Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, ...

If social media is the game, @BonnettsBooks our name. The following are our active links as of 2025.05.07... https://bsky.app/profile/bonnettsbooks.bsky.social https://mastodon.social/@BonnettsBooks https://www.instagram.com/bonnettsbooks/ https://www.facebook.com/BonnettsBooks/ Accept no substitutes.

Meanwhile, in the Fediverse... @BonnettsBooks is now on mastodon.social. Pop over and take a peek! Sadly, the server we were on for a little over a year, mastodonbooks.net, was a hobby for a groovy guy in Canada and is shutting down soon. One beauty of federated networking is, you can move from one system to another without losing your friends/followers/contacts. You can also keep any mutes, blocks, lists, or bookmarks you've created! Downside... just like moving in the real world, it takes a little effort. Bigger downside... your posts don't come along for the ride; however, I feel sure there's someone trying to figure that out. So, I don't have much there as of this writing, but there's a lot of interesting stuff going on besides book posts and updates from the #WorldsOldestComicShop, #BonnettsBooks!

Brand New Mastodon

https://mastodonbooks.net/@BonnettsBooks https://linktr.ee/bonnettsbooks/ I've finally opened an account on Mastodon. Find it at the top link of this post. The content there will be essentially the same as on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook. Mastodon may eventually replace our Twitter. If you're on Mastodon, please give us a follow. It, and our other social sites can be found on our LinkTree. ✌️

Social Media Killed the Blogging Star

Apologies to The Buggles for the title of this post. I'd still love to blog, but haven't the time I once enjoyed. In lieu of longform posts, please allow me to direct you to our LinkTree, where you can find our most recent online activity. linktr.ee/bonnettsbooks Bonnett's Bookstore is known as @BonnettsBooks on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Twitter is my personal preference. I won't be TikTok-ing much, so it's best to follow our Twitter or Instagram. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Grandpa, Harold "Hal" Murray Bonnett, wrote pulp detective fiction before opening Bonnett's Back-Issue Magazines in 1939. He would've turned 105 today.

As the era of pulp mags gave way to the paperback age, he shifted gears, writing under pseudonyms. One story, "Satan in High Heels", published under the name "Noel Candler", found it's way to the silver screen in 1962, at which time his real name was credited for the story.

I've often posted about this in the past, so I'll leave out the links to mainstream websites for the film and it's excellent score by Mundell Lowe; who passed away just a few months ago. The B-film was also adapted for an off-Broadway comedy musical a few years back!

I can't help enjoying Grandpa's film. It was released 2 years before I was born, almost to the day, plus, Dad, Walter Bonnett, had a small role in it! However, for this birthday post I'm going to link to a couple of blogs to give an idea of what others have thought of "Satan in High Heels". Enjoy!

Cinema Knife Fight

She Blogged by Night

LitMuse

Going through a stack of recent arrivals, I found "To the Finland Station" by Edmund Wilson, and I thought the title seemed familiar... from a song lyric. A short search later, a Wikipedia page for "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys was open; "from Lake Geneva to the Finland Station," is the lyric I recalled. As it happens, that line, consciously or not, likely refers to the title of this book, "a study of the writing and acting of history", which refers to Lenin's WWI train route as he was returned to Russia near the start of their revolution, in 1917.

I'll leave you, dear reader, to research the above, if you wish; but, as a dealer in books, comics, magazines, and movies, I took note of the connection to pop-culture. It has been a fairly common thing for print stories to become radio shows, movies, and TV programs, moreso now than ever. The forthcoming film "Ready Player One" borrows from so much that one could barely trace all the references. My own first experience with a specifically musical referencing of the written word was Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On", sometime in the early 1970s, when I realized some lyrics were about "The Lord of the Rings".

So, I learned there was an earlier version of 1985's "West End Girls", in 1984. A bit longer, not as slick, also by Pet Shop Boys, and that the '85 re-recorded version had been named Song of the Decade ('85-'94) by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters! Naturally, I had to hear the original, so I turned to YouTube. The version you've likely already heard is easily the better version, but the original has some charm of it's own, reminding me of other '80s synth & sampler work, like Art of Noise (a personal fave). And all of this is just so I can share the original... Ready? Click!

https://youtu.be/vXRqGfF64zQvxrqgff64zq

Just One Magazine

Browsing an old magazine is truly like stepping into a time machine for a look around at the world gone by. Few magazines capture this wonder and nostalgia so effectively as LIFE.

Searching the internet for individual items of specific interest; be they photos, articles, ads, or what have you, cannot duplicate the experience of sitting down with a single old magazine and allowing yourself to enter that time-slice of an age gone by; with a cornucopia of hints toward the whole world from which it spawned.

Here's a peek, from a famous issue. This long list of interesting items is both astounding and incomplete. Yet, herein you'll find the grieving of a nation, folly, holiday celebration, assembly of and hope for the World's Fair, faith, science, and even some fun.

Experiences of this sort should be priceless, but are occasionally no more expensive than a fancy coffee, artisanal soap, or local craft beer. Find them here @BonnettsBooks!

LIFE magazine; December 6, 1963: JFK Funeral - Jackie, Caroline, & John, jr. cover and coverage. Also: Ritz cracker ad/Squibb Broxodent corded electric toothbrush Christmas ad/Budweiser & turkey dinner Christmas ad/Rexall Christmas ad with aluminum tree/Norelco Beauty Sachet groomer-massager ad/Singer sewing machine Christmas ad/Dow Metalized Saran icicles ad/Max Factor Christmas line/Penney's Chemstrand nylon satin Gaymode® Christmas ad/Parker pen ad/Columbia records ad/Fruit of the Loom ad/Carnation Friskies canned dog food ad/Dial-A-Car rental ad/Vat 69 scotch Christmas ad/Richman Bros. suit ad/Capitol records Christmas ad/Bulova watch USPS  ad/Maytag Halo of Heat dryer ad/Trifari philanderer ad/Du Barry cosmetics Christmas ad/'64 Studebaker Daytona & Avanti ad/Lucky Strike Christmas ad/Weller Dual Heat soldering gun kit ad/Campbell's bean with bacon soup ad/Seagram's 7 Crown ad/Hunt's Tomato Catsup ad/Zippo lighter Christmas ad/Miller High-Life ad/'64 Chevrolet Chevy Chevelle Malibu SS ad/Tareyton Dual Filter black eye woman ad/Edison Electric Ohio Family ad/Rath Black Hawk sliced hickory bacon ad/Bathrobes - Mink-lined, low-cut pullover/Mayflower Movers ad/Heublin Smirnoff vodka ad with pull-out party tips & cocktail recipe book/GMC commercial trucks ad/'64 World's Fair fiberglass dinosaurs exhibit/Hot Dr. Pepper ad/Chef Boy-Ar-Dee lasagna ad/Gilbey's gin "international holidays" globe Christmas ad (World Fair tie-in?)/Heart surgeon's dream theater operating room/Champion sparkplugs Bobby Unser Pike's Peak challenge record ad/Black & Decker U-100 ¼" drill ad/General Electric appliances ad feat. Mobile Maid dishwasher with lift-top rack & 3-level washing/'64 Ford Lincoln Continental ad/Noxema's NEW Cover Girl medicated makeup feat. Cosmopolitan magazine cover & covergirl Lois Heyl/Toledo, Ohio's ELTRA Corp. Prestolite car battery ad/Corby's Whiskey makes a terrible martini ad/Honda scooter Christmas Santa ad/Beaunit nylon tricot chemise slip ad/Wembley neckties ad, as seen in "Who's Minding the Store?" feat. Jerry Lewis/Ossy Davis & Ruby Dee article/Heinz 57 Worcestershire sauce ad/Medici filter pipes ad/Schick Crown Jewel ladies' electric shaver Christmas ad/article on World respect of President Kennedy's death/Benrus watch ads/Allied Van Lines movers ad/Polaroid Color Pack camera ad/Mrs. Filbert's margarine ad/Travelers Insurance Company toy truck on steps ad, "Even your best friend might sue you." Travelers umbrella/Jones Dairy Farm Little Sausages, Wisconsin/National Oil Girl Institute, oil heat ad/Florida Citrus Commission ad/Sharp Electronics Corp. Japanese Santa Claus ad/Caravelle watch ad/Dayton, Ohio's Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors Corporation, Honeycomb® "Magic Touch" ice-cube trays ad/Menley & James Laboratories Contact ad/GM "Body by Fisher" ad/Revere-Wollensack Division of 3M Company's self-changing stereo tape cartridge system Christmas ad/Carter's Marks-A-Lot felt-tip permanent marker ad/Chrysler Simca 1000 economy car ad/Testor's Spray Pla enamel paint ad/Snow Crop Orange Samoa quick-frozen concentrate of orange plus tropical fruit juices for orange punch ad/GM Frigidaire Imperial Nineteen refrigerator-freezer ad/ballet cat/LIFE daily Christmas shopping guide calendar/"Love's Warm Instant: the Embrace" photo-essay about hugs/Kitchen-Aid dishwasher ad/back cover missing.

Holiday Deals, Hours, Updates

The 2016 Holiday Season brings some Sale Pricing to Bonnett's!

10% off nearly everything we offer through Christmas Eve!

Dec. 2nd First Friday! Find an item in any of our social media streams, show it at check out, and get an extra 15% off!

As always, quality Trade-Ins are welcome, but sale pricing does not apply to trades.

Hours! Some of you may know our 2-man operation has been halved due to a health issue. I open the shop daily, Mon-Sat as always, but am unable to arrive until mid-late afternoon. The time fluctuates, but I update my arrival time via our Facebook page & Twitter (@BonnettsBooks).

Updates! For now, look for our featured items, latest arrivals, & special selections by following @BonnettsBooks on Instagram, Twitter, Swarm, Flickr, & Pinterest.

We can be found on other sites & apps, too, but updates are infrequent, if they happen at all. Just search for Bonnett's Books or Bonnett's Book Store.

That about covers things for now. Stay tuned, Happy Holidays, and I hope to see you soon!

2016 World Series-inspired Thoughts

These anecdotes of family history and the shop have come to mind thanks to my son, Ian, who recently saved a bunch of paternal family letters and photos from doom, including my grandparents' marriage certificate; followed with a surprise visit to the store by some of Grandma's kin.

Grandpa, Harold "Hal" Murray Bonnett, married Grandma, Ruth Adella Guy, on October 7th, 1930, during the World Series match-up between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Athletics. Their honeymoon was spent the next night watching the Athletics win the series in game six on a manually updated scoreboard mounted to the side of the Dayton Daily News building. Plays were called in via phone(?) and the board updated for the crowd of local baseball fans in the street below.

The last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series was 1948 and "Bonnett's Back-Issue Magazines" was 9 years into our, now, 77 years at 502 East Fifth Street. Better luck next year, fellas!

The letters Ian found were mostly notes to home from an ancestor with Great Grandma Ruby's maiden name, Murray, who was serving in Europe during the World War (that's WWI to us today). I have yet to dive into them, but one letter, an outlier, was postmarked 1902; six years before the Chicago Cubs last World Series Championship. It's a shame our old friend, long-time customer, and die-hard Cubs fan, Bob Yaple, is no longer here for us to share the Cubs' victory with. We didn't give him an easy time of his fandom, this being "Reds Country" and all.

After 108 years, what's a little rain delay? A sign from above, perhaps; signifying the end of professional baseball's longest drought?

It was a well-earned win and I'm glad to have been around to see it! Congratulations Cubbies! Major League Baseball's World Series Champions for 2016!

Excerpts from: Saving the Self in the Age of the Selfie

This is a long article, worth the effort. Turn off notifications before reading... Maybe you'll leave them off afterwards.

Saving the Self in the Age of the Selfie
The American Scholar, Cover story, Spring 2016 James McWilliams, February 29, 2016

"Even as digital distraction promises to alleviate boredom, it removes from the existential equation the founding prerequisite for identity development—the individual, alone, facing nothing."

"When the smartphone transports our consciousness elsewhere, which it does every time we pick it up to avoid the stress of isolation, our most private choices suddenly hew not to the undiscovered ambitions of a curious mind, but to the commercial designs of a data-driven cloud."

"Saving the self in the age of the selfie may require nothing more or less complicated than recovering the lost art of serious reading."

My photos from the 30th Hauntfest on 5th (2015)

My old camera died at the start of Hauntfest 2014, so I'm very pleased to present my images from #HauntfestOn5th 2015! Click the link in the title of this post to see the full photos, or just enjoy this small slideshow here. Have a boo-tiful day!

From the Hood to the Good - Sherry Styles

http://bonnettsbooks.tumblr.com/post/122573410655/here-june-27-2015-3pm-meetngreet

Dayton in Pulp History & Bonnett's in 3-D!

Get your red/blue glasses and check out this wonderful depiction of our shop in 3-D! It really works!!!
Thanks to William Lampkin of the Yellowed Perils blog at ThePulp.net for this great, one-of-a-kind image!

Bill also posted an article about on us, "Going Back to Bonnett's", on his Yellowed Perils blog. It's a great place to find links, info, and history about the pulp magazines which gave birth to all which is now commonly known as pulp fiction. We're quite partial to pulps, not only as inventory, but for the fact that Grandpa Harold wrote detective fiction which was published in many well-known pulps of that variety. It's my suspicion that his writing helped him earn enough to open the store with Grandma Ruth.

Also on Yellowed Perils is Bill's tribute to another downtown Dayton icon, Richard E. Clear, Sr. (R.I.P.), who opened the legendary Dragon's Lair a few blocks west of us in 1973. I bought the bulk of my own new comics collection and RPGs there into the late '80s.

I had learned of Clear's passing the day before I found Bill's article about it. David T. Alexander of DTACollectibles.com shared the sad news when he stopped here on the way home from the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. David and Richard co-authored "Old Magazines: Identification & Value Guide" in 2003; a book which has proven incredibly useful to us over the years.

Another astounding tome is from nearby Fairborn, OH. The Bookery Fantasy "Ultimate Guide to Pulps" by Tim Cottrill is a must-have for any pulp magazine collector. And while I'm mentioning reference works, I should mention the annual Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. We get our copies from Pete Bell of Bell Book & Comic. Pete got started in the comics biz at the aforementioned Dragon's Lair!

Pulp fans owe a great deal to Mr. Rusty Hevelin. Rusty was the driving force behind the nearly 4-decade run of Dayton's own Pulpcon, which was, for a time, the premiere destination for pulp collectors worldwide. Rusty's devotion to pulp was so great that there is now an award named after him. The Rusty Hevelin Service Award (aka "The Rusty") is awarded each year at PulpFest in Columbus, OH to that person who is deemed to have shown the greatest dedication to the betterment of the pulp-collecting community.

Sadly, the bulk of our pulp inventory has dwindled, but our love for it continues. We still occasionally turn up a box or two, or a stray here and there. In the past I've scanned a number of pulp covers and have them in collections on our Google+ profile (formerly Picasa albums) - here's a link to one such collection. Look around our albums to find more. Also, check out ThePulp.net's great collection of pulp-era newsstand photos for an interesting glimpse into a world when radio and reading ruled the home-entertainment universe.

Enjoy!

Just Another Day(?)

April 3rd, 2015 is the 4th First Friday Art Hop of 2015 in Dayton, OH. Many folks use the hashtag #FirstFriday, but these events take place all over the country! I like #1stFriDayton to help set us apart from all the others.

First Friday is an art-centric event, and we always try to highlight our selection of art-related books of all sorts. What many people forget is that writing, too, is an art; alongside painting, sculpture, carving, dancing, music, etc. Some believe in a philosophy that every aspect of life can be conducted artfully. With these ideas in mind, I present, as an example, a number of April 3rd anniversaries, most of which can be explored in greater detail in the multitudes of books on our shelves.

Stop in, and don't be decieved by the playful decor of our shop.

 

We've got comics, sure; but the business-minded will find goods here, too. Religion, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, and History are all well-represented on our shelves. Explore the unknown with our metaphysical selections. Or just pick up some comics, classics, or novels for less serious reading. We have Children's books, Sports books, DIY books, and just about any other topic you can imagine. In fact, we have books you can't find in any other shop in the Dayton region.

Now, glance over the following list and maybe you'll find inspiration to explore something more. April 3rd is just another day. One of 365 each year, but each of those days hold the potential to begin a whole new journey.

Enjoy, and thank you,
 ~ Kevin Bonnett

====================

April 3rd in History (gleaned from Wikipedia)

Literary History
1783 - Birth of Washington Irving, author of "Sleepy Hollow."
1885 - Birth of cartoonist Bud Fisher, creator of "Mutt & Jeff."
1895 - Oscar Wilde brings libel case, resulting in his own imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
1912 - Birth of author Dorothy Eden.
1955 - ACLU announces plans to defend Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" against obscenity charges.

Local History
1974 - I was 10, playing outside. Mom, in a panic, called for us to come in because of storms. This confused me, because nothing seemed unusual where we were, a few miles south of Vandalia, OH, except the state Mom was in. This was the date of "Super Outbreak of 1974" which spawned 148 confirmed tornadoes across 13 states in the South & Midwest, and in Ontario Canada, including the infamous Xenia Tornado, which nearly wiped the entire town off the map.

Aviation History
1933 - Marquis of Clydesdale is first to fly over Mt. Everest.

American History
1860 - The first successful Pony Express run begins in St. Joseph, MO.
1865 - Union forces take the Confederate Capital of Richmond, VA.
1882 - Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford.
1936 - Bruno Richard Hauptmann executed in the Lindbergh Baby case.
1948 - President Truman signs the Marshall Plan for U.S. aid abroad.
1968 - MLK delivers "Mountaintop" speech

Automotive History
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler recieves a patent for his engine design.

Entertainment History
1924 - Birth of actor Marlon Brando.
1958 - Birth of actor Alec Baldwin.
1959 - Birth of actor David Hyde Pierce.
1961 - Birth of comedian & actor Eddie Murphy.
1982 - Birth of actress Cobie Smulders.
1986 - Birth of actress Amanda Bynes.

Miscellaneous History
1975 - Chess Master Bobby Fischer refuses to play Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the World Chess Championship.

Music History
1936 - Birth of organist Jimmy McGriff.
1941 - Birth of Jan Berry of musical act "Jan & Dean."
1942 - Birth of singer Wayne Newton.
1944 - Birth of Tony Orlando of musical act "Tony Orlando & Dawn."
1946 - Birth of Dee Murray of muscial acts "Procol Harum" & "The Spencer Davis Group."
1949 - Birth of Richard Thompson of "Fairport Convention."
1968 - Birth of singer Sebastian Bach of musical act "Skid Row."

Science History
1934 - Birth of primatologist Jane Goodall.

Space History
1926 - Birth of astronaut Gus Grissom.

Sports History
1949 - Birth of American football player Lyle Alzado.
1971 - Birth of Olympic skier Picabo Street.

Technology History
1973 - Motorola & Bell Labs collaboration makes 1st mobile phone call.
1981 - At the size of a sewing machine, the Osborne 1 is announced as the first portable computer.
2000 - U.S. vs. Microsoft antitrust case rules against Microsoft.

True Crime History
1888 - The first murder attributed to Jack the Ripper is committed.
1996 - "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski is captured.

World History
1922 - Joseph Stalin becomes the "George Washington" of Communism.
1946 - Japanese Lt. Gen'l Homma executed for leading Bataan Death March.
2004 - Perpetrators of Madrid Train bombings are trapped by police and kill themselves.

Walking in the Shadow of (Bored) Giants

Invention and innovation are words often heard in, and when conversing about Dayton, Ohio. Our local history is full of well-documented discoveries, primarily the Wright Brothers creation of the first powered and manned aircraft. Learning about Dayton's history can feel like walking in the shadow of giants.

Here at Bonnett's Bookstore we often discuss various aspects of Dayton's history with visitors looking for related esoterica and ephemera. Such discussions have given me many excuses to ponder Dayton's discoveries, and the how and why of our past's intellectual motherload.

Another thing often overheard or expressed locally are statements of boredom: "There's nothing to do in Dayton." A local tavern has even made bumper stickers proclaiming, "DAYTON'S ALRIGHT - if you've never been anywhere else." Frankly, I'm a believer in the lyric from the Harvey Danger song "Flagpole Sitta", which says, "If you're bored, then you're boring." There's plenty to do around here, and interesting influences from all over the world.

Dayton sits just south of what has been called "The Crossroads of America." It's a sure bet that other locales have embraced that moniker as well, but the fact of Dayton being a crossroads is clear; Interstates 70 & 75 meet just north of Dayton, providing easy access to everything mainland America has to offer, agriculturally, industrially, educationally, scientifically, commercially, politically, and culturally speaking - and it has always been so. We're at a confluence of rivers, trails, canals, roads, rails, and highways which handily connect us to everywhere else. Even the earliest explorers of Ohio followed routes established long before by the Native American nations, which became the National Road and the Dixie Highway, and are now I-70 and I-75.

Based on the elements above I eventually concluded that Boredom might be Dayton's best natural resource, which I've stated here in the shop on many occasions. I usually say it in a joking manner to avoid putting folks off, but it's an idea that I now find may have some traction. Peace and quiet may seem like boredom to some, or an opportunity for meditation, pondering, and reflection to others. This idea was backed up by Isaac Asimov in 1959! Asimov's essay can be found on MIT Technology Review and is linked at the bottom of this post.

Dayton may be a quiet, peaceful, or as some say "boring" place to be, but during the Industrial Age in which we saw the bulk of our local invention and ideas, travelers from everywhere found themselves in contact with Dayton, bringing their knowledge and news along with them, and leaving innovative Daytonians to put the pieces together, inventing technologies which have changed the course of history for the entire world.

Published for the First Time: a 1959 Essay by Isaac Asimov on Creativity | MIT Technology Review

Wrap-up:Banned Books/Freedom to Read Week

To clarify, Banned Books Week is a celebration of our Freedom to Read. You may have realized that the majority of books you find on "Banned Books" lists are readily available just about everywhere you shop for books. So what's with this BANNED business? Simply put, some people, sometimes, don't like what some other people have to say in their books, and so, a charge of inappropriateness might be leveled against those books. It's rare that such a "challenge" succeeds in an actual ban, but it may lead to regional restrictions about who should read what. For sensitive issues we often fall back on generic rules of thumb, such as a person's age. In any event, there are currently no books officially "banned" by the United States. See the American Library Association for more information.

Here's a list of books currently available at Bonnett's (in no particular order) which have been Challenged by attempts to Ban them, or which may be Banned in other countries, or may have been Banned in other times. We hope you'll have time to enjoy them all, and many more!:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Scarlet Letter
The Red Badge of Courage
Native Son
The Jungle
Leaves of Grass
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
In Cold Blood
Howl
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Gatsby
Gone With the Wind
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fahrenheit 451
The Call of the Wild
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Color Purple
Beloved
Brave New World
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Captain Underpants (series)        #s 3 & 5
The Bluest Eye
Fifty Shade of Grey (series)        #s 1 & 2
The Hunger Games (series)        #s 1 & 2
BONE by Jeff Smith (graphic novels)    #3
Harry Potter (series)            all
Of Mice and Men
His Dark Materials (series)        all
Forever
Gossip Girl (series)            #s 5,6,8, & 9
Killing Mr. Griffen
Goosebumps (series)            a whole bunch
The Lord of the Flies
The Lord of the Rings (series)        all
The Satanic Verses
Sons and Lovers
Sophie's Choice
Cat's Cradle
A Seperate Peace
Brideshead Revisited
Women in Love
The Naked and the Dead
Tropic of Cancer
Nickel and Dimed
Twilight (series)            all
My Sister's Keeper
Beloved
Bridge to Terabithia
Kaffir Boy
The Outsiders
James and the Giant Peach
American Psycho
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice    all
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Song of Solomon
Pillars of the Earth
Cujo
That Was Then, This is Now
The Things They Carried
The Lovely Bones
Grendel
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Pentagon Papers
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
All Quiet on the Western Front

Never Forget?

"Never Forget" has always seemed a bit flaccid to me. Never forget what? 

Never forget that all of us, everywhere, people around the world, lost a cultural touchstone, a dream, an icon. The massive number of victims make it likely that every American is within the proverbial six-degrees of separation from someone directly associated with the Pentagon, World Trade Center, or the passengers aboard the 4 planes abused by evil men on this day 13 years ago. 

As a society, it was very much like watching our own home sent to ruin; such was the cultural impression made by the Twin Towers. It's clear that these buildings gave a similar impression to others around the globe, which is part of the reason they were chosen as targets. 

New York might be the most storied city in human history. It's a place of dreams, failures, history, fable, and romance and those twin towers were as representative of all those things to the United States as the Eiffel Tower is for France, or the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Never forget? Never forget what? Never forget anything; because even those of us who've never been to NYC felt as if we lost everything on 9/11. I'm here to tell you that the feeling of loss still exists, even with the new building, One WTC, standing there now. Never forget the day that changed everything.

This Spider-Man movie teaser was released prior to 9/11 for the Summer 2002 film

http://youtu.be/9-r7qymfa0Q

Jodorowsky's "Dune"

JODOROWSKY'S DUNE

• Science-fiction fans know DUNE as one of the greatest and most popular works in the history of the genre.
• Book lovers know DUNE as a book they might want to read some day, even if they aren't into science-fiction.
• Film addicts know DUNE as that fascinatingly wierd "mainstream" movie by David Lynch, starring Kyle MacLachlan, with Sting, and a pre-'Star Trek: The Next Generation' appearance by Patrick Stewart.
• Cable TV & streaming aficianados might know DUNE from it's SyFy channel miniseries (when it was still the Sci-Fi Channel).
• Media nerds know all of the above, and perhaps thousands of associated connections, including- loosely -the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon rule (via 'X-Men: First Class')
• But the true Alpha Geek knows about Alejandro Jodorowsky's attempt to make DUNE, before the seeds of modern popular culture had been sown, and now you can, too! It's alleged to be one of the greatest films never made.

How's this for a convolution? A never-made movie, based on a science-fiction novel, introduces young creatives who's contributions are included a production-book which changes cultural history and, later, becomes a documentary about the crucial cultural impact of the attempt and it's participants.

On the face, JODOROWSKY'S DUNE is a documentary about one man's failed attempt to make an epic motion picture in the mid-1970s; based on an epic novel. It sounds like something that might be mistaken as a tragic tale of heartache and loss, but it is not. It's the tale of a passionate journey.

It's the story of a Jodorowsky's romance with the idea of filming the book DUNE; the 'love-making' of assembling his team, the 'copulation' of creative talents, and the 'birth' of another book; the pre-production template for Jodorowsky's vision. This pre-production template was a rather hefty tome, and seems to have become the aforementioned seeds of modern popular culture, for film at least.

I can't share much more without spoiling the unfolding of a fascinating story. Let me just say that if you enjoy wallowing through movie "bonus features", as I do, you'll love this documentary. It's the greatest "making of" feature you'll ever see, for a film that never existed. It's all true, and pleasantly devoid of promotional puffery found so often in bonus features, because, this time, there's no film to promote. It's all reflection on a failure; perhaps the most culturally relevant failure in cinema history.

Catch it this week at The Neon Movies in Dayton, Ohio:

JODOROWSKY'S DUNE

Friday (June 27, '14) -- 5:15p, 9:45p

Saturday (June 28, '14) -- 5:15p

Sunday (June 29, '14) -- 5:15p, 9:45p

Monday - Thursday (June 30-July 3, '14) -- 5:15p

 

 

Want to know more about what's up at BONNETT'S?

Follow BonnettsBooks on Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram

Friend Bonnett's Book Store on Facebook & Goodreads

Like Bonnett's Book Store on Facebook

Bonnett's Mention on a Personal Blog

Books, books, books... We love books in general. It's a broad spectrum. There are books we favor above others and books we disdain. Books are not "like our children", so we DO find ourselves playing favorites. And every once in a while we encounter books or book-centric endeavors that require further investigation.

Quite a few years ago (2006 or so) I stumbled upon a blog called Babes With Books. I've mentioned it here before. It no longer exists, having disappeared unceremoniously a few years later. It was simply a collection of "beautiful women reading books" - not porn, not nude, but perhaps not quite safe for work. The collection was gathered from all over the web, and - I suspect, used without permission. I strongly suspect that it was the lack of permission factor behind it's disappearance. The blog was even written about in WIRED magazine at one point. Something reminded me of that blog tonight, and it's pseudonymous proprietor "Hardley Surton", so I plugged it into the search bar and found... very little.

Thanks to the WIRED article, the widespread interest in books, and the overall fascination with "pretty girls" it's clear I wasn't the only one who had some appreciation for the collection. I was curious to see if anyone else had taken up the banner of Babes with Books, but found only articles lamenting it's loss, or just mentioning it as a notable curiosity of the interwebs, like the World's Biggest Ball of String. One man's blog actually found and quoted a comment I'd left on WorldsBestEver.com regarding the Hardley Surton phenomenon.

So, really, this wordy post is just a nod to Doug Bolden as a fellow book lover and internet oddity aficionado. Thank you, Doug, for mentioning our blog and best wishes along your path.

Bonnett's Spring '14 Urban Nights

We don't have an exact date for the opening of Bonnett's, but we'll celebrate when we can. Spring '14 Urban Nights (May 9, 5-10p) is one such opportunity.

You may already know that we carry nearly all kinds of popular Books, Comics, Magazines, and Movies at many different pricing levels, from dog-eared reading copies to like-new collector's items. Many nice books require no special pricing or research. These "regularly unmarked" books will be 75% off our normal discounted price during Spring '14 Urban Nights!

Hope to see you then!