The Club Dumas

AMAZON I'm one of those few who actually like the Ninth Gate--the Polanski movie based on this novel. Yes, I know, the ending.... But still--a movie about old books, and a rare book detective? What more could one want? That's the best! Printing used to be referred to as the black arts. Not because of any devil association, but because of the color the skin on your hands would change to after repeatedly working with inks. Even so, I'm sure the old printer's loved playing up the mystery of it all--it helped to get young guild members through their long apprenticeship, the promise of great occulted secrets just around the next bend. I would guess that this wasn't lost on Arturo Pérez-Reverte, even though he didn't mention it in this particular book. Most interesting to me currently is the way that Polanski and his screenwriters deftly sliced the story in half. The book would be nearly impossible to film as it is written--much too complex. Ironically, the book has a device that Kent and I used in our screenplay Yellow (which I'll liberally discuss with anybody who has read both). And finally--in sync with the phrase the black arts, this website URL has nothing to do with the devil, and everything to do with printing. Yet, to those who don't know, it may look as if it's the exact opposite. For instance, there is a death metal band that uses Hellbox as its moniker. From their associated graphics, I believe they were trying to align themselves with the prince of evil, rather than the broken-type-to-smelt. Like a friend who ran into a member of the now defunct Seattle band Ezra Pound. "I LOVE Pound," she said. "What's your favorite poem?" The guy replied: "Ezra Pound is a poet? We just picked the name because it sounded cool." It calls to mind the last line in the book: "And everyone gets the devil he deserves."

Adventures in the Screen Trade

AMAZON As thoroughly enjoyable as the other William Goldman book I recently finished. This one is a bit longer, and dives into his earlier work, such as Marathon Man, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, of which the entire screenplay is reproduced in the book. A thoroughly good romp through Hollywood in the 60's, 70's and early 80's.