Sisters Brothers—The Movie

Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly

This weekend I saw Sisters Brothers. I write westerns, so I’m critical of Hollywood ventures into the genre. They often mess it up by leaning toward the politically correct or destroying the story with CGI. This time they got it right. The Sisters Brothers is a good western film worthy of the fine novel by Patrick deWitt. That’s saying a lot. Except for Lonesome Dove, most directors view a book as a loose guide, rather than a roadmap. (hint, hint)

Great Cover

The Sisters Brothers is a character study ... and a study of not particularly admirable characters. The appeal is in the dialogue and humor. Thankfully, there are few special effects to take the viewer away from the story. I might be tempted to think Hollywood has learned a lesson, but I suspect this is a one-off because the novel’s author is Canadian and the film’s director French. Leave it to foreigners to revitalize an American genre. Jacques Audiard keeps the film within the spirit of the novel and directs a true western without relying on grandiose landscapes, unhistorical duels, or CGI. He does include a lot of killing, however. After all, the Sisters Brother are assassins.

The film is rated 85% at Rotten Tomatoes. 

Here is the New York Times review.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety’s Chief Film Critic seemed more interested in virtue signaling than critiquing the movie, but here is his review as well. I find Gleiberman’s review interesting because it displays many of the biases which keep Hollywood from making more good Westerns.

Leadville Laurel comments on my book Leadville

"Author/Blogger James D. Best found me on the web and sent me his novel Leadville: A Steve Dancy Tale (2nd in a series) to review! I haven't yet posted my review on my website, but I can tell you that even if I weren't living in Leadville, I'd still love this Wild West mystery adventure! Best's writing style is a romp, and he nails the dialogue. Two thumbs up!"

Visit Leadville Laurel's blog.

Blade Runner vs. Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 1982

versus

Blade Runner 2049

IMDB users rate Blade Runner 2049 at 8.2 out of 10. Pretty heady rating for IMDB. I’m aware that anyone who preferred the original gets dissed as an ol’ fogey. I fall into the old category, but don’t admit to the fogey part. Nevertheless, I will go on record as preferring the original. (Both films scored 8.2)

My reasons are from a different perspective than most. Admittedly, film is an art form and presentation certainly plays into the craft. From a visual perspective, I might even give Blade Runner 2049 the edge. It paints a dystopia world with deft precision. Where it falls behind the original is the crux of good storytelling. Bad guys gotta be bad.

In the original movie, Rutger Hauer portrayed Roy Batty with relentless malevolence, yet managed, in the end, to elicit compassion for his character. Batty was a worthy rival, who transitions into a sympathetic victim. A fine piece of acting, that.

Luv vs. Roy

On the other hand, Sylvia Hoeks plays Luv like a high school mean girl, and the script resorts to clichés to portray her evilness. For example, when Luv stomps on K's mobile projector to kill Joi, it reminded me of a B-movie where the antagonist kicks a dog to convey dastardliness.

And then when Luv finally dies, we think, oh good, it’s over. When Batty dies, we weep.

I’m prejudice, of course. I believe the art in storytelling requires an antagonist that presents a heavy challenge to the protagonist. Heroes need villains to be heroic. We want the protagonist to win, but he or she keeps losing until just before the curtain falls. The tension comes from uncertainty. Even though we’ve seen story upon story, each time we are transported to another place and time where the villain might actually win. Sometimes, we get a reveal at the end that turns the protagonist’s victory poignant. A neat trick, when done right, and the original Blade Runner pulled this off with panache.

And that’s why I prefer the Blade Runner 1982.

Examiner.Com reviews The Return

I had a pleasant surprise today when I received notice of a new book review for the Steve Dancy Tales. Diane Scearce at Examiner.com reviewed The Return.

Scearce writes, “The reader can be assured The Return is as fast-paced and entertaining as the books leading up to Dancy’s latest adventure … The Return is a lively, old-fashioned style Western—clever, entertaining, and full of period references to give it authenticity. Best paces his stories so well readers will find it difficult to put down.”

Review of The Return by Western Fiction Review

The U.K. based Western Fiction Review has reviewed The Return, A Steve Dancy Tale. It’s a good review that everyone in the world should read. Maybe that’s going too far, but you could read it.  This Steve Dancy title has also been well received by readers. Take a gander and buy a copy. You’ll make a restless writer happy.

Western Fiction Review

Bookviews

Brandywine Books

Amazon Customer Reviews

Goodreads Reviews

Honest westerns filled with dishonest characters.

Author Interview with Robert Peecher

Robert Peecher, author and journalist, has published an interview with me on his blog.

Q. When you started writing did you know Steve Dancy’s character, or did he develop for you through the telling of the story?

Best: I knew his character from the start, but that said, every character must grow or the story will become stale. By the fourth book, he is a much more mature character than at the beginning of the series. I had nothing to do with it. He learned and grew as he ventured around the frontier and I scribbled down what he did and how he did it.

The Steve Dancy Tales

You can read the full interview at robertpeecher. 

Continuity, Clarity, and Crispness

I’m making pre-editing revisions to my latest book. I want to share my goals for a final pass-through for any of my books. After I have the story the way I want it and falsely believe that I've caught every error, I do another revision for continuity, clarity, and crispness.

Continuity
In film, a script supervisor makes sure the placement of furniture is consistent from scene to scene. Novels need similar scrutiny. During this revision, I keep an eye out for characters getting up from a chair more than once or magically changing rooms, clothing, or weapons. I also review each character’s dialogue to make sure what they say is consistent with their character. Last, I review the timeline to make sure I haven’t excessively compressed or expanded time.

Clarity
Oftentimes an author knows exactly what he intended, but a reader goes, “huh?” Making things crystal clear alternately means adding a bit of explanation or deleting extraneous description that might lead the reader down a false path. Clarity also means making sure the reader knows who is talking. This can be especially confusing when there are more than two people in a conversation.

Crispness

Good narratives move crisply. Sometimes this means deleting a sentence that interferes with a smooth flow, but it usually means deleting superfluous words. I think of this process as removing speed bumps and filling in potholes. As Mark Twain said, "Substitute 'Damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." Ideally, every word, sentence and paragraph should move the story forward.

I said ideally because I always fail. Despite my best efforts, the manuscript comes back from the editor with marks on every page. Sometimes they fix errors, but most of the time they suggest ways to improve continuity, clarity, and crispness. Thank heaven for editors. 

Saline River Chronicle reviews The Shopkeeper

"This is a compelling narrative and as good as the best of classic Westerns. James D. Best is a name to remember."

Read full book review at Saline River Chronical

Buddies in the Saddle reviews The Shopkeeper

Ron Scheer at Buddies in the Saddle has reviewed The Shopkeeper and published a companion  interview with me.

"This is an old-fashioned western in a way that goes back to the western’s roots. For the closest comparison, I’d offer Francis Lynde’s first novel, The Grafters, which was published in 1905. Both novels tell of a newcomer to the West who gets involved in a political intrigue, where influence is bought and sold, and greed rules the workings of government."

Read the review and interview.

Martin at What Would The Founders Think? Reviews The Shut Mouth Society

To start with, I occasionally write for What Would The Founders Think? and the reviewer is a friend. But ... it's a good review, so I'll shamelessly promote it on my site.

Martin writes, "The Shut Mouth Society is a potboiler of the first order.  James Best fans will be surprised as the author steps a bit outside of his regular genre, the classic American Western, and gives hero Steve Dancy a break ... The Shut Mouth Society is written in a “never mind maneuvers, go straight at ‘em,” style. He never resorts to Deus ex machina to resolve a pretty turbulent plot, but keeps the reader guessing until practically the end, with plausible, if surprising twists."

You can read the complete review at

What Would the Founders Think?

How do you pick your next book to read?

I'm a compulsive reader. I read everything and I read all the time. I suspect it started when I was in the fifth grade and I spent my breakfast reading the shredded wheat box. I even read the dividers that separated the rows of three biscuits. Nabisco sponsored the television program Sargent Preston of the Yukon and my hero was all over the box and dividers. That's how I ended up owning one square inch in the Klondike. Darn, I wish I still had my deed.

You'll be pleased to know I've graduated from cereal boxes to books. First the Hardy Boys, and then mass paperbacks. I was a junior in high school when I discover nonfiction with Theodore White's The Making of the President 1960. College introduced me to classics.

In adulthood, I wandered books stores and paperback racks looking for my next read. Bestsellers lists had already down-selected which books got prominent display, and I usually picked by author or back cover copy.


The publishing world has changed. Bookstores are becoming rarer, yet there are tens of thousands of more books available. The shelf-life of a book has been extended well beyond presence on a bestseller list. Electronic books are increasingly taking over fiction and narrative prose. Old book selection tools like magazines and newspapers are withering. Literary reviews are being displaced by reader reviews.

So how does a person pick their next book to read? For me, it's easy. I carry my Kindle with me almost everywhere. Writing has crowded out my reading time, so I read in line at the airport, in my doctor's lobby, in the car as my wife runs into a store, or while eating breakfast or lunch. I also have my Kindle with me when I watch television. It's always around when I use my computer. Why? It has to do with how I pick my next book to read. Whenever I hear or read about a book that sounds interesting, I immediately download a sample onto my kindle. I do this while talking to friends, watching television, surfing the Internet, attending book events, or when reading a periodical. After I finish a book, I metaphorically thumb through my samples, usually reading a chapter or two, then select my next book. At any point in time, I probably have twenty books queued up.

Electronic reading devices have changed the publishing industry and reading habits. It has also changed the way we chose books.

1. Back copy is less important than the opening of the book 
2. Bestseller lists mean less than frequent mention on broadcast and cable outlets
3. Social media builds name recognition
4. Word-of-mouth is even more powerful

This means emerging authors have tools to compete with famous authors. More important  sales can occur a considerable time after a promotional event. Book sales are now a long-haul business. Someone might download a book sample weeks, or even months before they make a purchase decision.

In fact, you might consider downloading samples for these books.

Happy reading.

Click to download samples.

The Shopkeeper is Reviewed by Book Eats

Books Eats is a unique blog. It combines literary review with food talk. Two things that belong together. Whenever I travel in time or place, I'm always curious about what people eat. I recently returned from Turkey and Spain and spent most of my time in markets and restaurants. To me, they seem more interesting than another cathedral. (Although the Sagrada Familia by Gaudi changed my mind a bit.) Likewise, when I write about another time, I'm curious about what my characters might eat.

 Book Eats is fun and they like The Shopkeeper, so that makes them all good. You can read

Melanie's review by following this link.

Home again, home again, dancing a jig

I love to travel, but it's always good to get home again. We attended a wedding in Istanbul, and then spent a few weeks in Spain. We visited Barcelona, San Sebastian, Madrid, Toledo, Seville, and Granada. Fun trip. Steve Dancy didn't fare well. I had intentions of working on the fourth in the series, but fatigue after a day traipsing around a new and fascinating city left little time or energy for writing.

On my return, I found two new blog reviews for my books and a host of new Amazon Customer Reviews. You can follow the links below if you're interested in reading them.

Thanks to all of my readers for continuing to buy my books while I'm off gallivanting in some foreign land ... and thanks for your kind words in reviews.

Murder at Thumb Butte Reviewed at The American Culture

The Shut Mouth Society reviewed at Enough With It

Amazon Customer Reviews

Review of Principled Action

Martin, at What Would the Founders Think reviews Principled Action, Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic.

(Martin appropriately opens his review of my book with the following disclaimer: "The author of Principled Action is a primary author on What Would The Founders Think and also a good friend of this reviewer.")

"The Constitution lays out the framework and defines the limits of government authority.  Best devotes several chapters to the thinking that went into its design as well as the issues of the time in which it was written.  In so doing, he offers clarity and exposes some of the stretched, or downright inaccurate interpretations prevalent today ... Best offers some advice on regaining the government formed by the second revolution.  One such suggestion is that we restore the Founders’ Suspicion of Powerful Government.  Only by reaffirming those Founding Principles can we once more become a people of Principled Action."

You can read the full review at What Would the Founders Think? 

Alan Caruba Recommends Principled Action at Bookviews

"There is no more important time in our present times to learn the how and why of the founding of our great republic. This highly readable book is a very good place to start." Alan Caruba at Bookviews

Read Bookviews April Recommendations, including Principled Action

Faith Friese Nelson Reviews The Shut Mouth Society

The Shut Mouth Society by James D. Best is the kind of book I like best.

It starts with a rich collector who has discovered an early Abraham Lincoln document. The collector asks two people to authenticate the manuscript: Greg Evarts, a detective, and Patricia Baldwin, a professor. The professor, of course, is not only smart but stinking rich and beautiful. The novel has everything from intrigue and murder to romance.

The story begins in California and progresses to the historical east coast where the reader is introduced to private libraries, secret apartments, and shown how rich and powerful civil war descendants live. Conspiracies and secret societies from the Civil War era are unveiled in such a realistic manner that, when I finished the book, I actually did some research to separate fact from fiction.

Link to Faith Friese Nelson Blog

Mr. Know-it-All Lauds the Steve Dancy Series

Mr. Know-it-All (Gary Clothier) is a columnist for the Star Democrat in Maryland. Nice answer to a reader's question. At least I liked it.

Q: A friend showed me a list of old-time cowboy movie stars, including pictures. On the list was James Best. I recently finished reading a Western novel by James Best. Was the movie star also a writer? The novel was excellent. F.T.N., Bangor, Maine

A: James Best the actor also lists accomplishments of being an artist and director. He was born in 1926 as Jules Guy, and is probably best known for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the popular TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard." According to publicity material, he claims to have appeared in more than 600 television shows and appeared in more than 80 films.

James D. Best the author has written at least six books, including the Steve Dancy Western novels: "The Shopkeeper," "Leadville" and "Murder at Thumb Butte." I couldn't agree with you more about the series. I read them and enjoyed them immensely.

Star Democrat Link

Learning About the Constitution

In order to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, we need to understand it. Luckily, there are some great learning tools available to every American. These include an online course at James Madison’s Montpelier Center for the Constitution, the webcast series Introduction to the Constitution from Hillsdale College, and several good books, including The Heritage Guide to theConstitution, Tempest at Dawn, and Decision in Philadelphia.

     

Read the full article at What Would The Founders Think?

Custer’s Last Stand at the Little Bighorn

About a month ago, my wife and I took a road trip with some good friends through many of the Westerns states.  We visited Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska.  One of the highlights was a visit to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Every time I visit a historic site, I end up buying at least one book about the events that took place at the location.  I wanted to buy only one book about the battle because we had already visited so many sites that I was weighing down the motorhome.  The store at the National Monument had dozens upon dozens of books on Custer, the battle, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull.  I spent some time going through them and ended up taking two to the clerk for a recommendation.  The two books were The Last Stand, Custer, Sitting Bull, and The Battle of Little Bighorn, by Nathaniel Philbrick, and Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors, by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Read the full review at What Would the Founders Think?

What Would the Founders Think? Reviews Murder at Thumb Butte

Best does a great job of weaving historic Prescott into the story with accurate depictions of well-known features like Whiskey Row, the court house, Gurley Street, and other famous locales in the historic town.  It’s clear he’s been there and mapped out his story accordingly.  The great thing about this is that this part of Prescott looks much the same as it did then. The story itself is as good, if not better than the first two books in the series.


Book Page at Amazon
Book Page at Barnes & Noble

Read the entire Review