ARE YOU THERE GOD! - Jake Swearingen

I am working on a screen adaptation of the Jake Swearingen short story Diary of the Living Dead: Are You There God? It's Me, Also a Bunch of Zombies. The story is a witty, hilarious take on the apathetic soul's tryst with the apocalypse. I hope we can keep Jake's tone and voice alive in the screen adaptation. Enjoy. I will upload the screenplay soon. yrs, mb.

Hollywood - Charles Bukowski

Hollywood by Charles Bukowski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ah, the misadventures of Henry Chinaski.

I must preface this review because I am a huge Chinaski, ahem Bukowski, fan. I loved Post Office, Factotum, and Woman. I really enjoyed Tales of Ordinary Madness. But I thought Hollywood was just alright. The book chronicles Bukowski's escapade through Hollywood during the making of the only screenplay he penned, the Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke vehicle, Barfly.

It is classic Bukowski with lots of booze and hilarious stories but this isn't the same guy. Chinaski is now married and settled and down. The excitement is gone from both the character and the prose.

It is a book I read quickly, enjoying the tell-all Hollywood tales with thinly veiled fictional names (Tom Pell is Sean Penn), but it only warranted three stars and a hint of disappointment from me.

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Farewell, My Lovely - Raymond Chandler

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Raymond Chandler's second Philip Marlowe book seems to me to be the proto-typical pulp noir fiction tale. A perfectly spun plot with a twist that seems to make so much sense but one that I didn't see coming.

This is the book THE BIG SLEEP had prepared him to write. As much as I enjoyed the first Marlowe his story breakdown wasn't nearly as thought it. Here Chandler leaves just enough clues to keep us interested while keeping us completely in the dark until the climactic finale in Mr. Marlowe's single Hollywood apartment.



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Muscle for the Wing - Daniel Woodrell

Muscle for the Wing by Daniel Woodrell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another sound performance from Woodrell with the (mis)adventures of Det. Rene Shade. This time though the build up feels a little more interesting/better constructed than that of its predecessor, Under the Bright Lights.

But this one falls short on the finale. The ending feels like it resolves itself to easily. Characters make decisions that seem to fall outside of the realm of their typical motivation to help our hero, Shade, escape the fate that should have happened.

All in all a fun read that, although I won't revisit too soon, I am happy I read.

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Under the Bright Lights - Daniel Woodrell

Under the Bright Lights by Daniel Woodrell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Daniel Woodrell's debut was enough to to excite you about the prospects of a sharp young author, but not quite the finished product yet.

Det. Rene Shade was an interesting character and enough for me to tune in to the latter pair of the trilogy: Muscle for the Wing and The Ones You Do.

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