Sunday, November 2, 2014

A shameless selfie ad ...


Click on ad to enlarge it.
As a rule, I don't carry ads on this blog, but friends tell me that I should at least run one for my work, so here is one that you can easily skip. The attached audio features actor Robertson Dean reading a short excerpt from my introduction to the book. The entire, unabridged reading runs over ten hours and comes in a Tantor Audiobooks boxed set of 11 CDs. An E-books edition is available on Kindle, and Yale University Press still has it in book form. Since I received the CDs only this week, I have but spot-checked Mr. Dean's reading. He does an excellent job, although Bix Beiderbecke somehow became Bee-derbeck.  Now, let's see what HBO and Queen Latifah come up with—in anticipation, I already bought the Exedrin©.

 I hope this commercial intrusion does not offend anyone. 



Links for the Audiobook, Paperback, and Kindle editions:
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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousMonday, October 27, 2014

    A fine and a moving reading, Chris – thank you for sharing.

    Please, never hesitate.

    Sincerely,

    ~ 'indigo'

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMonday, October 27, 2014

    I'm offended.
    KGT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris AlbertsonMonday, October 27, 2014

      I am told that it takes three offended notices to remove shameless commercial selfies. Yours has now been duly noted, KGT :)

      Delete
    2. AnonymousMonday, October 27, 2014

      Gimme a pig's foot and a bottle of beer and I'll fuggedaboudit.

      Delete
    3. AnonymousMonday, October 27, 2014

      Tain"t Nobody's Business if I is offended.
      KGT

      Delete
    4. Chris AlbertsonMonday, October 27, 2014

      Good to see that you have an awareness of Bessie's music.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMonday, October 27, 2014

    No problem with a little self-promotion. All fine and dandy by me and Idi Amin Dada...

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
  4. whoMonday, October 27, 2014

    Wait, HBO adaptation? COOL!

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/queen-latifah-star-as-bessie-700543

    I hope you got really well paid for this. That's too bad that you didn't love the script. What was wrong with it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris AlbertsonMonday, October 27, 2014

      It would be cool if HBO had hired a writer/director with the wherewithal to grasp the power of Bessie Smith, beyond her musical talent. The person they hired to write and direct is, frankly, clueless. I know that it is nigh impossible to write a screenplay that will fully satisfy an author, but I also realize (having myself been on the other end of such a project) that one cannot do a page-by-page adaptation and that composite characters have to be created, etc. That is not my problem here, and I do like the cast, which has Queen Latifah in the lead and good supporting players, including one of my favorite characters from "The Wire."

      This is already in post production, so it's a done deal, but were earlier scripts. One of the first was written by Melvin Van Peeples (it was so ridiculous that everybody involved immediately rejected the first draft). I felt much better about Horton Foote's script, but his treatment of "Bessie" was not what I expected to see from the man who turned "To Kill a Mockingbird" into such a memorable film--I found his approach too old-fashioned, but the studio thought it worth pursuing. A financial scandal intervened and when the studio got back on its feet, the director was deceased, etc., etc. Ahh, the stories I could tell. :)

      So, basically, it boils down to an inexperienced writer/director hired far too soon for a project that she may never be ready to handle. Sad to say, it will probably be many years before anyone again attempts to make a film worthy of Bessie's memory—certainly not in my lifetime, and possibly never. How uncool is that?

      Delete
  5. bklynstephTuesday, October 28, 2014

    Very nice I love Bessie.

    ReplyDelete

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