All The News You Really Need

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I finally tossed MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. If you wanna know the history of Savannah its excellent. If you wanna idea of its gay wild life, that's good, too. Otherwise I have no idea why the guy wrote it.

I also tossed A RAGE TO LIVE by John O'Hara. Critics complain O'Hara got OCD as he got older, and that's true. RTL includes grocery lists and operating instructions and recipes. Its supposed to be the story of a wanton teen, woman, wife. But mostly its endless inane blabber punctuated with some risqué talk from a 16 year old Lolita. YOU CAN DO MORE IF YOU WANT TO. I MEAN, MORE THAN KISS ME. Another teen got pregnant. And a teen servant was fired for serving her young master. The book was a best seller in 1949. Its 800 pages of not much.

That said, O'Hara wrote some good erotica within 1000 words or so. I think its some of his best writing, especially the young Flapper tales.

LIVE BY NIGHT by Dennis Lehane is great writing and exhausting reading due to its relentless action. The action never stops. The mobsters are monsters, the cons are animals, the women are depraved whores, the cops are corrupt imbeciles.

NIGHT SQUAD by David Goodis is the tale of a corrupt alcoholic cop assigned to a secret police terror unit. Theyre after a mobster who brutally raped the team leaders wife 33 years ago.

 

[LadyVer]

This is probably why I stick to humorous vamp tales. It's easier to handle. You ever read any of Conroy's books?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

This is probably why I stick to humorous vamp tales. It's easier to handle. You ever read any of Conroy's books?

No, none stick in my mind. Convince me I should

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I have, it seems, about 3000 reliable readers. And three thousand souls fills most auditoriums. I don't know what my potential market share is as I create my niche.

I cut off anonymous comments and voting, and that fucked the AH trolls with alts, which is most of you reading this.

 

[LadyVer]

No, none stick in my mind. Convince me I should

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/pat-conroy/

The Prince of Tides for starters.

The Water is Wide, I did a project on in my secondary ed class. Part of the essay had to deal with the Gullah dialect. It didn't go over well because no one wanted to hear about it. I was studying English and French and found the book fascinating especially because of the history and language.

I read the Great Santini and the Lords of Discipline as well. All great books. I think I tried to read Beach Music but couldn't get into it. It seemed different than the other books of his I had read.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/pat-conroy/

The Prince of Tides for starters.

The Water is Wide, I did a project on in my secondary ed class. Part of the essay had to deal with the Gullah dialect. It didn't go over well because no one wanted to hear about it. I was studying English and French and found the book fascinating especially because of the history and language.

I read the Great Santini and the Lords of Discipline as well. All great books. I think I tried to read Beach Music but couldn't get into it. It seemed different than the other books of his I had read.

I think I'll start with THE GREAT SANTINI and LORDS OF DISCIPLINE.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I closed LIVE BY NIGHT. the idea of a 20 year old coming to Tampa and taking over the local Mafia organization is stunning.

 

[LadyVer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DawGnIlBJk0

About a cousin of mine.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The Lehane book was well written and absurdly implausible. No boy wonder from Boston ever came to Tampa and took over the Mafia organization. In most cases it was New York that sent the new guys, and they were promptly shot or tossed into a water trough then tossed back onto the train.

HIT MAN by Lawrence Block arrived in the mail.

NIGHT SQUAD and THE MOON IN THE GUTTER by David Goodis are both excellent reading. Goodis' characters have good heads and noble hearts but their flesh are weak and inadequate. They know whats right, and they wanna do right, and they cant.

Goodis writes wonderful fight scenes.

 

[StrangeLife]

I The mobsters are monsters, the cons are animals, the women are depraved whores, the cops are corrupt imbeciles...

The story of my life...

Thanks for the recommendations - will definitely take a look at those.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

James... I should be grateful if you would give us your own picks for top one, two or three of your own stories here on LitE.

I'd like to read them.

Midnight in the Garden is an interesting movie to me, and I haven't read the book. Yes it even seems odd as a movie, except that the cameos are memorable.

Best,

DMMWk.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

James... I should be grateful if you would give us your own picks for top one, two or three of your own stories here on LitE.

I'd like to read them.

Midnight in the Garden is an interesting movie to me, and I haven't read the book. Yes it even seems odd as a movie, except that the cameos are memorable.

Best,

DMMWk.

My best stories are on the alt account. They are 8K-10K words. JBJ is my sketch pad and troll bait.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The story of my life...

Thanks for the recommendations - will definitely take a look at those.

Goodis' books are non-stop action and complications. And some of it is funny as hell in a sick way..yesterday I read a chapter about a dock worker poised to get his ass kicked by his crew and foreman after he objected to Mrs. Snootie taking his picture (shes the wife of the pier owner). So she was insulted. and her hubby had a shit eating grin anticipating the ass whuppin.

What happens? The guy smacks Mrs. Snootie's nose with his fist, and hammers Mr. Snootie good before the crew saves him.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Started a new tale today. It has some potential. Its erotic noir.

The killer has a novel sort of MO. I may be wrong but I haven't seen it before. What he does is set up his ambush using SOP's of police and other agencies. That is, the SOPs compel cops and others to go into the killing field and certain death.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Finished reading NIGHT SQUAD by David Goodis. Its a solid 4 stars plus. It aint literature but who cares! I guess what impresses me most is: Goodis wasn't a commercial success but he was a good writer, and everyone stole his stuff. Corey Bradford is a skid row Philip Marlowe. One or two minor minor characters, not even characters really, more rumor than substance, would make great Loving Wives tales.

Ordered CASSIDYS GIRLS by Goodis. A drunk is involved with 2 women: His wife cucks him every chance she gets, and he's seeing a younger woman with a serious drinking problem. It makes the wife crazy jealous.

Wrote 1000 words of my new story. A serial killer ambushes cops and tv news crews.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Started reading THE HITMAN by Lawrence Block. I was surprised to learn that Block wrote/published porn during the 50s/60s. So did Florence King. So did Donald Westlake. Many of Blocks porn titles are available used, and aren't cheap.

THE HITMAN is a collection of stories about a contract killer.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Hemingway, and THE SINS OF THE FATHERS by Lawrence Block arrived in the mail today.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

HIT MAN by Lawrence Block is good. He wrote porn in the 50s, and how he works sex into the HIT MAN stories is clever. Its clever as there's no sex at all. But there are encounters, flirting, seduction, and cigarette/shower/dressing banter afterwards. She doesnt scream OMG she lights up and writes her phone number on a sheet of Holiday Inn stationery and invites him to call her if he stays in town. He does.

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA got better since I read it in high school.

I use hypnosis to generate story ideas, and logged 3 new ideas in recent days. The plan is to log 20 ideas within 30 days.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Ordered BLACK FRIDAY by David Goodis. Four 30-something losers live with their moms, hangout and get drunk together.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Finished reading THE MOON IN THE GUTTER by David Goodis.

I wanted to burn the book because the characters are developed so well, theyre total white trash. I kept thinking, RELAX THEYRE SUPPOSED TO BE DISGUSTING LOSERS!

I thought one of them was 19, he's 35.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA is much improved since high school. Back then we counted our blessings for its brevity. We were poised to conquer the world after graduation, and rolled our eyes at Santiago's poverty. Not us!

Fifty years of world conquering makes a difference.

Kids still hate this book.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Started reading CASSIDYS GIRL by David Goodis.

Excellent beginning. Husband comes home from work, the house is a fucking wreck. Piles of cigarette butts in every ash tray, empty liquor bottles all over the place, kitchen stacked with dirty dishes, broken furniture, and blood on the floor.

He finds his wife in the bedroom dressing to go out to party. He wants some. She refuses. They have a fist fight. He gets some. She leaves to party.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Finished episode 6 of my Rose and Jack series.

It took a while for the pieces to congeal into something. The crisis occurs when Buddy jumps into quicksand. It isn't deep enough to conceal and smother him but its enough to hold him till hell freezes over. Earlier the fool stepped on the tines of a rake while prowling in the dark; the rake handle smacked his face then made enough noise to wake the dead when it fell off the porch onto a wheelbarrow. Buddy fled to the swamp, got lost, and waded down a creek to the river and his boat till the quicksand grabbed him.

 

[LadyVer]

Congrats on Rose. Nice av, btw.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Congrats on Rose. Nice av, btw.

The cap hides my bald spot. Wait! I'm bald all over.