strange and random happenstance

Masterpiece: America's 50-Year-Old Love Affair with British Television Drama by Nancy West
Published by: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
Publication Date: November 24th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 264 Pages
Rating: ★★
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"Fifty years, 450-plus programs, 2,250-plus episodes, and 250 awards: these are Masterpiece's achievements by the numbers, and they are a record to be proud of. Out of the thousands of TV shows produced in America since the 1950s, roughly thirty have reached the fifty-year mark. Most of these are soap operas, sports, or news programs. No other primetime dramatic series comes close to Masterpiece's longevity nor has won as man Emmy, Peabody, or Golden Globe awards. On a less tangible level, few programs have cultivated as loyal a viewer following." In 1961 when Minow gave his infamous "Vast Wasteland" speech television was undergoing a sea change. Gone were the anthology series and high art television produced in New York City, Kraft Television Theatre, CBS Playhouse, Goodyear Theatre, and Playhouse 90, and in were the lowbrow comedies produced in LA. In fact Gilligan's Island openly mocked Minow with their eponymous boat. But when The Forsyte Saga aired in 1969 on NET, the forerunner to PBS, the way back to quality anthology television and out of the "Vaste Wasteland" was apparent. Everyone was talking about the Forsytes and three months after its finale it was on Stan Calderwood's mind when he was in London. Stan would go on to be the first president of WGBH and he cold called the BBC. He needed content for the newly formed PBS and the BBC had it. A deal was quickly struck and on January 10th, 1971 Masterpiece Theatre launched with The First Churchills. A show not without its flaws, too many wigs and maybe a little too racy, but their audience was hooked. By the time the first season finished in 1972 they knew they had something special. Even Minow approved. The show, while initially more focused on literary adaptations, knew that if they maintained the same thematic relevance of tradition, nostalgia, and conventionality, they would maintain their audience because these are all things that Americans crave that their own country is unable to provide, especially in the sphere of television. Masterpiece Theatre was aspirational television. Just by being a viewer you were being educated and thought of as bettering yourself. Checking out history books from the library to compliment your viewing wasn't unheard of in the many letters they received from viewers over the years. While this occasionally has led to the show being viewed as having a superiority complex that only caters to white upper and middle class viewers the fact that after all this time it is still around, still competing, speaks to its success. In fact, while America is called a country without traditions, it certainly has created one on Sunday nights around the television.

If you're a fan of beautifully made books this will be an offense to you. What I thought would be a coffee table sized tome with copious pictures is a small volume that looks like it was made by a nearly defunct university press. The paper meets the "minimum requirements" for "Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials" and that is patently obvious. The font is minuscule and appears to have had no typesetting. The photographs are laughable and misidentified. As another reviewer pointed out, why is the the British DVD cover for Sherlock even in here instead of a picture from a press kit? In other words, if you were looking for a book whose very presence was worthy of a show named Masterpiece, this is not it. If you're a fan of Masterpiece though, this book might give you a little more of an historical framework with regard to the political climate when the show was formed and the fact that it lacks diversity. But that is all. It reads like a textbook, which isn't surprising as Nancy West is a professor at the University of Missouri. Though it doesn't read as a very good textbook. It reminded me too heavily of the introduction to television and film books I read in my undergrad comm arts classes. Except that this book has constant niggling errors. I mean, come on, when Wolf Hall aired it wasn't the only Tudor show to air in almost twenty-five years! Just a decade earlier Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone aired as did The Virgin Queen starring Tom Hardy. And yes, I know I shouldn't be saying that Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester, is the star of a show about Queen Elizabeth, but come on, it's Tom Hardy! And I'm sorry, but misidentify Brian Blessed in a photograph is actually a crime in my world. One would think creating a framework for this book wouldn't be hard, Nancy West could have even used The Best of Masterpiece Theatre from the thirty-fifth anniversary as a starting point, but no, instead she's all over the place. She's discussing personality traits of Worricker, a series literally no one watched, and doesn't really talk about shows from the seventies or eighties, focusing more on her favorite actors. Which is where this book gets weird. As you trudge through the morass of text the author's personality comes out more and more and she's a bit of an odd duck. She starts lusting after the vicars on Grantchester and any attractive man she feels needs a qualifier. I get that Andrew Davies and Pride and Prejudice paved the way for this, but in a scholarly approach to the history of the show, maybe talk about it in some sort of discourse, don't just drool. But the main problem of this book is that she hates America. She hates everything about this country from its supposed lack of culture and tradition and its need to psychoanalyze itself to its television. What did Thomas Magnum ever do to you!?! You know some of the biggest names from Masterpiece appeared on Magnum, P.I.? Ian McShane? Jenny Agutter? Francesca Annis? Julian Glover? Peter Davison? Any of these ringing a bell? Nope? Actually, not surprising. None of them are hot vicars. And yes, I think she's a fan of Fleabag. But if you want to read a book by a fan of this show, might I suggest Rebecca Eaton's autobiography? You'll get more insight than you'll ever find here.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: America, Anthology, Aspirational, BBC, Brian Blessed, Elitist, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Masterpiece, Nancy West, NET, Nostalgia, Rebecca Eaton, The First Churchills, The Forsyte Saga, Thomas Magnum, Tradition, Tudor, WBGH

Did my Dad write this? No, seriously, did he? Because if he didn't it was written for him. Bucolic nostalgia for a young boy's formative years and first loves of a forgotten time narrated by Timothy Spall with evocative and precise language? That's what my Dad lives for. Sadly it's not quite what I live for. This had a very Lark Rise to Candleford meets Little Women vibe with young Laurie Lee growing up between the world wars and first seeing his older sister experience love and then experiencing it himself when he grows up. The problem I have is, that while it's nice to have this world captured before it disappeared forever, that just isn't enough. I wanted some sort of plot, something other than Laurie just growing up. Because of its brevity we have a very narrow window of time in which we see Laurie arrive in the Cotswolds and then depart it. Obviously he returns, because he's buried there, but at the close of this movie he hasn't found his calling, he's just a young man setting out not someone who has found his purpose and place in the world, much like Laura Timmins in Lark Rise to Candleford or Jo March in Little Women. Plus, one would assume that naming this series after an encounter with a girl named Rosie she would be the love of his life, but that isn't the case. She awakens something in him, but one day skiving off work and drinking cider under a hay wagon while making out doesn't seem that formative an experience for anyone. Especially when you find out after the fact that Rosie was his cousin. In fact for a show that is about love and relationships they are all kind of bleak and doomed. The worst being Laurie's mother Annie. Annie answered an advertisement in the paper to be a housekeeper to a widower, Reg, with three girls. She then went on to marry Reg and have four children with him. While pregnant with her last child they moved out of London and they never see Reg again. She occasionally goes up to visit him, such as when the war is over, but his job is "very important" and he has to stay in London for work. Sure. I actually wonder if he married her. He just found a gullible lovestruck young woman who would take care of his kids and sleep with him. Once he'd had enough, which was only four years mind you, he packed her off like some sort of secret, and never thought of her again. I'm pretty sure those telegrams were faked. This poor woman was with the man she loved for only four years and waited for him to return for the rest of her life. She raised his children, she sang his favorite song, all while her heart was breaking. The last time Laurie saw his father he was three. I wanted some kind of reckoning. I wanted hellfire. Sure, they didn't want for anything, but being supported and being cared for are two totally different things. How could you have an idyllic childhood with a mother who was always wearing a brave face to hide the fact that her heart was breaking? This show wants to be a feel good nostalgia trip, but for me, there's too much sadness, too many unanswered questions, too much bitter with the sweet. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bittersweet, Bucolic, Cider with Rosie, Cotswolds, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Jo March, Lark Rise to Candleford, Laura Timmins, Laurie Lee, Little Women, Narrator, Nostalgia, Samantha Morton, Timothy Spall, Writer, WWI, WWII

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 18th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The inhabitants of Hemlock Circle, a quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac, are the same when Ethan Marsh moves home as they were when he left over twenty years ago. It's like the neighbors are trapped in amber. There's the old Barringer place on the left, continuing clockwise, the Van de Veers', the Wallaces', the Patel's, and the Chens'. Of the six original houses built in the late eighties only one isn't in the hands of its original owner. But no one holds onto the old Barringer place for long. Ethan has moved back home because his parents are moving to Florida and it would be easiest for them if he's around during the sale of the house. What they don't say is that he has nowhere else to go. But home brings with it unanswered questions from his past and a mystery that forever changed Hemlock Circle and gripped a nation. On Saturday, July 15th, 1994, Ethan and his best friend Billy Barringer set up a tent in Ethan's backyard. The ten-year-olds did this all summer, camping out within the safety of their own neighborhood. Only that night was different. Because when Ethan woke up on Sunday morning there was a large rend in the tent and Billy was gone. Billy became The Lost Boy. They searched everywhere, through the acres of preserved woodland surrounding the neighborhood, but he was just gone. Ethan still dreams about that night. Who took Billy and why? He always wakes when he hears the tent being slashed, never seeing the face of the culprit. He left home because he couldn't stand to see the constant reminder out his bedroom window of the last known location of Billy. But now that he's back home it's not just memories that are playing with him. First there's the motion activated lights on the houses. Lighting up one after another in the middle of the night. Then a baseball appears in his yard. A baseball thrown over the fence was his and Billy's secret code. Who else but Billy would know that? He decides to ask his neighbors. He wants to know who's playing with him. Everyone who was there the night Billy disappeared has returned to Hemlock Circle this summer. It seems portentous. And then he finds out his fellow neighbor and classmate, Ragesh Patel, is the police liaison for Billy's case and they've found something. They've found Billy. The dental records confirm it.

Riley Sager is the king of spooky nostalgia. His books often tap into his own past, the most blatant being Survive the Night, but due to the fact he's only four years older than me there's a universality to his tales for those raised in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Common ground that we all feel nostalgic for that he then twists ever so slightly to make unsettling. And one of the common fears of growing up during this period was kidnapping, it was the height of "stranger danger" and kids on milk cartons. There was quite the incident of "stranger danger" to one of my classmates in grade school, but that's a story for another time. So to have this character, Ethan, experience the worst nightmare of any child growing up then that isn't quicksand, it's relatable. In fact, that's why I enjoyed this book, it's relatable. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone knew everyone and kids were in and out of each other's houses. We moved in unruly gangs, playing elaborate city block-sized games of capture the flag. And I miss that. I don't just miss an easier time, I miss a time when everyone and their business was known to you. Your neighbors meant more than they mean today. The grandparents, the parents, and the kids all knew who you were and asked after your only family. There was a sense of community. I mean, this is still happening, I see the kids in my neighborhood roving around in gangs, but people aren't rooted to the same spot anymore. People pick up and move at a moments notice, whether it's due to job insecurity, the cost of living, or whatever life change that results in dislocation. Therefore you just don't have neighborhoods like Hemlock Circle anymore. More and more as everything becomes chaotic and unsettled I am searching for these nostalgic vibes that remind me of a time when I felt safe. Old shows, old books, things that bring comfort. And yes, Riley Sager brings me comfort. I know a lot of people would be questioning my sanity in that mystery and horror bring me comfort, but it's the subverting of the comforting within a set of rules. I mean, just look to Scream, it's a total comfort watch for my generation and it's because it's nostalgic and has rules. I should say, it has Rules, capital "R." Sadly, Randy Meeks, the king of the Rules, did not survive the sequel. But that didn't stop him from imparting his wisdom from beyond the grave. I'm sure he'd understand the pull of nostalgia, he was quite wise until he baited Mrs. Loomis. But his death for me will always be comforting. As comforting as a new Riley Sager book. No matter the death toll.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Billy Barringer, Community, Disapperance, Ethan Marsh, Hemlock Circle, Kidnapping, Middle of the Night, Murder Most Foul, Neighborhood, Nostalgia, Quicksand, Randy Meeks, Riley Sager, Scream, Stranger Danger, Survive the Night

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Edward Lowe believes that Floggit and Leggit might just be where his career dies. If anything, being a the lead in a slightly vulgar situation comedy bodes ill for the 1970s. He knows he shouldn't complain, he's the lead and he's employed, but it's not where he thought he'd be at his age. He's always faced an uphill battle; he doesn't look like a leading man, a short northerner without the right education or connections. That would be his costar, John Le Breton. Which is why their downmarket show is popular. The intrinsic humor of Edward Lowe as George Wetherby, the self-important owner of a provincial antique shop, being John Le Breton's boss? Comedy gold. They're currently out on location which means that Edward Lowe is subjected to his fellow cast members continually. Do they not understand that a raised newspaper or a seperate table means he doesn't want to interact? And they all want to talk to him after he discovers a body. They were getting ready to film the testing of some vintage diving gear at the local reservoir, the episode "wittily" titled "That Sinking Feeling," when Edward stumbled on the body of a woman. Not only did this put the day's filming into disarray, who knew when they could finally film at the reservoir now that it's a crime scene. Constable Primrose tells Edward and the others that it's best if they forget what happened and get back to making people laugh. Which didn't instill Edward with much hope for the case, the constable seems to be their target audience. Meaning it was Edward's job to investigate the death of Mrs. Alice Burke. Because she sure as hell didn't die accidentally. Plus what else is there to do with filming shut down for a few days? Which is exactly what John thinks when he weasels his way into the investigation. The two of them track down Alice's father and Edward is in for a shock. Back during the war there was a suspicious death of a women with several men involved. One was named Lowell Edwardsson. If it wasn't for the fact his name was almost the reverse of Edward Lowe Edward would never have paid attention. But Lowell Edwardsson is Alice's father. That can't be a coincidence. Especially when another body with ties to that long ago case appears. Again looking like an accident. It's up to Edward and his Watson to solve the case before another woman dies. If only Watson would get the clue he's not needed...

Just like the seventies, we are once again in the Golden Era of quirky detectives. Columbo, Jim Rockford, and Kojak could easily hang out with the likes of Charlie Cale, Benoit Blanc, and the members of The Thursday Murder Club. As could Lowe and Le Breton. They fit the bill. They tick both of the boxes, being quirky and set in the seventies. Here Stuart Douglas is able to offer up a pastiche of Dad's Army while creating two memorable characters who come to really care that justice is served. Two characters who each have a unique voice, a feat not many authors can pull off. In most cases the inner monologues are much the same, the authorial voice thinly veiled. But not many authors are Stuart Douglas. Edward Lowe and John Le Breton are two of the most unique and disparate crime solvers you could find. Actors as unalike in their dispositions as their methods. Which leads to some interesting crime solving methodology as well as acting methods. Just their interactions create a tension that propels the narrative forward. Edward is dedicated and far more traditional in his ideas of what a detective should be. Whereas John is there for a laugh. Well, not a laugh, as that would be insensitive to the dead, but he's there because he thinks it would be a diversion, a fun way to spend his downtime versus chasing skirt. And while this leads to much butting of heads, as anyone who reads or watches enough shows with a dead body or two in the hedgerow will know, sometimes the best partnerships are made of oil and vinegar. And Lowe and Le Breton are the best partnership, something even John concedes by the end, wondering if more adventures would really be so bad? As a reader, the answer is hell no. I need this infusion of nostalgic crime solving because no book has so encapsulated the Sundays of my childhood spent on my grandparents' farm as Death at the Dress Rehearsal. With my grandfather watching old BBC comedies and my mother and her sisters running their own murder mystery lending library over the dining room table. There's even a beloved collie! My grandfather's collie was named Jenny if you were interested and he favored Are You Being Served? over Dad's Army. But those are just the specifics of my life, I'm sure this will bring out different memories in you. I entreat you to spend a nostalgic Sunday afternoon with Lowe and Le Breton. You won't regret it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Actors, Are You Being Served, BBC Comedy, Dad's Army, Death at the Dress Rehearsal, Edward Lowe, Floggit and Leggit, John Le Breton, Lowe and Le Breton, Murder Most Foul, Nostalgia, Seventies, Stuart Douglas, WWII

The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Quercus Publishing
Publication Date: October 24th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Anyone who has ever tread the boards knows that performers are a rum lot. The distillation of this can be seen in the places they lay their heads. 84 Marine Parade is a boarding house run for vaudeville types by Linda Knight with the help of her live-in maid Annie. There's a comradery there as most of those currently in residence are performing in Larry Buxton's nostalgic review down on the pier. Which is why the murder of Cherry Underwood shocks them all. WDC Meg Connolly is on the scene in Brighton talking to the boarders while Max Mephisto is learning about the murder from the prime suspect. Up in London. Ted English, The Great Deceiver, has fled Brighton to accost his old colleague and beg him for help. Cherry was Ted's assistant. Having heard that Max is close to the head of Brighton police he has come to ask that he put in a good word. Which Max is willing to do, mainly just to get ride of Ted, as Max has places to be and a new granddaughter to see. While back in Brighton Meg is getting to know the denizens on the house, a strongwoman, Ida Lupin, a double act, the comedians Geoffrey Bigg and Perry Small, and singer Mario Fontana, AKA John Lomax. All with names and professions evoking the glory days of variety which is seeing a bit of a resurgence as the country embraces nostalgia. Because this is such a tight, incestuous community, where everyone has worked with everyone at some time or other Max's help would be much appreciated. Even if he doesn't exactly clear Ted's name, instead linking Ted to a rather notorious crowd of performers. The most famous of which is Gordon Palgrave. Pal is a nasty piece of work, especially when it comes to women. Cherry was his assistant for a time but now he's in television with a hit show. Literally. It's called Hug or Hit. It doesn't take a genius to work out the premise. But he's the genius who came up with it. He ran with Ted English, Tommy Horton, Rex King, and Dazzling Dave Dunkley back in the day. They passed around their assistants just like they passed around their wives. Dazzling Dave has been tapped to replace Ted English in the nostalgia show. His assistant, Joanie Waters, used to work for Tommy Horton, but he's now in a home, and she's fond of Dave, he's an eternal optimist, thinking that the next thing will be their big break, despite both of them getting on in years. Joanie is the second victim. This second murder opens new doors and indicates they have a serial killer on their hands. A serial killer who is targeting this group and this show. While Emma and Sam have been hired by Cherry's family to find her killer, they're willing to pool their resources with Edgar, Meg, and Max to catch a killer. And Max has an idea. The show is transferring to the West End and has an opening. Max wants to tread the boards again. Is their any chance that WDC Meg Connolly would like to go undercover as his assistant to catch a killer? It might be their only option.

As anyone who has been following my reviews knows that I was less than kind to this series when it skipped ahead a decade between the forth and fifth books. I still stand by this criticism, it was well deserved. Characters I had known and loved had changed so radically that I no longer recognized them. It was all anger and friction and just, not the series I loved. So why did I like this book? Well, I could be cynical, it is after all in my nature, and say that in the three years between reading The Midnight Hour and The Great Deceiver that I had missed the characters so much that I was willing to accept them no matter how inferior their current iterations were. But I actually don't think this is the case. I think that while The Midnight Hour had done a little to try to right this sinking ship that started taking on water with Now You See Them, The Great Deceiver found stability. The reason is actually quite simple. The characters have adjusted to their new roles and their complicated intertwined lives and instead of being at loggerheads they decided to pull together. The internecine politics have settled. Emma is no longer as jealous of Edgar and Meg. Edgar is encouraging of Emma and Sam's private detective agency. Max and Sam are somehow still a thing which is probably the main thing that still doesn't work, but I'm willing to overlook it in that I felt the magic again. A lot of this has to do with firmly entrenching this mystery within the vaudeville world again. I know as time goes on and the world moves on, vaudeville became less and less a thing and television was taking over, but that's what makes these mysteries work. They're old fashioned with a hint of modernity sneaking in. Which is why the lost decade was such a disservice to this series as a whole. But here Elly Griffiths latches on to, not just the bygone days, but to the very real reckoning of #MeToo. The creepy Pal and his cronies. These are men who are not good people and never were. Women were disposable to them and even interchangeable to a certain extent. Which is why I loved seeing them brought to their just desserts. Men in power need to be held accountable, and the sad thing is, especially during the sixties, women were never in power. Which is why Max's daughter and Meg are such important characters. I at first didn't like Meg in the least. She didn't work. And, well, Ruby, she was just in the way of Emma and Edgar finding their HEA. But now, I can see why Elly Griffiths is reforming the series with them. They are the future. Ruby and her Bewitched like television stardom while also being a single mother! Meg realizing she can be with whomever she wants, cops or sexy travelers. Though where I really felt Meg shine was as Max's assistant. They worked out a routine that played to the strengths of both and was about this female assistant, this shadow, being, for once, the equal of the magician. She's ready to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. I just hope that this series continues. That I can get the word out there somehow that readers shouldn't give up. Because I had, and then I ordered this book from Waterstones because at least I'd have a signed first edition from an author whose work I had previously loved and was so pleasantly surprised I can't begin to actually properly express how I feel. My thoughts and words are a tad jumbled even after writing this. Just pick it up and see if you agree.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: #MeToo, Boarding House, Brighton, Elly Griffiths, Magic Men, Max Mephisto, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Nostalgia, Now You See Them, Serial Killer, Television, The Great Deceiver, The Midnight Hour, Vaudeville

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: January 9th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

On a hot summer day in 1969 the four Gold siblings, ranging in age from seven to thirteen, embark on an adventure. Daniel, age eleven, has heard rumors of a woman on Hester Street who will tell you the day that you will die. They have combined their allowances into a bag and head off in search of the woman. For an epic quest she is found quite easily, only they must each face her alone. They never speak of what they learned except once, nine years later, after their father's funeral, when they will be together for the last time. Klara dares her siblings to reveal when they will die. Varya has a long life ahead of her, Daniel will only life to forty-eight, Klara to thirty-one, Simon just says it's when he's young. It is clear that all of them have spent the last nine years dwelling on their fates and this knowledge will forever shape their lives consciously and unconscionably. Simon, youngest sibling and soonest to die, has his life laid out for him. Varya and Daniel went off to college, Klara has always had a weird desire to be a magician, but Simon, Simon is the last sibling at home, taking care of their mother and the family business. But Klara knows that his fate is weighing on him so she offers him an alternative, follow her to San Francisco and live the life he was meant to lead now. He throws himself into dance and hedonism and dies four years later from AIDS, on the day he was told he would die. This shakes the siblings considerably, but seeing as they didn't know his exact date, they can't lend too much credence to it. It's Klara who makes sure her death date is right to continue the augury. Is there any chance for Daniel or Varya to avoid their fates? Or were they given self-fulfilling prophecies? And is it better to burn bright and flame out than exist without really living?

The undeserved success of The Immortalists is why I will never like populist literature. This book wanted to be everything to everyone and failed because the vision and the execution were worlds apart. There is no unifying style, first we have Armistead Maupin shorthand, then magic, then vengeance, then Michael Crichton, yes, I get it, the siblings are vastly different, but a book needs to feel cohesive, and this doesn't. Could we perhaps have had one narrator? An overseer or omniscient being, perhaps one of the siblings that unifies all their stories, not shatters it. Klara is the only one whose voice didn't feel like nails on a chalkboard. She was mystical, magical, she could have been our narrator. After all she believes she can hear Simon after his death, why doesn't she carry the narrative weight? Because as this stands, the only way to really fix The Immoralists would be if each sibling had their own book instead of some shorthand story that is painted in such broad strokes that it doesn't just verge on but is stereotypical. And that is why I loath this book. Take away the fact that the storylines are nothing special and you see that Chloe Benjamin is a lazy writer. She wants readers to connect to a time instead of to a character. She uses cultural shorthand, Forest Gumping her way through the 20th century, so that us readers will connect to their own nostalgia of that time versus bothering to create characters who the readers can connect to on their own. I mean, these siblings literally can not have been there for all these events. Oh, the day they found the fortuneteller was the day of the Stonewall Riots? And the day Simon hooked up with his boyfriend was the day Harvey Milk was shot? Oh, they were listening to Paul Simon's Graceland? Give me some more rampant consumerism in-between cultural touchstones why don't you? Because I know Benjamin has to be shilling for the drug companies and I know she wants some Milwaukee's pickles! She is supposedly now a Wisconsinite after all but does she actually know that Devil's Lake isn't between Chicago and Madison but further north? And that no one has ever referred to Door County as a collection of islands.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: AIDS, Armistead Maupin, Chloe Benjamin, For the Love of Book Clubs, Forest Gump, Fortune Teller, Harvey Milk, Magic, Michael Crichton, Nostalgia, Populist, Prophecy, Stonewall Riots, The Immoralists, Wisconsin

Robin by Dave Itzkoff
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: May 15th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
Rating: ★★★
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Robin Williams' upbringing is perhaps not what you'd expect. He was scholastically gifted and was from an affluent family where his closest companion was the maid in their palatial forty room house. He even got accepted into Julliard where his classmates were Christopher Reeve, William Hurt, and Mandy Patinkin. Though his own comedic style and love of mimicry and accents wasn't exactly what the classical and staid school was known for they could see he was a genius but he left without getting a degree conferred on him. He started his stand-up career in San Franscisco but to really make it you had to go to Los Angeles, so that is what he did. He worked the clubs as well as working whatever television work he could pick up especially during pilot season. Though he was notorious for stealing the jokes of other comedians, no one really thought that this was malicious, he just heard it and didn't know from where and so incorporated it into his act. Which was problematic to the comedians who had actually written the material, because once Robin had done it no one else could use it. But it was a last minute spot on an episode of Happy Days that would change his life. The episode "My Favorite Orkan" was so popular his character of Mork got his own television show. Mork and Mindy was a juggernaut. Everything from magazines to lunchboxes featured Robin's face. Despite it's success and cultural status the show was cancelled after four seasons. But that seemed fine with Robin because he was now chasing bigger Hollywood dreams. He desperately wanted awards and an Oscar. This is where the Julliard training starts to make sense. With The World According to Garp, Good Morning, Vietnam, and Dead Poets Society his serious credits started to roll in. Though it wouldn't be until 1997 and Good Will Hunting that he would get the respect of his peers he had been longing for with an Oscar. In the meanwhile he was making his name as serious business at the box office with films for a younger audience with Hook, FernGully, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Jumanji. But behind the scenes there were issues, and not just with Disney who actually sent him an apology Picasso. He burned through three marriages and had severe addiction problems. At least his addiction to cocaine had a check on it when John Belushi died the morning after they had partied together. But later his alcoholism took a toll. Though it was the Parkinson's diagnose that led to his suicide in 2014 at the age of 63. A blazing talent gone in an instant.

I've never really considered myself a fan of Robin Williams. He was just a fact of life, like death and taxes. He was omnipresent. Or at least for those of a certain age. Growing up in the eighties and nineties he was everywhere; films, television, Comic Relief, there was no getting away from him. And the truth of the matter is, I'd never really thought about it. I had never realized his complete and total omnipresence in my life until I read this book. It's like my childhood paralleled his fame and he was there every step along the way as I grew up. When Nick at Nite started in the mid eighties I watched it religiously. Perhaps six was a little too young to be watching some of the fare, but my grandmother and I watched it together, so my theory was if she thought if was inappropriate she would have turned it off. Now that I'm older I realize she wouldn't have. But there was Robin on Mork and Mindy and Happy Days and SCTV! He was there for my formative years with his manic humor. And no one of my generation can forget the mega success of Hook followed by Aladdin. I can't even count the number of times my friends and I in college got together and just watched Aladdin, well, sang along to Aladdin, just as comfort viewing. As for the number of times I watched Toys... I don't even want to guess, it was one of those films that was so odd that whenever it was on I just watched it all. As I aged I started watching other films of his, my discovery of Kenneth Branagh and Terry Gilliam led to so many favorite films that Robin is in, Dead Again being at the forefront. And I will never forget the time my friend Sara became obsessed with Good Will Hunting and watched it on a loop while recovering from having her wisdom teeth removed. So many memories. In fact it's because of Robin Williams that I will NEVER go to the bathroom during movies. I missed the end of Hook and was traumatized for years. Robin was just in my life, watching movies at home with friends or going out to the theater with my family, he was always there. And this book brought home that fact to me. I'm not one of those people who will forever mourn him. He randomly trends on Twitter because people miss him. I don't. But he was, unbeknownst to me, so much a part of making me me that this book was a very personal experience. Yes, it's uneven and spends the bulk of it's time on his early career and not enough on his fame, but I can forgive it that. I can forgive it a lot of the nostalgia.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aladdin, Childhood, Comic Relief, Dave Itzkoff, Dead Again, For the Love of Book Clubs, Good Will Hunting, Happy Days, Hook, Julliard, Mork and Mindy, Mrs. Doubtfire, Nick and Nite, Nostalgia, Robin Williams

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Edward Lowe believes that Floggit and Leggit might just be where his career dies. If anything, being a the lead in a slightly vulgar situation comedy bodes ill for the 1970s. He knows he shouldn't complain, he's the lead and he's employed, but it's not where he thought he'd be at his age. He's always faced an uphill battle; he doesn't look like a leading man, a short northerner without the right education or connections. That would be his costar, John Le Breton. Which is why their downmarket show is popular. The intrinsic humor of Edward Lowe as George Wetherby, the self-important owner of a provincial antique shop, being John Le Breton's boss? Comedy gold. They're currently out on location which means that Edward Lowe is subjected to his fellow cast members continually. Do they not understand that a raised newspaper or a seperate table means he doesn't want to interact? And they all want to talk to him after he discovers a body. They were getting ready to film the testing of some vintage diving gear at the local reservoir, the episode "wittily" titled "That Sinking Feeling," when Edward stumbled on the body of a woman. Not only did this put the day's filming into disarray, who knew when they could finally film at the reservoir now that it's a crime scene. Constable Primrose tells Edward and the others that it's best if they forget what happened and get back to making people laugh. Which didn't instill Edward with much hope for the case, the constable seems to be their target audience. Meaning it was Edward's job to investigate the death of Mrs. Alice Burke. Because she sure as hell didn't die accidentally. Plus what else is there to do with filming shut down for a few days? Which is exactly what John thinks when he weasels his way into the investigation. The two of them track down Alice's father and Edward is in for a shock. Back during the war there was a suspicious death of a women with several men involved. One was named Lowell Edwardsson. If it wasn't for the fact his name was almost the reverse of Edward Lowe Edward would never have paid attention. But Lowell Edwardsson is Alice's father. That can't be a coincidence. Especially when another body with ties to that long ago case appears. Again looking like an accident. It's up to Edward and his Watson to solve the case before another woman dies. If only Watson would get the clue he's not needed...

Just like the seventies, we are once again in the Golden Era of quirky detectives. Columbo, Jim Rockford, and Kojak could easily hang out with the likes of Charlie Cale, Benoit Blanc, and the members of The Thursday Murder Club. As could Lowe and Le Breton. They fit the bill. They tick both of the boxes, being quirky and set in the seventies. Here Stuart Douglas is able to offer up a pastiche of Dad's Army while creating two memorable characters who come to really care that justice is served. Two characters who each have a unique voice, a feat not many authors can pull off. In most cases the inner monologues are much the same, the authorial voice thinly veiled. But not many authors are Stuart Douglas. Edward Lowe and John Le Breton are two of the most unique and disparate crime solvers you could find. Actors as unalike in their dispositions as their methods. Which leads to some interesting crime solving methodology as well as acting methods. Just their interactions create a tension that propels the narrative forward. Edward is dedicated and far more traditional in his ideas of what a detective should be. Whereas John is there for a laugh. Well, not a laugh, as that would be insensitive to the dead, but he's there because he thinks it would be a diversion, a fun way to spend his downtime versus chasing skirt. And while this leads to much butting of heads, as anyone who reads or watches enough shows with a dead body or two in the hedgerow will know, sometimes the best partnerships are made of oil and vinegar. And Lowe and Le Breton are the best partnership, something even John concedes by the end, wondering if more adventures would really be so bad? As a reader, the answer is hell no. I need this infusion of nostalgic crime solving because no book has so encapsulated the Sundays of my childhood spent on my grandparents' farm as Death at the Dress Rehearsal. With my grandfather watching old BBC comedies and my mother and her sisters running their own murder mystery lending library over the dining room table. There's even a beloved collie! My grandfather's collie was named Jenny if you were interested and he favored Are You Being Served? over Dad's Army. But those are just the specifics of my life, I'm sure this will bring out different memories in you. I entreat you to spend a nostalgic Sunday afternoon with Lowe and Le Breton. You won't regret it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Actors, ARCs, Are You Being Served, BBC Comedy, Dad's Army, Death at the Dress Rehearsal, Edward Lowe, Floggit and Leggit, John Le Breton, Lowe and Le Breton, Mystery, Nostalgia, Seventies, Stuart Douglas, WWII

I don't know if people today realize how ubiquitous Chippendales was. Most people are probably more familiar with the SNL sketch with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley that to this day I have issues with because of it's lack of body positivity and it's blanket statement that overweight people are there to be laughed at not applauded for. Or as Bob Odenkirk succinctly said "fuck that sketch." People who went to Chippendales would flash there keychains to everyone as a mark of pride. It was wholesome naughtiness that was coming to your town with a bus and billboards to match. Because Chippendales was such a big part of the eighties and in turn my growing up there's a nostalgia factor that this series plays into. This is about the excess and the success of the eighties, where a man could go from no one to someone based on a clever idea only to destroy it all because of his own insecurities. Welcome to Chippendales was near perfection with music, murder, true crime, and nostalgia all packed into a rather SWOL Kumail Nanjiani. All of this is captured perfectly at the very end of the opening credits when the music fades out and the video of the dancers is slowed down to a menacing level like they are hunting their prey. It shows how that which is fun can turn dangerous at any second, and that is a lesson that should have been heeded by many of the people involved in this real life story. But to be fair, you are tipped off to the train wreck that is to come when Dan Stevens, yes, Downton Abbey Dead Dan, is involved in a murder suicide at the end of the first episode. It's almost like this show knew what comforts me, and it's not a nice cup of hot cocoa and a fire, it's solving a good murder mystery while simultaneously being nostalgically drawn into my past. I'd get deaths and a slamming dance routine guaranteed! And let's not beat around the bush, Murray Bartlett is having a moment, between The White Lotus, Welcome to Chippendales, and The Last of Us, anything he touches is gold. His performance as Nick De Noia, the choreographer, partner and antagonist to Kumail's Steve Banerjee, the founder of Chippendales, was wonderful. The two of them are like lightning in a bottle, you can see how they each make the other better, not just as actors, but as their characters. They see a vision and they accomplish it and if Banerjee and been a little more humble or if Nick hadn't stolen the spotlight time and time again, who knows how this story could have gone? As it is it ends in murder. And here's the thing that amazes me, what magical and wonderful people did Chippendales have working for them that I had heard nothing about this growing up. There wasn't even a blip on my radar and yet there was so much going on. One could probably argue that in the eighties with the sex, drugs, and dancing, and the occasional arson, anything was possible, and for Steve Banerjee it was. Until it all came crashing down. The music faded out and the dancing stopped for him and Nick. But you can't deny that it's fabulous viewing. Turn the music up and let's dance!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bob Odenkirk, Chippendales, Chris Farley, Dan Stevens, Eighties, Kumail Nanjiani, Murray Bartlett, Nick De Noia, Nostalgia, Patrick Swayze, Steve Banerjee, True Crime, Welcome to Chippendales

If you are looking for an author who is a BIG NAME in crime fiction you couldn't do better than Val McDermid. What's more, unlike other similar authors whose work has been adapted to the small screen she has either phenomenal good luck or is extremely involved in the process or maybe she's just incredibly picky because of the two series and one standalone that have been adapted they are all stellar. Wire in the Blood with Robson Green is a classic up there with Inspector Morse. As for Place of Execution? Stunning. It's one of those mysteries that stays with you forever. Every once in awhile I'll think on it and be amazed all over again. That miniseries also did a lot for changing the trajectory of Greg Wise's career to the deliciously dark. So I had expectations for Karen Pirie. But I also was totally blindsided by it because I got the wrong end of the stick. You see when they said that the show starred a "blonde from Outlander" I thought for some reason it was Nell Hudson who played Laoghaire, the bane of Jamie and Claire, instead it was Lauren Lyle who plays Marsali, Jamie and Claire's beloved daughter-in-law. Not that I'm complaining, because Lauren proved how perfect she was for this role, I'm just also really a fan of Nell Hudson because she was amazing on Victoria, though I'm still mad they killed her off. And in fairness I really didn't know how Lauren Lyle would have the time what with also filming Outlander, but thankfully that didn't seem to be a problem. What this adaptation showed more than anything is how to perfectly update you source material for the present day. In the original novel, The Distant Echo, the cold case that Karen Pirie is investigating happened in 1978 and is being investigated in 2003. Therefore to have that twenty-five year gap now this is heavy on the nineties nostalgia, but more than that it incorporates the citizen detective and true crime podcast culture that has just boomed in recent years. As for Karen herself, she's funny, she bounces around like a Whac-A-Mole. She has a sense of humor and lame style, she knows a good joke, knows she's good at her job, and knows it's a bad time to be a Karen. There's a sense of humor too which anyone who knows Val McDermid will know she possess, I remember she was doing a book signing in the US, sadly nowhere near me, but near my favorite bookstore, Murder by the Book, so I got a copy of her newest book for my mom's birthday, and I asked if she'd inscribe it "To Marian who's glad she doesn't live in Bradfield," Bradfield being where her Wire in the Blood books are set. She dutifully signed that and added "As am I." Which just cracked me up and made the present that much more special. So while there was a part of me who felt that the mtstery was a little pedestrian, it was riviting and fun and I am just so glad there's going to be more because I need more Karen Pirie in my life.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Greg Wise, Inspector Morse, Karen Pirie, Lauren Lyle, Nell Hudson, Nineties, Nostalgia, Outlander, Place of Execution, Podcast, The Distant Echo, True Crime, Val McDermid, Wire in the Blood

There are only a handful of book series that have forever become a part of my DNA. The Theodosia Throckmorton books by R.L. LaFevers is one of them. I never in a million years thought that this would be adapted into a show. It seemed just too niche. A girl who can see Egyptian curses and fights the forces of darkness from a museum where she sleeps in a sarcophagus in a closet? Well jump forward to 2020 and Enola Holmes making a big splash on Netflix and everyone going, what else is similar!?! Well, age Theo up a bit, add in her own Baker Street Irregulars, and you might, just might, have a hit on your hands. Now this isn't a faithful adaptation, but it is a fun adaptation. You can't help smiling as you watch the show and while I love the books and the show for what they are to me as an adult, if they had both existed when I was younger, I would have been the biggest fangirl they would have ever seen! And I can't help but think the creators of the show are about my age and felt the same way. Why you ask? Because this show has a very nineties Nickelodeon vibe. The opening credits alone give off a nineties video game vibe which is carried through with the music. Theodosia could have been made in the late nineties or early two thousands, if they had better special effects. It's like they took Sabrina the Teenage Witch and threw in some period costumes from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and it made me want to switch up my wardrobe and wear lots more sweaters. Theo's bedroom gave me Clarissa Explains It All room envy all over again. In other words, I think Eloise Little might just be the new Melissa Joan Hart! And the exploration angle means it can't help but be compared to the recent production of Around the World in 80 Days. And this show comes off way better. They use practical effects when able and don't talk down to you. Literally the production is top notch. I feel like I'm just listing things that it's like, but what Theodosia is is a whole bunch of nostalgic shows mashed together into something new and fun. But for the book nerd in me it's the little details that I loved. Theo putting on gloves to touch cursed artifacts, her use of carnelian to help protect against curses, her actually sleeping in a sarcophagus. All these little details that just add to the world of the show and made this fangirl of the books so happy. Because it felt like the creators of the show got it. They knew what was important and they knew how to adapt it and I just hope I get more episodes or that this will spark enough excitement about the original series like what happened with Enola Holmes so that we finally get a fifth book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Clarissa Explains It All, DNA, Egypt, Enola Holmes, Nickelodeon, Nostalgia, R.L. LaFevers, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Theodosia, Theodosia Throckmorton

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: November 5th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When he was young Zachary Ezra Rawlins found a door. Graffitied on the side of his home. Appearing overnight and painted over by the end of the day. He did not go through it and did not tell anyone about it but over the years wondered what would have happened. Therefore it comes as a shock when perusing the stacks of his school's library during winter break that there is a book with his story in it. This impossibility leads him on a hunt that will forever change his life. A hunt for a bee, a key, and a sword. A hunt that leads him into the cross-hairs of warring parties. At a literary themed masquerade at the Algonquin Hotel in New York he meets the players who will lead him down his path. Mirabel, the painter, and Dorian, the storyteller. But this path doesn't come without dangers. Far beneath the Earth there are tunnels and rooms and each and every one of them is filled with books and stories and adventures to be had. But they are all in danger. This subterranean world was once alive and vibrant and here Zachary Ezra Rawlins has finally stepped through the door into a magical world in it's death throes. What would have happened if he had arrived earlier? What will happen now that he's here? Can he save the library with his new companions or is it all lost before his adventure has really begun?

The Starless Sea is an ode to books and book lovers and all forms of stories. The plot twists and turns and is a complex puzzle waiting to be solved. A quest for the reader and for Zachary Ezra Rawlins. When you reach the end it becomes a beginning and it almost feels necessary to turn back to the first page and relive all the adventure and heartache. There's something nostalgic about it, it harkens back to well loved movies and books and even video games. There's more than a dash of The Neverending Story, and Labyrinth, and The Magicians, and and and a million other books and adventures I loved as a kid and adult. Though I have noted the discontent in some readers who were expecting a new iteration of The Night Circus. At first I to was hoping for that and while The Starless Sea is definitely not that it's so unique, so it's own thing, that I love it for what it is and the work you put in to understand and follow what is happening is justly rewarded. Books shouldn't be easy. Books should make us think, challenge us in ways we didn't expect, take us on an epic adventure that makes us realize why we fell in love with stories in the first place. I fell into The Starless Sea and don't care to be rescued.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Erin Morgenstern, Labyrinth, Library, New York, Nostalgia, Storytelling, The Algonquin, The Magicians, The Neverending Story, The Night Circus, The Starless Sea, Zachary Ezra Rawlins

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: July 11th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

What if your life hinged on a single night? In 1977 the Blyton Summer Detective Club, a group of kids known locally to the inhabitants of Blyton Hills for foiling those up to no good, solved their final case. After that night the four kids drifted apart but were forever haunted by what happened during their final foray into crime solving. Usually the villain turned out to be someone in a rubber mask, but they weren't too sure about what happened with the fortune hunter they thwarted looking for the famous treasure in the Deboën Mansion. Something otherworldly was going on that night and it has stalked them ever since. The four precocious kids full of potential are long gone. More than a decade later those still alive are living lives of quiet desperation, slinging drinks, fleeing arrest warrants, and trying to forget in mental institutions. But Andy, she of the arrest warrants, is sick of always being on the run. She shows up on Kerri's doorstep and says it's up to them to find out what really happened that night at the Deboën Mansion. None of them can actually have a life without closure. Of course this means breaking Nate out of an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts, and hoping he can keep it together.

As they travel cross-county to the sleepy mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon where they spent every summer solving crimes the ghosts of their pasts haunt them. Nate more than most because the ghost of Peter, their erstwhile leader turned famous movie star who killed himself, is literally his constant companion. Why couldn't his companion be like Kerri's? An excitable Weimaraner would be way better than a ghost! Arriving back in Blyton Hills and holing up in Kerri's old bedroom, despite all the intervening years they feel like they used to; full of righteousness and possibilities. If only this were just a trip down memory lane and not a trip to uncover the darkness that lurks in the Deboën Mansion. Yet they are determined to solve their final case properly. To trek out to the Deboën Mansion on it's deserted island and lay the evil to bed. Only jumping back into their old investigative life isn't as easy as they thought. Knowing that something evil is lurking out there is far more terrifying to adults then to kids who think they are invincible. But they've come this far! What is a journey through abandoned mine shafts and looking into the true face of evil to being forever trapped in one night in 1977?

To me the biggest mystery of 2017 was that this book was wholeheartedly embraced by booksellers and readers everywhere. I don't think the origins of it's popularity could even be solved by the Blyton Summer Detective Club. Because the nostalgia factor just can't cut it when a book is this badly written and is so insensitive to LQBTQIA issues. This book brings nothing new or interesting to the table. The writing and action is repetitive. The characters flat. As for the Big Bad? Lovecraft did it better. So that leaves nostalgia as the only logical reason people picked up this book. Nostalgia is currently playing a huge role in popular culture and media. Just look to the behemoth successes of Stranger Things and the 2017 adaptation of It, which was so popular it (haha) is getting a sequel. But the reason I have chosen these two examples is they got it so right. They bring out all the feels of a kid growing up in the late seventies and early eighties and make it somehow fresh at the same time. Whereas the nonsensical Meddling Kids seems to just be wanting to tap into that cash cow without realizing you either get it right or go home. Edgar Cantero should have gone home.

The nostalgia Meddling Kids is attempting to cash in on is the continued love of all things Scooby-Doo. OK, here's the thing with me, I've spent my entire life worshiping Scooby-Doo. Perhaps in fact this is where my love of mysteries and all things Gothic started because rumor has it that shortly after I started saying "mommy" and "kitty" I started saying "Scooby-Doo." I even had a stuffed animal of Scooby-Doo that was literally bigger than me at the time my parents bought it. I fully believe that The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show/The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries was the best incarnation of Scooby, because Fred and Velma were nixed, and if only Scrappy had met the fate Eddie Izzard suggested in his Dressed to Kill special it would have been perfection. Therefore I can, without a doubt in my mind, say that this isn't an homage to Scooby-Doo, this is just really badly written slash, aka a fanfiction subcategory pairing two male or two female characters together. This book is just Edgar writing prurient scenes of the Daphne and Velma characters for no reason other that to fulfill his own fantasies. Now I don't have a problem with fanfiction or with slash, what I have a problem with is when it's badly done and is sold as a book and is not available in some forum online, I'm looking at you Cassandra Clare. This does a disservice to nostalgia and makes it pornographic.

And for some reason this slash angle has resulted in making Kerri's hair another character. Andy has been in love with Kerri for forever and Kerri by the end of the book is willing to accept the love but not really reciprocate it, but that's an entirely different issue I have with the book. What this results in is that Andy watches the moods of Kerri's hair because it somehow embodies the essence of who Kerri really is. Andy's heightened awareness of Kerri's hair is like some weird spider-sense. I just call it Kerri's stupid ass "living" hair. If it was used once or twice, I wouldn't have had a problem with it, but again and again with the hair! The over the top descriptions of Kerri's hair get to the point where it's like a masturbatory fix for Andy. She can't just watch her hair but has to fetishize Kerri's hair. When I think of all the time wasted in this book that was in desperate need of some forward momentum spent on a character's hair it just enrages me. And what's more, I don't know what to do with this information. Why is it important? Did Edgar have a real thing about Daphne's hair on Scooby-Doo? Or does he just have a hair thing? I seriously am baffled by this choice and the fact no editor went, "What's with the hair Edgar?" But then again I had so many issues with this book if I had been it's editor I would have just thrown in on the trash heap.

Because the problematic crux of this book is that it is transphobic. At first I wasn't sure. Perhaps I was reading into something that wasn't there. Perhaps all the nasty asides about Andy wanting to be a boy was more a sign of the times, the book being set in 1990, and that Edgar figured that Andy being labelled as gay wasn't a mean enough taunt for the bullies to hurl at her. But the more this happened the more I was unnerved by the book. I started to read other reviews and saw that I wasn't the only one thinking this way. In fact, I missed something big right in front of my face. Edgar's first book, The Supernatural Enhancements, had some issues with pedophilia, and from everything I've heard about his newest book, This Body's Not Big Enough for the Both of Us deals with twincest, so I'm guessing it's a trend that his books handle big issues in a tactless manner... But that means it's even more important for the reader to call him out on this! He is a modern writer who has decided to set a book in a less enlightened time and he has a duty to be better. To call out the creeps and say that calling Andy a boy isn't right. But instead he builds it all to a reveal that shows his insensitivity and that for me makes it so that anyone who loves this book in my mind has a bigoted small-mindedness that I don't want to be around. On the surface it might look fine, but look deeper, find the monster in the lake... it's a whole lotta hate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dressed to Kill, Eddie Izzard, Edgar Cantero, Enid Blyton, Fanfiction, Going Gothic, H.P. Lovecraft, It, LGBTQ, Meddling Kids, Nostalgia, Scooby-Doo, Slash, Stranger Things, Transphobia