Darlings, It Is A Dickens Of A Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Now, girls, you have just got to admit--isn't Matthew Pearl the cutest thing?????  Let me tell you, that Michael Chabon might be the Flavor Of The Month, what with his widely heralded "Telegraph Avenue," (which I am anxious to read), but he is just so scruffy and disheveled, he comes across as the Philip Seymour Hoffman of the literary world!!!!!! Though, thankfully, if he sits in a couch, it does not automatically collapse to the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             I have been an admirer of Matthew Pearl, ever since his debut--can you believe it has been 10 years?????--in 2002, with "The Dante Club."  His gimmick is to combine elements of a thriller with literary or academic scholarship, which presses all my buttons.  And not since 'Dante' have  the buttons been pressed as much as with "The Last Dickens," which encapsulates historical details of  not only of one of my favorite writers, but his final work, which I only recently just read--"The Mystery Of Edwin Drood"--in preparation for the upcoming Roundabout Production, featuring  that future Musical Theater Icon, Jessie Mueller, in the role of Helena Landless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Some readers may recall I was somewhat less than blown away with the Dickens book, stating if it hadn't had his name on it, it might not have gotten published. Mr. Pearl's book is satisfying in ways the Dickens book is not--and one of those ways is that, after having read it, it has made me think about going back and exploring the Dickens novel.  All the usual conjectures--and some surprising ones I was not aware of--are mentioned, surrounding a tale of rival publishers and opium dealers, whose lives are entwined by the effects that Dickens' material--what material there is, and what there isn't, which so many are desperate to find--could have on them.  I found the whole thing spellbinding; though I must confess, maybe because of too much ID (Investigation Discovery) I saw through one of the characters.  That is, I knew he was not what he seemed, but not who he turned out to be. That DID surprise me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    That Mr. Pearl has scored another success is not surprising.  And with his subject being virtually foolproof, and me so connected, it could not miss.  Do you need to have read "The Mystery Of Edwin Drood" to appreciate "The Last Dickens?"  I do not think so, but I do think that, if you haven't, after finishing Pearl's book, you should read Dickens'!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now, I am all the more curious to read Dan Simmons' 2009 novel, "Drood," to see how things are covered there.  Though I think I will take a break from Victoriana for the time being.

                                         I can't wait for Mr. Pearl's next endeavor. And let me say up front, I will always be convinced John Jasper murdered his nephew.  And that Dickens' friend, Wilkie Collins, should have taken on the task of finishing the novel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          Unless it has been done already--from Beyond???????????????????