This Week in Reading May 27 - June 2

This week's authors start with Dashiell Hammett, whose mysteries hinted at some of modern society's distrust of its own formulaic expectations, and end with Thomas Hardy, whose writings' veneer of middle class respectability in the post-Victorian era hid deep narratives that led the way into more modern writing, including the Twentieth Century stories of John Cheever and the novels of Walker Percy. There are wonderful discursions along the way as well, from T.H. White's King Arthur and G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, Ian Fleming's James Bond adventures, and authors of other genres for other tastes. Enjoy.

This week's question: Who benefited from her close association with Hammett and gained the rights to his works--instead of his daughters by a first marriage?

Answer to Last Week's question: Whether you like it or not, when you come to the Central Library you're walking in John Wayne's footsteps. Like you, he was an avid reader. John Wayne lived at 404 North Isabel Street in Glendale in 1920 (according to the US Census), and attended his freshman and sophomore years at Glendale High's Harvard Street campus, where the Glendale Central Library is located now. Glendale High School opened at its present location on Broadway in time for his senior year. Read in the Glendale News Press how he came to be known as "Duke."