #11 (Dashiell Hammett)

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It’s a new shelfie and we’re up to number eleven. And this one is my Dashiell Hammett collection. His face is the first one on my Hardboiled Mt. Rushmore. So, he’s got a solid shelf in my Hardboiled collection.

William T. Nolan’s bio on the far left has some good info, but he’s a bit of a hack. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to run down Carroll John Daly to make Hammett look better. It’s juvenile, and Hammett doesn’t need the help. Reminds me of L. Sprague deCamp putting down Robert E. Howard to elevate his own Conan stuff.

Diane Johnson’s’ biography was written with Lillian Hellman’s permission (Hammett’s long-time mistress/girlfriend controlled his Estate). It’s pretty clear Hellman had approval authority, and it’s not the most objective book.

Richard Layman may be THE authority on Hammett, and his book Discovering The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade is a mish-mash of stuff related to Hammett and that book. Fun read for fans of The Black Bird.

I’m a big Continental Op fan, and Otto Penzler’s Big Book series has all the stories, plus some very good essays for each of the editors Hammett wrote them for. These are the original Black Mask versions. It includes the two serialized novels, and is a good book for Op fans.

My favorite PI book, and my favorite PI novel: The Maltese Falcon. This version has some cool black and white photos related to the novel. I wrote an essay on the book and the three movie versions that is pretty good.

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Enter the Prince of Darkness:Dracula by Bram Stoker

Enter the Prince of Darkness:Dracula by Bram Stoker

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“Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!”

Dracula to Jonathan Harker

I’ve heard tell my generation had nightmares about nuclear war, worried someone was going to press the big red button and trigger the annihilation of the world.

Not me. I was scared of vampires.

Heck, some nights I didn’t even have nightmares because I was too scared to sleep, convinced they were hiding behind the mottled sycamore trees that lined my block. I’m not sure where it came from. Probably from watching The Night Stalker TV movie (1972, dir. John Llewellyn Moxley) in which vampire Janos Skorzeny ravages sleazy seventies Las Vegas. It introduced the world to monster-hunter, Carl Kolchak and I saw it when I was seven or eight (thanks, Mom!). That fear disappeared quickly enough, but I was left with a taste for vampire stories.

I must have read some vampire stories in the various horror anthologies I bought regularly, though none spring to mind. I saw tons of movies and read stacks of horror comics featuring the bloodsucking fiends. It was two novels, though, that cemented my taste for the Central European monsters: Salem’s Lot (1975, Stephen King) and They Thirst (1981, Robert McCammon). They’re both big books, packed with characters and inventive takes on the idea of a master vampire trying to take over somewhere, a misbegotten Maine town in the first book and all of Los Angeles in the second.

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What I’ve Been Watching: November 2024

What I’ve Been Watching: November 2024

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Wow. It’s been a year since I did a What I’ve Been Watching. I did do those two Ten Things I Think I Think, covering Marvel movies, but that’s it. So, let’s talk about a few things I liked.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Our own Goth Chick has talked about this show a couple times – including here.

This is a vampire show, running on FX. Based on a previous movie (which had a different cast). Its about a group of four vampires who live in NYC. They originally came to the New World to take over, but got sidetracked over the years. This show is both wrong, and hilariously funny. Season six is currently running, and will bring the episode total up to sixty-one.

Nandor the Destroyer is in charge, and he’s more the classic Transylvanian-style vampire. I LOVE Matt Berry in The IT Crowd (he reunites with Richard Ayoade in voicing Krapoplois), Year of the Rabbit, and Toast of London. He’s probably my favorite British actor. He makes me laugh as Laszlo. Nadja is his fellow-vampire girlfriend and equal to the two men. They all ‘look like’ vampires. Colin Robinson is an energy vampire – he feeds on negative energy and exhaustion, not blood. It’s a fantastic bit, as we’ve all unknowingly worked with energy vampires in the past. Nandor also has a nerdy little vampire-wannabe apprentice, Guillermo

They’re likable vampires, though they certainly have no compunction in killing humans. There are laughs every episode, and the dynamics of the household shift. Guillermo’s longing to be a vampire is amusing and a little sad. And it owned me when Nandor, trying to explain the origin of the Universe, had a drawing of three elephants standing on the back of a great turtle. If you don’t get that reference, we can still be friends, but you REALLY need to read some Terry Pratchett!

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I Rewatched Kindred: The Embraced So You Don’t Have To

I Rewatched Kindred: The Embraced So You Don’t Have To

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This show is so old, there are hardly any images of a suitable size to share. Ah… the memories!

Good afterevenmorn!

On the 15th of this month, or thereabouts, a book of mine celebrated a publishing anniversary. I don’t really keep track of these things, though I should, so I’m very grateful to Renaissance Press (who published it) for the reminder. Human celebrates a birthday this month.

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Writing Advice: Dynamic Dialogue (Red Sneaker Writers)

Writing Advice: Dynamic Dialogue (Red Sneaker Writers)

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I started reading William Bernhardt’s Ben Kincaid books back in the mid-nineties. I seem to recall I went on a ‘lawyer’ kick and read him, Steve Martini, and Robert K. Tannenbaum. But years later, Bernhardt made a bigger impact on me with his Red Sneaker Writers series. These slim volumes with the brightly attractive colors are jam-packed with great writing advice. The first book I read was on story structure, and I think it’s still my favorite. Though every one has been both interesting to read and thought-provoking. If I ever get my act together, I’ll add “taught me a lot.”

I’ve read through a couple of them more than once, making notes on paper (I CANNOT highlight a physical book. I’m incapable of it). Last year, I decided to be a little more systematic and I went through EVERY title, be it Theme, Plot, Character – all of them: and I outlined the key points in each chapter. I printed them all out and have a very cool binder. Which, if I ever actually sit down and write a novel, will be of great use.

I sent one of the outlines to him, telling him that I’d like to include it in a Black Gate post, promoting the series. He kindly granted his permission. Today, it’s the third outline in this series.

I’m fortunate that many actual, real, Writers (note the capital ‘W’) with books you can buy on Amazon, or at bookstores (if you can find one that is still in business), are friends of mine. And they are FAR more qualified than I am to talk abut writing advice. I think I hold my own as a Black Gate blogger, and there are worse Sherlock Holmes short stories out there than mine (And certainly better ones!). But my unfinished novel is just a bunch of words strung together, until I finish it.

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