A couple of months ago, I made a boo-boo.
Alert readers will note that way back on February 2nd, I made my usual quarterly list of warnings for the weak of stomach upcoming diaries. The entry for tonight was something called “Financial Advice from Billy-Bing!” and would have covered the delights of the old numbers game as personified in the eponymous Mr. Bing, a cartoony little Irish gangster seemingly inspired by either the Notre Dame Fightin Leprechaun, the amiable little drunk who is the public face of the Boston Celtics, or possibly both. I was planning an in-depth expose of this proto-lottery system of getting poor on a weekly basis, complete with trenchant insights into how the government takeover of what had begun as a way to earn a quick buck during the Depression had become a major source of revenue.
It was going to be epic...and then I ended up using the saga of Billy Bing in a different diary.
Oops, as they say.
So, since I a) have a free evening, b) have to prepare for my upcoming trip to the Kalamazoo International Medieval Studies Congress next week, and c) haven't yet completed my magnum opus Captain America, Socialist Scum! will be wasting my time at Iron Man 3 going to the movies this weekend, I am making up for my mistake by posting my next quarter's list of diaries below. Most are about books, but alert readers waves at Quarkstomper will note that one in late August will be a take down of an influential artist whose unique take on human anatomy has become a legend and sparked, I kid you not, a minor but real Internet meme.
I figured this was the very least I could do in compensation for screwing up my own schedule, and if a couple of these diaries end up being somewhat different when they actually appear in due time, well, y'know, life happens.
So here, without further ado, is the list of upcoming diaries for the summer of 2013. Please note that management is not responsible for convulsions, Black Death, yaws, boils, infections, uncontrollable fits of laughing, damaged upholstery, loss of property, frogs, plagues, darkness at noon, etc., etc., etc. Also, if you or any of the IM Force are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your activities.
Take it, Wally Ballou!
June 1 The Yaqui Book of Party Tricks
June 8 I (Heart) the New Yorker
June 15 The Fastest Typewriter in the West
June 22 Forecast Cloudy, With Chance of Stock Market Crash
June 29 Back to the Kitchen, Modern Jezebel!
July 6 Draped in the Blood-Stained Flag
July 13 A Baker's Dozen of Delights
July 20 The Legacy of Sax Rohmer
July 27 Exorcise at Home!
August 3 Defenders of the Klan
August 10 The Wonders of Pittsburgh
August 17 Perfection Salad and Other Yummy-Tummy Treats
August 24 How Not To Draw Comics the R__ L__ Way
August 31 Lost Empires and Noble Savages
Mark your calendars, boys and girls, and fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride!
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So, my friends - here's your chance to tell me what you, yes, you would like to see this fall! Is there a particularly lousy, silly, or just plain peculiar book that has simultaneously fascinated and disgusted you? A genre you'd like to see eviscerated discussed? Something I've missed? Come share, and who knows what goodies you'll see this fall!
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Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule