The Book Wrangler

7/25/04

By Bob Patterson

On Saturday July 17, Ray Bradbury was doing a signing at The Mystery Bookstore in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, when he got a call on his cell phone.  It was from his long time friend Stan Freburg who was inviting him to a movie screening.  Bradbury used some salty language that was blunt and unambiguous to decline the invitation to go see Fahrenheit 9/11.  The signing and friendly banter with the fans was resumed immediately following the call.

[Editor’s Note: For a discussion who why Bradbury won’t see the film, glance at July 4, 2004: The Barbie Dialogs - Copyright Law and Ray Bradbury's Anger in these pages.] 

There are some new books that deserve a plug.

The Cat’s Pajamas by Ray Bradbury ($24.95 William Morrow) 

A collection of 20 short stories (18 are previously unpublished) by one of America’s most famous writers.

Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction by Jonathan Eller, William F. Touponce, Ray Bradbury and William F. Nolan.  ($34 Kent State University Press) 

One of the many books by/or about Ray Bradbury.

Conversations with Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury and Steven L. Aggelis ($48 University of Mississippi Press) 

A biography of Bradbury, that’s what I’m talking about.

Forensics for Dummies by (Dr.) Douglas P. Lyle ($19.99 paperback John Wiley and Sons) 

Dr. Lyle has a website for mystery writers.  When his previous book Murder and Mayhem was published we said in a review published elsewhere that writing a sequel titled Autopsies for Dummies would be a good idea.  We will try to obtain a copy of this armchair guidebook for the CSI programs fans and do a full on review of it. 

Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness Modern History from the Sports Desk by Hunter S. Thompson ($23 Simon & Schuster)

This book will be published on August 11, 2004.  This book is a collection of the columns Hunter Thompson has written for the ESPN web site. 

[Editor’s note: For as sample see July 27, 2003 Opinion which quotes one of the Hunter Thompson ESPN essays and comments on it.]

Bushworld: Enter at your own risk by Maureen Dowd  ($25.95 Putnam Publishing Group) 

This book is a collection of columns that she has written for the New York Times.  It’s a columnist version of a singer or band doing a “Best of” album.  [Both Dowd and Thompson bash Bush regularly.  Has anyone ever seen the two authors in the same room at the same time?  Has Ms. Dowd ever acted as Dr. Thompson’s proxy?  I wouldn’t bet on it.]

What a great idea.  Doing a book that consists of columns that you have already written.  Hmm.  I wonder if the editor at Delusions of Adequacy online magazine saved carbon copies of The Last Beatnik columns I wrote for them.