James Dean Books

Congratulations to Moonstone for bringing out a second anthology of our favorite underdog in a birdfeeder hat.

For those of you new, Kolchak was the X-Files before the X-Files. Get The Night Stalker/The Night Strangler (Double Feature), then the TV series (Kolchak - The Night StalkerS). And I must give kudos again to Moonstone: The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels, the Holy Grail, is back in print

Each story deserves its own rating. The two best are "Stealing Fire" (Ch. 2) and "Call Me Sam." (Ch. 16). Coincidentally they are about mercy and justice respectively. Kolchak, when the writers are at their best, is not about chills or the fear of the unknown, but about the human condition. We all live below our potential, so we are all underdogs. We have all told our employer "See, I Told You So," so we are all Cassandras. And somehow, we still seem to come out on top, despite the dangers.

Chapter 17 "Cancellation" is a treat. It was written by Mark Dawidziak, the author of the The Night Stalker Companion: A 25th Anniversary Tribute. It is also a wonderful "In Your Face" for any Kolchak fan who was bothered, even scandalized by the not-short-enough revival series Night Stalker - The Complete Series. It has to be 2007's winner of the Tom Swift Award for Dead-On Satire. Again, Cassandra; again "See, I told You So."

The rest of the stories are ho-hum. This is not bad, because the series had it share of turkeys. Future Authors: Keep in mind that Kolchak has a very obvious pattern or format.

* The story being with a run of the mill crime, with some inexplicable details.
* There are Dragnet-esque time slugs, which gives the story a feeling of concrete and factual reality.
* Kolchak examines the odd details.
* Tony is skeptical, which he indicates at the top of his lungs.
* Kolchak interacts with quirky experts, oddball people, and mysterious contacts (The Monk of the lower orders is the best informant).
* Kolchak runs afoul of the Powers That Be who mastermind a cover-up in the public interest. (Claude Atkins is the best, with Mr. RING the creepiest)
* Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
* There is collateral damage, for which Kolchak takes the blame.
* Justice is served to society, but not to Kolchak.

This formula also explains why Kolchak lasted only one season. The concept was limited, and there was no room for growth. At the end of The Night Strangler, Tony gets convinced, but then later in the series he thinks Kolchak is crazy. The backtracking locked the series into a formula that would quickly becomes stale and repetitive. The Cassandra complex got old since it never went anywhere.

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So if you like you horror in a lo-cal version, such as Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) or Ghostbusters Double Feature Gift Set (Ghostbusters/ Ghostbusters 2 and Commerative Book), or just love Darren McGaven, get this book. It's not the over the top best, but the three stories are worth reading.

Another collection of fine stories. This is the character we all grew to know and love back in the seventies, not the one in the aborted new show(shudder). It's worth the price to lovers of the oddball character Darrin McGavin brought us way back when. Moonstone has a new novel on the way as well. Anyone who likes good adventure should check out The Spider anthology and The forthcoming Phantom anthology as well.

A wonderful collection of new adventures for our beloved Night Stalker, Carl Kolchak. Spooky, unnerving, supernatural, fun, funny, and thought-provoking, these tales stay true to the quirky character we came to love on television in the 1970's. Includes two gorgeous interior illos by Cortney Skinner for the Chris Golden/Rick Hautala and the Pierce Askegren stories. Absolutely worth the cover price.

When Kolchak: The Nightstalker premiered in 1974, I was firmly convinced it was the greatest show ever. Unfortunately not enough people thought the same way I did and the show lasted a single season...just 20 episodes in all. Despite that, the show has continued to have a strong cult following and re-runs were still turning up on the Sci-Fi channel just a couple of years ago. ABC even did a remake, which failed miserably. While the remake had the same character names, the show had no character, at least none of the character that the original did. Carl Kolchak, reporter for the Independent News Service, each week encountered the strange and horrific: werewolves, vampires, swamp creatures, Native American spirits, mummies, etc...Each week Kolchak would find a way to destroy the creature and each week no one would believe him.

While the remake failed to capture the spirit of the original show, Moonstone Books has been doing a marvelous job keeping Kolchak alive through a series of graphic novels and prose books. The latest is Kolchak: The Nightstalker Casebook, featuring 17 original stories by Tom DeFalco, P.N. Elrod, Elizabeth Massie, Joe Gentile, Mike Baron, Christopher Golden, John Ostrander, and James Reasoner, to name just a few. What is immediately obvious is that these writers were all fans of the show and understand the Kolchak character very well. Kolchak was an average guy. Unlike most central characters of TV shows, Kolchak was older, middle-aged in fact. Not especially handsome, nor athletic, and not particularly brave. His courage grew out of his need to always be able to get the story.

One unique characteristic of the TV show was that Kolchak (played remarkably by the late Darren McGavin) often voiced over certain scenes in the show in a first person perspective, usually a scene where a pretty girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of the stories in this book, and frankly my favorite ones, are told in first person point of view and it made me feel like I was sitting around my parent's living room on a Friday night watching the show again. They've not only captured Kolchak's character but also that of his irascible editor Tony Vincenzo, and fellow INS reporter the squeamish Ron Updyke.

While the TV show was set in Chicago, the stories in this book are set in California as Kolchak and Vincenzo have moved on to the Hollywood Dispatch. Allowing the writers some poetic license, they acknowledge the Chicago period yet these stories are set firmly in the present with mention of modern day technology such as computers and cell phones. Kolchak will encounter the spirit of a bloodthirsty Aztec priestess, a lake-dwelling creature, an inhuman grave robber, a ghostly diner, spectral pirates, and other denizens of the night.

One of the most poignant tales, Alternate Endings by John Ostrander, finds Kolchak back in Chicago and visiting the boarded up local tavern he frequented with an old flame named Cassie who was murdered by a serial killer. Walking through the door of the long closed bar, Kolchak is transported back in time with a chance to save his one time love from her terrible fate.

The series may have ended over thirty years ago but Kolchak lives on thanks to Moonstone books.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

I was introduced to Pete recently and was lucky enough to be in Myrtle Beach SC where an exhibition of "Pete" (oh yeah, and that guy who paints him!) were on display at the local Art Museum. Bought the book and now plan on buying a copy for everyone I know. Whether you like cats (black or otherwise) Pete will find a way to make you smile, laugh, and maybe contemplate the world around you with a whole new set of eyes... Enjoy the book and then get ready to clear some wall space for the art it introduces to you!

Anyone who has a cat will love this book. Pete-the-cat is a little blue guy who will work his way into your heart immediately. Also great for lovers of art, as Pete is found in many of the masters. This makes a great gift too!

We are perhaps two of Pete's (and James') greatest fans. We were introduced to Pete the Cat from a friend in Athens Georgia, and while attending UGA (go Dawgs (sorry Pete) we purchased a number of Pete the Cat items from various galleries in the area.

On Saturday May 5th, 2007 while day tripping in New Orleans from Jackson Mississippi (where we now live), we stumbled on Mr. James Dean painting his latest and greatest creation of Pete. I bought a copy of his book, my wife's Mom bought my wife a copy of "Psychiatry Pete" for her as she is a professional in the field. Mr. Dean mentioned selling 3 copies in Atlanta (ours is number 4) the weekend prior. I jokingly mentioned that it was probably a friend of ours. Sure enough it was. The morale.......once Pete gets his claws in you, they are in for life, furthermore Pete is everywhere.

Now on with the book.......I LOVE IT.....it shows all the misadventures of Pete, and also all the rest of the pictures we have still to buy.
Personal favorite? Creation.

An artistic delight for anyone with a sense of whimsey. It's a must for cat fans and for students of art who like to see how an artist develops his style over the years. Dean also reinterprets great art--such as the Mona Lisa, holding Pete the Cat, or the famous Abbey Road picture of the Beatles, who are trailed by....yes, Pete the Cat. Love it!

Unfortunately I haven't yet made it to SFMOMA to see the Gerhard Richter exhibit. However, my much anticipated copy of Richter 858 arrived in the mail today, and to say that it didn't disappoint is an understatement. I had initially been a little wary about getting it. It comes with an aluminum slipcase and poetry and an audio CD with music composed by the brilliant Bill Frisell, and while some might find this sort of presentation lush, I, being somewhat of a purist, was afraid these inclusions would be nothing more than bells and whistles-basically a lot of noise to give voice to a suite of paintings that, according to any good Kantian, should be able to stand on its own. Boy was I wrong. People who know me know that I don't like fuss, but even the worry about scratching the aluminum slipcase, or maneuvering the book's awkward size and bulk, or the guilt for not using gloves to turn these impeccably produced pages, couldn't dampen the sheer transport I felt as I drunk in art and text and Bill's passionate and daring compositions with equal abandon. I've been reluctant to embrace anything multimedia, but Richter 858 may have just pushed me into the 21st century.

This is a gorgeous book by a man who in the future will be credited with debunking all the art critics who since the 1950s have been shouting to themselves that Realism is dead, or the ones that still shout "painting is dead." Gerhard Richter breaks all the rules of "being an artist." He has worked in a variety of styles, refusing to produce a "style" as often artists are supposed to do. In his ealy photorealistic -paintings Richter copied ordinary, found images onto canvas, but gave them an indistinct appearance. Again, by working directly from photographs, he manages to debunk all the criticism that such techniques often bring. This subversive realism is now more evident than ever, in these later, almost fuzzy works that still manage to knock the visual senses as if shouting: "Long Live Painting - Long Live Realism!"

I've only recently become acquainted with the range of Gerhard Richter's work, but the series of eight abstract paintings which are being celebrated here are enough to justify his reputation for me, and the sheer richness and resolution of their presentation in this book is of a standard I've never come across anywhere. Elegant, sensuous and gorgeous, this is more than a `typical' art book in manners large and small; includes insightful essays by writers like Dave Hickey, poetry, and a CD by Bill Frisell with a string trio that's a lot more quirky and edgy than his recent stuff, in a good way (no banjos). The book's editor, David Breskin, has done an amazing job - the aluminum slipcase is a pretty sharp touch, too.

You don't have to be an afficionado of contemporary poetry, or an art lover, to appreciate the many delights housed within the aluminum slip case of this work. But if you happen to be either, or both, this book is a must.

The "book" has, in this case, evolved well beyond the concept of an art tome. The joining of music, poetry and lovingly accurate reproductions under one cover makes the circumnavigation of this opus is a particularly rich eexperience. Which is not to say that listening to the music , or dipping into one poem, is not an entirely satisfying moment by itself.

Be prepared, however: this gesamtwerk is big, and will not fit into an ordinary bookcase! The paintings being reproduced to scale has dictated the extra large format, but the extraordinarily accurate pictorial results are worth the extra weight.

I own a number of books on container gardening, and this has become one of my favorites. This book gives container planting ideas for each of the four seasons. The pictures are coffee-table-quality, but what I really like about this book is that it gives clear instructions for the planting and care of container gardens, making it a great book for beginners. More experienced gardeners will also find some inspirational ideas. Ther are clever ideas for using containers,as well as instructions for building some of your own. The plant combinations are not only beautiful, but are well within reach of easily putting together, unlike other books that show over-the-top arrangements. It also gives some soil recipes as well as a recipe for making gardener's tea. Drawing from a number of years of experience, this book is a great guide to the world of container gardening. The authors have a number of other good books out, though sadly, Dean Johnson as since passed on.

I received this as a gift and plan to give it to friends. Not only are the writers, clear and concise, but the photographers captured the essence and beauty of every arrangement. Each window box was a delight and no season was forgotten. This is truly a favored coffee table book. book.

Mary Sears did a stunning job writing this quaint charmer about window boxes. A lover of window boxes myself for many years, I found this book both helpful and inspiring. Truly worth every cent.

This is the eleventh book in Chaosium's Cthulhu Cycle series. This volume features tales of Lovecraft's most well-known creation, the octopus-headed entity, Cthulhu. Included are the foundational stories (i.e. "The Call Of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft and "The Black Island" by August W. Derleth), some rare reprints (i.e. "Some Notes Concerning A Green Box" by Alan Dean Foster) and some interesting new stories of Cthulhu in the modern world (i.e. "Rude Awakening" by Will Murray). In any collection the stories are of varied quality but I enoyed the majority of the works collected. If you are a reader of Lovecraft's Mythos fiction then this is a must for your library.

The Cthulhu Cycle

THE CTHULHU CYCLE and THE DISCIPLES OF CTHULHU are some of the best collections that Chaosium has put together. THE CTHULHU CYCLE is marked by strong writing and and classic tales pertaining to Cthulhu. Something included that I have missed from some of the other anthologies is the editor's notes that discuss academically the stories and their part in the development of the Mythos. Having certain influences pointed out is helpful to those who are familiar enough with Lovecraft's work to want more depth.

"A Shop in Go-By Street" by lord Dunsany: A few phrases on an idol in a reliquary seem to have sparked the first half of Lovecraft's famous story. Knowing that Dunsany strongly influenced HPL, I appreciated seeing one of his stories included.

"Count Magnus" by MR James: I'm not sure that this strongly ties in with the theme, but James is an excellent writer of terror and horror, and this is one of his better stories.

"The Call of Cthulhu" by that guy. You don't expect it to be missing, do you?

"The Black Islnad" by August Derleth: I have a beef about Derleth's "Shrewbury cycle." The guy is like some Scooby-Doo mystery gang, globe-trotting and solving mysteries. It has the feel of organized resistance to the Old Ones, and winning to boot. But, being the influence that he has been, Derleth's work deserves to be there.

"Patiently Waiting" is a story from Inspector Lagrasse's point of view, as he deals with cults and Things Man Was Not Meant To Know (tm). As with other stories in this collection, the characters are fleshed out along with their emotions and motivations.

"Recrudescence": this is an interesting story about a different cult, a different god, and a different mechanism for release. I've seen something similar in "The Greatest Adventure" by Eric Temple Bell, but otherwise it is an original plot device involving the stored bio-energy of dead species.

"Black Fire": Usually I don't care for lovecraftian stories where the good-guys triumph - it seems like a contradiction in terms. HPL's vision is that the universe doesn't care if there is a happy ending. In "Black Fire", a carefully-laid plan for the return of the Old Ones is thwarted by a simple man doing the only thing he can think of to stop the destruction. His great sacrifice saves the day, even as the next trap leading to man's destruction begins to unfold elsewhere. It has the feel of inevitable doom that we all know and love, but our capacity to sacrifice for the good of others makes the horror more poignant (if we are mere brutes with no redeeming and enduring qualities, it is hard to feel regret for our passing).

"Zombies from R'Lyeh": The main strength of this piece for me was the author's development of the setting. His description and invocation of tropical seas and islands is a siren song, and the horror is more personal when I feel the longing to be in the same place. I am now seriously considering dropping my thesis work and becoming a pirate to sail the tropical seas. Yar, be forewarned!

I found this calendar to be of better quality than the run-of-the-mill, same old, same old (sweater pics, New York streets) that appear in most others in some form year after year. In fact, I believe there are at least three images in the Brown Trout calendar that I have either never seen, or which have never been "featured" before. That is refreshing. An excellently produced, well worth a look collectible for Dean fans

I am a Dean fan and always hang one of his calendars up in my computer room every year. The photos are good and the calendar boxes are large enough to enter appointments.

I'm not actually a James Dean "collector" yet, but I am so fascinated by him. The book was very interesting and informative, loaded with enough information. I'm sure it would be very helpful to any James Dean fan. I just may try finding some stuff on eBay!

This book is a must for all Dean fans.It has every item that has ever been made or written on Dean.......It is very informative and has lots and lots of pictures......I am so glad that I bought this book.

Okay. A bit of a confession here. Back in 2003 I wrote a review of "Blues Journey" in which I said many nice things including, "This is the book that took my breath away", which is fairly expansive even for me. Three years have now passed, and what father/son team Walter and Christopher Myers did for the blues they are doing now for jazz. Looking back on "Blues Journey", I realize that at the time this was not a book I was particularly good at understanding. I had the wherewithal to know that it was beautiful, but if you asked me the number of times I've thought about "Blues Journey" in this three year interim, the answer would be hardly at all. "Jazz" is different. I know it sounds unlikely, but I think this book has something its predecessor lacked. "Jazz" has a purpose, defined by its dedication ("To the children of New Orleans") and brought to searing sizzling life by both its author and its artist. No one can tell you after perusing this book that "Jazz" isn't hot as all get out.

An introduction. For two green pages we are given some facts before the fancy. What is jazz? Where are its roots? How did it grow, prosper, and come to flourish? Where is it today? That's a lot to slip into two little pages, but before you know it you've learned a fact or two and on you go to the poems. They echo what we've just discovered about the music itself. You're looking at a man, bare to the waist, beating out a rhythm on the drum just in front of him. Now it's a black silhouette of a piano player poised against a shifting deepening red background, lit from below. We're in New Orleans following a jazz funeral, then looking down on a charismatic keyboardist with a zoot suit of fine scarlet lines. Beautiful women croon to men curved over, above, and around their instruments. It's jazz, baby. With a glossary in the back and a timeline for kicks.

Right off the bat I'd like to thank Mr. Myers senior for explaining something to me in his lengthy two-page Introduction that I didn't even know I didn't know. The birth of jazz: how did it happen? The answer can be found in a small selection at the bottom of the first page. "Since so many black musicians were still not formally trained in reading musical notation, there had to be some way of knowing what the other players were going to do so that they could perform together". So they used common chord structures that would allow them to "stray from the melody" and come back to it howsoever they were inclined. You would think that your average twenty-eight-year-old American would have picked up this kind of information somewhere amongst their various meanderings. Not so much. To Mr. Walter then, a debt of gratitude.

Music related books for youth, be they picture books, novels, or comic books, have the awesomely difficult task of conveying an absent sense through words alone. Sometimes a picture might help, but it is the rhythm of the words that keep the toes tapping and throat humming. When this book began I wasn't quite in the right mind set. I read the poems the same way you might read something by Robert Frost or Emily Dickinson. But even my Neanderthal brain began to get into the swing of things when I encountered the poem, "Oh, Miss Kitty". It starts with a kind of blues refrain about the sweet Miss Kitty who's anything but small. Then the poem starts to get going. Without realizing it, your brain has suddenly started to add additional voices aside from the person "singing" the song. You read, "she's in love with the piano man" when suddenly words of a different color and font jump out of nowhere to say, "tickle them ivories, boy!". Who said that? To my mind, it's the jazz orchestra itself. And without even realizing it I'm hearing different voices, tones, rhythms, beats, and all with just the gentle prodding of Walter's words and some creative font use. Combine that with, what Joann Sfar in "Klezmer" called the, "silent melody of drawing", and you're as close as you'll ever get to fooling your ears through your eyes.

I also happen to think that Christopher Myers is getting better and better as the years go by. A quick glance at the publication page and we see that the illustrations were done, "by painting black ink on acetate and placing it over acrylic". I have no idea what that means. Fortunately, I don't need to. Christopher is pushing himself here, bringing to mind scenes of remarkable beauty. A bassist stands in the harsh white light, all white features against black shadows. I like Myers better when he presents his musicians rather than his dancers. For some reason, the swing dancers in "Jazz" seem to have less verve and pep than even the most soulful of saxophonists. Sometimes Christopher messes with you too. The poem "Sesssion II" about a slide trombone is coupled against the image of a man playing the drums. "Session I", begins with, "Bass thumping like death gone happy", but instead there's a horn player standing front and center. Still, jazz is an ensemble creation. You don't blame an instrument if it appears where you thought another might crop up. Some leniency is required.

Not too long ago I was with a group of librarians discussing "Jazz" at their leisure. It was the opinion of some that in spite of its picture book packaging, this is a teen book at its core. No violence or sexual references inspired such an assumption. It's just that "Jazz" has a kind of sophistication to it that children may not be accustomed to. I hear now the mighty roar of the masses saying something to the equivalent of, "Well GET them accustomed to it!". Why place this book in an area where teens will pooh-pooh it for its young packaging while the audience that might get something out of it finds it out of reach and inaccessible? And I agree with you there. Still, I would suggest that for those libraries savvy enough (savvy may equal rich in this case) to risk it, try putting "Jazz" in both areas. It won't speak to all the kids or all the teens, but sometimes "some" is just enough.

We all have our favorite jazz related picture books. Most were created by Chris Raschka ("Charlie Parker Played Be Bop", "Mysterious Thelonious", "John Coltrane's Giant Steps", amongst others) with others filtering in here and there. My favorite is "Jazz". No children's book, to my mind, has acknowledged the New Orleans hurricane tragedy yet. No children's book has had the chance. And while I am certain that "Jazz" was in production before the hurricane ever hit, Myers and son have tipped their hat to the city's brilliant musical past with just the right book. You'd be a fool to let yourself pass this one up.

This book is a true find! I'm a teaching poet in the schools and this handsome book with its truly musical poetry helped me when teaching jazz--and jazz poetry-to elementary school kids. The sophisticated poems (some of which address separate elements of jazz including the different instruments) read rhythmically in a way that delights when read aloud! Highly recommended!

This book taught me so much about Dean's real feelings, what he was really like. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in his life. It is by far the best book ever published about James B.Dean.

This book is excellent. It is presented as abstract, creative, and genious as it's subject. It also includes some of the rarest pictures of Jimmy, and unlike some other Dean Biographies keff keff ("Boulevard"...) the writing is as engrossing as the pictures themselves. This is an excellent addition to any JBD library, along with "Rebel" by Spoto and "The Mutant King". This book is more refference of Jimmy as a person, than a straight-forward bio, but that's what makes it great.

Once you start reading this book, you do not want to put it down. I couldn't put it down! Definitely recommend!

Richard and Debbie Senate's book offer a a new, fresh approach to help illuminate one of showbiz's big questions: "Just who was James Dean?" He really wasn't with us all that long, passing away at the tender age of only 24.

It seems that the more time goes on, the more questions there are about this talented misunderstood genius and cultural icon. Certainly the passing of time has not dulled the star of one of Hollywood's brightest illuminaries who died tragically in 1955 on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere.

The Senates' approach in the mystery of Dean comes from a metaphysical query which even includes a ghostly encounter and question and answer session with James Dean by Debbie Senate. There are plenty of hints in the book that might give suggestible answers from the "Great Beyond" -- and the reader can conclude for his or herself which are or maybe not relevant.
Whatever, this book is quite different from I have read out there on Dean.

Debbie Senate obviously is a very talented psychic, as she states in the book that she has never read any books about the hours preceeding the death of Dean--but certainly from what has been written in this book, she expounds on many details that have been recorded in other works, but with a different twist. It is almost like she was actually there many years ago.

The book is a "must have" for any person interested in James Dean. The dirt from the crash site is an interesting touch, and the reader is given instructions on how to conduct their own "psychic investigation" using psychometry into the James Dean mystique.