When Harry Met Sally + Vikings + Lost Books

Jun 19

May I recommend

When Harry Met Sally

Look, this is not exactly a groundbreaking cinematic recommendation. I am not urging you to watch Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre or sit through Eraserhead (Do NOT do that)… Instead, I am encouraging you to go back and watch this sparkling gem from 1989 (!) that is already universally beloved - I mean, it has a 91% “Fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

The thing is, we watched WHMS Friday night and it HOLDS UP. Like, it almost entirely and completely holds up… There are no moments where you have to sort of grit your teeth and think “it was a different time, attitudes were different… They didn’t know that sexual assault wasn’t funny!”

Now, I say “almost entirely” because there is one glaring flaw in the movie — there are only white people in it. It’s the Whitey White New York of Seinfeld and Friends which obviously is deeply problematic. BUT if we just take a pause on thinking about that too deeply we can enjoy this (almost) perfect movie.

Meg Ryan is ADORABLE - hilarious, vulnerable, totally uptight and gorgeous. Billy Crystal is … not gorgeous. He’s short, his head is gigantic and his hair is quite troubling. Nonetheless the beard halfway through is an improvement, and let me tell you, his loving, neurotic, deeply human Harry transcends the fact that he looks like a poor man’s Michael Keaton (or maybe it’s the other way around?).

In any event, the banter, the outfits, the HAIR, the New York locations, the landlines and computers, the dialogue, the dialogue, the dialogue… The Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby of it all. This movie is incredible.

Should you rewatch it?
Yes, yes yes, yes (slams table) YES!

Tell me your thoughts/ memories of WHMS in the comments below! I first saw it at the Cinéma Princesse on Rue Principale, Cowansville Quebec - probably with my beloved movie buddy, Joanne.

Vikings weren’t vikings

Goodbye to the Vikings

Listen, I will ALWAYS link to Viking-related content. The Great Heathen Army? Alfred the Great? Harald Bluetooth (from whom we get the modern word?) YES PLEASE!

Now this author is kind of raining on my parade, but let it not be said that I am not open to other ideas, even though I do NOT believe what this guy is peddling.

The construct of the ‘Vikings’ conflates and blurs the distinction between eighth- and 12th-century pirates. Tenth-century kings based in Dublin and Christian rulers such as Cnut, all of whom lived in very different societies, had different belief systems and political and economic objectives. Each of these contexts needs to be dealt with on its own terms and not within a 19th-century construct that has more than a hint of racist essentialism to it. It is high time that historians, both academic and popular, ditched the Vikings as an outmoded and dangerous way of thinking. The Vikings never existed; it is time to put this unhealthy fantasy to bed.

Books you might have missed

Books Swallowed by the Black Hole of the Coronavirus

It would have been brutally hard to be published in 2020 when media coverage of books was nonexistent. Here’s a roundup of good ones you might have missed. I am particularly intrigued by THE EVERALASTING:

This time-skipping novel tells the stories of four characters living in Rome at vastly different historical moments: an aquatic biologist named Tom in 2015; Giulia de’ Medici, self-conscious of her African heritage, in 1559; Felix, a closeted monk in 896; and Prisca, a 12-year-old girl who becomes a Christian martyr in 165.

An article for when you’re laid up sick in bed

Stranger Things: A Reading List of Unsolved Mysteries

As it happens, I have a friend who is laid up sick in bed. This compendium of articles about unsolved mysteries ought to while away a few hours while her immune system does its thing… For everyone else, there’s some GOOD ones in here. The disappearance of Malaysian Airline 370; exorcisms, creepy twins…

This story of identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons, who would only communicate with each other, hits all the high notes of the deeply weird. Known as “The Silent Twins,” the pair led a strange and reserved existence from the beginning, which was exacerbated by the racist trauma and ostracization they experienced from being the only Black children in their Welsh community. (Hello, external conflicts!) As time went on, the two began to have trouble discerning themselves from each other. “You are Jennifer, you are me,” Jennifer would tell June. June later said, “One day, she [Jennifer] would wake up and be me, and one day I would wake up and be her.”

Book talk

Guys, June is bookclub MONTH and I’ve been hitting a ton of them -virtually and when possible in person. Here’s the thing, it’s a lot of fun - I really enjoy talking to people who’ve read THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS and have things to say about it. I wrote it all alone and then to have other people know the characters and have opinions and ideas about them is truly amazing.

Also, it’s so cool to get a window into how other people manage their book clubs. Some are hyper organized, some are super casual. Some are longtime friends, some are work colleagues. It’s all fascinating. I’m happy to participate if you’ve got on, so let me know!

On the subject of HONEYBEE, if you’ve read and liked it can you pop over to Amazon or Goodreads and leave a rating, or even better a review? It really helps… The Amazon ones are especially important because once I hit 50 reviews, Amazon starts recommending it as a “You might also like” to other readers and it gives the old book a lot more visibility. If you read HONEYBEE and didn’t love it then no worries — feel free to ignore this!

In other news, did I tell you that The Foulest Things has a new cover? I think I did… I revealed the cover in the newsletter a while ago, but then the publisher showed it to the sales team who markets the book to libraries and bookstores and they weren’t as thrilled with it so it got adjusted. I am fine with that. I want my book to sell, so if the sales team thinks this is more saleable, I am not going to argue. Here’s the new cover - look for it this autumn in a bookstore near you!

Also, this book will be graced with blurbs from many wonderful writers who I admire, including the one and only Queen of Three Pines herself, Louise Penny, who was gracious enough to read it and call it a “literary joy ride.” Here’s her full and extremely kind blurb:

Amy Tector has created a fascinating, hugely likeable main character in Jessica Kendall. The Foulest Things follows archivist Jess from discovering letters hidden in antique books, to the underbelly of the art world. With twists and turns, action and dashes of humour, we are sent on this literary joy ride. I can only hope this is the start of a wonderful series.

So, if you’re excited to read this book, you can pre-order today. For Honeybee some of the people who pre-ordered got it BEFORE the launch date. Now I’m not making any promises, because I have zero control over this, but…

American Amazon

Canadian Amazon

Indigo

or BEST OF ALL - email your local bookstore and ask them to order it in — they can do that!