New York O God The Books

Well.

My wallet has two hernias but I'm not sorry.

Let's review. 

Bought at the Mysterious Bookshop we have two Crime Classics from E.C.R. Lorac, aka Edith Rivett, a novelist I highly recommend to anyone interested in crime fiction. I've read them both, which given that I got home Monday should show you how highly I rate them. Especial recommendation to Bookhounds of London Directors, as the London she writes of is wartime London. That's a little out of the usual Bookhounds timeline but not by much, which makes it good source material. Plus, there's a wealth of historical data here, because Rivett lived through it and knows wherof she speaks. Also Deadly Isle: A Golden Age Mystery Map. Because I'm not a heartless monster. I see the same publisher does maps for Los Angeles, Agatha Christie's England, and the Hardboiled Apple. Hmmmm ...  

Bought at the Strand we have Boys from Brazil, The Borrowed and The Midnight Washerwoman and other tales of Lower Brittany. Boys should need no introduction. The Borrowed is a series of tales about a detective nicknamed the Eye of Heaven, who makes things hot for Hong Kong criminals. Midnight Washerwoman by Francois-Marie Luzel is the kind of thing I go to the Strand for; their Mythology section often has treasures like these hiding away.

Bought at Barnes & Noble on 14th - highly recommend this big box store, it has damn near everything including a well-stocked selection of Criterion blu-ray discs - I got a Thomas Ligotti and an intriguing reprint of an old horror novel, the Auctioneer. I haven't dipped my toes into either pond just yet but am looking forward to it.

Bought at Tannens - everyone who visits NYC should go to the oldest magic shop in the Western hemisphere - we have Steinmeyer's book on the old illusion Pepper's Ghost, and an encyclopedia of cigarette tricks. Because if you're going to write about period things you need to have an understanding of how these things work, and while cigarette tricks are a bit old these days, they were all the rage in the 1920s. 

Bought at the Argosy, and anyone who has any interest in the written word needs to pay the Argosy at least one visit in their lifetime. Its collection is a must-see. Oddly, the first time I tried to visit I couldn't get in because they were filming a Goosebumps film. So, if you should see it on the small or big screen sometime soonish, well, that's why. The Tim Powers needs no explanation. The Toy Boats book is very relevant to something I'm working on. I think I read it before, in a library; now I have a copy. The other two are creaky real-life crime collections. As I've said before, if you want to work within a historical period, you need to know what they were thinking even if what they were thinking is ludicrous.

Bought at Forbidden Planet. Also bought at Forbidden Planet, a Shaw Brothers collection and a blu-ray of the old 80s horror, House. Again, I'm not a heartless monster. 

Bought at the Compleat Strategist. It was a tough decision between this and Old West Cthulhu, but I'm not sorry. I haven't had a chance to more than skim the first few pages. I'll have more to say about this later. 

Shows I would recommend to any lover of the stage:

Stalker! No lie, my plane landed at 4 and I was in my seat by 7. This mentalist act is an absolute joy to behold.  Brynolf & Ljung are masters of the craft and by God do they let you know it. I was up on stage with them getting utterly foozled and I don't regret a second of it. The concluding performance (I hate to call it trick) is an absolute brain-buster and I shan't spoil, but I kinda wish I had been the target ...

Twenty Sided Tavern! This was my Tuesday joy. I've seen similar setups at improv before but this is something in a class of its own. I don't know if you've ever seen anything like it? Twenty gives you an improv D&D session in one evening, where our heroes - a plump Holy Turkey, a Wild West Dead Man Walking and a Wizard with a Switchblade (lover of fresh kidneys) - took on a chaos mist that threatened to destroy the weave. I like to laugh. I had plenty of chances that night.

 

The staging was very effective. That back wall? One big screen. Once the action started that screen showed everything from landscapes to hit points. When the audience intervened with their own choices, the screen showed the result. Pro tip: if you go, try to get seats close to the front row. You won't regret it!

That's it for this week! Next week: ahhh, why spoil? ;)  

New York, New York

I'm back!

I'm also knackered, but that's usually a sign of a good vacation. This time I did in a week what can be done in a week, as opposed to last time when I did in three days what ought to take two weeks. Fun times, but by God I was wrecked at the end of it.

No, this was a much more relaxed time away. Christmas fairs, shopping, comedy clubs, improv clubs (the PIT in midtown is a lot of fun if you enjoy that sort of thing, and their improv D&D was a blast!), the lot. I didn't see as many museums as I thought I might, but that's mainly because the Frick, which was on the list, is undergoing renovations and I got lost on the way to the Merchant's House. Boy, did I feel like a sucker. I used to know that part of town so well, too ...

Films I recommend:

Framing Agnes

A fascinating glimpse at what it meant to be trans back in the 1950s. The talk show concept kinda didn't work for me; it made the film feel static and a little slow at times. That said, the subject is engrossing and the lives of the people the doc talks about are, well, actual lives. They don't try to tell a morality tale or a good-people-triumph or any kind of mythologizing. It's just the story, neat, no ice no water.

 The Draughtsman's Contract

Mad as a box of frogs. A wealthy, bored and unhappy wife hires an artist to draw her husband's house and grounds while he is away on business. He does so, on terms that include sex. Pretty vigorous and nasty sex, by the look of it. Then the husband turns up dead. It's not a murder mystery, really, not in the Agatha Christie sense, but murder definitely has its place in the narrative.

Both seen at the Film Forum, which I heartily recommend to anyone visiting New York. In the same week I was there the Forum also showed Welles' The Trial, which I also heartily recommend and have seen many times - though not this trip.

Books!

Once again the Compleat Strategist, Argosy and Strand did me good. I shan't go through the list of Christmas books bought, but:

Joe Lansdale, Savage Season & Rumble Tumble. This is one of those nostalgia purchases. I was a big fan of Lansdale once upon a time but I never got heavily into Hap and Leonard, his two detectives; I was fonder of his horror work. I figured this was as good a moment as any to find out how much I might like the series, and I was right. Recommended to lovers of film noir and pulp action.

William Gibson, Spook Country. Bought on a whim on my last day there, I haven't read it yet but am looking forward to it. Again, a nostalgia purchase; like everyone else I read Count Zero, Johnny Mnemonic and Neuromancer back in the before times, but I haven't read any Gibson in years. Time to rectify that.

Paul Vanderwood, Satan's Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars in America's Greatest Gaming Resort. Brilliant historical romp through the twists and turns of Tijuana's dark past, it opens with a shootout over the cash from a casino group and closes with the end of Agua Caliente back in the late 20s. It's a great resource for Keepers, and a fun read for fans of true crime.

Basil Thompson, My Experiences At Scotland Yard, 1923, covers the turn of the century and Great War period. I think you can guess why I wanted this one. I haven't read it yet but am looking forward to it!

Emanuel Lavine, Secrets of the Metropolitan Police, 1937. Again, I think you can guess why I wanted this one. Good Trail of Cthulhu fodder!

Vampire: The Masquerade - the Second Inquisition. It was either going to be this or the Blood Cults book, and it was a tough choice. Maybe next time, Blood Cults! I also picked up some Vampire dice. Yes, I am a sucker. Mainly inspired by Jacob Burgess' Vampire game over at LoadingReadyRun. 

OK! That's it for this one. As mentioned, I'm going to take a break for the remainder of the year and come back raring to go in the New Year.

Question for the hive mind: I know I've talked a lot about Bookhounds and Night's Black Agents, less so other systems. Is there a particular gaming system you'd like me to explore in the New Year?