The Back Page

Contents......Page 6
Foreword: Confessions of a Back Page Junkie......Page 10
Preface: Booklist, the Back Page, and Me......Page 14
Books and Authors......Page 16
Golden Ages......Page 18
What I Read on My October Vacat ion......Page 20
The Cruellest Month......Page 22
Perfection......Page 24
Sharing Sputnik......Page 27
Character Education, the Postgraduate Course......Page 29
Big Wheels......Page 31
Jazz Biography......Page 33
Train Weasels......Page 35
Blame It on My Youth......Page 37
Pandora in Blue Jeans......Page 40
Dancing to the Music of Anthony Powell......Page 43
Hearing and Seeing the Music of Time......Page 45
Extolling Impurity......Page 47
A Failure to Communicate......Page 50
Higher Numbers......Page 52
Inadmissible Evidence......Page 54
Outside In and Inside Out......Page 56
The Irony in Irony......Page 58
Eighteen Straight Whiskeys......Page 61
The Seabiscuit Sweepstakes......Page 63
Trying to Read Stendhal......Page 66
Short Lists, Apples, and Oranges......Page 68
Fighting the Good Fight......Page 71
Genre Fiction......Page 74
Detective of the Heart......Page 76
Michael Connelly’s Los Angeles......Page 78
Washington, D.C., through Pelecanos’ Eyes......Page 81
Hard-Boiled Chicago Just around the Corner......Page 83
It Began with Beck......Page 86
Himes Comes to Harlem......Page 88
007 Turns 100......Page 90
Violent Novels in a Violent World......Page 93
Remembering George Higgins......Page 95
Michael Dibdin......Page 97
Magdalen Nab......Page 99
Real Politik, Ross Thomas–Style......Page 101
Smiley’s Beginnings......Page 103
Zen and the Art of Series Maintenance......Page 106
Noir Is Where You Find It......Page 108
Strangers in the Night......Page 110
Jim Thompson under the Tuscan Sun......Page 112
Life at Booklist......Page 116
Best American Fiction from the Last 25 Years......Page 118
Blood on the Tracks......Page 121
Mea Culpa......Page 124
I Hate These Meeses to Pieces......Page 126
He’s Still a Lifeless, Fat Pig......Page 128
Barbara Duree and Booklist......Page 131
The Books That Got Away......Page 133
Life beyond Books......Page 136
Diagramming Sentences......Page 138
Going Rogue......Page 140
Travelin’ Light (or Not)......Page 142
Bill’s Excellent Adventure—at the White House......Page 145
Cupcakes in My Go-Pak......Page 147
Why I Hate Crafts......Page 150
Parsing the Paradigm Shift......Page 152
It Was 40 Years Ago Today.........Page 154
No! in Thunder......Page 156
A Not-So-Wonderful Life......Page 158
Alas, Poor XyWrite, I Knew Him Well......Page 160
Books Ruined My Life......Page 163
Catfight in the Newsroom......Page 165
Jury Duty......Page 167
Quizzes......Page 170
Trust Your Instincts—NOT......Page 172
Working Titles......Page 173
Swan Songs......Page 175
Libraries and Librarians in the Movies......Page 177
“Rosebud”......Page 179
Useless Information, Poorly Organized......Page 181
Their Side of the Story......Page 183
Literary Real Estate......Page 185
Art Imitates Life......Page 187
Getting and Spending......Page 189
More Than the Facts, Ma’am......Page 191
Writers in Love......Page 193
First Firsts......Page 195
Hard-Boiled Kissers......Page 197
Puppy Love......Page 199
Too Many Morals......Page 201
Goin’ Hollywood......Page 203
Poetic Last Lines......Page 204
Great Lines......Page 205
Poems for a Sunday Afternoon......Page 207
Sex with Dead Presidents......Page 209
Dentists and Movie Stars......Page 211
Index......Page 212