book #31

[realthog]

 
While working at my desk through (a) Rhonda Byrne's dire The Secret and a stack of essays about it, (b) F. LaGard Smith's bizarre Out on a Broken Limb (1986), in which a Biblical Fundamentalist assails Shirley MacLaine for being a bit wacko in her ideas (the funniest moment is when he berates her for accepting this crackpot "evolution" stuff), and (c) Martin Gardner's jolly The New Age, taking notes here and there as I've been going through all three, my scant intervals of leisure-reading time have been occupied by Elmore Leonard's 1990 novel Get Shorty.

This is, I think, only the second of his novels that I've read, the other being Out of Sight (1996), which I devoured last fall . . . discovering as I did so that this was the basis for a movie I'd already seen and liked on cable at some stage, starring J-Lo and G-Cloo. (I'd known the movie was based on a Leonard novel, but I'd long forgotten the movie's title.)

Chili Palmer is a Mob debt collector in Miami. When things go awry in the Mob hierarchy, Chili pursues Leo, an obsessive gambler who managed to swindle an airline's insurance company and lit out for Las Vegas, neglecting to pay his debts to the Mob before his departure. In Vegas, Chili gets back the money but promptly, tempted by the environment, loses it all gambling. By the time he realizes his folly, he finds Leo has fled again, this time to Hollywood. The remainder of the book is taken up satirizing the movie industry, as Chili -- along with sleazoid producer Harry and ex-scream queen Karen -- attempts to sell a major studio and a major star (who happens to be Karen's ex) on a script Harry's gotten hold of. Except what inadvertently happens is that Chili, who don't hold with no posturing thespian assholes, manages to sell everyone on the notion of making a movie about a Mob debt collector in Miami who pursues an obsessive gambler to Vegas and . . . You get the drift.

To be honest, I preferred the 1996 novel to Get Shorty. That's not to say I didn't find Get Shorty plenty of fun: I did. But Out of Sight seemed to have a story to tell -- and a good one -- whereas Get Shorty, even though it included a plethora of excellent scenes and setups, somehow didn't. Nonetheless, with its zinging dialogue and its wry sense of irony (jeez, I sound like a blurb writer all of a sudden; sorry for the lapse), the novel has certainly put me in the mood for some more Elmore Leonard, down the line. Of course, depending on how bright I feel post-op, for the next few months my "leisure" reading is going to have to be largely devoted to those Bogus Science-related tomes that don't demand to be read at my desk. Next up, a slim vol on the afterlife by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, oh joy.

 

Comments

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

Next up, a slim vol on the afterlife by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, oh joy.

Sorry to hear that. But hey, better that than the whole series of "Seth Speaks" books by Roberts...

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I read one of those, back in the early 1970s. I'd picked it up while on a business trip across from the UK, and assumed it was a fantasy -- never remotely dawned on me that readers were intended to, like, believe this stuff. I thought it was rather poorly written and especially plotted, but that it had a certain naive charm. Only many years later did I discover that . . .

Third time lucky, I hope. Jeez, but I find the clunkiness of LJ's software incredibly distracting.

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

Your response came through, at least in my email, 3 times. And yes, LJ's interface can be horrid. Welcome aboard to the randomness that is LJ.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

It came through three times because I seem to have no "edit" facility when commenting (probably because I'm on the free, "Basic" scale) and thus, if I want to amend anything, must delete my first version and repost a corrected reply.

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yes, edit comes with "paid" at least, and maybe "plus" but With Plus You Get Ad Spam.

[scottakennedy.livejournal.com]

I think edit must come with paid. I'm on plus and there's no comment edit function there, a fact which has forced me to live with some rather horrid typos when I don't just delete the whole comment.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Sorry to keep sidetracking on your music choices, but is Live in Hollywood alternately known as "Blazing Away"? Wonderful record by Ms. Faithful. I had the pleasure of opening for her many years ago in Baltimore.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry, read this entry before seeing your last one. Dopey me.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

My turn to say Oops. I replied before discovering your follow-up comment!

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

And yet again for me too. Ignore other message ;)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Different concert -- see my earlier post! Blazing Away is one of my fave albums of all time and I'd think almost certainly my #1 fave live album. This one isn't quite up to that, but it's damn' fine anyway.

Congrats on opening for MF!

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

"Blazing Away is one of my fave albums of all time and I'd think almost certainly my #1 fave live album."

It is definitely way up there for me as well!

I saw your previous post after seeing this one, I should really learn to read things in order. Sorry!

[scottakennedy.livejournal.com]

That must have been wonderful opening for MF. And now, as a result of this comment thread, I've got The Ballad of Lucy Jordan running through my head. Thank you.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"I've got The Ballad of Lucy Jordan running through my head."

You have? Me, I just been playin' it, heh heh.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Thank you, it was quite wonderful and surreal, and it was a gig that I actively sought when I heard she was playing in town, especially since the show was on my birthday. And yes, Broken English is another great one, probably her best studio record!