Amici:
It’s official, the wife is now a certifiable (oy vey) certified nurse ... they give them 6 hours to take the certification boards and she knocked it off in 90 minutes. She came home (even though we weren’t speaking at the time) and said she was pretty sure she failed. I know the routine from my gambling days (never predict a win--Buffalo Bills) ... anyway, she’s now a Certified Registered Nurse. Celebratory dinner to follow.
Knucksline Manuscript Services ... we’ve had to change our name from First Reads to Knucksline Manuscript Services because First-Reads is a long and well established service (and we didn’t check). Ooops, to right the wrong, we’ve changed our name. First-Reads is certainly a well-established business doing the same thing (perhaps even better) so take a look-see there as well. In the meantime, we’re still available to those who want to give us a shot.
It’s official, the wife is now a certifiable (oy vey) certified nurse ... they give them 6 hours to take the certification boards and she knocked it off in 90 minutes. She came home (even though we weren’t speaking at the time) and said she was pretty sure she failed. I know the routine from my gambling days (never predict a win--Buffalo Bills) ... anyway, she’s now a Certified Registered Nurse. Celebratory dinner to follow.
Knucksline Manuscript Services ... we’ve had to change our name from First Reads to Knucksline Manuscript Services because First-Reads is a long and well established service (and we didn’t check). Ooops, to right the wrong, we’ve changed our name. First-Reads is certainly a well-established business doing the same thing (perhaps even better) so take a look-see there as well. In the meantime, we’re still available to those who want to give us a shot.
Johnny Porno at The Raconteur ... Hey, reserve Thursday, April 7th soon as yous can ... an evening with Knucks? Oy vey ... he’s reading from Johnny Porno in Metuchen, New Jersey ... April 7, at 8:00 p.m. at The Raconteur (April 7, 8:00 p.m.). The Raconteur offers wine and Johnny Porno ... where half the proceeds will go towards keeping this small independent bookstore from getting crushed.The Raconteur
431 Main Street
Metuchen, NJ 08840
(732) 906-0009
There's Jersey Transit that will take you a few blocks from the bookstore, buses and/or anyone who needs a sleepover and ride to the train the next morning, write me.
Grind Joint ... with the new manuscript service moniker (Knucksline Manuscript Service or KSM for short), we’ve now had our very first customer ... but let me say that we’re taking the fee under protest ... the book is called Grind Joint and the author is Dana King. The book, quite frankly, is terrific and is the second full length novel I’ve read by Mr. King. We feel it should be picked up by any agent out there looking for a new author with a ton of talent and/or any publisher looking to publish masterful writing and one terrific book (that is part of a terrific series). Grind Joint (about a casino going up in a small town) features local police and the nasty politics within the department, an up and coming real estate mogul who has bought his way to power, the one mistake he’s made (partnering with the wrong people--the Russian mob), some wonderful relationships between the well-rounded cast of characters and some of the poorer folk and dialogue as good as any out there surrounded by some superb narrative.There is a home feel to the book that I had an unfair advantage with (having read a prior novel with the same core characters). Doc (not my Doc, who also has a book with Doc) Dougherty is a smart cop very protective of his own (including his family and home town--Penns River). He has an out-of-town cousin Nick in Penns River for a quick visit. The two are dynamic characters and as real as you’ll find in literature anywhere. There are other cops, civilians, witnesses, drug dealers, etc., but nothing is shirked in the development of these characters; none of them are picked from a formula/stereotypical shelf. King does a magnificent job of distinguishing one from another and each will tug at the strings of your heart in one way or another.
Frankly, this is masterful writing; a book that should be picked up post haste by any agents looking for new talent/publishers looking to publish page turning books featuring great writing.
Foreign Film Reviews ...
The Girl on the Bridge ... this was excellent; hilarious piece about a knife thrower and his target(s) ... is it luck or love? Don’t miss this baby.
Good ... a professore (Viggo Morgenson) writes about humane suicide in a novel published a few years before the Nazi’s come to power in Germany. It is used as an excuse to forward their insanity; the author, an anti-Nazi, first forced, then too willing to join the party as an honorary member ... the loss of innocence, a valued friendship, family and all sense of self ... TK found this one especially interesting.
A Secret ... a boy finds a toy in the attic and unknowingly unravels his family history. This was brilliant.
Antares ... three families in a German apartment complex ... it’s no Short Cuts, but it was interesting.Then last night, as we began to speak to one another again, Nurse Annie and the ugly one, we watched this one; which as tough and dark as it is, was quite fascinating and upon further reflection, I like it all the more this morning.
4 Minutes ... an elderly piano teacher finds a prodigy at the prison where she teaches ... man, was this one gripping (and rough) ... and wonderful in its own way. Check it out.—Knucks
