11/6/2001 The clock starts ticking on 24

November 6, 2001.  The longest running spy show in American history premiered on this night.  24 was supposed to start in September, but the events of 9/11 made the contents of the first episode - including a terrorist blowing up a jet - seem a little dodgy.

24 was always tangled up in current events, tying it's terror-group-of-the-season to what was going on in the allegedly real world, and being accused of making government-sponsored torture seem a foolproof way of getting accurate information.

But what made the show a hit was the stylization: the brilliant real-time concept.  Every episode started and ended on the hour, and a clock ran down the time.  The creators used this device in many creative ways, playing against the viewer's expectation that the show would end on a moment of high drama.  Sometimes it did; sometimes the drama happened and the clock kept ticking...

Counter-terrorist operative Jack Bauer was the only person guaranteed to survive each episode and supposedly the other actors hated to see a scene in which they left headquarters in Kiefer Sullivan's company, because they knew their character might never get back alive.  Somehow they never got around to bumping off Chloe O'Brien, the grumpy nerd who kept Jack alive through dozens of dark and dangerous corridors and alleys.

And they never did explain when these people found time to go to the bathroom.

11/5/1900 Philip MacDonald is born

November 5, 1900.  Mystery writer Philip MacDonald was born on this day (and he should not be confused with mystery writers John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, or Gregory MacDonald).  He wrote more than thirty novels, under several names, and wrote screenplays based on his own work and others. 

11/4/1986 Martha Grimes starts jogging

November 4, 1986.  Martha Grimes' eighth novel about Richard Jury was published on this date.  I Am The Running Footman, named after an actual pub (as are all the books in the series), involves "the porphyria murders," two crimes that took place a year and many miles apart, but might be related.

The Washington Post called it “Literate, witty, and stylishly crafted.”

11/3/1890 Harry Stephen Keeler arrives

November 3, 1890.  Harry Stephen Keeler wrote weird novels.  They included sinister Asians, a Human Spider, dialogues that went on for hundreds of pages, cartoons, short stories written by his wife,  3-D color television (in the 1930s) and God knows what else.

A few of my favorite Keeler titles: The Mysterious Mr. I; The Case of the Barking Clock; The Gallows Waits, My Lord!; The Case of the Transparent Nude;  and Adventure in Milwaukee.


Years ago I was considering buying one of his novels while talking to one of the people at Ramble House, a publisher that republishes Keeler's books.  I said "Which Keeler book would you recommend for a fan of Donald Westlake?"  He thought for a moment and said "None."

For more information on this one-of-a-kind arteest  contact the Harry Stephen Keeler Society.

11/2/2007 American Gangster is sprung loose

November 2, 2007.  This date saw the release of American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington as a top Harlem drug dealer, and Russell Crowe as the cop who tries to bring him down.  Based on a true story, it involved smuggling drugs with military planes from Vietnam and nasty stuff happening to bad people.  It received two Oscar nominations, uncluding a Best Supporting nod for Ruby Dee.

11/1/1992 Quaker Silence speaks up

November 1, 1992.  Irene Allen's first novel, Quaker Silence, was published on this date.  Quaker clerk Elizabeth Elliot thinks the police have arrested the wrong man in the case of a murdered millionaire.  To find the truth she will have to do a little housebreaking, but she's up to the task.

Kirkus Reviews said: "Introspective traditionalists will find much to mull over."