Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man

Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man
by Lawrence Block
(5/5 Stars)

This is a good read for fans of "50 Shades of Grey." If you thought that book was groundbreaking, Block's novel came out in 1971. Do the math there. It's a huge departure from the crime novels of Block's I've read recently like "The Girl with the Long Green Heart," "Grifter's Game," and "Hit Man."

The story takes place through a series of letters, most written by one Laurence Clarke. On the same day Laurence's wife leaves him for his best friend, his bosses at his publisher finally figure out he's been "stowing away" in their company for the better part of a year, doing nothing but reading in his office all that time. It's like in "Office Space" where he was supposed to be fired but no one got around to telling him, so he just kept coming in and getting paid.

These devastating events turn out to be Laurence's liberation. While on a bender he meets a group of teenage girls who've snuck out of their Catholic school. What they end up doing would break a number of laws. Eventually he finds a new woman and woos her with some kinky sex. His greatest triumphs are at the end when he manages to play matchmaker for his ex-wives and best friend and in the process solve several dilemmas at once.

If you're prudish or squeamish it's easy to hate this novel. It's pretty graphic and descriptive about things like anal and oral sex. At the same time, Laurence is so delightfully cunning and "evil" that I enjoyed rooting for the "bad guy." And hey, if your sex life is lacking, there might be some good tips in there.

That is all.        

Passion Blue

Passion Blue
by Victoria Strauss
(3/5 stars)

I think the biggest problem with this book is that the author sets up a no-win scenario. Our main character can either give up all semblance of a "normal" life to stay in the convent where she can at least paint or she can give up painting to have a "normal" life with a guy we soon realize is a jerk. So when it gets to the end, neither option could really have been satisfying.

Which didn't bother me extremely much because she doesn't really deserve a happy ending. This is someone so dumb she spends her life savings to buy a "magic" talisman she thinks is guaranteed to find her a man to take care of her. And then even when it should be obvious the guy is a jerk, she still convinces herself he's not right up until the end.

As for the convent it seems more like summer camp or boarding school than an actual convent. The end also takes too long after we get to the foregone unsatisfying conclusion.

Overall it was competent but unsatisfying.

That is all.        

Toons Pt 1 - Bad Toon Rising

Toons Pt 1 - Bad Toon Rising
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)

This is a hilarious spoof of Looney Tunes and other cartoons that's perfect for fans of those or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I'm anxious to find out who the Masked Executive is and just how Krafty Wolf can stop him--if he can.

That is all.        

Cypress Lake

Cypress Lake
by Joe Basara
(4/5 stars)

I had this book on my To Read list for a while on Goodreads thanks to Ethan Cooper's marvelous review. Finally I decimated the virtual To Be Read pile on my Kindle enough that I decided to buy this. In part because it's less than a dollar and most big publisher books are eight to twelve times that much. I can at least say I got my dollar's worth.

Since the author likes to reference old TV shows, I find it appropriate to reference an old TV show, in this case "Scrubs" which ended only a couple years ago, so it isn't that old. Like that show this book takes place largely in a hospital and features a twentysomething main character who likes to daydream a lot and lust after his coworkers. Only Basara's book is a lot less wacky and sadly does not feature anyone as hilariously grumpy as Dr. Cox.

Though since this book takes place in 1977 a M*A*S*H reference might have been more appropriate. Actually I think that's one series the author doesn't manage to directly reference in the book. Anyway, Owen Cloud moves back to his old stomping grounds in rural Florida to work as an orderly at a hospital. He almost right away falls head over heels for one of his coworkers, but eventually moves on to another and then to what I'd call the "consolation prize" girl, the one who's been there all along but only at the end does Owen realize is available. (This is incidentally a trope I've used a number of times. Like this book for example: Virgin Territory)

Along the way Owen spends a lot of time daydreaming and philosophizing. The almost constant bombardment of literary quotes and TV/song references from the 50s-70s become irritating after a little while. They give the narrative an ADHD feel, as if the author can't focus on one scene so he keeps jumping from one tangent to another.

If you look past those there's a well-written book about small town life, coming of age, and finding love. Since it's apparently a debut effort it's not bad. If a little more focus were devoted to developing the story and characters and less to quotes and references, it would have the gritty small-town feel of a Richard Russo novel like Empire Falls.

Still for a buck you can do a lot worse.

That is all.