in book heaven...

the day did not begin so well for cityboy---another day of no work and one session cancellation, but a trip to the library on 50th and 10th has brought me some exuberance. (Also, two sessions are scheduled which is good). I was able to find two books that I really wanted---should keep me busy during the holiday weeks. They are: The City Game--a non fiction look at the basketball scandal of 1950 surrounding City College of New York, at that time one of the best college basketball teams in the country. They shaved points, as I understand it, and it was all over---the school did not even have a basketball team after that. Looking forward to a book that will recreate for me the life and energy of the late forties, early fifties, a time when I was just growing up. The other book is the biography of Sidney Lumet, the film director, which has just come out. He made a lot of movies---Twelve Angry Men and Serpico, are two of my favorites that he created---also a really good movie version of A View From the Bridge--with a mixed American and European cast---Carol Lawrence, Maureen Stapleton and Morris Carnovsky were the Americans---I saw the movie in Baltimore, in I think, my junior year at Hopkins. Ironically, at that time, the play was all but forgotten, maybe a few schools did it, but that was all. In 65, an off Broadway revival that starred Robert Duvall, with Susan Anspach and playing, Rodolpho, Jon Voight, had great success and that was when the play started being done all over. I remember seeing it at a preview---it was great---with my friend Rick in January of 65. I was alone and unhappy at Yale---he was a junior at Hopkins. We were close then, but really after that, never that much.
  As for Lumet's other movies---I never really liked Dog Day Afternoon,which is much praised and also The Prince of the City is kind of laborious. His last movie, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, with Ethan Hawke, the late Philip Seymour Hopkins and an amazing Albert Finney was pretty strong. Both books should keep me busy during the vacation. In addition, yesterday (perhaps against my better judgement) I took out a novel called All the Pretty Girls---so far fun to read, but pretty superficial, and I also have my book of short stories---so far I have only read three---very proficient, but not very feeling. Well, no complaints now in the reading department.
 Yesterday, only one session, but tired after that and returned home. Today the schedule is a little longer, we will see how I feel after the last session is over. Will report soon.