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Reading Slothfully
I was told in elementary school that I only could read at half the speed for success in college. Oh well, one benefit of slow reading is you get to live with the characters a longer period of time. I read in a vain attempt to better understand people. At my other homes, I'm known as a spouse, pop, guy in the choir, physical chemist, computer/web dilettante and child-care provider. In theory, I'm a published author, if you consider stuff like Quenching Cross Sections for Electronic Energy Transfer Reactions Between Metastable Argon Atoms and Noble Gases and Small Molecules to count as publications. I've strewn dozens of such fascinating things to the winds.
Currently reading
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
The Spirit of the Border
Ramona the Brave (Ramona, #3)
The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
Delilah of the Snows
Mrs. Miniver
Betsy-Tacy Treasury (P.S.)
A Christmas Carol
The Way Some People Die
Envy of Angels
Double Indemnity
Yikes! I read this on one day, and I read at only half the speed required for success in college, or so I was told back in my youth. Well, it was short, but also compelling. Not something one could easily put down once begun. Cain is a good author, if you like noir-y kinds of things. This is about as noir-y as it gets. A nice change from the heavier kinds of things I'd been reading. So, an insurance agent, Walter Huff, makes a call on a client, Mr. Nirdlinger, who isn't home. Nirdlinger's wife, Phyllis comes down to meet Huff, and Huff is immediately smitten. Together they hatch a rather convoluted plot to insure Mr. Nirdlinger against accidental death with a double indemnity clause that kicks in should the accident occur in specific ways, such as being killed by an accident on a train. So, we get lots of plotting and practice.
Then, it seems, Phyllis has a 19-year old step daughter, Lola. Huff becomes rather enamored by Lola. Lola has a boyfriend, Nino, who may or may not be a sketchy character. Apparently, he is finishing up his Ph.D. in chemistry, but there are other things about him which may or may not be savory. Suffice to say the Nirdlingers did not approve of the alliance in the least.
Well, I could go on, but I can't write a plot summary nearly so well as Cain can write and flesh out the plot itself. One would be best to head for the nearest library, or book store if you prefer, and snag a copy. This is a true gem one should not miss.
