This week, I take a look back at veteran director Phil Karlson's violent 1975 redneck noirFRAMED, over at Steve-O's great Noir of the Week blog.
The ad above is from the Wed. Oct. 1, 1975 issue of the N.Y. Daily News (Page 1 headline: ALI TKOs FRAZIER & KEEPS TITLE). It's a little time capsule from the golden era of 42nd St. double-features. Never did get around to seeing BUG though.
(If you're a fan of "How did they do that?" stunts, check out this ridiculously dangerous car/train collision from FRAMED, co-coordinated by legendary Hollywood stuntman Carey Loftin).
This Saturday (5/15) I'll be joining an all-star gathering at the Mayhem at Bookhampton festival on Long Island. My panels will include "Reading the Murder Scene" (with Alex Berenson, Carol Higgins Clark and others) at 1 p.m. at the East Hampton store, "Tough Guys" (with Reed Farrell Coleman, Berenson and others) at 5 p.m. at the Southhampton store, and "Noir at Dark" (with Coleman, Alafair Burke, Duane Swierczynski and others) at 9 p.m. back in East Hampton. Other attendees at the festival will include S.J. Rozan, Nelson DeMille, Tasha Alexander, Andrew Grant, Linda Fairstein, Chris Grabenstein and many, many others. A full schedule can be found here.
... for parting with some books, in order to make room for new ones. A great culling of my personal library has begun (for space reasons), and as a result I'll be auctioning off a number of rare, out-of-print crime, suspense and horror novels and collections over the coming weeks. I've kicked it off with some horror titles (including the one above, and others of special interest to zombie fans), and a handful of those auctions are already up on eBay, where they can be found under the seller account nightside7. Some auctions will benefit charities, some won't, but there'll likely be a steady stream of them over the next few weeks, hopefully a new one each day.
The Audio Book Store and Audible.com are offering a special price of $7.49 to download the unabridged Tantor Audio version of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER (that's 6 hrs. and 54 mins.), read by actress Karen White. The physical CD version - 6 discs - is also available, from Amazon and other sites.
A handful of new reviews of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER have shown up in the last couple weeks, including one by veteran mystery reviewer Oline H. Cogdill in MYSTERY SCENE magazine. The links below are clickable:
The crime fiction poetry journal The Lineup is now offering its second CrimeWAV podcast here. You can also listen to it on the Lineup blog with a Google player here.
In addition to works by James W. Hall, Reed Farrell Coleman, James Sallis, Patti Abbott and others, the new podcast includes my poem "Independence Day, 1976," read by Gerald So.
My poem "Independence Day 1976" appears in the new edition of the annual poetry collection THE LINEUP , now available. A podcast will follow April 18. The collection also features the work of many real poets, including James W. Hall, Reed Farrel Coleman, James Sallis and others. My piece was written shortly after the death of Jim Carroll, and is dedicated to him.
+ I've had to cancel/reschedule some upcoming events, so I will not be appearing at the April 13 Mystery Writers of America "Crime Scene" panel at the New York Public Library. However, my place will be ably taken by Dennis Tafoya, the Philly-based crime novelist and author of DOPE THIEF and the upcoming THE WOLVES OF FAIRMOUNT PARK.
My appearance at the Brielle Public Library has been rescheduled for Monday, May 10 at 7 p.m.
The GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER tour winds down - at least for now - this Saturday (3/20) at Book Towne in Manasquan, N.J., from noon-2 p.m. For those who don't know it, Manasquan is a lovely little Shore town right on the ocean, and Book Towne is located in the heart of the town's historic business district. It's the first day of spring, and temps are expected to be in the 70s.
+ The Red Bank Orbit has a fairly wide-ranging interview with me, originally pegged to the screening of THE KILLING. It's a Q&A about crime novels, film noir, chicken dinners and Timothy Carey.
+ I was recently notified that my short story "Heart," which featured Morgan before his appearance in GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER, made the short list for the next "Best American Mystery Stories" anthology, and will be listed in the back of the book among the "Other Distinguished Stories of 2009" listing. The book, guest edited by Lee Child, will be published later this year.
This Sunday (3/14) at 4 p.m., I'll host a special screening of Stanley Kubrick's classic 1956 film noirTHE KILLING at the ShowRoom independent theater in Asbury Park, N.J., as part of their ongoing BookFLX series. The ShowRoom is Asbury's newest theater/screening room, located in the newly revitalized Cookman Avenue business district (it's just a couple doors down from what used to be the legendary Upstage Club.)
Based on the novel CLEAN BREAK by Lionel White, Kubrick's film revolves around an intricately plotted $2 million racetrack robbery organized by ex-con Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden, in one of his best roles). THE KILLING has both classic noir elements and a trailblazing narrative structure that Quentin Tarantino would revisit years later with RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION.
I'll introduce the film, and a discussion and Q&A will follow the screening. Refreshments, including beer and wine, will be served. Tickets are $15. Seating is limited. For more information and advance tickets, click here or call (732) 502-0472.
To make it an even more special night in Asbury, singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan will be performing later on at The Saint, just blocks away on Main Street. Ryan is one of America's great unheralded songwriters, and his new album, DEAR LOVER, is just out. A number of his songs made it onto the mix CD I compiled during the writing of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER. He can get pretty noir himself now and then.
For more on the screening, and a Q&A, check out Tom Chesek's piece in the Red Bank Orbit.
This Saturday I'll be following in the footsteps of the late, great Dan "The Phantom" Federici, with events in his hometown of Flemington, N.J., and then across the state in Asbury Park. From 2 to 4 p.m., I'll be at the Moonstone Mystery Bookstore, 12 Bloomfield Ave., Flemington. Then from 6:30 on, I'll be at Words! Bookstore at 612 Cookman Ave., Asbury Park, as part of the town's monthly "First Saturday" festival (last month's was canceled because of snow). Shops and restaurants will be open late, and there's free parking. As at previous events, I'll be signing books and giving away CDs and baked goods.
And for possible post-event entertainment, the legendary Blasters (minus Dave Alvin) will be playing that night at The Saint, just a few blocks away on Main Street.
Now that the snow has - for the most part - stopped, tomorrow's event at Montclair's Watchung Booksellers (above) is still on for 1 p.m. Sat. (2/27). I'll be signing books, giving away CDs and possibly some baked goods. WB is at 54 Fairfield St. in Watchung Plaza, Montclair, N.J. (973) 744-7177.
A nice review of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER, posted today over at Bookgasm.
Also, the unabridged audio edition, read by actress Karen White, is now available for sale and download.
And for those in N.J., signed copies of GTN are available, while they last, at Barnes & Noble stores at Monmouth Mall (Eatontown), Holmdel, Howell Township, Freehold and - soon - Paramus.
The folks over at THE LINEUP - that annual roundup of crime-related poetry - are taking pre-orders on Issue #3, which will be out in April. That issue contains my poem "Independence Day, 1976," which l wrote shortly after the death of Jim Carroll. It also features work by James W. Hall, James Sallis, Reed Farrel Coleman, Patti Abbott and others. Details below.
The Lineup #3 (April 2010)
Edited by Gerald So with Sarah Cortez, R. Narvaez, and Anthony Rainone
ISSN 1945-7510 6" x 9", 48 pages, saddle-stitched $7.00
Poems by Patricia Abbott, Joe Barnes, Henry Chang, Reed Farrel Coleman, Sarah Cortez, Michael A. Flanagan, Anne Frasier, James W. Hall, David Hernandez, Amy MacLennan, Carrie McGath, James M. McGowan, Kristine Ong Muslim, David S. Pointer, James Sallis, Jackie Sheeler, Wallace Stroby, Larry D. Thomas, Francine Witte
