Johnny Porno is in many ways a master’s class on how to write a novel. As readers and writers we are told and taught that certain traits are desired above others. Show don’t tell and story through action are chief among them. A Charlie Stella novel does these things with ease and Johnny Porno is his best yet.
The dialog flows so smooth you’d swear you were over hearing someone’s conversation. He drops you in the middle and lets the reveals of the narrative come naturally through the dialog. Every conversation, every bit of dialog also reveals something about the characters, peeling back layers. The story proper is plotted with the precision of a watchmaker and as the various elements come together the reader is left with an experience that few other books offer.
The 70’s are invoked with a light but effective touch not bowing down to the research heavy sterile assault of facts that some books stoop to and instead giving you a lived in, feel the dirt and griminess that comes from experience and been there done that memory.
Bottom line is that Johnny Porno is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
—Brian Lindenmuth
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Order Johnny Porno here ...
And the DOC says ...
Hey Bucko,
How do you say "please" in Eye-talian?
It's for your dopey blog.
Doc
Knucks says: Per favore (and pronounced that last “e” boyo) ...
Hey Chaz,
Just a couple of random thoughts to get you through the weekend.
Poor Arizona:
They’re getting a lot of heat since they have talked about actually arresting Illegal Aliens. Janet Napolitano mentioned that she is not sure if they have broken the law. Obviously, Janet should spend some quality time with her dictionary. Some part of Illegal is unclear to her.
Arizona tried to mend the broken fences with the Hispanics by renaming their baseball (I think DOC meant basketball) team for Cinqo de Mayo. The team normally called “The Suns” would sport new jerseys with “Los Suns” emblazoned on the front. I don’t know whose bright idea that was, but that’s just fucking stupid. You do not celebrate the Spanish culture with pidgin English… or pidgin Spanish. I’m not sure where exactly that would fall. “Los” is Spanish. “Suns” is English. “Los Soles” would be the proper phrase where all the words are in Spanish. “Los Suns” is like when I go over to your house and figure I might get better service if I sound like a guido, so I just throw vowels after all the English words.
“Senor Charlito, un otro beero, pleasissimo.”
That doesn’t usually work as well as I had imagined, but I give it a shot.
Meanwhile, in California, 5 high school students were sent home for wearing t-shirts, on Cinqo de Mayo, with American flags on them. The principal thought the American flags would be “incendiary”.
Whatever happened to the good old days when anybody had the right to burn an American flag, but other people had the same right to kick their ass. Freedom of Expression has to go both ways.
Terrorism:
The good news is the Bamster is 2 for 2 on terrorism attacks. The bad news is we have been dealing with the “Welcome Back Kotter”, “sleeping in the back row at Bomb School” guys. As my dream girl, Ann Coulter, says, ”Our plan for fighting terrorism is hoping their bombs don’t blow up.” When Al Qaeda sends the “A” team our way we are screwed, blued and tattooed.
The Feds were monitoring the Times Square Bomber’s calls to Pakistan. When he called up JFK to make the reservation to scoot out of here, they stopped listening. It was a domestic call… it would have violated his rights as a citizen.
When Syria sends their Jack Bauer to battle against our Community Organizer plan on a high body count and a probable “Survivor Tax”.
To combat the latest operatic barrage the amicis have suffered through, I offer you this:
“You’re just like a sweet crazy brother to me, you know I love you like I do.
You never talk dirty behind my back. I know there are some that do.”
(Sorry, Chaz, no drums)
Have a great weekend, big guy,
Your pal,
Doc
