Editor’s Note: Nothing is more difficult for readers than adapting to change. That’s why the staff at the D&L voted against the Cultural Contrarian Column seven weeks running; no one cares about culture so why would they care about a contrarian view? To make room for CCC Eddie’s Wall Street Journal Watch is being dropped since Eddie can’t afford a subscription and we’re not made of money here. I did not sell Eddie’s bicycle on E-Bay. If the Earl signs with the Yankees I will impose the no moonlighting rule and he will no longer be welcome in the cafeteria where he raids the refrigerator leaving behind empty white boxes that imply he went to a fancy restaurant when we all know he cornered the market on white boxes before the bottom dropped out. Eddie saw that one coming.
“Given a pair of quality sunglasses and sufficient muscle mass any creature can walk upright.” Detective Armand DiPino.
The Working Dead is being rewritten from page one. I know that sounds crazy, but it works. I did that with Ways to Die in the Congo. You have to brace yourself for the changes; same story, different presentation. This one is written from DiPino’s point of view in close third person. Since there are only a few pov changes throughout it seems like a candidate for first person, but I can’t get comfortable in first person. I’ll post an excerpt under Working Fiction sometime this week.
In the review stack are debuts from Cornelia Read and Bob Dugoni. Bob got a nice review for The Jury Master in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer. By the way Cornelia Read will be touring with Lee Child this spring; if the earl isn’t wearing pinstripes he’ll be there on the trail with the kind of vivid reportage you’ve come to expect.