Isaac Asimov did make me smile hard.

 

https://archive.org/details/moretalesofblack00asim/mode/1up

I'm reading my second collection of Isaac Asimov's Black Widowers stories (More Tales of the Black Widowers) And enjoying it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I'm spending a lot more time with it per day than is my wont, and thus am already halfway through the book after just a few days. (Normally it takes me several months to read an Asimov book because I only read a few pages per day. (Sotto voce: in the bathroom.)

The stories delineate the regular dinner meetings of this men's group, which is modeled after a real group Asimov belonged to. At these meetings, a guest is grilled, and some kind of mystery evolves out of the grilling. Invariably, the waiter, Henry, is the one to solve the mystery. It's very formulaic and you would think it would have gotten old after a few stories, but it actually has not and I'm anxious to read more. (There are quite a few more by the way. I'm glad that Internet Archive has them available, since some of the prices for these books are way out of my league.*) In the VIIth story in this volume, entitled "Season's Greetings," A character named  Gonzalo suggests that the Black Widowers should put together a book of limericks. He is immediately (and rudely) shot down for the suggestion, and then he surreptitiously begins to write, "There once was a group of dull bastards...." 

It didn't make me laugh...few books do...but it did make me smile. Smile hard. I think that's the first time this has happened whilst reading an Asimov book.

So there's that.

* 

Leon Russell

 

Thats why romance is so hard you have ribe open and honest while you lie through your teeth.

Others words to say how ww feel 

 

That's what I wrote last night whilst in the throes of drug-induced delirium. Here's what I remember about it:

I was just about to tumble into sleep when Leon Russell's "A Song For You" began to play. I'd heard the song before, but never really listened to the lyrics. This time, they hit me. Some of the lines reminded me of my friend Pat.

I know your image of me
Is what I hope to be
...
There's no one more important to me

... 

I love you in a place where there's no space and time

I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine

And when my life is over

Remember when we were together

 

It's a beautiful song, and hearing it and thinking of Pat jolted me out of my stupor long enough for me to text a link to a performance of the song along with the comment that even though there were some things about the lyrics that didn't fit (the stuff I left out above), I immediately thought of her.

 

After she replied (thanks, touched) I thought about texting back again. I was going to say, 

"Isn't it funny how sometimes we need the words of others to express how we feel?"  And then I thought about that and I thought, "That's why romance is so hard: you have to appear to be open and honest while lying through your teeth."

 

Which isn't completely true, of course...but there's some truth in it. Plus I think it's funny.

 

ANYway...it's a beautiful song. Check it out if you're not familiar with it.

 

The Book I Just Started Reading Today: Karl Ove Knausgård's Winter

 

I wasn't all that thrilled with the first book in this series (Autumn), but it was a foregone conclusion that I would read Winter because (1) I bought it from the bargain shelf at Half-Price Books before I'd read Autumn and (2) it has beautiful illustrations. Like this one:

Who could resist that? Not me. So I bought it...$4...and then got the first volume from the library and the rest is history. The library also has Spring and Summer, so I'll probably carry on through...but here's hoping that Karl Ove doesn't spend too much time explaining toilets and such (as he did in Autumn--I shit thee not).

News as it happens.

The Book I'm About to Read: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov

2/12/26

I've had this one on my shelf for many years. Decades. But I've never read it. Despite the fact that I'm quite fond of both Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov. Mostly because though I've read quite a few Harlan Ellison books, that was a long time ago, back in the Pyramid Ellison days...and when I got the itch to re-read him awhile back I chose Memos From Purgatory, and that ground me to a halt. In it, Ellison, undercover as a gang member, commits statutory rape, intimidates old people, and does other unsavory things. I don't think you can use Writer's Research as a cloak for that kind of shit. Also, in the second part of the book when Ellison is jailed for a weapons violation, he is incredibly whiny about what amounts to a very short time of incarceration. It's a bit histrionic, to say the least.

But that was then, this is now. I have read 49 Isaac Asimov books in succession. I wanted something special for my 50th. So I chose this.

🤞

2/16/26

I don't usually read my Asimov books this quickly. But I have to admit that even though there were great flaws in this script, I did find it a compelling read. As for the flaws, most of them were just Harlan Ellison being Harlan Ellison. He tends to write characters who explode into anger and violence at the slightest provocation...a kind of wild macho perspective. And his dialogue often suffers from affectation. "You're bugfuck! I'm bugfuck, too!" FF'sS.

So...50 Asimov books down now. Starting #51 tomorrow. 

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie

 

I've seen a few of the movies based on Agatha Christie novels (the Kenneth Branaugh ones...were there two or three?), but I've never read any of her books. My friend Susanne's mother is a big A.C. fan, though, so I'm always on the lookout for stuff related to The Dame, and when I spotted this graphic biography at the library, I picked it up.

It's a nice looking little book: sewn binding, good European style art (whatever that means; I can't define it, but I know it when I see it):

 

I think it has something to do with an uncluttered, open look and slightly wobbly "straight" lines.  Some of the character illustrations reminded me of Chester Brown, who is still one of my favorite artists:

The writing was very smoothly carried along, largely on the back of interactions between Agatha and her creation, Hercule Poirot. It made for interesting confrontations as Agatha was not overly fond of Hercule, and also allowed for "natural" meta-commentary on both Agatha's life and her writings. 

A very satisfying and quick read.

I'm thinking I might need go read some Agatha Christie in the near future. But which one? She wrote a lot.

According to this book, Agatha Christie's own two favorite novels were Crooked House and Ordeal By Innocence. She also wrote an autobiography: An Autobiography. You've gotta love that, right?

Somewhere along the line I also remembered that I had seen the movie Agatha when it came out in 1979...starring Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie, Dustin Hoffman as Wally Stanton, and Timothy Dalton as Archie Christie. I don't remember anything about it, but I would like to see it again now. And since it's the 21st Century...here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQj23PTy6cQ.

☮ ➡