RIP, Ira Levin
21/30 November 19, 2007
"The Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels, he makes what the rest of us do look like cheap watchmakers in drugstores."
--Stephen King, on Ira Levin
I just found out Ira Levin died on November 12th. The man wasn�t a big producer in his 44-year career�but damn, what he produced.
The Novels:
- A Kiss Before Dying
- Rosemary's Baby
- This Perfect Day
- The Stepford Wives
- The Boys from Brazil
- Sliver
- Son of Rosemary
The Plays
- No Time For Sergeants
- Interlock
- Critic's Choice
- General Seeger
- Dr. Cook's Garden
- Veronica's Room
- Deathtrap
- Break a Leg: A Comedy in Two Acts
- Cantorial
- Drat! The Cat! (book and lyrics)
I was a voracious and very advanced reader, so I had read �Rosemary�s Baby�, �The Stepford Wives�, and �The Boys From Brazil� before the age of 14. But all the scary enjoyment those books offered a kid of that age is nothing compared to the subtle and complex interweaving of plot, pace, prose, and suspense I discovered when I re-read them as an adult.
I can�t leave out his theater work though. As an avid theater buff since my childhhood, I�ve always kept an unnofficial running list of favorite plays. Subject to periodic re-edits, with plays added and deleted (and sometimes re-added), but with a core group of plays that just stick, year in and year out. They stick because I never tire of them, and could see them or read them unlimited times. They consistently entertain.
Two of those plays are �No Time For Sergeants� and �Deathtrap�.
Thank you, Mr. Levin
Reading: �Blind Side�, by Catherine Coulter. But I need to stop at the library for some Levin.
Beading: I�m still thinking!
Listening: Dean Martin, �Season�s Greetings�.
At Random: click here
|