Know what Dan Brown needs?! The interrobang!!!!

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Richard Bowker

The interrobang is almost a real thing, and Dan Brown is successful enough to demand that his publisher give him a font that includes one, like so:

His breathless, italics-laden style is what the interrobang was designed for. Here are some random examples from Inferno:

What the hell do they think I did? Why is my own government hunting me?!

Here he needs interrobangs in consecutive sentences:

Has the speech been canceled?! The city is in near shutdown due to the weather . . . has it kept Zobrist from coming tonight?!

This example is in Italian, although the translation apparently doesn’t require one:

“Lei è Robert Langdon, vero?!” You’re Robert Langdon, aren’t you?”

Here Brown reverses the order of the punctuation marks, for some reason that is too subtle for me to make out. Perhaps we need a banginterro for this usage:

He turned to the woman. “How do we get up there!?”

Somewhere I learned the rule that a writer should avoid exclamation points: your prose should convey the excitement, not your punctuation. But Dan Brown doesn’t need such lessons; he needs the interrobang.

By the way, let’s not confuse the punctuation mark with this local band that I’ve actually heard play (and some of whose members have hung out at my house). Or this other band with almost the same name. With so many great names for bands floating around the universe, why is this happening?

Apple loses its e-book antitrust suit

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Richard Bowker

The judge has ruled against Apple in the suit that the Justice Department brought against it. Now there’ll be another trial for damages. And Apple has vowed to appeal. So nothing is really decided. But hey, we all know Apple is guilty!

Here is the graphical evidence of what happened to e-book prices when the major publishers, in collusion with Apple, forced Amazon to go to the agency model, thereby ending price competition among e-book vendors:

Prices went up two dollars or more per book overnight. The exceptions were Random House and all the little publishers; none of them were party to the collusion. Thanks, Apple!

What’s the best book you couldn’t finish?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Richard Bowker

Goodreads has a list of the top five books that people couldn’t finish:

Hmm. I’ve already posted about my inability to finish Atlas Shrugged. Its popularity makes me realize there is a limit to my ability to understand human nature. I re-read Moby Dick a couple of years ago; I finished it, but I have to admit it was a struggle — too much stuff about whaling! Ulysses is not a book you’re going to get through without a large commitment of time and effort; plus, you’re going to need some help. But it surely repays the effort. I have no idea why anyone would have any difficulty finishing Lord of the Rings or Catch-22.

I suppose the most important book I haven’t been able to finish is Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past (if you consider that a single novel). I forced myself to read Swann’s Way a few years ago, but I hated every minute of it. I also couldn’t make it through anything by Thomas Mann except Death in Venice; I only finished that one because it was so short.

There are plenty of lesser novels that I haven’t finished, and I get more impatient as I grow older. I did manage to finish Dan Brown’s Inferno, though, and I’ll blog about that when I gather up my courage.

Another Fourth of July in my little town

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Richard Bowker

Even better than this one!

Two thousand-plus people got up at the crack of dawn to run four and a half miles down Main Street in the blistering heat. Here are four of them:

Here’s one of them being congratulated at the finish line:

Then we all take a shower and go to the parade. Uncle Sam starts things off:

We have bands:

And muskets:

And cute hockey players (did you know there was such a thing as cute hockey players?):

And a guy on stilts:

And a reminder to never forget:

And cute spectators staying hydrated:

And of course our world-famous marching kazoo band:

Don’t you wish you had a world-famous marching kazoo band?

Afterwards it’s time for cute kids to get cool in the back yard before the cookout:

Summit will now cost you money

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Richard Bowker

I told you to download Summit from Amazon when it was free, but you didn’t listen to me. You never listen to me. Now you have to pay $2.84 for it. Why $2.84? I don’t know. But it’s worth it! Probably worth even $2.99, now that I think about it.

The purpose of making the book free was to generate some nice reviews, and I got some! Here’s a sampling:

This is a well written, well -rounded, exciting book. I loved it and will be looking for all books by Mr Richard Bowker. I do NOT give five stars often or lightly, but I am impressed Summit. So if you like thrillers, this is a great one to read. And Mr Bowker, if you ever need a beta reader, I would be thrilled to do it.

And:

The author has a way of bringing you right into the story; the characters are believable and flawed. The sprinkle of romance is fun and the Mr Bowker’s knowledge of classical music and the ability to identify the problems of a classical music prodigy are amazing.
Above all the plot twists and turns were extremely suspenseful.
I also appreciated the author not painting the Russians as all evil and U.S. as all good.
I wish Bill Sullivan had a better ending, but such is life. More importantly, Fulton and Valentina (more than) survive.
A great read, thanks !

I wish Sullivan had a better ending, too! And:

Richard Bowker manages to give lots of credibility to the subject of psychics. What is there not to agree in the end? Psychics do exist, even if their lives are depicted more in the dark forces type of books than in a thriller.
Deep thoughtful take on American and Russian ideals, the perceptions and beliefs ingrained in their nationals to infuse a patriotic love, which makes us explore our own psyche and rattles perhaps our own confidence in our righteousness. The same political corruption and power greed exists at all levels, in all countries- and is perfectly delineated in the pages of this book. It is difficult not to love the heroes, and the insertion of a love story makes the read even more enjoyable for female readership. I did enjoy this book till the (perfect) end.

And, as a reminder,here’s the exciting new cover: