Normal's Books and Records

Normal's Books and Records
Baltimore, MD

I began regularly patronizing Normal's Books and Records soon after it opened in 1990 on 31st Street in Baltimore's Waverly neighborhood, and stopped only when I moved to Iowa in 2010. 

So it was after an 8 year absence when, a couple of Saturdays ago, I walked into Normals. Aside from a new coat of paint, not much had changed since the early 90s. 

It was swelteringly hot out (temps peaked in the low 90s that day) and just as hot in the store........... just like the old days ! Sweat dripped from my face as I toured the cramped aisles and crouched to examine the books lined up on the lower shelves.

I came away with some worthy finds (pictured below). Normal's is not a very large store, so you need to step inside with the idea not of trying to get some sought-after item, but rather, taking advantage of whatever quirky selections are on the shelves at the moment.

The sci-fi and horror sections are rather small, but there usually are some rare items in stock that you likely would have a hard time finding at Wonder Book and Video or McKay's Used Books. Most paperbacks are between $3 and $5 (although some titles might be higher) and the hardbound books are priced at around $5.

Sections devoted to art, music, movies, theatre, science, history, African American studies, Womyn's Studies, religion, and other topics are a little more extensive, but also adhere to the philosophy of showcasing rarer titles over those titles (e.g., Our Bodies, Ourselves) you can find in just about any used bookstore.

The section devoted to vinyl records is extensive (lots of cassettes and CDs available, too) and quite eclectic. 

Near the front counter is a shelf devoted to new acquisitions; here you can find newly published hardbound books for 50 - 60 % (or more) off the cover price.

Summing up, while I can't necessarily recommend making a trip to Baltimore just to go to Normal's, if you are in town and have a few hours free, it certainly is worth your while to check it out. 

[Note that the surrounding neighborhood is reasonably safe during the day, but is sketchy after dark. I recommend making sure your car doors are locked, that you have no valuables displayed on the car seat, not waving your iPhone around while walking down the street, and being aware of who is around you and what they are - or aren't - doing]

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow
promotional photo, 1974

Book Review: Caddyshack

Book Review: 'Caddyshack', by Chris Nashawaty

5 / 5 Stars

‘Caddyshack (The Making of a Hollywood Success Story)' was published in April, 2018 by Flatiron Books. It’s a small, 294 pp volume featuring an insert section of photographs of the film’s producers and cast.

When Caddyshack came out in late July 1980, I didn’t rush out to see it. The title song, 'I’m Alright’, had been released earlier in the month, and was getting steady airplay on FM radio, so I had some idea it was forthcoming. 

But there were a lot of movies being released that Summer: The Empire Strikes Back was still pulling in audiences, and a low-budget film titled Airplane, released at the beginning of July, was turning out to be the comedy film of the season. If any newly released film had a buzz, it was not Caddyshack, but rather Brian DePalma’s ‘explicit’ thriller Dressed to Kill, about a housewife who pays the price for indulging in a one-night-stand. 

Special effects team filming the animatronic gopher used in Caddyshack

In July of 1980, Caddyshack struck me as yet another low-impact Bill Murray comedy (like Meatballs the previous year), or worse yet, another bloated movie designed to showcase over-rated Saturday Night Live cast members, like The Blues Brothers, which had come out just the previous month.

Needless to say, I had no idea that Caddyshack would, within a few short years, come to be regarded as one the most iconic and influential comedies in the history of American film.

Author Chris Nashawaty is the ultimate Caddyshack fanboy and his book is a celebration of how the film came to be, how it was shot (often chaotically) at a Florida golf club in the Fall of 1979, and how it got a disappointing reception upon its release.

Nashawaty starts his story in 1966, and ends it in September 1980, with the untimely passing of a major figure in the making of the movie. The book is thus not just a recounting of the making of the movie, but an examination of the rise of the new generation of comedies and comedians in American pop culture during the 1970s. It’s the story of The National Lampoon, Animal House, and Saturday Night Live, all of which made possible the making of Caddyshack. 

L to R: Doug Kenney, James Rivaldo, and Henry Beard of the Harvard Lampoon, 1968. Kenney would go on to produce Caddyshack

Nashawaty takes care to cram his narrative with all manner of insider tales and anecdotes, and by so doing, stays consistently entertaining (as Nashwaty makes clear, it’s a minor miracle that Caddyshack turned out to be a watchable movie, given the improvisational, haphazard nature of the script, and the heavy drug use by both cast and crew). I won’t disclose any spoilers, but I will say that there are plenty of tales that will give the film some added shine when next you view it.

‘Caddyshack (The Making of a Hollywood Success Story)' is very much aimed at a Baby Boomer readership. If you are over the age of 50 then this book will certainly trigger nostalgia; it’s little less clear whether those under 40 will find it as engaging.

I am not a super fan of the movie, but I do treasure the stoner culture of the 70s and early 80s, and for me, this book was well worth picking up. Recommended !

Meltdown Man progs 178 - 181

Meltdown Man
by Alan Hebden (story) 
and Massimo Belardinelli (art)
from 2000 AD, Progs 178 - 181
September 1980 - October 1980

'Meltdown Man' debuted in issue 178 (September 20, 1980) of 2000 AD. Created by the writer of Harry 20 on the High Rock, writer Alan Hebden, and illustrated by Massimo Belardinelli, the series ran for 50 issues, ending in August, 1981 (issue 227).

The series' premise borrowed somewhat from The Planet of the Apes: Nick Stone, a soldier in Britain's elite SAS unit, is on duty in a 'small kingdom' in the Persian Gulf. Stone has the misfortune to be caught in a nuclear blast and somehow teleported to another dimension, landing on a planet populated by Manimals called 'Yujees'. 

The Yujees are ruled by their human overlord, an amoral aristocrat named Leeshar. Stone's willingness to accept the Manimals as 'people' sets him against Leeshar and guarantees a steady stream of frenetic adventures throughout the run of 'Meltdown Man'.

Like other 2000 AD comics during the early 80s, Hebden's writing for 'Meltdown Man' centered on action and satiric humor, and avoided the constipated, self-indulgent scripting that dominated American comics of the same era. 

Massimo Belardinelli, who did an outstanding job providing the artwork for 2000 AD's 'Dan Dare' strips of the late 70s, was perfectly suited for illustrating 'Meltdown'.

The entire 1980 - 1981 run of the series has recently been reprinted in a trade paperback (below) from 2000 AD. It's available at your usual online retailers.

Posted below are the first four episodes of 'Meltdown Man'. 

Book Review: The Druid Stone

Book Review: 'The Druid Stone' by Simon Majors

2 / 5 Stars

'Simon Majors' was one of the pseudonyms used by the prolific American author Gardner Fox (1911 - 1986). The Druid Stone first was published in the U.S. in 1967; this New English Library paperback (111 pp) was released in February 1970.

The NEL could saddle its paperbacks with underwhelming cover art; that said, this has to be one of the worst cover illustrations I've ever seen on a book. But this also is one of those novels where, sadly, the poor cover art complements the poor text within.............

The Druid Stone is set in New Hampshire in the mid-60s. The protagonist, a man of the world named Brian Creoghan, is in a state of semi-retirement, losing himself in wandering the rural Autumn landscape during the days........ and sitting down beside the fireplace with a snifter of the best brandy in the evenings. 

He draws the attention of two 'Goths': Ugony and Moira MacArt, a brother and sister living in a mansion nearby.

It seems that the MacArts are intently pursuing occult knowledge, knowledge that they hope will allow them to access Dis, the parallel dimension often referred to in old legends and myths as the world of fairy. They believe that Croeghan has the innate ability to access Dis, provided the right conditions are used to enable his Astral Transport.

Bemused by the idea, Creoghan consents to participate in a strange experiment: by touching the Druid Stone, an artifact in the possession of the MacArts, he will attempt to project his 'astral body' into Dis.

The experiment succeeds..........and upon lapsing into a coma in 'our' world, Creoghan finds himself reincarnated in Dis, in the body of a barbarian warrior named Kalgornn. Croeghan / Kalgornn then embarks on a series of adventures, all of which have implications for the survival of our world and its inhabitants.

Even making allowances for its brevity, The Druid Stone is a mediocre effort from Fox, who was content to rely on stilted, pulp-style prose when writing this novel. 

Its underlying premise shows promise, and likely could have been worked into something impressive by a more dedicated author. For example, Fox shows hints of Lovecraftian events underlying what seems to be a conventional sword-and-sorcery tale, but these and other glimpses of imagination never are developed, and the narrative lumbers to a predictable ending. 

I can only recommend The Druid Stone to those Gardner Fox devotees who must have every one of his novels in their collection.