This was part of a James M. Cain reissue done by Penguin. Because all the books in the series—Postman, Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce—had been made into famous 1940s movies, they designed the covers to resemble old movie titles. (Including the "landscape" dimensions, which suggests a movie screen.)

Must respectfully disagree on this one. I really dug it.

👍

@reganmacarthur.bsky.social is also huge fan of A Key to the Suite.

Travis never does anything for me. 🤣

“Pretty good” captures my feelings about Cape Fear—both movies are an improvement over it, though.

Those are my two favorites as well. A Key to the Suite also great. I’ve read a dozen others, but they all range from terrible to merely decent.

Quality sentences and a quality plot are not mutually exclusive. And don’t tell me anything in my own post is “beside the point.” I’m establishing the point, not responding to it. It’s on-point by definition.

First, this is a humorous post, not to be taken so literally. Second, while you might argue that all novels *technically* have a plot, plenty of them feel like the story is going nowhere. Many readers believe that’s how a lot of literary fiction reads.

I love symbolism if it’s done well. But symbolism doesn’t preclude a story from having shape and conveying the sense that it’s going somewhere.

Tariffs are great for shrinking the waistline.

The thinking man's hottie. A sentimental favorite.