"HEREAFTER" A Film by Clint Eastwood

Here's an interesting take on life after death:
The biggest surprise about this movie for most people is that Clint Eastwood composed the musical score for this entire film, just as he did with the heartbreaking "Bridges of Madison County" and so many other of his fascinating films. He's a true genius in so many ways and his music evokes deep sentimentality and longing. Very moving and inspiring. (Tissue please.) Click the link above for the soundtrack. (boo-hoo-hoo! Someone hug me... I hope this soundtrack comes with a big box of Lindt chocolates so I can sob all night long...ohh...the agony of it all...

"Make a Scene" by Jordan Rosenfeld - It's About More Than You Think

(Right, the subtitle says it all.)

Okay folks, I've come out of my glorious coma and look what was in my face. Just a good book I want to pass along. A little something that's helping me out of my delusions. Nothing earth-shaking or outrageously hilarious or anything even close to that. Just another book I wish I'd read long ago, that's all. (Woo fuckin hoo. Let's face it, I just thought all this drab grey could use a touch of burgundy.)

Okay, enough of that.

Check out Jordan Rosenfeld's Make A Scene. A whole book about scenes? (Yes, moron. Why do I find that so impossible? Could it be that I've always thought that writing scenes is common sense and not a damn science? Or is this author just trying to cash-in on the obvious? Why should I buy a damn book just about scenes? Hell, all scenes have a beginning, a middle and a godforsaken ending. What else is there to know? Oh... this interior monologue is absurd, but it feels so good to chastise myself!)

I had checked this book out on Amazon long ago and thought at the time it was too basic and that almost all the information was so obvious to most writers, (especially gifted writers like me) but I finally decided to buy it. (An editor recommended a book to me that some people didn't like and they mentioned this one as a better choice. How funny is that? But it gets even better--then someone trashed this one and recommended another book, which I didn't get. I'm telling you, those Amazon reviews are amazing.) I'm wondering what kind of fog I was in the day I searched inside this book and passed on it because I think it has a lot to offer, especially for newcomers to writing. Turns out the author covers a lot of other things such as specific types of scenes, scene intentions, POV, Character Development/Motivation and much more. (That's right, take a look at the TOC.) (Forgive me, I have a thing for acronyms, initials, whatever.)

If you're an experienced writer, you'll still find this book useful as a refresher or you might find Rosenfeld's explanations about plot, for instance, easier to absorb. She breaks writing techniques down into specific modules in such a way that her remarks and insights might seem obvious on the surface, but she delivers the information in a way that resonates and sinks in. If you're brain dead like me, that's definitely a plus.

I've found the book helpful and for me at least, I think I finally "get it" as far as some of my issues about POV, plot, and a few other things. So if you're looking for a well-rounded book that covers other important topics aside from writing great scenes, blah, blah, blah. (Why bore you with the obvious, check it out already. I'm going to slip back into my coma. Do not disturb.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

BTW, I've managed to read about 100 pages of Kings of the Earth and the story is growing on me but I put it down for this book and hope to get back to it and finish it. I think I cheated and read the last page though. Trust me, it's just as boring and uneventful as the first. What a shame. I don't like to bad-mouth any books but this one is testing me. I'm almost sure that Jon Clinch has written his one and only masterpiece, Finn, but I hope not. He's capable of so much more than Kings. My review is still pending and I plan to redeem myself, and this honest story, all in one.

Oh... did I promise a review of Child of God? Dream on. (How condescending can I get? Keep reading and find out. Nothing personal, it's just business folks.) Just for the record, I thought Child of God was a brilliant take on the underbelly of a society I think still exists in the outskirts of the mountains of Tennessee, and likewise for the Blue Mountains of West Virginia and other places like it, I suspect.

As usual McCarthy manages to thrill and surprise us by the story's end. Another gem. What else can one say about it? It's vintage McCarthy at his very best. Writing reviews for McCarthy books takes a lot out of you. There's just no simple way or any shortcuts you can take and do justice to the book the way it deserves. While his stories (their premises) might be simple, thematically they're complex and require plenty of thought, editing and time (motivation is more like it), which I've been short on lately.

Your moment of Zen:
Life is all about an even balance of all things and through meditation you can experience wellness. (write this down) Seek your balance. Money must solve your needs, but not your wants, because you will always want something you cannot have.

Book Reviews Pending: Kings of The Earth, Blood Meridian

BTW, I had a few book reviews lined up but I haven't had enough quality time to finish them up. I finished McCarthy's Child of God (loved it) and now reading Blood Meridian, (enjoying it) both reviews pending. As far as Marlante's Matterhorn, as they say in New Jersey, Forget about it!, I ditched the book for lack of interest in the story line. Seems like the same old thing throughout, can't get through it, however well-written it is, just pressed for time on this epic story. Peeked at the ending and sounds just like the beginning, same note. Love his writing style though, but the story seems predictable from the outset.

That's probably the worst thing for a book. (There's a lesson here.) I love a story that is full of surprises, twists and turns, and keeps you guessing the outcome. What's the point of it all otherwise? Morals, great literary writing, and strong voice alone is not enough! This is the kind of great book that would have mattered more to more people, thirty years ago. Vietnam is hardly relevant, but when presented as in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, it becomes fresh and engaging.

So far I also had to bail out on Jon Clinch's Kings of the Earth. Very disappointing. The opening didn't do it for me and I'm having a tough time getting through any of it, mainly because of the odd structure, but still want to give it a second chance, in hopes that Clinch will finally come through like he did with Finn. I doubt it though. I just don't see this story taking off and since it's based on a true story, that alone diffuses the surprise factor for me. We'll see, so far Blood Meridian is way too interesting (as old as it is, but a timeless classic) to put down. Now there's something women readers will find impossible to believe. I'm sure they couldn't get through the first paragraph. (It's a guy thing, and I'm loving it.) 

I'll be away for a week but hope to come back with renewed literary vengeance. Feel free to scour through my files while I'm gone!

Book Tourism

Tours to Book Stores? Brilliant!

Here's where I found the "Google me" link. I think Larry Portzline is on to something, but his little venture is missing one very important, recession-proof gimmick. He needs nerdy tour guides that look like Pamela Anderson. Okay, okay, how about Jennifer Lopez?

Check out Book Tourism!

Let Me Google That For You!

Hi folks,
Just came across this link I thought you might get a kick out of. It's a snippet of code that people click on and Google your name, business, or whatever. Totally useless, but interesting for about a minute. Have fun!

Now, Google me! (I have no shame.)

Google Alberto here! Who is this loser anyway?

Book Teasers Pub! An Effective Approach For Your Book Promotions

Looking for an effective way to promote your books? Check out my new Blogspot: Book Teasers Pub! For many years, I've been designing and producing effective book trailers, mini teasers, and videos that not only excite readers about your books, but promos that make you look good as an author.

Each week you'll find informative articles about promoting your books, looking good on video, and enhancing your platform as an author, plus much more! Watch the Book Teaser Samples here:

http://bookteaserspub.blogspot.com/

Inside Google Books: Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

Inside Google Books: Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

Nerd Alert - Get Your Facebook Game Face On

OMG have you ever seen such an exciting dork-fest before? I mean, ever? My gosh, those Harvard boys sure know how to "par-tay" and rattle the proverbial cage. They're so sassy, so witty and so damn gay! How wonderful is that?

I think I'm going to love this movie! After all, what's not to like? It's ultra-white, super geeky, and ever so flamingly gay and happy. Don't you just love the way they enunciate every syllable? Makes you wonder if they're going to break out and do the robot dance to Styx' Mr. Roboto. Now wouldn't that be a blast?

It just can't get more Anglo Saxon than this! I think they should put out a "Black Folk Alert" just to warn all our dark-skinned friends, you know. You think they should include subtitles just for ghetto minorities like me? You know in Spanglish or Ebonics. That would be so cool, don't you think?

Gosh darnet, I know this movie will win an Oscar. After all, their PR firm says it will, so what's stopping it now? How exciting! I just can't wait till October to chat with all my Facebook buddies while we're waiting on line at the theater. That's going to be the best part, all the socializing and the snappy repartee to be had. ooogah!

OMG, this is huge! Don't you think?

Uhh?...yeah!

You go Justin! (J.O.K.E.)

HELLHOUND ON HIS TRAIL - The Stalking of MLK

The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr.

This book was hard for me to put down. I devoured half of it in almost one sitting, right up to the point when Galt, a.k.a., James Earl Ray, had finally shot MLK.

Borrowing from the song title "Hellhounds on My Trail" - by Robert Johnson, (Blues singer, 1911-1938) this book serves as a good example of what it takes for readers to be spellbound by so many elements of a particular story. First of all, I was only ten years old when this happened, so at the time it had made an indelible impression on me, till this day, I might add.

I remember seeing a lot of it unfold on television (when color television itself was in its infancy) right before my curious eyes and ears, not unlike the JKF assassination in 1963, the slaying of a Muslim activist by the name of Malcolm X, or the Bobby Kennedy assassination only months after the MLK tragedy. It's no wonder I'm so fixated with these kinds of stories. I've lived through so many of them and I have always been curious about the details of each of these crimes.

First, let me say that if you have a sensitive stomach to bloody details, beware because this account is quite graphic, although it is not overtly presented just for the sake of dramatization. Hampton Sides, at least as far as I can tell from this story, has a very matter-of-fact writing style and by no means seems to embellish this story. He has authored several other good books as well.

What really appeals to me about this book though, is how the author peppers his narrative with unrelated events such as the whereabouts of Elvis Presley, the goings on in the world of music in Nashville, or how Pete Townsend was putting the finishing touches on his song about a pinball wizard, all this intersecting during this precarious time in American history. All those gregarious details adding plenty of texture and a peculiar interest that almost seems out of place if it were not for their almost comic convergence in this unsettling timeline.

It's almost as if we are watching a film reel countdown of the year 1968 in slow motion, where the main event is blurred by so many asides. If not for its lack of artistry, one might easily construe this technique with a bastardization of the plot through-line. Instead, Sides manages to succeed by delineating historical facts, however unrelated, in a most satisfying, if not perverse literary mash-up all his own.

But this is non-fiction, after all, and regardless of sensationalized fictive elements, if any, at the beginning of this story, without another alternative, Sides ends this thriller just as uneventful as the understated events that took place in real life back in June of 1968.

MLK's assassin was caught without incident or struggle (no spoilers here) in London after a daring escape from a seedy Memphis motel in early April of that same year after traversing his way through Canada, supposedly on his way to Rhodesia.

I think the most poignant aspect of this book is its honesty and its unrelenting attention to detail, much of which Sides had insiders help with by way of a retired Memphis detective that was working on this case. Sides also says that he went on his own journey around the world, as he literally traced James Earl Ray's fidgety footsteps that eventually led to this crime.

That kind of dedication to story is commendable to say the least and without question adds a richness and a resounding depth to the narrative that might have otherwise been obscured by second-hand facts.

Some may argue that this version of the MLK assassination only helps raise more questions than provide answers to an already suspicious set of circumstances surrounding Rays final prison break, which led him to commit this murder. Was it a conspiracy or not? Did Ray in fact have help escaping the ultimate security penitentiary in Missouri, and was he paid to silence Dr. King?

James Earl Ray had once said that he would take many secrets to his grave regarding this crime, and he probably did. Then again, he was also known as a pathological liar.

Whatever your point of view, Sides brilliantly succeeds in presenting this killer just as he was. A troubled, delusional man, a racist, and a cold-blooded killer.

Nothing more or nothing else should do.


*********************

I'm working on reading Karl Marlantes epic about his Vietnam experience, "Matterhorn," so this review will be forthcoming in several months since my reading time is short these days. What attracted me to this story, aside from its gripping narrative, is its author, and how he developed this story over the course of 30 years. You gotta love a behind-the-scenes story like that. Stay tuned.

The Things They Carried--What's The Moral?

Okay, talk about another book that was hard to put down, The Things They Carried certainly was a treat for the ears and a treat for the weary soul too. This little book has it all. Witty storytelling, an interesting non-linear plotline, and plenty of humor along the way. What more can you ask for? A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize to go with it? Sure, why not? This is the kind of stuff that Pulitzer committees live for.

Since I have scarcely turned the pages of my upcoming book for review, Karl Marlantes’ “Matterhorn,” the best way I can compare these two books about Vietnam is on their tone. While Matterhorn sticks to the standard, rigid plotline, (nothing wrong with that) right to the end, TTTC, tells its protagonist’s semi-autobiographical story through a series of vignettes and short stories instead.

I’ve always liked this technique because it’s so easy to get through the story even if you happen to skip parts of it for whatever reason, without really missing important plot-points along the way (great for lazy, hurried readers like me).

And that’s not to diminish Marlantes’ style of storytelling by any means, mind you. Every author has their own voice and both these master storytellers know how to use their strengths to their advantage.

At first glance, Carried comes across as a tedious lesson about military artifacts and the endless gear, “humped by frontline grunts marching into the shit,” only for events to turn on a dime and smack us with a decapitation or a horrific dismemberment along their merry way. The ultimate juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy, not unlike many Shakespearian plays, harrowing events that broadside you when you least expect it.

The brilliance of “Carried” certainly comes from its almost flippant view of the Vietnam War, reminding us in part of Kurt Vonnegut’s, Slaughterhouse Five, and his own brand of humor about the ironies of WWII. Although, Tim O’Brien, treads on very different waters throughout his own peculiar narrative, which borders more on cliché, that is, the birth of clichés, as they apparently happened.

We get that eerie feeling that somehow, some way, from someone, we’ve heard many of these outlandish war stories before, yet O’Brien manages to package them in such a way that they become fresh, exciting and new all over again. And it’s that uncertain familiarity that we embrace and enjoy from one unbelievable story to the next.

It’s almost as if we want to hear these stories repeated, as they are time and again by different characters, each time every character adding their own brand of incredible details that mesmerize us on the spot, and just like the gossipmongers that we are, we clamor more.

Like this gem:

“But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried 34 rounds when he was shot and killed outside Than Khe, and he went down under an exceptional burden, more than 20 lbs. of ammunition, plus the flak jacket and helmet and rations and toilet paper and tranquilizers and all the rest, plus the un-weighed fear. He was dead weight.”

“There was no twitching or flopping. Kiowa, who saw it happen, said it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something―just boom, then down―not like the movies where the dead body rolls around and does fancy spins and goes ass over teakettle―not like that.”

“…the poor bastard just flat-fuck fell. Boom. Down. Nothing else.”

O’Brien delivers in grand style throughout of course, as he wittingly takes us through seemingly unrelated short stories and artfully threads his word-fare with brilliant metaphor, again, blindsiding us with his literary prowess unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed before in the course of such a short book.

Brandishing the fine sword of a wordsmith with the sensitivity and morals of an evangelical minister. And yes, forever endearing us to the Gospel of Vietnam, all according to Tim O’Brien.

Touché.

****************

Upcoming Book Reviews:
Hellhound on His Trail, by Hampton Sides
Child of God, by Cormac McCarthy
Kings of The Earth, by Jon Clinch
MatterHorn, by Karl Marlantes