Harry here, I can tell you this about the following. IT ain't a movie, yet at least. And when the below writer talks about how great the dialogue is. Believe me, when you read a Coen Brother script, the actual tangible way that the dialogue is written, the way the accents are spelled out. It's just plum great reading. It's wonderful. So while this ain't a film scoop, this is a scoop for you lovers of the Coen's work. I'm gonna have ta find me a copy, yup I sure am.
Harry,
This will sound kind of stupid to you -- I've known about this for a couple of months, now, and it just occurred to me this morning that it's a scoop, kinda'.
I'm a HUGE Coen Brothers freak from way back, and I do what I can to evangelize them to other people. So here you go:
In November, Ethan Coen has a book of short stories coming out from William Morrow & Company. (Now, hold on: just hear me out.) It's called Gates of Eden. My best friend works at the world famous Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, and he casually mentioned to me that there were some advance review copies circulating among the employees, and God Bless the bastard, he brought me a copy when he came to the Midwest to visit.
The book is hysterical. I'm talkin', read-it-in-public-and-get-weird-stares-from-people funny. The title story is about a Dashiell Hammet-esque hard-boiled agent of the Los Angeles Department of Weights & Measures. At the beginning, he finds a gas station that's been rigging its pumps, and he beats up the owner and smashes out the plate glass windows. He becomes involved in a blackmail scheme cooked up by some Chinese grocers he's busted in the past.
There's a 40's-style parody of a radio Detective drama called, "Hector Berlioz, Private Investigator," which is one of the funniest things in the book. It pretty much begs to be read aloud.
Some of the stories contain lines and images that the Coens went on to use in movies. There's an ear-biting incident in "A Fever in the Blood" exactly like the fight outside the bowling alley in The Big Lebowski. There's a detective (sort of) who drives around in a Volkswagen Bug in the book's first story, "Destiny." (Remember Blood Simple & The Big Lebowski.)
But here's the really bitchingly cool thing about this book: If you're at all familiar with their movies, you will be instantly aware from page one that you're reading stories by Ethan Coen. The voice is so singular and unmistakable, you start wondering if Ethan writes all the dialogue in their movies, although I'm sure that's not the case. The Coens' primary strength lies in character and voice, and this is naturally what Ethan brings to his stories.
So okay. There you have it. A brief book review on a film-scoop page. Anyone who digs the Coens to any degree will love it. Now I get to pick a nom-de-guerre in case this is posted, so I'll be --
Eddie Dane
