What Are You Reading

[hatguy1]

50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know Revised and Upated: What to Do, When to Do It, and Why (GentleManners) Hardcover – January 2, 2012
by John Bridges

 

[Fading Fast]

"Radio Stars Of Today: Or Behind The Scenes In Broadcasting," by Robert Eichberg.

This is a large-format coffee-table-type volume published in mid-1937, and captures an excellent snapshot of the state of big-time network radio at the peak of its power. There's quite a bit of interesting information written from the layperson's point of view on how network broadcasting works, but the heart of the book is a series of photo spreads and capsule biographies of the radio favorites of the moment. All the old favorites are here -- Benny, Allen, Cantor, Burns & Allen, Crosby, Vallee, Amos 'n' Andy, Major Bowes, Kate Smith, et. al, and quite a few of the photos are rare shots that don't turn up in later books of this type. A great many books like this came out in the 70s, written from a nostalgia point of view, but this book captures the medium as a living, growing entity, not some encapsulated fossil, and you find yourself wanting to race right over the the Philco and tune right in. (Some of us can actually do that.)

A few definitive personalities of the late thirties are conspicuous by their absence, a result of timing. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy opened on the Chase and Sanborn Hour just a month before this book came out, and by the time it hit the shelves, they were by far the biggest thing on the air -- and you won't find a word about them here. Oops. And Orson Welles was still a freelance actor making the rounds of the anthology shows, three months away from taking the role of the Shadow, and a year out from the start of the Mercury Theatre On The Air. There should have been a second, revised edition in 1938, but alas, there was not.

Aside from the bios, some additional interesting content includes an article on what to look for when buying a radio -- not quite up to Consumers Union standards, but still worthwhile -- and a "typical radio script," in this case the script for Jack Benny's Jell-O Program of October 20, 1935. Given that this is one of the few Benny programs for which no recording survives, it's fun reading. And the highlight for me, a copy of the letter potential contestants received when they requested a chance to audition for the amateur-talent segment on Fred Allen's program. "Anything goes," the letter advises, "from singing chickens to playing the harp with mittens on!" I've listened to dozens of Allen programs from the thirties, and I haven't yet come across any singing chickens -- although there was a guy who played the Stars and Stripes Forever by squeezing his hands together to make a sound like a fart. They don't mention that talent in the letter.

Not much in this book that I didn't already know, but it's pleasant browsing and earns a place on my crowded coffee-table. A scrawled pencil inscription on the inside front cover notes that this copy once belonged to "Carol Metz, Wrightstown, Wis., Age 10." Wherever her life took her, I hope Ms. Metz got a chance to hear the singing chickens.

Lizzie, I touched on it in my post, but wanted to ask you directly, have you given any thought to how radio programs would have evolved, improved, become more complex (like many TV shows have) if radio programs had remained an active media/art form up to present day?

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's a good question. Radio went thru a very creative period in the 1930s, ossified into Boys-driven tedium in the 1940s, and then went thru a whole new creative explosion in the early 1950s -- you got some really high-quality, creative drama on the one hand and innovative comedy such as from Bob and Ray and Stan Freberg on the other, indicating that there was definitely some life left in the medium. Listen -- really *listen* to, say, "Dragnet," sometime and you'll find a program of real depth, both technical and dramatic. There's no reason why the medium couldn't continue to develop along those lines right down to the present day.

Radio didn't "die." It was specifically killed off by the networks in order to drive all the advertising revenue into television -- each of the networks, in turn, made a specific decision to drop its drama, variety, and comedy programming as of a specific date. There was no specific reason why that decision *had* to be made -- there was still a small but loyal audience for this type of programming, as witness the fact that syndicated reruns of of "old radio" went into distrubution almost immediately after the networks cut off new production, and in fact syndicated reruns of radio soap operas were available well into the 1960s.

Radio drama had another renaissance in the 1970s, with several different series showing up at the network level: CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, General Mills Adventure Theatre, Sears Radio Theatre, Zero Hour and some others I'm probably forgetting as new productions. Campbell Soup even dusted off its old Orson Welles "Campbell Playhouse" transcriptions and put them back on the air as "prestige reruns," with new host segments by Helen Hayes. There was a chance at this point to move off into new areas of creative production, but once again, in the early '80s, some suit in an office somewhere decided that the "fad had run its course" and that was the end of that.

There's still a lot of "audio drama" being done as boutique productions, but nothing of any particular value is being done in radio comedy any more. I was never particularly impressed by "A Prairie Home Companion," which was always too self-consciously precious for my taste, and Kellior, with that whole self-consciously corny Midwestern schtick of his, struck me as someone who on his best day was not worthy to wipe the spit off Jean Shepherd's microphone. And the less said about "shock radio" the better -- I don't see any actual humor or cleverness or wit in it at all.

The one area where radio does still seem to have some life in it is public broadcasting -- "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" is very much the modern successor to "Information Please." It's not quite as witty, but it's a good effort and there ought to be more programs like it. And "This American Life" owes a lot to the sort of radio documentaries that were done from time to time in the Era by the likes of William N. Robson and Edward R. Murrow, as well as, in a way, the "People You Didn't Expect To Meet" segments that Fred Allen liked to do. There's no reason why this type of radio couldn't continue to develop.

 

[Fading Fast]

That's a good question. Radio went thru a very creative period in the 1930s, ossified into Boys-driven tedium in the 1940s, and then went thru a whole new creative explosion in the early 1950s -- you got some really high-quality, creative drama on the one hand and innovative comedy such as from Bob and Ray and Stan Freberg on the other, indicating that there was definitely some life left in the medium. Listen -- really *listen* to, say, "Dragnet," sometime and you'll find a program of real depth, both technical and dramatic. There's no reason why the medium couldn't continue to develop along those lines right down to the present day.

Radio didn't "die." It was specifically killed off by the networks in order to drive all the advertising revenue into television -- each of the networks, in turn, made a specific decision to drop its drama, variety, and comedy programming as of a specific date. There was no specific reason why that decision *had* to be made -- there was still a small but loyal audience for this type of programming, as witness the fact that syndicated reruns of of "old radio" went into distrubution almost immediately after the networks cut off new production, and in fact syndicated reruns of radio soap operas were available well into the 1960s.

Radio drama had another renaissance in the 1970s, with several different series showing up at the network level: CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, General Mills Adventure Theatre, Sears Radio Theatre, Zero Hour and some others I'm probably forgetting as new productions. Campbell Soup even dusted off its old Orson Welles "Campbell Playhouse" transcriptions and put them back on the air as "prestige reruns," with new host segments by Helen Hayes. There was a chance at this point to move off into new areas of creative production, but once again, in the early '80s, some suit in an office somewhere decided that the "fad had run its course" and that was the end of that.

There's still a lot of "audio drama" being done as boutique productions, but nothing of any particular value is being done in radio comedy any more. I was never particularly impressed by "A Prairie Home Companion," which was always too self-consciously precious for my taste, and Kellior, with that whole self-consciously corny Midwestern schtick of his, struck me as someone who on his best day was not worthy to wipe the spit off Jean Shepherd's microphone. And the less said about "shock radio" the better -- I don't see any actual humor or cleverness or wit in it at all.

The one area where radio does still seem to have some life in it is public broadcasting -- "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" is very much the modern successor to "Information Please." It's not quite as witty, but it's a good effort and there ought to be more programs like it. And "This American Life" owes a lot to the sort of radio documentaries that were done from time to time in the Era by the likes of William N. Robson and Edward R. Murrow, as well as, in a way, the "People You Didn't Expect To Meet" segments that Fred Allen liked to do. There's no reason why this type of radio couldn't continue to develop.

Thank you. Since I have nowhere near the depth of knowledge to add to that, I'll come at it from a slightly different angle. All around me on the streets, the subway, the supermarket, in the dentist's office, etc., I see people of all ages, but leaning heavily toward the young, with earphones in and listening (rarely watching) something.

This says to me that there clearly is a market for audio entertainment which just happens to be what radio is. Hence, maybe the next generation of new / intelligent "radio" programs will start as a streaming service. The audience is already there - in a way - they just need to be made interested in radio-style programs the way they are in music, podcasts, etc. Heck, I've read that audio books are growing in popularity and, my guess, probably because this new "listening" audience is asking for stories.

When I'm alone in the apartment, I keep the TV or radio on most of the time - I very much doubt I'm the only one who does that. But the TV is on mainly for the audio as I'll be doing something and just want to hear something in the background. This, too, would be a market for new radio programs.

I know you and I are on opposite sides of the earth when it comes to markets, but we probably both agree that businesses like to make a buck - it seems there might be a buck to be made in all this, but of course, the hard part is in the execution. That said, the first part is there waiting - the customer with his or her headphones on.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Translated:
"On the traces of Cooper's Leatherstocking" by Peter Baumann (1989)

The real "Leatherstocking" Daniel Boone and the pioneer-history of America. Very nice! Very interesting and thrilling written. It's the tie-in book to the same-named german TV movie.

 

[HanauMan]

I read the English translation of The Sea Close By and Summer in Algiers, two short stories by Albert Camus, today. Perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon reading.

 

[Bushman]

Grabbed a free stack of classics at the "Bring a Book, get a book" swap at the local forest preserve. It's a great deal! You can bring as many old books as you want and take as many in return. It's a huge hit every year!

 

[Tiki Tom]

Re: The Japanese Lover, my wife is a big fan of all things Japanese and also a fan of Isabelle Allende, yet she could not finish the book, which speaks volumes to me.

Right now I am re-reading A German Requiem by Philip Kerr. A Noir detective story set in 1947 Berlin and Vienna. Enjoying it the second time around. The hard boiled dialogue sometimes makes me smile.

 

[Fading Fast]

Re: The Japanese Lover, my wife is a big fan of all things Japanese and also a fan of Isabelle Allende, yet she could not finish the book, which speaks volumes to me.....

I just read it myself and wrote it up here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/what-are-you-reading.10557/page-396#post-2415742

...Right now I am re-reading A German Requiem by Philip Kerr. A Noir detective story set in 1947 Berlin and Vienna. Enjoying it the second time around. The hard boiled dialogue sometimes makes me smile.

This sounds interesting.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those Twains were part of a multi-volume set put out around 1920 by P. F. Collier, the same people who compiled and sold "The Harvard Classics" thruout the Era. They were sold by direct mail on a convenient monthly payment plan -- $5 down, $4 a month for 11 months -- thru ads in popular magazines, especially Collier's Weekly.

 

[Harp]

SCOTUS slip opinion, Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission; 06/04/18

 

[MisterCairo]

Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian, Folio Society edition, the second book in the Aubrey/Maturin (aka "Master and Commander") series.

 

[MikeKardec]

Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship by George Dyson. Based on many of his father's (Freeman Dyson) memories, George recounts the story of a project intended to send a 4,000 ton spacecraft powered by atomic bombs on a grand tour of the solar system by 1965. A marvelous piece of Cold War insanity much of which is still classified because the technology was re purposed to function as a part of SDI or "Star Wars" in the 1980s.

Very Diesel or Atom Punk and a sobering lesson on how chemical rockets are never going to be much of an answer to spaceflight.

 

[scottyrocks]

Actually, rereading two books right now:

The Healing Drum: African Wisdom Teachings (1989) by Yaya Diallo and Mitchell Hall

and

A Life for the Djembe - Traditional Rhythms of the Malinke (1999) by Mamady Keita and Uschi Billmeier

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Finished The Complete Novels of Dashiell Hammett recently. Some notable quotes -

"The outcome of successful planning always looks like luck to saps."
"...he always got a lot of fun out of acting like the other half of a half-wit."
"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter."

 

[Fading Fast]

"Try for Elegance" by David Loomis

A 1959 novel written by a salesman at Brooks Brothers (BB) about a salesman at BB in the late '50s (Ivy's heyday) - which is sadly what caught my attention (I am fully convinced my father died 28 years ago in his early 60s to avoid experiencing any further disappointment in me) - but the novel is more about a thirty year old wannabe artist biding his time at BB as he tries to sort out his no-longer-young professional and personal life in New York City.

Off the bat, into the store walks a young, pretty, somewhat sketchy girl who all but asks our protagonist out. From there, a romance develops that gets battered around as only young love between two strong-willed people not natural a fit for each other can in a vibrant city with many options and distractions.

I discovered the book from this post on the Ivy Style site: http://www.ivy-style.com/bohemian-in-a-brooks-brothers-suit.html

While the Brooks Brothers angle drew me in and my expectations were set low, the novel is not at all bad - some poor grammar and syntax here and there and no writing awards forthcoming, but as a story, I've read worse and, overall, I was engaged and enjoyed it.

What's really fun, especially from a Fedora Lounge perspective, is that it has a "Mad Men" era feel to it but with a bit of a bohemian overlay - which "Mad Men" touched on as well. (Lizzie -- a few embers of communism / socialism can be seen burning amongst the bohemian set). Also, something I love about novels written in their period is that you'll see the culture / the zeitgeist of the period, not through a modern filter, but as lived and felt at the time (with the author's biases included). To that end, and with respect to the Brooks Brother's angle, dressing well simply was more important to everyone - even the bohemians tilt toward the conventions of dress in certain settings.

And for those whose image of the '50s is all Ozzie and Harriet, get ready for some good old-fashioned pre-marital sex instigated by the lead female character - not a bodice ripper, but '50s books were much less buttoned-down than the period's movies and TV shows.

Fortunately for the story telling quality, don't go into it expecting an all-clothing novel or even a novel that delves into the sartorial details we here can get all excited about, but here and there (as noted in the Ivy Style post) some fun BB and Ivy heyday clothing details and store minutia come out. And you'll definitely get a feel for the BB store culture of that time.

Last point - it is a very New York City book: The Plaza hotel, P.J. Clarks, cabs, steakhouses, cocktails, subways, Park Avenue, Greenwich Village and over-priced real estate (some things never change) are all here in a '50s time capsule way.

For '50s and Ivy fans - and those who love novels of the period - it's a fun read as long as you go into it with your expectations not set too high.

 

[Just Jim]

Had a class at work last week on assessing trauma in children. In typical fashion for me, some digging lead me to a stack of papers on epigenetics, particularly behavioral epigenetics. Given the context it is some rather depressing reading. I'm going to re-read some pulp noir this evening to get my mind off it.

 

[Harp]

Whittaker Chambers, Witness

A Sophoclean tale writ across the soul which never tires.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Judy" by Damien Lewis

The story of a English Pointer born in Shanghai in 1936 who was picked out of her litter to become the mascot for a Royal Navy gun ship operating out of the city's port. This early life happenstance set her up to be engaged in the Pacific Theater in WWII.

With the Japanese invasion of Shanghai in 1937, Judy's life goes from one of happy dog on a ship with many who love her to, effectively, dog at war. And she proves to be not only up to the task, but one of those special and super-intelligent dogs who has a highly developed ability to communicate with humans and understand - or "feel -" situations.

As her ship - and subsequent ships she serves on - come under fire or are sunk, Judy's skills save her and the lives of many others (she provides early warnings of attacks, brings stranded-at-sea sailors floatation devises or, selflessly, serves as a floatation devise for those stranded). Later, her early warnings and ability to find food or water prove equally life saving as she and her torpedoed-ship's crew become prisoners of war for several years - most of which were spent building the Sumatran Railroad under conditions no better than the horror of the, more infamous, Thai-Burma Railroad.

While much of this book is a story of war and the horror of being a prisoner of war under the Japanese (whose inhumanity and brutality would get more attention today if Nazi Germany hadn't, incredibly, surpassed the Japanese in that infamy), Judy's story is also one of the men who love and are loved by her. As crews and situations change, especially early in the war, Judy becomes the ward of several different service men who each love and are loved by this special dog, especially as one incredible life-saving event (either dog saving man or vice versa - you'll lose count) pile up.

But later on, Judy forms a special bond with the few POWs who through heart, cunning, passion and at great risk to themselves, keep her alive despite the deprivations of the prisoner camps and the dog-eating hunger of the Japanese and Korean guards. Some dogs, like some humans, seem to have an outsized capacity to both give to others and to fight for their own survival - Judy and her POW "family" have both.

This exceptional book combines two things - a well-researched account of one corner of WWII and the story of a unique dog and her passionate connection to and love for the humans she bonded with. While the scope of the story is large - the war in the Pacific - the author shines in his ability to keep that big-picture focus while exposing the small details of a story that make it personal and alive to the reader. This book works for either WWII history buffs or dog lovers, but works even better if you are both.

 

[HadleyH1]

On the plane, going and coming back, I only managed to read a chapter of the book "Red Princess".

It was really getting interesting.