Saturday, December 23, 2006

Busy Bee

2 days y from Christmas and I have a list of stuff to do. I've already been to the grocery to get the ingredients for Peach Pie. I've decided that I must have at least 2 desserts at Christmas dinner. The store was quiet since it was so early. More people than usual, but not a mad house.

I have laundry, sauces, table setting, and vacuuming on my list. At least the house is reasonable orderly. This festivity can be done. Just got a great book to add to my list of others in the mail Pubic Enemies America's Criminal Past by William Helmer with Rick Mattix. I got the book because the authors have a much more complete encyclopedia of criminals coming out but unfortunately it's been delayed for 6 months now so I will make do with this. I've come to the conclusion that there is much more to writing a book than slapping together some facts. There must be...otherwise the books that I wait for would not take so long.

I am doomed. I just can't bear to look at that junk again. Executive Retirement Arrangements--Bah Humbug! Oh well, maybe God has something better planned for me. But I will take the test who knows maybe this will be a miracle again. There is just so much boring stuff. I guess I wasn't meant for top management? I feel that if I don't pass this test then I will be stuck where I am at. Is that good? Who knows. We have a new player with the New Year. Maybe the chemistry will improve and it can be a winning situation?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

By now I'm guessing you've probably gotten our old book Public Enemies, which back in '98 was kind of a rush job (not helped by the people at Facts on File, whose editorial staff apparently had several people working on it using different and uncorrected versions) and which sold poorly but still garnered critical acclaim, despite a few horrendous errors I still cringe at. I apologize for these.

Hoping that won't dissuade you from still getting The Complete Public Enemy Almanac, which is vastly corrected and expanded (over 660 pages), far more comprehensive, and 100% more satisfying to me. And boasts a beautful foreword from Rose Keefe. Should be available very shortly in both hardcover and paperback.
RM

Anonymous said...

p.s. Sorry about the double posting if I did.

Unknown said...

I'm looking forward to the Almanac. Amazon says it will be available early March. Public Enemies, although a "rush job", is still a decent source. A good starting point.

Anonymous said...

Dan Waugh's book on Egan's Rats is due to be released this Spring also. I've seen several chapters of this and had some neat correspondence with Dan, who lives in St. Louis but is a Detroit native, has done considerable research on both the St. Louis and Detroit underworlds and is very expert on the gang wars of both cities. He has another book in the works on the Purple Gang.

And of course Ellen Poulsen's book on the Luciano vice trial will be out around the same time. I'm more familiar with the Midwest stuff myself but I think this book will be even better than her Molls classic.