Post 281: Murder Out of Wedlock

Murder Out of Wedlock by Hugh Pentecost.  ISBN: 9780396082156.

So another interesting thing about Miss Ladd, star of stage and screen, is her promiscuous lifestyle.  She has had five ex-husbands and numerous lovers.  I found it interesting that Pentecost, Quist, and the other characters in the book still seemed to treat her with a great deal of respect as a professional and as a person.  This is in high contrast to the typical way I have seen women in this genre during this particular age of writing being treated (this was written in 1983).

I thought one of the most interesting exchanges that happened in this book was between Quist and Ladd when she explains to him that she did truly love her husband(s), but could not prevent herself from falling to the temptations of other sexual encounters when her preferred partner was not around.  Quist's response is a fairly reasonable, "Let's just say that I believe that, but I don't quite understand it." Page 113.  I say that this is reasonable, because there are people who are more inclined towards monogamy than others.  For whatever biological, social, or moral reason some people cannot and will not cheat on their spouses.  There are others, however, that for whatever reason are drawn to a wide variety of sexual experiences or partners, and then a third group that might not stray from a healthy relationship, but who are more inclined to do so when that relationship is faltering or otherwise not fulfilling needs.

I admit, I belong more to the third group, with a slight leaning to the second.  You see, I enjoy a variety of sexual experiences and having sex with one person is going to be vastly different from having sex with another.  I have even found that certain kinks I enjoyed with one person don't necessarily translate well to everyone or anyone else.  Do I need these additional experiences enough to jeopardize my relationship with my fiance?  Definitely not, but I might be more willing to consider their benefits if I felt my relationship was already in jeopardy.  There have been times when I have made my fiance aware of sexual or romantic feelings I've had towards other people, not because I love him any less, but because I love and respect him and myself enough not to deny that I have those feelings from time to time.  And I feel that by letting my fiance know these things we are able to strengthen our relationship in such a way that I do not need dalliances to satisfy me, even though we are currently separated and it would be easy enough to do so.

As it is, I am able to enjoy what little time I do get to spend with the person I love the most.  And I get to do so without fear of losing him to another woman or shame because I sometimes find myself attracted to other men.  Instead, we are able to acknowledge that we have those feelings, and occasionally we even laugh at them and remark at how little fun we would have in those alternate relationships compared to what we have now.  I can hardly imagine myself in this situation with anyone else and enjoying myself as much as I am.  Despite being in a hard place right now, I'm still managing to keep my head dry mostly, and I don't think I could do that without Danny.

My short review can be found on Goodreads, there just wasn't much to say about this rather unremarkable book.
LibsNote: I won this book from Forgotten Bookmarks, which is not directly affiliated with publishers, authors, etc. of the material I am reviewing.

Post 280: Murder Out of Wedlock

Murder Out of Wedlock by Hugh Pentecost.  ISBN: 9780396082156.

Oh hey look, I changed something.  I've decided to use post numbers instead of Days.  This is just something that will simplify issues for me if I decide to switch to posting every other day or if I have to because I have a job or whatever.  Also, if I happen to post twice during the day I can keep them consecutively numbered.  This will only happen for certain occasions like the rare meme, special announcement, or something like Banned Book Week.  On with the post.

So this is about a Hollywood actress who is currently working on Broadway, is acting a fool, and manages to get herself suspected of murder.  I didn't much care for that bit of the story, although it was at least more interesting and plausible than the political three-ring circus presented in Kill and Kill Again, and this certainly wrapped up a lot neater.  What I did like were the brief moments we get to see Miss Ladd* performing on stage or other moments of stagecraft.  I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I am in a rather unhappy place right now.  In fact, I don't think I've been this unhappy since high school, which is where I became most involved in theatre.

The drama program at my high school in Mississippi was actually one of the few places I felt the most comfortable.  The kids tended to be a little more open-minded, and I don't think I actually made any real friends in that school until I joined the program.  I love the theatre.  I love almost everything about it.  I love the stage lights and the heavy curtain and the murmur of the crowd.  I love sitting in the cramped seats and watching the performers in total darkness where I can feel like I alone am experiencing this wonderful event, even as I am surrounded by strangers.  I love painting sets and putting together costumes and applying makeup, to myself and others.  I love directing and screenwriting, and seeing a production come together and be brilliant.

Acting and otherwise being involved in theatre is just fun.  There's all of this hard work that goes into the preparation for a show that only runs for a week or so, and then it's over, but for the night when you're on the stage and everything is going well, it really is like performing a miracle.  When so many things can go wrong, it really borders on magic when everyone does what they're supposed to or is quick enough to cope with changes that the audience doesn't notice a slip up.  I miss being part of that magic.  I would dearly love to get involved in community theatre again, but given that I have no idea whether or not I'd still be in town when the show started it would be highly irresponsible of me.  So I'll just have to content myself with happy memories and look forward to maybe getting involved later.

Was there anything in high school that made that time for you better?

My short review can be found on Goodreads, there just wasn't much to say about this rather unremarkable book.
LibsNote: I won this book from Forgotten Bookmarks, which is not directly affiliated with publishers, authors, etc. of the material I am reviewing.
*This is a really terrible name, and really feels like it ought to be applied to a drag queen.

Day 253: Kill and Kill Again

Kill and Kill Again by Hugh Pentecost.  ISBN: 9780396088981.

We meet a man named Mark Foreman pretty early in the book.  He's one of the big bosses at Manchester Arms and therefore a potential Bad Guy.  With the way he was introduced, you automatically want to like him.  He's a down to earth guy, the kind of person you would want to be your boss if you worked in a factory job or other mind numbing labor.  Quist and the reader meet Foreman for the first time while he's wearing work blues and greasy gloves, and he explains he's just been down in the factory, "Where the work actually gets done," to ensure product quality and make sure things are running smoothly.

It seems like there are so few bosses like this now it makes me cry.

I worked in a deli/bakery at Winn Dixie when I was 18 and there was one day we just didn't have the staff to cover.  Instead of telling us to deal with it, my manager put on a hair net and a pair of gloves and started slicing meat with the rest of us schmucks.  This impressed me greatly because the management at the previous job I had at a Christian thrift store was horrendous and downright unethical.  To go from a place where the management actively tried to destroy their employees by firing them just before they would get benefits and then rehiring them after a period where their seniority was reset to a shining example of humanity and authority... well, I can't tell you how amazing that was.

Of course, it seems that in most companies people don't work their way up anymore.  If you don't work your way up, you don't know how hard the people below you are actually struggling with their jobs, etc.  You also don't know exactly what goes on or how things operate.  If you don't know the basic functions of the workers below you, how can you possibly make good decisions about where to cut corners and how to improve assembly lines or service?  If we're going to pay our corporate managers the wages of three to four people, shouldn't they know how to do the jobs of at least that many people well enough to take over for them in an emergency?  Why are we only paying them for one job, as stressful as it may be?

I think if corporate managers knew how hard people worked at those jobs, they wouldn't be so quick to lay them off instead of giving up their bonuses.  I think they would realize how much they need those workers to provide the best possible service, the best possible product, and to do so in the safest way.  And this goes for pretty much every industry.  As a librarian, it often angered me to see people enter the library school program with intentions of becoming a librarian without first having any experience as a page, and no intentions of getting that experience.  If you aren't willing to go into the stacks and pull or shelve the books, I don't think you should even think about asking someone else to do it for you when you're a manager.

According to the review from Publisher's Weekly on Amazon.com, this wasn't even a very good book when it was published.  Psst, I don't like linking to Amazon either.

Day 252: Kill and Kill Again

Kill and Kill Again by Hugh Pentecost.  ISBN: 9780396088981.

So the premise of this book is that a country music star's sister was killed, and the murder was covered up by someone working for Manchester Arms.  The bright idea that Wally Best (the singer) has is to get elected mayor of the town so he can have unhindered access to any information or shady deals.  The premise is almost silly, but the campaign is actually run closer to a current day campaign.

Pentecost may have been concerned about the track politics was on, having lived through most of Reagan's two terms.  And of course now campaigns are almost laughable.  There's hardly any real content to campaign ads that actually allows us to intelligently select our next leaders.  Instead, it's about who can entertain or charm the most, and who can provide the scariest story about the other guy or the economy or Oh God the Gays Are After Us.  I think Pentecost would have considered the last three or four presidential collections very helpful in writing this; unfortunately he didn't have that help and really once Quist (the Public Relations official turned private eye...type...person...thing?) got involved with solving the crime, there was no more focus on the whole reason Quist went to Bridgetown in the first place.  Yes, Wally wanted to solve the crime, but Quist was just supposed to get Wally elected so that Wally could do that.  Instead Quist snatches that away and does all of the work for him.

But the campaign is not even good entertainment.  If politics is going to be turned into a three-ring circus, I at least want some decent bear baiting and motorcycles in cages.  What is this weak watered-down excuse for a petting zoo?  There's no pleasure in watching a bunny rabbit stared down by Katie Couric, it's just painful.  If we're going to torture anyone with leadership based on who can entertain the best during the stupidly long campaign, it ought to be the candidates.  I think I'd much rather see a Fear Factor-based campaign than watch another attack ad which tells me absolutely nothing about the candidate running it.  I think people probably know and learn more about the kids from Jersey Shore than their own elected officials.  How messed up is that?

Also, who wants to bet that my blog stats will get a boost just from mentioning Jersey Shore...

According to the review from Publisher's Weekly on Amazon.com, this wasn't even a very good book when it was published.  Psst, I don't like linking to Amazon either.