From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V10 #220 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Wednesday, May 30 2001 Volume 10 : Number 220 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Worst book ever [The Great Quail ] Re: In coral and lots of jade ["3 Rose Cottage" ] Re: Bakshi ["Richard Zeszotarski" ] may 30 ["Andrew D. Simchik" ] Chining in ["3 Rose Cottage" ] this and that ["Natalie Jane" ] Robyn on his favorite Author ["brian nupp" ] RE: may 30 ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: Chining in ["brian nupp" ] QE Promo ["SIMPSON,HAMISH (A-Scotland,ex1)" ] Re: QE Promo [Capuchin ] August 23rd + movies [Miles Goosens ] Re: QE Promo ["brian nupp" ] Re: In coral and lots of jade [Stephen Mahoney ] fIREHOSE & Indifferent Man ["Walker, Charles" ] Bad books! Bad! [Christopher Gross ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 14:02:52 -0700 From: The Great Quail Subject: Worst book ever I agree with Susan on this one -- there are heaps of worst books, but few of them make assumptions to be literature or even good fiction. So in that vein, I have a few which are disappointing.... Don DeLillo's "White Noise" is supposed to be a big PoMo classic. I found it a pretentious bore with self-absorbed characters and ludicrously over-refined dialogue. I think Pynchon's small -- and often under-appreciated -- masterpiece "Vineland" says everything DeLillo wanted to say, but better, wittier, with more humor and with much more sympathetic (and interesting) characters. Mind you, I am not saying DeLillo is a bad writer -- he's not; I just though "White Noise" was an annoying book. I wanted to kill all the characters and put them out of their hyper-educated, vacuous, miserable lives. Richard Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America." Some people love this book, I thought it had some lovely passages but didn't make a lick of sense. Well, ok, that can be said of Burroughs, who I like, but I think Burroughs is more mesmerizing than Brautigan. A few notches down to: Caleb Carr's "The Alienist." People raved about this book when it came out, and I mean, some intelligent people. I thought it was clumsy and jarring -- Carr's politically correct spin on everything was too obtrusively modern. Though it was really informative and, to be honest, kind of fun, the characters were precocious and really got on my nerves. I think Carr thinks too much of himself -- his next two books got worse. Also, I *hate* Crichton. I think he makes up really cool plots; and then writes with all the grace, subtlety, and characterization of an obnoxious teenager at an Arts Magnet school. Which would be OK if he weren't so freaking *pretentious*, and if more people didn't consume his books like M&Ms and constantly praise him, and then there's all the blowjobs from the press..... Grrr..... As far as other popular writers go, now that I am on a rant-n-roll: I thought Anne Rice's first two vampire books were great, but after that -- well, I kept reading her stuff out of some weird masochism I guess. I only wish she would get an editor. Does anyone else still read her overblown books out of the same weird masochistic streak? And Stephen King can write some pretty good stuff -- when he doesn't flub the endings! I think he's *great* at characterization, and he's really a good storyteller. But he's another one who takes himself way too seriously -- his comments about Stanley Kubrick are laughable ("He ruined my book -- he doesn't understand horror") and the fact that he actually blurbed Thomas Harris' atrociously-written "Hannibal" as an example of *literature?* Eeeeek! Oh well, that got off some steam. I also saw Pearl Harbor, and it was exactly what I was expecting. I have yet to read "Geek Love." I have no opinions on replying styles. - --Q ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 18:04:01 -0000 From: "3 Rose Cottage" Subject: Re: In coral and lots of jade Viv: >I used to make a lot of jewelry in high school, and I still occasionally >wear a necklace I made out of a leather shoelace and an antique key. It's >dumb, but it makes me feel tough. I recently made a necklace that gets >quite a few compliments. It's extremely busy and gaudy... lots of >different beads: a scarab, a fish, an elephant, a bee, an old glass bead >with an anchor inside, several beads that look like alien seedpods, and >many many green beads of various shades and shapes. It's two strands that >don't hang quite level, they sort of intertwine and comingle messily. I >consider it a reasonable reflection of myself, as much as any piece of >jewelry could be expected to reflect a human personality. Cool, thats true. When you make stuff for yourself its abit of a magical act--youre visualizing and creating adornment in which you get to externalize your inner states. Different things Ive made symbolise different things to me, different energies--and I choose to wear them at specific times with consiousness of that. That really comes into play too when youre making something for a friend. Especially if you know they're going thru a tough time, you try to make something which will put them in touch with their own streangth. I use(and wear, well, Ive got green eyes so wouldnt you?) alot of green too. I wonder if there are a disproportonate number of Fegs who gravitate towards green? Its obviously one of Robyn's favored colors. I wouldnt be suprised. I love all colors--but dont think Ive ever done a painting without green in it. I hope next time you do a fegfest you wear your necklace so Unca Nick can put a picture of you in it up on the fegphotos. Id love to see it. Kay _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 14:17:17 -0400 From: Ken Weingold Subject: Re: Worst book ever On Wed, May 30, 2001, The Great Quail wrote: > I thought Anne Rice's first two vampire books were great, but after > that -- well, I kept reading her stuff out of some weird masochism I > guess. I only wish she would get an editor. Does anyone else still > read her overblown books out of the same weird masochistic streak? Funny you should mention that. I am currently reading Memnoch The Devil. First two were great, yes. I liked the third. I thought the history was cool. Body Thief had a lot more "action", but I liked it. Interesting story. And so far Memnoch is pretty cool. Of course after my comments on Geek Love, I don't think Jeme will ever take me seriously. :) Another author I love is Tom Robbins. So far I have read four of his books, and loved them all. Funny thing about Another Roadside Attraction was that it took me literally aboug 100 pages to get into it. Maybe it's kind of dated, not sure what it was. But after that, I got REALLY into it. Loved the ending, too. Jitterbug Perfume is my favorite, though, so far. I was never able to read two TR books in a row, though. A sort of burn-out. Then again these days I can probably handle it better. :) - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 14:46:50 -0400 From: "Richard Zeszotarski" Subject: Re: Bakshi i used to love bakshi when I was in middle and high school simply for the fact that he was the only American animator who saw animation as more than a babysitter for brain-dead children (Sorry, but i could never get into Don Bluth. I found "Secret of N.I.M.H." dull at age 9, and never liked the excessively "twitchy" movements of his characters, although i did find the look of "Titan A.E." impressive, even if the story is an unapologetic ripoff of "Lensman"). I even saw Bakshi host an anime marathon on the Sci-fi Channel a few years back (95?), where he made a lot of remarks about Disney's monopolizing of animation in the U.S. (although he did admit to liking "Aladdin", which I can't blame him for)and mentioned working on a sequel to "Wizards." Came across as a very smart, ballsy guy, despite that Brooklyn accent of his that makes him sound like Jerry Lewis on a bender. I'd like to make a few comments on the films mentioned in this thread, so here goes.... >I liked Fritz The Cat (despite R. Crumb hating it; he responded by >killing the character with an ice pick in the next comic strip he drew), >Heavy Traffic (my favorite), Haven't seen either of these (remember, I was quite young when I got into Bakshi and such material was off-limits to me), but I've heard that "Heavy Traffic" is probably the best of his early work. Wizards (2nd favorite, despite its >"borrowing" the Vaughn Bode Cobalt-60 character uncredited. I really >love the Mike Ploog pen and ink storyboards that were used during the >voiceover narration sequences. Also, the first use of rotoscoping which >is no worse than the digital "cheating" used today), I saw "Wizards" on the Sci-Fi Channel and was very disappointed by it. I t was just too cartoony/psychedelic for me. Really wanted to like, but just couldn't. Hey Good Lookin' >(50's gang violence), Never saw this one , other than a quick clip on "Entertainment Tonight", and have never seen it available, even as a bootleg. and (of course) Bakshi's New Adventures Of Mighty >Mouse cartoons! > oh , yes! I looove these cartoons, especially the Return of the Mighty >Heroes episode (I especially love the adult Diaper Man) and continue to >make references to this show to the amusement/annoyance of my friends with >such lines as "I am the leader of a race of super relishes....oh, yes, and >this is my wife.", "Suddenly, I feel very sentient", "What's that in your >belly button? LINT!" and the famous Bat-Bat line "We all make mistakes. >That's why they put rubber at the end of pencils." Must try to find >bootlegs of these. Lord Of The Rings was ambitious but ultimately unfinished. What exists >is mediocre (and, yes, there is way too much rotoscoping this time.) For awhile, I didn't like this film. Too little of "The Two Towers" is covered, and the rotoscoping is used a little excessively and,imo, clumsily ineffectively (especially in the Prancing Pony sequence). But "Wizards" also used the same rotoscoping techniques, and while I saw them as just padding that film with doctored stock footage, no one else seemed to mind their use there. As I am rereading the trilogy to get familar with it again in time for the release of Peter Jackson's version, I decided to rent Bakshi's version again for my friend Blythe and mine's weekly movie night. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I liked the version of Gandalf (although John Huston will always be the voice of Gandalf for me) and Samwise (sorry, but Roddy Macdowell's voice is just a little too menacing for this plain and simple hobbit and I think the Bakshi version of Sam captures that much better), as well as the Balrog sequence. Have to admit, though, bakshi's Gimli looks like one of the Seven Dwarves and Legolas, while voiced by Anthony Daniels, looks like the lost member of ABBA in that frilly white outfit. He's a wood elf, for cripe's sake! and Boromir as a Viking? Come on! > >Despised: American Pop. Since Bakshi couldn't get the music/likeness >rights he needed, bland composite character sketches and even blander >"music" was used to tell the "history" and it didn't work. Ambitious but >deeply flawed. He should have abandoned the project instead of >soldiering on without the proper soundtrack. Oddly enough, this is one of my favorite Bakshi films. Sure it takes gratuitous, even ridiculous, liberties with musical history, but I don't really mind. I especially liked the whole "Hell is for Chidren"/punk sequence towards the end and to some degree, the sixties sequence. Yes, this film could have been done as a live action piece, but i think may,be you might not have gotten the same effect with these two sequences if it had been. This was also the film where i first noticed that Bakshi REALLY likes to do shots of characters walking towards the camera, but shot from a very low angle. It's in almost all of his films, with maybe the exception of "Fire And Ice." >Also despised: the wretched Cool World. *vomit* Have to agree with you on this one. I saw the trailer for this before Star Trek 6 and was so excited-finally, I thought, a new Bakshi animated film! I so wanted it to be good! What I saw when it finally came out was a disappointing piece of shit. Kim Basinger is just god-awful,and someone needs to thrust a copy of this bomb in Brad "Mr. Pretty Boy" Pitt's face whenever his ego gets too big. And what the hell was Gabriel Byrne doing in there? Picking up gas money? This was the film that turned me off Bakshi, but I've heard that even he doesn't like it. particularly Basinger's performance. > >Haven't seen (but would love to): Coonskin, Haven't seen this one either, but I've heard it's a bit insulting, if not outright racist. Fire and Ice (w/Frazetta!) Oh,another classic that was almost lost to obscurity, if it weren't for a cult following among Frazetta fans. A badly managed project-I read an interview with Frazetta where he said that he was not happy with the animation team's work and he himself had to do fix-up work on the wolves and the giant lizard, and that he himself never saw the film play in any theater! I have my doubts as to what, if any, theatrical distribution this film received,although I do remember seeing Leonard Maltin give it a so-so review on Entertainment Tonight, so it had to have played in a theater somewhere. I just love this movie and never get tired of watching my bootleg copy of it. Alot of people compare it to Conan, probably because of Roy Thomas's screenwriting credit, but I always felt that Frazetta's beautiful backgrounds and the tone of the film was more reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar stories.A very quotable movie, too. My favorite line is "Fetch the subhumans...Nekron's dogs." Nekron's Dogs-a great name for a band if ever I heard one. Interseting bit of trivia about this-most of the voice talent in "Fire and Ice' also appeared in live form in "Big Top Pee Wee." >In the realm of animation, you can't deny Bakshi's contribution. no, you certainly can't. - -Rich Z. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 11:51:08 -0700 From: "Andrew D. Simchik" Subject: may 30 >From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) > >Unlike May 30th, which is an ordinary sort of day Except that it's my parents' anniversary. :) - -- Andrew D. Simchik, drew at stormgreen dot com http://www.stormgreen.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 19:03:09 -0000 From: "3 Rose Cottage" Subject: Chining in Renee: >Interestingly enough, when I once "spoke" to Robyn online, the >subject of >books came up and I recommended Powers to him (specifically Stress >and >Gates). He politely thanked me but of course I have no idea >whether he >read, or cared. Wonder if he read them? Did he have any recs? And he -touched- a computer! I thought he thought they would gave him cooties. Mahoney: >the first two titles are by the "balzac of melrose place" >sex toys of the gods >glamourpuss Must ask the obvious. And who, pray tell, -is- the Balzac of Melrose Place? More from Stephen: >hey dont forget folks! >its the 125th anniversary of the dewey decimal classification Ahhh, surrre, and you even have your party-hat on. (I can give you the # for the local librarians-anyonomous chapter. You seem abit, well, Ross and Poole and I are thinking of staging an intervention. Youre obviously in deep-- so its that or that unspeakable fate--Library School! GET HELP WHILE YOU STILL CAN!(Or start writing your comics;-) Nupp posted: >I've got other stuff from that same session which >fortunately hasn't got any lewd or erotic content in it, and that's >being >released. >- -Robyn Hitchcock April 30 1986 Feg challange--is there really anywhere a Robyn track with -no- lewd or erotic content? ( or no lewd or erotic content lewd and erotically- minded fegs can read into it)? Dignan: >as the Kaikoura coast is one of the top areas for marine mammals in > >coastal waters in the world. Where in NZ is Kaikoura, and I have to ask--how is it pronounced? Sounds pretty cool. Steve: Thank you for remindingt us poetryheads of the vastly underated Sir William Ashbless. Someday (sigh) justice will be done;-) Susan: >I do think a lot of fegs would probably really like >"The Professor and The Madman" tho. If you're not familiar with it, >the >overly simple version is that it's the true story of a >schizophrenic >criminal and his massive contribution to the OED :). Believe it or not--Susan speaks plain descriptive truth here. A good word of warning to all us word people here.:-) Speaking of word Fegs. Thanks for all the wonderful chine info. Its a good word--there are some chines on the eastern end of Long Island but no one knows what to call them--"those sand, shale cliff things with chasms tween em over there." Now I can be an obnoxious Anglified twit and say, "Ahh yes, the chines." Kay, more of an obnoxious American twit actually. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 12:14:36 -0700 From: "Natalie Jane" Subject: this and that August 23rd is Keith Moon's birthday. Did someone mention that already? Probably. Hotmail was seemingly down all day yesterday. Or maybe it was just my particular server fucking up. I know not. I've been trying to think of the worst book I've ever read... "Generation X" springs to mind, but I didn't read the whole thing. Whichever book by Terry Pratchett I read a long time ago - I think it was the first Discworld book - that's a good candidate. But the big prize for the worst short story I have ever, ever, ever read goes to "In the Barn," by Piers Anthony - a lurid, slavering account of an alternate world in which women are used as milk cows. I wanted to take a bath after I read it. On a lighter note, I frittered away some cash on "Homegrown," the "Wasp Star" demos. I actually quite like it - the "Tamla" version of 'I'm the Man Who Murdered Love" alone makes it worth the price - and I might even recommend it to more casual XTC fans, though non-fans would probably find it a bore. I don't know if I'll be listening to it all that often, but it's still a neat little document. (BTW, I discovered that I had taped my copy of "Wasp Star" before its unfortunate demise, so I don't need to buy a new one. Yay!) Listening to "Homegrown" makes me more eager than ever to buy a 4-track. I wanna make records in my bedroom, too! (I don't have a garden shed, so my bedroom will have to do.) back to work, n. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 15:33:44 -0400 From: "brian nupp" Subject: Robyn on his favorite Author Lynn: First, Robyn, I'd just like to say thanks for writing and producing music -- because it's so beautiful, and it makes everybody's life a little better. And secondly, I'd like to know who's your favorite author? Robyn: Favorite author? Right now probably nobody, because I can't read. But I used to read a lot. But it was so long ago I can't remember. Just depends on what mood you're in. Andy and I both like a man called Mervyn Peake. Have you ever heard of him? Lynn: No. Robyn: Well, Mervyn Peake wrote a brilliant thing called The Gormenghast Trilogy. He was actually a draftsman -- an artist. He was a very good line-drawer. He did lots of cartoons. He wrote a three-part story about a, sort of, imaginery English castle with old professors (and stuff) in it. And then he went into premature sinethea, and he died at the age of 50 -- looking like he was 93 (which was a tragic end for him). He's the most exotic writer I can think of -- and I know we both liked him. I'd read him if you haven't read him yet. From Feb. 7th, 1992 http://www.feedthefish.org/archive/92/020792iv.html And yes, the Brian early on in the interview is me! Nuppy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 14:35:42 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: may 30 > >Unlike May 30th, which is an ordinary sort of day > > Except that it's my parents' anniversary. :) And my son's parents' anniversary (9 years ago in Florence, I can't resist bragging). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 15:40:08 -0400 From: "brian nupp" Subject: Re: Chining in >From: "3 Rose Cottage" Feg challange--is there really anywhere a Robyn >track with -no- lewd or >erotic content? ( or no lewd or erotic content lewd and erotically- minded >fegs can read into it)? Maybe his instrumentals. ;-) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 21:55:55 +0200 From: "SIMPSON,HAMISH (A-Scotland,ex1)" Subject: QE Promo Hey fegs all, I saw a copy of the 3 track Queen Elvis album promo used but it's in the album CD case and sleeve. Is this right or should there be a proper sleeve? Cheers Hamish ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 13:40:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: QE Promo On Wed, 30 May 2001, SIMPSON,HAMISH (A-Scotland,ex1) wrote: > I saw a copy of the 3 track Queen Elvis album promo used but it's in > the album CD case and sleeve. Is this right or should there be a > proper sleeve? It's actually the full album with the promo label misprinted on the disc. They show up all the time. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 15:17:10 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: August 23rd + movies At 05:19 PM 5/29/2001 -0700, victorian squid wrote: >On Wed, 30 May 2001 11:54:05 James Dignan wrote: > >>Why assume it's a musical date? > >Indeed. It's also the day Doug and I went to the county courthouse and got >our papers. You and Doug have pedigrees? :-) To keep this from being a one-liner, but still perhaps worth reporting: Went to see THE MUMMY RETURNS Friday night, and it was big, loud, and dumb, without being as entertaining about it as its predecessor -- pretty much the par for sequels. Rachel Weisz looks yummy and (in the Ancient Egyptian sequences) shows more skin, and Patricia Velazquez gets a lot more to do, but even with those considerable (for me!) distractions, I still couldn't help but notice the glaring absence of a script, which even in the world of Big Dumb Action Pics separates the fun ones from the boring ones. Saturday we watched DVDs of EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU and VELVET GOLDMINE, neither of which we'd seen before. The former was an enjoyable enough trifle, and Woody Allen's predictive casting powers were intact, since Drew Barrymore's character *almost* gets married to a sociopath -- something she finally went through with in real life five years later. :-) VELVET GOLDMINE was visually sumptuous, the music was splendid, and Eddie Izzard was great as Brian Slade's venal manager (was the change-of-managers scene straight outta the underrated ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS or what?). Otherwise -- eep, what a humongous mess. I'm not opposed to films that go for impressionistic approaches, eschewing straightforward narrative to go for something more abstract yet more visceral. But you have to be really, really, really smart about it to pull it off, and Todd Haynes didn't even come close, so the whole thing quickly degenerates into a confused mess, even lacking the "ohmyGAWDwhatthehellwasthat?" sort of scene that makes even the worst Ken Russell movies worth at least one viewing. And we were completely icked out by Christian Bale's character -- not by his latent homosexuality, but by his general creepiness (which might have played into the decision to cast him in the lead in AMERICAN PSYCHO). The lack of sympathy for this "narrator/young-man-discovering-himself-through-the-liberation-of-the-times" left a hole in the film almost as gaping as the lack of cohesive vision or the waste of the intriguing Jack Fairy character. Somehow I think Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor's Iggy/Lou character) at his most messed-up would have had him deloused before sleeping with him! None of this stopped us from singing along with "2HB," "20th Century Boy," or "Needle in the Camel's Eye," but the film doesn't come close to living up to the music. Bowie may have been wise to keep his own music out of this train wreck; maybe his own long-promised film about the period will get it right. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 16:20:30 -0400 From: "brian nupp" Subject: Re: QE Promo If you listened to this CD, it would actually be the full album Queen Elvis. For some reason they mis-printed a bunch of the QE album CDs with the promo art work. This does not contain the promo music. Nuppy >From: "SIMPSON,HAMISH (A-Scotland,ex1)" >Reply-To: "SIMPSON,HAMISH (A-Scotland,ex1)" >To: "'fegmaniax@smoe.org'" >Subject: QE Promo >Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 21:55:55 +0200 > >Hey fegs all, > >I saw a copy of the 3 track Queen Elvis album promo used but it's in the >album CD case and sleeve. Is this right or should there be a proper >sleeve? > >Cheers > >Hamish _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 13:39:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Stephen Mahoney Subject: Re: In coral and lots of jade Yes I believe that the making of anything craft or art is in part an act of magic. that magic could only be stronger when its something of personal adronement like a necklace. My sister in law is going to have everyone at the baby shower bring in a bead then she will make a necklace that she will wear until she gives birth to him/her. On Wed, 30 May 2001, 3 Rose Cottage wrote: > Cool, thats true. When you make stuff for yourself its abit of a magical > act--youre visualizing and creating adornment in which you get to > externalize your inner states. Different things Ive made symbolise different > things to me, different energies--and I choose to wear them at specific > times with consiousness of that. > That really comes into play too when youre making something for a friend. > Especially if you know they're going thru a tough time, you try to make > something which will put them in touch with their own streangth. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 14:07:35 -0700 From: "Walker, Charles" Subject: fIREHOSE & Indifferent Man "Ebtang now ehhing: Widespread Panic (huh, a fIREHOSE cover...how 'bout that?)" Chas in LA writes - I miss fIREHOSE {:0I}X <-- Indifferent Man X{I0:} <-- Indifferent Man doing a hand stand http://www.theweeklywalker.com the new issue is here. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 17:40:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Bad books! Bad! The worst book I've tried to read in the past couple of years was probably Cradle, by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. Now, I've read plenty of atrocious SF novels, but I expected a little better of Clarke (if not of his coauthor). The plot just went nowhere (no mean feat in a novel of alien invasion), and what few plot developments that occurred were as unblievable as the characterization, which is saying something. I couldn't even finish it. Last fall I had to struggle to hide my glee when some gullible young man bought it during our building's flea market. And while it wasn't THAT bad, but Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg was a huge disappointment. A friend of mine (not the Quail this time) absolutely raved about how great it was and almost forced me to read it, but when I did I failed to see what all the fuss was about: it had an unengaging plot, unengaging prose style (admittedly it was a translation), and often seemed to be less a story than a soapbox for Hoeg to indict his fellow Danes for racism, materialism and general middle-classness, over and over again. Maybe if my expectations hadn't been raised so high I would have enjoyed it more. Anne Rice ... what can we say about poor Anne Rice? Interview With the Vampire was excellent, and I'll defend it to the death (note: hyperbole, not to be taken literally). After that, it was all downhill, at least as far as the vampire books are concerned. I think Memnoch the Devil was the worst. And yet ... and yet ... I can't quite give up on her, the way I have with, say, Tom Clancy. No matter how disappointing it was, I can't even bear to put Memnoch on my worst books list. What is her appeal? Damned if I can articulate it, but she definitely has one. Douglas Coupland -- unlike gNat, I did finish Generation X, but I didn't really like it. This was a big disappointment, because I was full of early 90s GenX angst and expected the book to really speak to me. Instead, I found all the main characters so annoying and obnoxious that I couldn't identify with them at all.... I've also read Coupland's next three books, Shampoo Planet, Life After God and Microserfs, and in my opinon they get progressively better. It's kind of like Anne Rice's career in reverse. (He has written at least two books since Microserfs, which I haven't read yet. Do they continue the trend?) Anyway.... - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V10 #220 ********************************