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Boy Wonder
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
41 posts | 7 read | 26 to read
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review
Billypar
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Pickpick

When a 464-page mockumentary novel goes off the rails before the end of Chapter 1, where can it go from there? When its subject is Hollywood excess in the 1970s and 80s, having no limits when it comes to violence, sex, and general lack of decency, works surprisingly well. This novel mirrors the horrendous B-movies that its controversial filmmaker subject produces, and even when the films get better, it's still Mommie Dearest behind the scenes 👇

Billypar As a result, this is not for the squeamish: no matter how tongue-in-cheek the craziness is, it can be difficult to read at times. But underneath it all is an insightful perspective on how toxic masculinity can combine with Hollywood's portrayal of male obsession disguised as romance to do real damage as life imitates what's on the screen. It's a viewpoint that serves as the moral backbone behind the outsized satire and farce without moralizing. (edited) 3y
Billypar Thanks again @Reggie for sharing this one with me! 3y
TrishB Great review 👍🏻 3y
See All 9 Comments
vivastory I started this as a buddy read with @Reggie & @Michael_Gee but never finished. I enjoyed what I read, but wanted to switch from e-book to a physical copy. Wonderful review! 3y
Michael_Gee Great review! 3y
Reggie Can I just say ‘Wow!‘ on this review? I‘m so glad you liked and appreciated it, Vinny. And I know what you mean about the first chapter. I remember reading about the mother in the freezer and thinking, holy hell, this is the beginning?!!!! 3y
Billypar @vivastory Thanks! I'm interested in your opinion if you pick it back up. In one way, it's a very consistent book - the tone and action are similar across all sections. But Baker makes some critical decisions in the plot arc that made me enjoy it when it could have easily gotten lost in the mess. 3y
Billypar @Reggie Thanks! There were so many moments where I'd catch myself saying "Whaaaaat?" out loud. After I read it I wondered if 'maximalism' is a thing and it does have a Wikipedia page, but it's a little sparse. This one seems like a great example of it though, used to great effect. 3y
35 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Billypar
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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@Reggie
Such a great gag 😅

Reggie I‘m so happy you‘re reading it! 3y
Billypar @Reggie I just started, but really enjoying it already. 3y
29 likes2 comments
review
Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Pickpick

Thanks to @Reggie for the recommendation and @Centique for the book! Brash, gleefully offensive, & ruthlessly satirical, JRB skewers Hollywood as only a passionate cinema lover can do. The worst excesses & abuses are depicted w/black humor, the characters are caricatures, & Shark‘s movies reach a fever pitch of kitsch. It‘s a funny, deranged, breakneck story that distinctly evokes the films/culture of the 50s-80s. Wild! Such fun.

Reggie What a great review! ❤️ 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie I loved reading it! And your love for it is infectious. 😁❤️ 3y
Centique I love that description “gleefully offensive” 🙌 Perfectly summed up! 3y
22 likes3 comments
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Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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I will never forget that drive into town. It was sunset, one of those painfully beautiful sunsets when the sky seems to stay orange forever, and you feel that you somehow understand what California is all about.

vivastory I really need to pick this one back up. I was loving it but just got distracted by other books 3y
Michael_Gee @vivastory I was just going to ask you! I couldn‘t sleep the other night and finished it. 3y
12 likes2 comments
review
Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Pickpick

This is probably the 4th or 5th time I‘ve reread this book. I think it hurts a little this time because the pace of the world has changed so much I almost felt overwhelmed by the brilliantly connected billions of things that happen in here. However, this will always be my favorite book. I 1st read it at a fondly remembered time in my life. The writing and story were so far out from anything I had read before. It blew my mind then and still 👇🏼

Reggie blew my mind now. Til next time, Boy Wonder. 🖤 3y
vivastory Fantastic review! I hope to wrap this up within the next week. I got distracted but I'm really loving it. 3y
Suet624 I have it stacked already. I bet you were the one who inspired me to stack it in the first place! 3y
67 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker

“Filmmaking is an odd thing. No matter what sort of ugly crap happens during production, once a movie comes out, if it‘s good and a hit, everything is forgotten.”

Or, as the book jacket says more pointedly: at the “pinnacle of Hollywood power anything is forgiven as long as it makes money.”

Bookwomble And what terrible excesses and abuses have arisen from that mindset 😕 3y
Michael_Gee @Bookwomble You said it. This book does a great job portraying that mindset (albeit while remaining darkly funny). I recently listened to a podcast episode on Lolita and Kubrick. The way he treated Shelly Duvall on the Shining has a counterpart in Boy Wonder. Do you agree, @Reggie? Thinking of Kathy Petro‘s “swimming pool” scene in Home to the Heart. 3y
Reggie @GhostStories oh sure. Definitely. Daryl Hannah talks about how in Wall Street, Oliver Stone would treat her like crap right before she was supposed to do a scene where she was angry hoping it would help her but she was just so pissed he was unprofessional. And then here‘s this behind the scenes moment on I Heart Huckabees. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKX0o7U9D8 Do I think all is forgiven. Maybe by the execs but not the actors or whoever is at 3y
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Reggie the end of such behavior. 3y
Reggie And now in the time of phones recording everything I think it‘s harder to be forgiven because of cancel culture. You don‘t want to be the company who makes ‘the enemy of the moment‘s‘ movies. But yeah I definitely think if it weren‘t for all that exposure the making of money would forgive a lot of sins. 3y
Reggie Sorry I just want to add, do I agree with it? No because #metoo is real and having Harvey Weinstein on the loose raping women isn‘t right just because he gave us some good movies. I loved the Cosby Show growing up but does that mean all THOSE sexual assaults should be forgiven? no. I finished this last night and I felt the same kind of hurt when Shark died. That something brilliant had just died no matter how horrible of a person he was. 3y
Reggie Also I have some family and coworkers who are awful people and as much as I would like to cut them out of my lives I can‘t. Lol, sorry too much. But I loved this book and all the fake outs on the way out. Him hitting the lady with the carriage on the street. Him killing all the kids in the theater only to find out they were neonazis. I know it goes really over the top but I hope you liked it in the end, Michael. 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie Oh gosh, I did not think that you agreed with the abusiveness of directors at all! When I asked if you agreed I meant if you agreed with the parallel between what Shark did to Kathy and how Kubrick treated to Duvall. 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie I did! I‘m going to post about it tonight or tomorrow. Okay though, those fake outs. Let‘s talk about them. I can‘t decide what I think of them. On one hand, it‘s silly and over the top so whatever. But, why not let Shark hit a mom and baby, you know? It seems a concession to morality that felt out of keeping with the rest of the book, like JRB won‘t let Shark be “too” bad. I‘m not sure. 3y
Reggie So the book I‘m reading has this thing about scientists and how they can also be horrible humans but the question remains is that if their science betters humanity does it really matter what they did to get there. And also, I don‘t know if you were alive ( lololol) when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on but now there‘s all kinds of actresses saying how horrible Joss Whedon was to work with. This post was really in tune with the universe this week. 3y
14 likes10 comments
blurb
Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker

Insane!! This story is deranged. And what a monster Shark is turning out to be, huh? @Reggie & @vivastory

Reggie True confessions I‘m just going to finish it tomorrow. I‘m a horrible buddy reader. But yeah, he gets real crazy. 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie Oh no, my bad! You said reading it in small increments was hard. I could‘ve sped up my pace! It‘s definitely a challenge to read just one chapter. 3y
13 likes2 comments
blurb
Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Everyone knows the girl Shark brings to Cannes is way underage but all that concerns them is if the publicity will taint the release of their film. The men predictably call her a Lolita and no one sees her as anything other than a sexual substitute for Kathy Petro.

But JRB lets us hear from her. She‘s a curious teenager, bored, and ultimately lonely. I love that the chapter ends with Cindi recounting her dismal return home.

@Reggie @vivastory

Cathythoughts Excellent review 3y
vivastory I forgot my Kindle at work on Fri, so I haven't been able to catch up over the weekend. Looking forward to diving back in tomorrow! I was thinking about this book last night. 3y
Reggie @Cathythoughts this is just a chapter. The main character, Shark, has this obsession with this girl, Kathy Petro, growing up. And he never gets her. She grows up to be a model and Shark has these Kathy look alike competitions all across the country and dates the winners. This one chapter is about the one winner who‘s underage that he takes to France. And she comes from such a shitty family when she comes back you find out nobody realized she was 3y
Reggie gone. 3y
Cathythoughts Thanks Reggie for filling me in , you‘re very good ... I have it stacked 👍🏻 3y
16 likes5 comments
blurb
Rissreads
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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So look what just arrived, new books!!!! Are they from you @Reggie ? I know the tagged book is one of your favourites! Well whoever it is THANKYOU! The universe always seems to deliver when you need it most. Thanks for making me feel warm and fuzzy and reminding me how fantastic Litsy is! ❤️

Crazeedi So very special 💗 3y
Reggie I cannot believe that book depository beat the little card I sent the same day through the mail. Anyways, those 2 books affected me in very different ways and I hope you like them, Nerissa. 3y
Rissreads @Reggie Thank you again. I‘m very excited to read them x 3y
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BarbaraBB Such a wonderful gift 💝 3y
MrsMalaprop This is fabulous. Can‘t wait to hear about them Nerissa. 3y
Rissreads @Reggie Your card arrived today. Thank you, I shall reply soon 😊 3y
Reggie Lol, yayyyy it got there! 3y
38 likes7 comments
blurb
Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Not even these two can distract me from this book!

Texreader Beautiful babies!! ❤️🐈 3y
Cathythoughts Lovely pic 👍🏻 3y
BarbaraBB Great pic 😍 3y
Reggie This is an awesome pic, my friend! 😁 3y
26 likes5 comments
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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I just wanted to say that even in all the craziness of Blonde on Blonde he still gives us this nugget of beauty, lol. Then we‘re in East of Eden, in college, living in James Dean‘s old house. Back on speed making a movie paid for by dealings with the anti war underground of the day. So much to just be crushed by the man whose films you respect the most. I don‘t think I‘ve really appreciated how much of the era he put into these chapters.

TheBookHippie Anti war underground ! My people ✌🏻 3y
Cathythoughts James Dean ❤️ And , Bob Dylan was ( still is ) my companion all through the stages of my life ... kept me company through lonely times .. and better times too. Love this post ❤️💔 (edited) 3y
56 likes2 comments
blurb
vivastory
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Guys, "Blonde on Blonde" was wild!! I literally lol at a couple of points & also exclaimed what the fuck! #badacidtrip What a rollercoaster ride of emotions this book is!
@Reggie @GhostStories

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Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker

WHAT A TRIP. I am actually laughing aloud as I read this chapter (Blonde on Blonde), @Reggie & @vivastory . Acid trips and chainsaws (not a good mix), Tijuana sex shows, insidious chemical plants, a serial killer (!), and MAC TRAGER. Oh man. This is a lot of fun.

Michael_Gee “Why don‘t you make us some Jiffy Pop?” No, Mac, no!!!! 3y
Reggie Yeah, I haven‘t read this chapter yet. I just got to why speed was not a good look as a diet pill last night. 3y
vivastory This book is so wild in the best way possible! 3y
12 likes3 comments
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vivastory
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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This made me literally lol. The image of eating only candy & popcorn while repeatedly watching Hitchcock's most disorienting movie.
@GhostStories @Reggie

Michael_Gee YES! This is what I was thinking of posting today, too. It gives me a stomach/headache but at the same time it sounds kinda great? 3y
vivastory @GhostStories Right?! I can't imagine watching any movie that many times in a row, especially Vertigo. It'd be some kind of high 😂 3y
Reggie @GhostStories I find that this read along is challenging in that I‘m an eat the whole box of chocolates kind of guy. That I can‘t eat just one chip. I know how this book ends and I still want to read more. That 8 pages didn‘t do it for me last night. I don‘t know how you did Tiny Nightmares this way, Michael. Lol. P.s. love the soundtrack to Vertigo. Bernard Herrmann was a genius. 3y
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BookDragonNotWorm I LOVE the movie but found the book disappointing (maybe because the movie's do good?). 3y
vivastory @BookDragonNotWorm Are you talking about the movie Vertigo or the movie Boy Wonder? 3y
BookDragonNotWorm Vertigo. 3y
vivastory @BookDragonNotWorm I was unaware that it was based on a book until now, but I know that most Hitchcock movies were adaptations so I'm not surprised 3y
BookDragonNotWorm The movie was based on a French book, I think the original title was 'The Living Dead'. Hitchcock took the bones of the plot and really turned it into something special. I only knew it was a book first because it showed up in my daily ebook deals a few months ago under the name Vertigo and once I found out it was what the movie was based on I had to read it! 😁 3y
vivastory @BookDragonNotWorm It's definitely one of my favorite movies by him. It's been a few years since I read it. Think I'm due for a rewatch. 3y
67 likes9 comments
blurb
Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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The US during the 1950s distilled into 20 wild pages: McCarthyism; the A-Bomb; UFOs, & (not so well) repressed sexuality. Suburban family life revolves around tv & as a result everyone is described by how close or far off they resemble movie stars: Gloria Grahame, Glenn Ford, & Lucille Ball appear as suburban grotesques.

@Reggie & @vivastory The format of overlapping voices is giving me Lincoln in the Bardo vibes, have you all read that?

Reggie I have not. But when I read Daisy Jones and the Six, I thought, oh yeah, I read a way wilder story in this format. 3y
vivastory I love Saunders but haven't read Lincoln yet. I just read the first chapter of Boy Wonder & what an opening! I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite underrated books 3y
15 likes2 comments
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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#BoyWonderBuddyRead Yeah, so like the big nerd I am I had a smile on my face through the whole first 30 pages. Lol I forgot how fun this book was and how much happens. We have babies being born at a drive-in, a John Wayne cameo, racist, toxic masculine dads, twins suspiciously drowning, bad trips to Disneyland, mentally ill mothers who put themselves in freezers. There‘s a reason I describe this book as literary cocaine to people. #cocainelit

vivastory I just read the opening chapter & #cocainelit is the perfect tag! What a beginning! I'm so intrigued to see where it's going. 3y
67 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Thanks for the tag @Bookzombie
1. New Mexico
2. Boy Wonder by James Robert Baker
3. Harry Potter (I don‘t really do series since I got burned by Patricia Cornwall and Jo Nesbo) lol
4.Monsoon Wedding. Volver. All About My Mother.
5. Don‘t really watch TV but I‘ll say American Horror Story.
6. Black women who sing about heartache. Favorite song - Just say I love him-Nina Simone.
7. Blue.
8. Horror
9. Casino
10. No

BarbaraBB Nina Simone 🥰 3y
Michael_Gee ❤️ 3y
readordierachel Love Monsoon Wedding. So beautiful. 3y
See All 14 Comments
Centique I don‘t know if we‘ve talked about this before but I love Monsoon Wedding and All about my Mother too! Still haven‘t seen Volver but I must do it. Some old movies are hard to find here but I do have an IT guru of a brother in law who I occasionally beg to find me something. He just got me all the Northern Exposure tv show which I was having nostalgia cravings for. It doesn‘t stream anywhere so god knows where he found it 😳 3y
vivastory I don't know if I ever told you but Wild is the Wind was my ex & I wedding song. Love Nina Simone. She was punk rock before punk rock. 3y
Reggie @BarbaraBB She‘s great. 3y
Reggie @readordierachel @Centique I would set my dvd to repeat and Monsoon Wedding would just play and play while I was at the computer or cleaning. It never got old for me. Paula, I had to go listen to the theme song for NE after you mentioned it. I can still picture that moose just strolling around. 3y
Reggie @vivastory No you haven‘t. After reading that Xmas book yesterday and posting this last night I listened to her while gaming (ps she is not gaming music) but Wild is the Wind is my other favorite of hers ... 🎶 Love me love me luughuuve meee say you doooo, let me fly away withhhhh youuuu. 💔 3y
CBee Omg @Reggie tell me how Patricia Cornwell burned you. I LOVED the Scarpetta series and they‘re what got me into the genre. BUT I think I might understand what you mean? Explain please 😁 3y
Reggie @CBee when they brought her married lover back from the dead and switched to 3rd person omniscient and made me wonder if she was even the one writing the series. That‘s when I felt burned. And I used to liiiive for that series. 3y
CBee @Reggie oh my gosh YES!! I remember feeling so disappointed - it was like her writing voice changed. I thought it was just me 😂 I lived for that series too, like I legit wanted to go into forensics. 3y
Reggie @CBee I remember one of her books they use some kind of spectrometer to analyze some orange fiber that they find out is only used in blankets only used in military flights. The very next day we used that same spectrometer in Chemistry 2. I was soooooo excited. She is the reason CSI exists and why all kinds of forensic science got money. But I will never forgive her. Ever!!!!!! Lol 3y
CBee @Reggie oh my gosh, that is SO cool. I never got past high school chemistry 😂😂 Yep, she‘s had new books come out, but I‘m just like meh 😑 (edited) 3y
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Billypar
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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@Reggie I am very excited to read Boy Wonder - thanks so much for doing this giveaway! I'll tag you in my review. The one annoying thing about reading is how few other people we know have read our favorites, which is why I'm thankful for spaces like Litsy.
Thanks too for the card and note: that artwork is amazing! I've been getting into birding lately - I like the idea of providing them with some nice perches, lol.

Reggie Yay, you got it. Hope you like it! And yeah, it‘s kinda funny but the name of that picture is Strawberry Milk, which I never would have guessed. 4y
Tanisha_A That card is pretty cute 4y
Billypar @Reggie Ohhhh....Strawberry Milk: that's good, I was misinterpreting the red liquid running down her arms. More cute this way @Tanisha_A 😅 4y
44 likes3 comments
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Michael_Gee
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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What a great pick me up I received today! And all the way from New Zealand!! Thank you so much @Centique ! I am looking forward to reading it. 😊😊😊

Reggie Yayyyy!!!!! 4y
Centique Yay! In these days, little things like the post still working from half a world away - gives me hope! Enjoy - it‘s a rocket fuelled ride of a book 😍👍 @Reggie 4y
BarbaraBB I just read another by this author that was sooo good too: 4y
Michael_Gee @BarbaraBB oh, great! I just read your review of it. Sounds intense! 4y
11 likes4 comments
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Winners because @Centique was kind enough to say to pick 2 winners and she would send her copy to the second name picked. Congratulations to @Billypar and @GhostStories on winning the books. Please send your addresses to reglara79@yahoo.com BillyPar, you will get mine, and, GhostStories, your copy will be on its way from NZ. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Centique Excellent! Forward me the details when you get em 😍💕 4y
Michael_Gee Aw! Thank you, @Reggie and @Centique ! 4y
Reggie @Billypar Hi Vinny. Maybe you haven‘t seen this but you were picked by the wheel of names!!! Lol. So you won the book. If you could just send your address the email above I‘ll send it to you. 4y
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Billypar Oh wow - I definitely did not see this before: sorry about that...how exciting! I will certainly send my address. Thanks so much!! 4y
Billypar And thanks @Centique for doing a duplicate giveaway - first time I've seen that - nice idea! ☺ 4y
Centique @GhostStories hi Michael 👋 I just put the book in the mail to you today - so now we count how long it takes to get around the globe! Sorry there was a bit of a delay at my end, crazy week last week. All the best 4y
Michael_Gee @Centique Thank you!! I‘m really looking forward to it. I will post when it arrives! 4y
Rissreads I stack more of your books Reggie than anyone else‘s on Litsy! 🙏👏🏻❤️🤣 4y
55 likes8 comments
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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My favorite book in the whole world has been brought back from obscurity and been republished. These are all the posts I have made about this book and the only other two people who have posted about this book are ones that I have given copies to, lol. James Robert Baker was brilliant, biting, and wrote with his two middle fingers out. He was gay and committed suicide in 1997. In celebration of Pride month, I just ordered 2 copies and want to 👇🏼

Reggie give one away. The beauty of Litsy is finding awesome books through awesome people. So please enter by naming a book in the comments below you found out about and read through Litsy and the person who posted about it. Both of you will be entered. If you‘re new here just type I‘m in. No double entries, open internationally, open until midnight of June 7th. Thanks, Littens for always being awesome. Good luck!! (edited) 4y
Michael_Gee Love this idea! The Cat Inside by William S Burroughs. This was rec by @bookriot 4y
charl08 @SassenachTheBookWizard recommended You Deserve Each Other. Adding your rec to my wishlist too ✅ 4y
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madams421 I love this! Thank you 4y
madams421 I love this! Thank you @magyklyXdelish for showing me the book Here - it was stunning and you‘re the best :) 4y
magyklyXdelish @madams421 anytime 😘🤗 4y
Billypar Wow - great idea for a giveaway! I noticed this book is already on my Litsy TBR, no doubt because of one of your posts. I found out about my favorite read of the year from an enthusiastic review by @Suet624 4y
truthinfiction I am in. 4y
Suet624 @shawnmooney introduced me to one that I give away like candy to my friends. 4y
Suet624 @Billypar such a good book. 💕💕 4y
Centique Hey Reggie. Pick two winners and then I‘ll send the copy you gave me to the second winner! 😍👍 4y
Reggie @Paula 🙌🏽 will do! 4y
Reggie Hey @vivastory This is super duper late notice but I‘m doing a buddy read with Ghoststories of this and it starts tonight. We‘re just doing a chapter a night. Almost all the chapters are movie titled so we‘re doing a movie a night. There‘s 29 of them. And I don‘t have a book to send you but I‘d like to gift you an e-book if any of this interests you at all. Just send me your email address to the one above and I‘ll send it to you. 3y
Reggie and cause I‘m an idiot my email address is in the post above this one it‘s reglara79@yahoo.com 3y
vivastory I'm definitely in! I actually bought this one already on my Kindle because of your previous posts. I will tag you & @ghoststories with my thoughts I love this format for books! 3y
Reggie @vivastory yayyy I‘m so happy. 3y
Michael_Gee @vivastory Yes! How great!! 3y
57 likes2 stack adds17 comments
review
Centique
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Pickpick

This book is one hell of a ride! Thank you so much @Reggie it‘s completely different to everything I‘ve been reading and it washed my brain clean - with a flamethrower! 😂😂 I loved it. The whole thing is told like a documentary - interviews with people remembering Shark Trager - a Hollywood enfant terrible. It‘s a satire sending up the worst excesses of Hollywood in the 60s-70s-80s but with real heart and pain. ⬇️

Centique It is crazy clever with all sorts of parallels, loops, pop culture references. It made me laugh and gasp all at the same time. The only comparison I could make is - a Catch 22 of movie making with the obscene volume turned up HIGH. Brilliant. 5y
Reggie You have no idea how happy this post makes me. Lol “washed my brain clean- with a flamethrower.” Lol 5y
Centique @Reggie I‘m so glad it made you happy 😍 5y
58 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Centique
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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I‘m up to Chapter 8 @Reggie and it‘s blowing my mind! So many 60s news and cultural references, it‘s like Shark is the lightning rod that caused everything to happen. Crazy $&£€ goes down in crayola bright colours, how can it be so attractive and repellent at the same time? Like I‘m kind of in awe of what happened to the guy taking acid for the first time ????

Reggie I like the pic!!! Yeah, it is high octane the whole way through. Lol, poor Jeff. And Kathy, I feel so bad for her. Just put your seatbelt on because it‘s only gonna get crazier. 5y
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BarbaraBB
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Not one but two books by James Robert Baker found their way all across the world to me. Thank you so much @Reggie for this ‘literary cocaïne‘ ??! I am looking forward to it and will spread the word afterwards and send Baker on his way! ?

Reggie I‘m so glad they made it to you!!! And sure, I‘ll send it. 6y
55 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
ValerieAndBooks
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Pickpick

Wow. This book is unforgettable! It‘s a roller coaster ride. Definitely not for the faint-hearted (several triggers, un-PC, drug use, etc), but the author kept this satire on Hollywood constantly moving along; it‘s one thing after another!! It‘s like going 160mph in Shark‘s Porsche during the entire time of reading. Thanks @Reggie for including this in your giveaway package! I‘m still thinking about all the craziness in this book!

Reggie Lol, I‘m glad you liked it. When he crashes into the theater at the end and kills the class of neo-nazis is the crowning OTP moment for me. It just felt like there was a billion shiny crazy parts to this and he made them work. Thanks for reading it @ValerieAndBooks 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie exactly right about how he made this work. I think one reason why it worked was the interview format with all the people who knew Shark. If a traditional narrative had been attempted, it might have been one big mess. Also he sure came up with every freak accident imaginable for anyone who crossed Shark‘s path! 6y
BarbaraBB Great review! 6y
75 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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ValerieAndBooks
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Oscar night! I‘ll be reading this wild satire of Movie-making during the commercials. About 100 pages left.!

Reggie So you‘re reading the scene of the Oscars while watching the Oscars!!!! Lol, the end is much like the rest of the book, a little over the top. 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie it was so surreal reading that section at the same time!! Meryl Streep was mentioned a couple times, and there she is front and center on the TV!! 6y
77 likes2 comments
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ValerieAndBooks
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Shark, the MC, obsesses over and stalks Kathy over the years. Here‘s she‘s wearing nothing but her glasses and reading Listen to the Warm by Rod McKuen when Shark resurfaces once again in her life. So I pulled my copy (bought used many years ago) off the shelf and there‘s a paper w/ a LA return address in it! Weird because Boy Wonder takes place in LA and the author was from there. P.S. McKuen rates a so-so from me.

ValerieAndBooks @Reggie one poem in there mentions James Dean which reminds me of Shark‘s A-frame house! 6y
LeahBergen Cool! 6y
Reggie That‘s pretty cool. A lot of books I‘ve been reading lately, someone is reading Jane Eyre or has mentioned it. I‘ve never read it but maybe I should. One of my favorite parts of Boy Wonder, lol, who am I kidding, there‘s a lot of favorite parts, is the haiku he writes for Judy. 6y
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ValerieAndBooks @LeahBergen I thought it was cool, too! Pretty sure the author had read this particular book of poetry! 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie ah yes! I thought that haiku was funny because none of those three lines related to each other at all 😂! And yes you should read Jane Eyre— at the very least, to say you did— and to understand all the references from it such as the madwoman in the attic, etc. 6y
Reggie There‘s a madwoman in the attic? 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie now you need to read to find out for sure 😉 6y
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ValerieAndBooks
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Staying close to home today. Boy Wonder is a good read for this Nor‘easter weather! Read one or two pages, then glance up to see if any of our trees are standing (lots of branches breaking tho), repeat. Let‘s hope the power stays on so I can keep reading. This novel keeps happening 😄!! @Reggie can you tell where I‘m at now?

Reggie Lol, I can‘t, I can barely make out Kathy Petro‘s name. Stay warm!!! NM would kill for your winter weather right now. Hopefully the book distracts from the weather. 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie it‘s the voodoo doll storyline 😈 ! Gears keep changing fast! Yes I hear from my sis about the lack of snow there— she‘s worried about possible fires this summer as a result 😰 6y
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ValerieAndBooks
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Looking forward to seeing where all this is going!! How did James Robert Baker come up with all this stuff?! And I‘m only on Chapter 3.

@Reggie

Reggie Lololol, you have no idea how excited I am that you‘re reading this. You will be so exhausted by the end just because he never really gives the reader a break. Hope you like it!!!🤩🤩🤩 6y
BarbaraBB You‘re reading it! I remember your great quotes out of this book, @Reggie ! 6y
Reggie @BarbaraBB I have an extra copy and if you want, I‘ll send you a copy. And maybe after your done maybe ask any of the European Litsians if they want to read it and send it to them. It could just be a traveling book ending up wherever. If you‘re interested, send your address to reglara79 at yahoo.com and if not that‘s fine. 6y
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BarbaraBB @Reggie How generous of you and what a great idea! I am sure @TrishB or @AmyG or @Cinfhen will be thrilled as well to read it, I can send it to one of them afterwards. I‘ll email you. Thank you do much 💕 (edited) 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie never a dull moment with this one 😄! Nice of you to send a copy to the others to enjoy. I‘ve now started keeping my eyes open for anything by him at used bookstores without any luck yet! 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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#NuYear So this scene puts the “Going to Hell” stamp on Shark‘s #moral character. He put Kathy in the role of Winnie in his latest movie Home to the Heart. In this scene, her character, confined to a wheelchair by spine cancer, turns to look outside at the pool where her twins are suddenly thrashing around, drowning. As she reaches for the phone to call for help, she falls out of the chair effectively ripping the cord from the wall. Kathy was 👇🏼

Reggie bombing the scene until the take when Shark gave her an earpiece in which, while the scene went on, he began to remind her of all the deaths of her lovers until she was reunited with Shark. The first one Jeff, after dropping acid with Kathy for the first time, actually has a bad trip and chainsaws his own head off. Kathy suffers a nervous breakdown after the scene is cut. Cons: she‘s hospitalized for a while. Pro‘s: she wins the Academy Award for 6y
Reggie Best Actress that year. 6y
Cinfhen 🤣😂🤣😂😂😂 I‘m REALLY enjoying your synopsis‘s 6y
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TrishB 😂😂 Boy Wonder‘s back 6y
LauraBeth Can you record yourself reading this book and send it to us? 😂 6y
Bklover 😂😂😂😂 6y
Billypar Wow...I don't use this phrase much, but this scene is definitely 🍌👖 6y
DivineDiana Really. This writer had such a phantasmagoric mind! 😳 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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#NuYear #replicas Because Kathy Petro wants nothing to do with Shark at this time in their lives, he scours all of the nation‘s Kathy Petro look alike contests for their winners.

Cinfhen Yay 😁 Boy Wonder is back 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊 6y
TrishB Great pick again 👍🏻 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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#NuYear #Idieyoudie So after a horrible debacle of his last movie, Red Surf, where he causes several psychotic breaks making a movie about a childhood friend who, after he went to go see Psycho with one too many times, that childhood friend grows up to be a serial killer. He uses that friend in the movie. After the disaster, Shark is ruined and homeless and abandoned by friends. He gets a job as a projectionist at a theater where he also👇🏼

Reggie Lives. He meets Maya “who only wants me for my body and it is hot.” She and him after this paragraph get a car hooked up with explosives set to go off at 80 mph. Right before they leave he shows one last film where none other than Kathy Petro, love of his life, shows up. Maya and Shark get on the freeway ready to have sex while driving ready to blow themselves up when he just can‘t get it up. They stop, get out and argue, and moments later they 6y
Reggie Hear an explosion realizing someone had stolen the car. 6y
TrishB 😁😁 that book is a crazy ride!! 6y
Cinfhen 🤣😂🤣😂🤩🤪 you‘re the best!!!! 6y
BarbaraBB What a book 😂👍 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Almost all of the chapters in Boy Wonder are named for #films that influenced him or ones that he made. #NuYear

TrishB Yay 😁 Boy Wonder‘s back ! 6y
DeborahSmall Love it ❤️ 6y
ValerieAndBooks @Reggie When you read this for the first time, had you seen all those films yet? 6y
Reggie @ValerieAndBooks No, but I don‘t think you need to because he tells you the importance of how the films affected his life. It might make you want to check them out later. 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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After his unhappy early childhood, Shark becomes obese, which does not sit well with his red-blooded, Republican, “no son of mine is going to be a fat slob,” father. He sends Shark to a doctor who prescribes diet pills, that at that time nobody knew was speed. Shark loses the weight, gains muscle, and starts to fixate on certain things. One is Kathy Petro, the girl in his life, seen here while Shark is much more than a casual #observer. #NuYear

BarbaraBB Maybe you can fit the whole book in these prompts - as it is unavailable for us 😀👍 6y
Reggie @BarbaraBB I‘ll try.😜 6y
TrishB @BarbaraBB I‘m hoping he does!! 6y
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BarbaraBB @TrishB me too 😉 6y
Cinfhen I'm hoping for the same thing @BarbaraBB ❤️❤️ 6y
kspenmoll Yes just reprint book here!!! 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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After Shark‘s mother put herself into the freezer on Christmas Day, after Gladys, the nurse who Shark‘s father was having an affair with is shamed out of the neighborhood, Mac, Shark‘s father, married Evelyn, a real bigoted nightmare of a stepmother. Here is her #berserker exit. #NuYear.

Cinfhen 😂😂😂😂 6y
BarbaraBB Haha, sounds great. Is it good? 6y
Reggie @BarbaraBB Is it good? It is my favorite book in the whole world. 6y
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DeborahSmall 😂😂 I need to get a copy of this! 6y
TrishB I‘m loving your picks from this book!! 😂 6y
AmyG Now I need to read this, too. 6y
BarbaraBB @Reggie then I absolutely hope it will be published again! 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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Because I love Robert James Baker and this #NuYear challenge has stirred up sadness knowing that his books are out of print, I wrote an e-mail to this independent publisher, Valancourt Books, this morning. They specialize in rediscovering out of print gay fiction and horror. The reason I had even heard of them was because of a tag on Litsy. This was the same day response which was so nice. Cross your fingers!!!

Cinfhen Good for you!! Being proactive 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤞🏼🤞🏼💚 6y
Reggie Thank you @Cinfhen. 6y
BarbaraBB That‘s nice. Let‘s hope it works out! 6y
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DivineDiana Good move! I wonder if the author is living. 🤔 He would surely appreciate your effort! 6y
Reggie @DivineDiana No, sadly, he took his own life in 1997. He deserves to be known. 6y
DivineDiana @Reggie Sorry to hear that. Good luck with your quest. 6y
TrishB Good luck 👍🏻 6y
ValerieAndBooks I wonder who his estate is 🤔! 6y
Reggie @GhostStories how‘s the book going so far for you? Still ok or has it gotten to be too much? 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie Oh my gosh, are you kidding? It is really difficult to portion just one chapter a day. I‘m really loving it, Reggie! It‘s a brazen, crass, manic delight. 3y
Reggie @GhostStories Oh good cause it gets better and crazier and I‘m so excited for you and Scott to read the last half! 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie Awesome. I feel ridiculously spoiled by this year‘s reading start. Bunny, Boy Wonder, Don Quixote, and The Sundial. Such funny, fresh books! But then of course there was Where The Crawdads Sing. Did you decide to read that, btw? 3y
Reggie @GhostStories not yet. I feel like I have to because this coworker of mine gave it to me. I‘ll get to it sooner or later. I just have this wave of stuff I really want to read about over my head. No good, though? 3y
Michael_Gee @Reggie I get it. My feelings on it are mixed. The nature writing is really good but some of it is SO corny, so Hollywood. It was a slog to get through but the ending is gratifying. I‘ll be curious to hear what you think whenever you get to it. 3y
49 likes14 comments
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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After his mother falls into depression, after the same aged twins down the street are found mysteriously drowned, after his father moves in the woman he is having a blatant affair with to nurse his barely there mother, a young Shark wets his pants after an air raid drill at school. When his father finds out, Shark, knowing he is to be spanked, runs away to a field where he is found #prayingtothealiens. This is barely pg 15. #NuYear

TrishB 😂😂 awesome - this book is incredible so far! 6y
Kaye It sounds like it‘s pretty action- packed ! 6y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk Well done! 6y
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Reggie @Kaye by the end of this book, after the first time I read it, I was exhausted. A really good exhausted. @TobeyTheScavengerMonk Thanks man!!! 6y
Kaye Wow, Reggie. I just looked it up on Amazon. All the 5 star reviews ! It sounds like it‘s pretty expensive and not easy to find ( not in kindle form at all). You might want to guard it with your life. It sounds as though it‘ll be quite a collectors item someday. ✨✨✨ 6y
Cinfhen I‘m loving these page summaries 😜keep them coming, please!!!! 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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At the beginning of this book, a retelling of the late, mad genius filmmaker, Shark Trager‘s life told in interviews of everyone who knew him, it comes as no surprise that he was born amongst the #cars at a drive-in movie theatre. #nuyear

Cinfhen Nice opening paragraph 😜 6y
Reggie @cinfhen I thought about doing this whole month from this book. But will refrain, lol. 6y
Kaye Sounds interesting 👍 6y
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TrishB That would be awesome if you did 👍🏻 6y
ValerieAndBooks I have this book in my TBR 😉. Planning to get to it soon! 6y
Reggie @Kaye it is my favorite book in the whole world. @ValerieAndBooks 😆 save it for a rainy day or a slump you need to be pulled out of. 6y
Kaye @Reggie, How many times have you read it ? That is saying a lot to make it your all time favorite. I may just have to check it out myself. 😊 6y
Reggie @Kaye 4 times since 2007 and I‘m thinking about doing another this month. The author was a film student and it shows as most of his books have this cinematic quality to them. 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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It was 2007, I was living in Las Cruces, leaving my shitty$315/month apartment( which is still my favorite place I have ever lived) to walk down the street to a hole in the wall, Mexican restaurant (there is a salsa stain on one of the pages) to read what would become my favorite book in the whole world. I remember telling a girl at work,”On pg.6, the mother froze herself to death in a freezer on X-mas morning.” It was wild.#feelslikethefirsttime

Jas16 I clearly need to read this! Love everything about this post. 6y
Reggie @Jas16 thanks, and thanks for being nice enough to put a giveaway out there. 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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#cult5 Thanks @Centique @sprainedbrain and @Balibee146 for the tag. These James Robert Baker and Chuck Palahniuk books are my top 5 cult favorites. I spent a lot of time with an open jaw,having my mind and sense of reality stretched, while reading these. Not your GrandMaMa‘s fiction. Lol

Centique That‘s awesome. And scary. 👏👏 Well done! 6y
Balibee146 Brilliant! Going to investigate some of these after breakfast 😁 6y
JoeStalksBeck Adore Palahniuk! 6y
sprainedbrain I‘m going to check these out! 6y
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Reggie
Boy Wonder | James Robert Baker
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My #UmaThurman pick would be Boy Wonder because I think if Quentin Tarantino ever made a movie out of this book she would be Kathy Petro. The book is about a guy named Shark, but every epic guy has to have that one girl. Kathy is that girl. For a moment in their lives they're not together.But he is rich enough to have Kathy Petro lookalike model competitions all over the country. Kathy's a model btw. And he dates a lot of the winners.

Cinfhen 😂😂😂This book NEEDS to be a movie 🎥 💕🙌🏻I love your mini reviews! You should write a blog! 7y
Reggie @cinfhen This book is my favorite book in the whole world. It is a valentine to movies as much as its an FU to Hollywood. Lol, I thank the book gods for letting me find this in a used bookstore many years ago. 7y
minkyb That certainly is a fabulous cover. Excellent choice for the female lead!! 7y
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