Florida Gothic Stories … Kitsune Books has put together a fine collection of the Queen of Noir’s short stories in Florida Gothic Stories. I had read a few of these terrific stories in their original publications and it was great to revisit Stormy, Mon Amor, Cold Blooded Lovers and The Big O. The new ones (for me) were also wonderful as Hendricks channels the anguished desperation of her characters, which this go include the elderly, Siamese twins, identical twins and a man and his iguana, through what has become her erotic trademark (noir-erotica). Some of these women are trapped in trailer parks, some by the mistakes they’ve made, two are trapped in the same body, another pair of twins exist at opposite ends of the food chain, another is close to the end ... they each share a desire to survive and the determination to get it done (whatever it takes). There is a collective pathos among some of these woman that proves vulnerable to the bullies in their lives, but these women are sharper than they are breakable; they know what they have and what those bullies want; the rest is knowing how to play one off against the other.
Nobody writes erotic like Vickie Hendricks, but her Siamese twin story did remind me of another deformity story that was both intriguing and horrifyingly seductive (the Neil Anthony Smith novel, Psychosomatic (where the author managed to make a completely limbless woman sexy). Hendricks goes a couple further ... not only does she create sexy with Siamese Twins, she manages to do so with an iguana and a dolphin. The Queen of Noir is back to give us all a good old fashioned tease with eleven lusty stories from the Sunshine State.
Stewart v. Fox … fun stuff, start to finish, with the clear winner being Stewart. TK’s favorite line was when Stewart, discussing how fair and balanced FOX claims it is, said, “You (O’Reilly) have become in some ways the voice of sanity here, which, as I said, is like being the thinnest kid (interruption) … Being the thinnest kid at fat camp. So let's just get that straight. Here is what Fox has done through their cyclonic, perpetual... (interruption) … Their cyclonic perpetual emotion machine that is a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week. They've taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into a full-fledged panic attack about the next coming of Chairman Mao. Explain to me why that is the narrative of your network?”
It became even more funny when O’Reilly called Glenn Beck and “everyman” … yeah, right, and the ugly one is a pleasant SOB to discuss politics with.
Check it out ...
The Big Pick ... The Indiacrapolis Coltless 37, the New Orleans Aints 27 ... but secretly we’ll be rooting for the Aints to pull off the upset, 35-32 in OT.
—Knucks
Pre-order Johnny Porno here.
And the DOC says ...
Hey Chaz,
Exactly how many books do you read a week? Between reading books, writing books and Knucksline however do you find the time to work a full time job? Nevermind, I think I know.
I saw the interview between O'Reilly and Stewart as well. Well, actually I saw the interview that really occurred not the one that you created in your head. That's what happens when you are watching TV, reading a book, writing a review, playing the drums and eating a sandwich at the same time. They looked like 2 old prizefighters at a charity bout. They danced around, threw a couple of jabs, but neither one was looking to hurt the other guy. It was a draw.
Finally, we can agree on the Pick of the Week. It's definitely gonna be either the Colts or the Saints! I'll even go you one further... the Jacksonville Jaguars are definitely not going to win the Super Bowl. You really put yourself out there on a limb, Chaz, along with 2 completely different versions of the final score. Ballsy!
Have fun shoveling snow.
Your pal,
Doc
