What Are You Reading

[LizzieMaine]

As for A. Redfield, his New Yorker cartoons as Syd Hoff always stood out for a refreshingly working-class perspective in that oh-so-bourgeois publication...

And he could also give Vargas a run for his money.

 

[Harp]

Somehow - as a big F. Scott fan - I missed this when it came out last year so thank you for pointing it out. I just added it to my long and expensive Amazon cart.

Adam Gopnik reviewed the latest Scott & Zelda stuff in his critique As Big As The Ritz; Sept 22, 2014 The New Yorker.

_____________

The Quants, Scott Patterson

 

[Fading Fast]

A lot of the cartoonists of the Depression era shifted smoothly between popular and fine art -- yet another in this vein was Reginald Marsh, who not only drew cartoons for the New Yorker and other publications, but was also a recognized figure in the "ashcan school" of American art --

Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell are two of the most famous ones who clearly shifted between popular and art as you said.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also Raeburn Van Buren, who drew one of the great forgotten comic strips "Abbie an' Slats," after a long career as one of the most elegant pen-and-ink magazine illustrators of the early 20th century. The same man who drew this --

..also gave the world a character called "Bathless Groggins."

 

[fashion frank]

I am currently reading" Eleanor and Franklin " , 923 pgs by Joseph P. Lash Intro by Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. , very interesting read .

I am also about half way thru " Franklin and Lucy - Mrs. Rutherfurd And Other Remarkable Women In Roosevelts Life " 372 pgs by Joseph E. Persico .

I also recently just bought a copy of " The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft And The Golden Age Of Journalism " by Doris Kearns Goodwin 752 pgs

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[Benzadmiral]

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver, the basis for the 1959 film with James Stewart and Lee Remick. This is my second read. What I appreciate about it this time, knowing the essentials of the plot, is the rather wry and occasionally jolly tone with which Paul Biegler, the narrator/lawyer (Stewart's role in the movie), tells the story and describes his Upper Peninsula of Michigan town and its denizens.

 

[AmateisGal]

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Late b'day present from my husband. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction - set in Occupied France and is supposed to be incredible. I hope it lives up to its expectations.

 

[Fading Fast]

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Late b'day present from my husband. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction - set in Occupied France and is supposed to be incredible. I hope it lives up to its expectations.

I've been very tempted to buy it as well - I look forward to your review.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

The Passage of Power, by Robert Caro, is the fourth, and final volume of his biography of Lyndon Johnson. Caro is a meticulous and thorough researcher. Unlike may biographies, this is no hagiography, nor is it a hatchet job. Caro can tell a story, he's a great writer.

 

[BigFitz]

Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi.

 

[HadleyH]

Orwell: "The Authorized Biography" by Michael Shelden

"Orwell certainly would have understood that officials would point to the unending threat of something like terrorism as a justification for ongoing, widespread surveillance......."He could see that war and defeating an enemy could be used as a reason for increasing political surveillance," Shelden says. "You were fighting a never-ending war that gave you a never-ending excuse for looking into people's lives."


Orwell was a true visionary and he was totally spot on! :clap: he knew all about scum...


I might just give the Romanovs a break and read that....I don't know yet

 

[HadleyH]

it's like today

we want to puke

we won't thou

self control please

i still want to puke

 

[HadleyH]

sorry...I just miss the past so much....

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

it's like today

we want to puke

we won't thou

self control please

i still want to puke

sorry...I just miss the past so much....

I think I know what you mean. Lots of that going around. Think pleasant thoughts
a place I've been thinking about a lot

 

[HadleyH]

thank you VC

its just that I hate Dictatorships

so sad

 

[jamespowers]

Orwell: "The Authorized Biography" by Michael Shelden

"Orwell certainly would have understood that officials would point to the unending threat of something like terrorism as a justification for ongoing, widespread surveillance......."He could see that war and defeating an enemy could be used as a reason for increasing political surveillance," Shelden says. "You were fighting a never-ending war that gave you a never-ending excuse for looking into people's lives."


Orwell was a true visionary and he was totally spot on! :clap: he knew all about scum...


I might just give the Romanovs a break and read that....I don't know yet

Orwell had an interesting journey through life to get to that mindset. He saw the other side first hand and didn't like it much.

 

[esteban68]

Catch 22!

 

[jamespowers]

Catch 22!

A single long sentence.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Enjoying an interesting afternoon with the Consumers Union Buying Guide for 1937, "published for the confidential use of the members of Consumers Union of the United States." CU's been publishing this book each year since 1936, and just like today's issues it's a complete and careful breakdown of laboratory testing results of various popular consumer products -- offering results that tell you flat out what's worth buying and what's a lot of marketing-driven junk.

This edition features entries in the categories Food, Toilet Goods, Drug and Medical, Clothing and Textiles, Automotive, and Household and Miscellaneous Equipment, and the results are not dissimilar from those of today: in many grocery-store products, you're a sap if you buy the Nationally Advertised Name Brands. Store brands very often rate as Excellent, and name brands just as often end up on the lower end of the scale. Consumers in 1937 were well advised to steer clear of Libby's canned goods -- their canneries did a very poor job of quality control, to the point where poisonous belladonna buds were found in random samples of their peas, and their tomato products contained far more than the maximum allowable content of insect fragments. Yummy!

For drug products, none of the nationallly advertised antacid and headache remedies are considered "Acceptable" based on possible side effects or false marketing claims. The CU labs found nothing that Alka Seltzer could do that a half a teaspoon full of plain baking soda in a glass of water couldn't do better. As for toothpastes, they recommend making your own out of precipitated chalk, a pinch of salt, a pinch of baking soda, and a small amount of water. If you must have factory made toothpaste, get the ten-cent tube of Milk-O-Dent from Woolworths. Under no circumstances use Pepsodent, which contains an acid ingredient that erodes tooth enamel. Or Pebeco, which contains the poisonous ingredient potassium chlorate. Or Colgate, which uses a starch-based filler which can promote tooth decay.

No commercially-sold depilatory is considered safe or acceptable. CU's advice is to shave, bleach with a solution of ammonia and peroxide, or let it grow.

The only antiprespirant considered safe and effective by CU is a 2 percent solution of formaldehyde, available at the pharmacy counter of any drug store. Avoid commercial products, which are ineffective and will destroy your clothing.

For soap, the clean consumer in 1937 got the best deal with the ten-cent cake of Gondola Floating Soap from Woolworths. Avoid any soap advertised as "medicated," especially Lifebuoy -- which is falsely advertised and contains a dangerously high concentration of carbolic acid.

The Feminine Hygiene section pulls no punches. "No commercial preparations -- liquids, powders, foams, tablets, suppositories, or jellies -- can by themselves be relied upon for the 'feminine hygiene' -- meaning actually contraception -- for which they are sold."

For men's suits, your best buy in off-the-rack is the "Richman" line, at $24.50. Still acceptable but minimally so is Bond, at $25 with two pairs of pants. Your best deal in men's dress shirts is the 98 cent broadcloth model from the Montgomery Ward catalog. For work clothes, your best deal is the "Hermitage" brand from Woolworth at 40 cents for a shirt -- or the Hercules brand from Sears, at 84 cents for a shirt that does not shrink when washed. Avoid Lee brand work clothes, which are of very poor servicablity.

For women's hosiery, get the "Cooperative Distributors" brand, sold by mail order at three pairs for $2.75. Avoid Allen-A, Gaymode, or Kayser, which don't wear well and are often defective right out of the package.

For men's shoes and women's shoes both, go to your local A. S. Beck store for best buys in value and quality. The most durable shoe for women is the official Girl Scout moccasin oxford manufactured by the Melanson Shoe Co. of Brewer, Maine. $5.25 a pair, comes only in brown, but is extremely strong.

For muslin sheets, your best buy for durablity and value is the "Lady Fair" brand from Sears at $1.29 each. Pequots at $1.98 are better quality but more expensive. Avoid Pepperell sheets -- they shrink excessively, they tear easily, and they are easily abraded.

If you're buying a used car, CU recommends you ignore all advertising and dealer "guarantees," and be suspicious of odometer readings. Your best buy in a used vehicle is any Plymouth except the 1934 DeLuxe. *Never* buy a used Buick -- except a Series 40 -- a used Cadillac, a used Chrysler Imperial or Airflow, a used 1931 Essex, a used 1932 or 1933 Ford V-8 unless the engine has been factory rebuilt, any used Nash prior to 1934, any used Packard except for the Model 120, or any used Pierce Arrow.

If you want a console radio your best bet is the RCA Victor Model 10K at $150. The Zenith 12-U-159 is comparable quality, but costs $25 more. Avoid any "midget" radio with four tubes or less -- they are shoddily built and offer poor reception and tone quality. Some may also pose a fire hazard.

If you want a refrigerator, your best buy is a Norge E-62-6 Rollator at $171 -- cheapest to operate of the major brands and highest build quality. The GE M-6 at $199 is also a good performer for the money. Avoid Fairbanks-Morse, Westinghouse, Wards, Sears Coldspot, or Crosley -- the latter the costliest of any refrigerator to operate.

For fountain pens, your best buy is the Cooperative Distributors Model 7501 at $1.75 plus postage. It's actually the same pen as the Sheaffer Wasp, without the brand name expense. Avoid Esterbrook dollar and dollar-fifty pens -- they skip and they leak right out of the box.

For toilet paper, much discussed in another thread, your wallet and your backside will thank you most for choosing "Kiltie" brand, five cents a roll at any S. S. Kresge store. But stay away from Kresge's Blue Ribbon Finest Silk Medicated Toilet Tissue, which is extremely harsh.

For laundry soap, Procter and Gamble's Chipso is the best deal at 16 cents a pound. Avoid P&G's Oxydol, which is more expensive and contains a high proportion of non-soap filler ingredients.

That's just a sampling of what's in this little pocket-sized volume, which originally belonged to CU Member Victor R. Elk of the Metcalf Laboratory at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. Elk, I salute you as one foe of the Boys to another.