If you’re a Song of Ice and Fire fan, you’ve got to read this, no questions asked. It’s a detailed history of how the Targaryen takeover of Westeros actually happened. Not written in the style of a Ice/Fire book, it reads like an old man transcribing a large history tome, which was obviously Martin’s intention. This book hit every expectation I had, though I was disappointed to see it’s only volume one in a two-book series and thus didn’t cover the two kings I’m most interested in learning about: […]
Hollywood Horror Story
For as often as I listen to it, I’m not much of a fan of Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald, co-hosts of The Watch podcast. They both come off as smug and insufferable. But they have excellent taste in books, particularly crime fiction. Their suggestions have opened some new doors in a genre I thought I was familiar enough with. So they’re not THAT bad I guess; I just don’t listen to them talk about anything else besides books. Anyway, Newton Thornburg is probably the most obscure […]
Just Enjoy The Ride
Part of my sudden interest in reading James Crumley was the news from this past spring which suggested Mel Gibson’s interest in adapting this book with famed Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne. Gibson described the story as “basically Chinatown set in a 7-11 in 70s Montana, with a lot of cocaine.” First and foremost, Mel Gibson is a lousy human being whose continued popularity in the film industry is a national disgrace. I hope he doesn’t make this movie. But I hope someone less vile than him does (the Coens, […]
They’re not saying “boo”, they’re saying “Truuuuuuue”…Detective
Ugh, I really have to pull 250 words out of thin air for this one? Okay. Here goes nothing… The most recent season of Bojack Horseman, centers around the titular character starring in a tv show called Philbert. Philbert is a hilarious skewering of male-centered nihilistic mystery dramas that most clearly mocks True Detective. Now I liked season 1 of True Detective but it’s impossible to deny how cloying the presentation is of steely eyed men trying to right wrongs in the hellish underbelly of postmodern America. Reading Night Train made me feel like I […]
Murderous Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer series is my personal favorite mystery series. The mysteries themselves are often dense and layered, yet Macdonald’s Archer is able to empathize with his prey, helping to develop a fully formed story beyond just cops-and-killers. After the earliest books, Macdonald would eschew the tough talking Chandler-esque dynamic in his character in favor of one who is aware of his masculinity and mournful enough of the world’s social ills. Despite often writing about the lives of wealthy and powerful people who do […]
…but you can’t pick your family.
My favorite mystery writer of all-time is Kenneth Millar, better known by his pen name “Ross Macdonald.” Macdonald’s Lew Archer series would get my vote for best detective series written in the United States. The mysteries are dense and multilayered but it’s not just that. Millar had a great way of getting into his character’s psyches and making them three dimensional. There are always stakes in an Archer book and the stakes feel real to the reader. Archer is less of a character in those […]
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