CBR 10 Bingo: Fahrenheit 451! (banned and challenged books) There’s no shortage of books that have been turned into movies, but relatively few have been turned into music videos by heavy metal bands. To be more accurate, the 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun, which was itself inspired by the true story of a Canadian soldier brutally injured in World War I, inspired a 1971 film by the same name, which inspired the Metallica song “One,” whose video features cuts from the film. Coincidentally, the book was […]
An American Legend, Indeed
CBR 10 Bingo Entry: The Book Was Better? I spent some time pondering what I’d like to read for the “Book Was Better” category for CBR 10 Bingo. With so many options, I was falling victim to decision paralysis, when a trip to my local library helped me solve the problem. While dropping off some books, I stopped into the Friends of the Library bookstore, not expecting to find anything. But then my eye was caught by a hardbound copy of Seabiscuit in excellent condition, […]
In which I parody Kurt Vonnegut to stick it to cancer
CBR 10 Bingo: Birthday – Kurt Vonnegut born November 11, 1922 This is Kim Pendergest, Cannonball Read 10’s reporter on the Afterlife. During yesterday’s controlled near-death experience, I interviewed Kurt Vonnegut and asked him to explain why he decided to write God Bless Dr. Kevorikian. “So what’s the deal?” I asked. “Was this just a cash-grab?” “Not at all,” he said, “I started writing these as 90-second spots for WNYC, the public radio station for New York City.” “Thanks for the exposition, but I know […]
Long before Team Edward and Team Jacob, there was Team Poirot and Team Marple
CBR Bingo entry: Brain Candy Back when I was in grade school, I devoured Agatha Christie novels. I didn’t keep track, but I bet I read a good third of the 66 detective novels she wrote in her lifetime, and I was firmly on Team Poirot. Sure, Miss Marple is a sweet old lady, but I preferred the peculiar Belgian detective who was forever getting mistaken for a Frenchman. Nevertheless, I’m not sure whether I ever read Murder on the Orient Express before now. Normally […]