Inquiring Minds...

What is the Amazon Vine Program and how does one become a participant?

Books Read in 2010

The Ten-Cent Plague:  The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America, David Hajdu
Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart

I like to be in America/Everything free in America

For those interested in cautionary tales, or who believe that mob rule cannot prevail, I recommend The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu. It's not a quick read, and it is a little dense at times. On the other hand, there's an immense amount of material to cover, from the birth of comics in the New York newspapers of the 1890s through their rise, persecution, and death in the mid-1950's, from the ashes of which Mad magazine eventually arose. This history is of special interest to science fiction folks, since the comics are a first cousin, and more than few of the names of influential and quoted people will be familiar -- Harry Harrison, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, to name a few. Includes a list of comic book artists and writers who lost their jobs in the purges of the 50s -- upwards of 900 of them -- and who were never able to work in their field again. I'm not sure if those who committed suicide as a result of hounding, ridicule, and eventual bankruptcy are included.

In other news, Steve's still sick. He is at home, tended by cats. I apologize for having to state the obvious, but while he is sick, SRM Publisher -- which is a one-person operation -- is closed, and no orders are being processed. Thank you for your understanding.

The temperature this morning was -2F/-18C this morning, which is as cold as we've seen in a while, and the little green Subaru thought about refusing to start, but then decided that it was a nice morning for a run. Good little green car.

Circumstantial evidence gathered on the way up from the parking lot indicates that the crows still find the campus grounds pleasing to themselves.

So, what've you read lately that was thought-provoking and strange?