Tuesday, July 27, 2021

My nemesis is everywhere

 I recently began reading Lawrence Block's A Writer Prepares.

And saw this!

It was Forti-midable!

 

(This is a really interesting book, well worth the read.

The first 50,000 words, which he wrote years ago, is brilliant.)

 






8 comments:

Steve Forti said...

I'm always watching

The Noise In Space said...

Two posts in one week! I'm going to get spoiled, thinking it's like the good ol' days (I confess at first I thought this was a contest, and I got very hopeful.)

My morning has already gone splat and it's going to take my brain a while to bounce back--meanwhile, I have a question for the group, if anyone is willing to go slightly off this morning's topic.

What's a word or phrase that a book introduced you to that has become part of your standard vernacular? (Can be a real word or one invented by the author.)

For me, it's "tresha," from A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Loosely defined, it means "someone seeing a deep truth about you, without having to be told." I find myself using it a lot. Would love to hear if others do this as well.

Barbara Etlin said...

Yah! Another must-read! I've been a fan of Lawrence Block since his fiction column in Writer's Digest in the 70s. (Of course, I was a mere child at the time...)

John Davis Frain said...

Noise,

I use "cake and pie" all the time ever since I came across it in a Dean Koontz novel. It's a borderline portmanteau that combines "piece of cake" with "Easy as pie" to become "cake and pie."

I've gotten to the point where I use it around people who I'm sure have no idea what I'm talking about, but nobody ever asks. I'm sure they're just waiting to look at their phones and don't really care what I mean.

I'm gonna pick up this book. If for no other reason, it'll remind me to pick up another Bernie Rhodenbarr, and who can't smile when they read a little Bernie!

Craig F said...

I've read quite a bit of Block. I particularly liked his Bernie the burglar books. I do think he is the guy that put a dent in my cheering for the damaged hero.

I liked Bernie because he was loquacious. I thought Block had re-invented himself, but he went back to his hard-boiled crime stuff.

Maybe it was just him getting into character. I will check this book out, even though I am not going to write a memoir.

Wow, posts two days in a row, cool.

AJ Blythe said...

Does Mr Block realise he's been raised to the level of the esteemed Mr Forti? A great honour indeed!

I particularly like the orange verse. Is it wrong that I find it funny?

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Multiple posts in a week. Wondrous. And I love and have always loved Lawrence Block. Great recommendation. I am sure Mr. Block will be so honored to be compared to our own Forti :)

MaggieJ said...

I'm a longtime fan of Lawrence Block. I remember reading his article in Writer's Digest magazine back in 1976. A good article, I thought, but can he write? Off I went to the library where I picked up a copy of The Burglar in the Closet. By the end of the first chapter, when Bernie finds himself locked in the closet of the home he was burglarizing, I was hooked.

I've read a great number of Mr. Block's books since then, his writing books plus most of his Matt Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr books. He never disappoints.