Category Archives: review or meta-review

Clods Without Witnesses (Dorothy L. Sayers, CLOUDS OF WITNESS)

Posted on March 28, 2023 by JE

In summary: Clouds of Witness features Sayers and her aristocratic detective at or near their best—or most unbearable, depending on how it hits you. This is a literate (even pretentious) and witty mystery story which also shows Sayers’ burgeoning skill … Continue reading →

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Romance and Murder: DOROTHY L. SAYERS, HER LIFE & SOUL by Barbara Reynolds

Posted on February 21, 2023 by JE

In summary: This is the best biography of Sayers that I have read, or am likely to read.

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Swords Against Redundancy: Leiber’s TWO SOUGHT ADVENTURE and SWORDS AGAINST DEATH

Posted on February 20, 2023 by JE

In summary: these two books collect the earliest stories Fritz Leiber published about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, ergo one or the other is essential reading for the sword-and-sorcery fan. Both are probably essential only to the Leiberian completist, so … Continue reading →

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WHOSE BODY? by Dorothy L. Sayers

Posted on February 13, 2023 by JE

In summary: Whose Body? (Fisher Unwin, 1923) is worth reading if you like Golden Age detective novels and/or Dorothy Sayers. But novices to both might be well-advised to start with the second novel in the series, Clouds of Witness, a … Continue reading →

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SWORDS AND DEVILTRY by Fritz Leiber

Posted on February 11, 2023 by JE

Summary: this is essential reading for the fan of sword-and-sorcery, written by the guy who coined the name of the genre. Some mild spoilers follow. In terms of internal chronology, Swords and Deviltry (Ace, May 1970) is the first volume … Continue reading →

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Not the Last about THE LAST OF US

Posted on February 6, 2023 by JE

Like the rest of the universal world, I loved episode 3 of The Last of Us, but (and this may be where the universal world and I part company) episode 4 reminded me of why I’m tepid about the show … Continue reading →

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Alias That Guy and That Other Guy

Posted on November 28, 2022 by JE

This is just a blog post about a TV show, but it does involve some discussion of self-harm. Caveat lector! If you’re in a tough place, remember there are ways to get help, especially by calling or texting 988. One … Continue reading →

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Lang Story Short: Lang’s WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956)

Posted on July 14, 2018 by JE

The movie I watched tonight while mostly avoiding exercise was Fritz Lang’s While the City Sleeps (1956), a melodrama about newspapermen, and the women who sort love them sometimes, during the hunt for a serial killer. I was hoping for … Continue reading →

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Which, Whicher, Whichest? (Keep It or Chuck It #2)

Posted on July 26, 2012 by JE

Summerscale, K. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Nowadays the hideous murder of a child needs something special to get noticed–it has to occur at a midnight showing of a Batman™ movie, or involve Cheez Whiz™, or something™. Then it can … Continue reading →

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Night Thoughts About Aurora

Posted on July 20, 2012 by JE

Grim news from Colorado today: a dozen people killed and dozens more wounded by the proverbial lone gunman at a premiere of The Dark Knight Rises David Sirota suggests that the crime be declared as “terrorism”. His point is that … Continue reading →

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