Category Archives: Oprah Winfrey

Listening to Howard

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Today, January 22, is the birthday of Robdert E. Howard (1906-1936).

There are a handful of writers who have their own dedicated shelves in my library. Leigh Brackett. Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore. Ray Bradbury.

But the one with two shelves, plus spillover for paperbacks and duplicate copies, I robert E. Howard.

I’vd been writing these posts for so long, I’m runnig out of things to say for them. But over the last year, I’ve begun enjoying Howard in a new way.

That’s through audio books. I”ve spent so much time behind the wheel of a car in the last dozen months or so that I’ve begun building up a small library.

All the Del Rey editions of Conan, Bran Mak Morn, Kull, Solomon Kane, and the Horror Stories are available. There are other productions of many of  the individual storeis included in these volumes as well as stories Del Rey didn’t publish. I’ve not gotten any of those.

I’m slowly working my way through the Conoan stories right now, interspersing them with full-length books. I’m alternating between fiction and nonfiction, so I’ll be enjoying these yarns for quite some time.

The production is good, so if you listen to audio books, you might want to give them a try.

Remembering Karl

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It is December 12 as I write this. I’m trying to get final exams graded, but I’m taking a break to observe the birthday of Karl Edward Wagner (1945-1994). I think it’s that important ot acknowledge his achievements.

Karl Edward Wagner probably needs no introduction to anyone who reads this blog. He was one of the greatest writers of sword and sorcery and dark fantasy/horror of the Twentieth Century. We’ve not seen his like since, in my opinion.

Four fourteen years, he also edited The Year’s Best Horror Stories for DAW books. He took over the reins with volume VIII in 1980. The series ended with volume XXII with Karl’s death. Wagner didn’t limit his selections to top genre publications. He read all sorts of obscure publication to find the best horror stories each year.

If you can find copies, which is getting harder and harder to do, grab them. Not onlyl are they an excellent survey of horror in the eighteis and early nineties, but reading them is a great informal course in how to write effective horror. You’ll recognize many of the authors Wagner included, many before they became famous. Others will be new to you. Continue reading →

Some Thoughts on the Occasion of Oprah Winfrey’s Final Show

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For some, today is a day of great sadness.  Oprah Winfrey, mogul, talk show hostess, would be kingmaker, and self-appointed arbiter of what we should all be reading, is closing out her show with its final broadcast.  And while it’s sure to be a sobfest with a lot of celebrities giving testimonials about how Oprah has changed their lives, given them meaning, and cured them of rickets, it truly marks the end of an era. 

About time, I say.

Now maybe we can get someone to step into the vacuum and start a book club to promote what we should really be reading.  Fantasy (especially sword and sorcery), historical adventure, science fiction, and noir.  Can you imagine what publishing would be like if someone with as many sheep minions followers as Oprah has were to get on national television and promote Robert E. Howard?  Or Jack McDevitt?  Or Harold Lamb?  How about Rafael Sabatini?  Michael Koryta?  Or, to be really radical, the poster child for all that’s wrong in fantasy, Joe Abercrombie?  I could go on.

Can you just imagine it?  The shelves in bookstores, Wal-Marts, and supermarkets would be packed with great stuff to read rather than, well, the stuff they’re packed with now.

Of course, those writers appeal to people who aren’t cattle who can actually think for themselves, rather than having someone on TV tell them what to read, so that would probably never work.