I was reading a trivia book a little while ago and they happened to mention that everyone's favorite B-movie film maker Ed Wood also wrote a book--a mystery if I remember correctly-I can't remember the name of the book but the mere idea that he tried to invade the book scene and do to it what he did to the movie scene is just amazing IMHO.
Well, this is interesting --
I've read "Nighmare of Ecstacy", and seen all the doc's on Mr. Wood --
He did write a number of porno novels for -- I think -- "Beehive Press", which was a huge porno producer in the '60's and '70s.
As far as I know, he never wrote anything -- other than screenplays -- that wasn't a porno novel.
peter johnson/denny crane
they made a series of books based on the Doom video game. I read one and man was it bad. The movie would have been good in comparison.
I read one of ed woods books. it was a guide to making it in hollywood. seriously.
as far as bad book books, I'd highly recommend the autobiography of vassiily najinsky. He's a very famous ballet dancer from the eraly 20th century. He evidentally didn't have a very good education. the book is highly entertaining but ultimately unreadable due to his fragmented writing style
"I see taverns with working men in them. I don't go in them. they drink cheap wine"
he was also well on his way to being totally insane and I believe died acting as a horse or something for sometime
The only book I've read that felt like a bad movie was Fatalis by Jeff Rovin. Good god, he had smilodons doing everything from killing people in the ocean to jumping from the tops of trees into helicopters. Every time I told someone the title of the book I was reading, I kept hearing "A Sci-Fi Channel Pictures original!" in my head.
Ed Wood wrote alot of "erotic" fiction for various magazines,and wrote lotsa paperbacks under various names as well (Including Ann Gora!!!)
A few pics of Ed's books...(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/pl576.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/3368_12.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/798c_1.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/BookCheapBlonde.jpg)
Here's a link,it details Ed's magazine work as well....! It's also a cool site for Bad Mags(!!!)
http://www.badmags.com/bmedwood.html
(warning: site contains nudity...not hardcore,ok?)
In the same cathegory one may put Memoirs of my Nervous Illness... Written by a german jurist while being comitted to the local insane asylum. He in there describes his illness of the nerves, his contact with divine rays of god, his slow transformation into female form and so on... it's a fascinating read, but a hard one, since he was in fact, insane and often goes on tours of pure ramblings. Apparently Freud made a whole book analyzing these memoirs that's been a huge success among the psychoanlysts...
Also, many parts where adapted to the cult film Dark City... :wink:
On the part of Ed Woods spectrum... I like this guys work more and more and recently realized that there is no review of his big debut Glen or Glenda here... it's a big shame... it's up on youtube as public domain if anyone feels up to it.
Anyways... A book by the master of bad movies himself does seem like an interesting read... But I'll have to get through these memoirs first and the book about "Writing screenplays that sells!" that I'm reading right now first...
I'm not exactly sure what we're discussing here. Books that numb are brains or books that are like B-movies (enjoyable or not).
I think Carnosaur goes in this category. Dinos eating people is fine with me.
'Worm' was okay too.
A horrid Sci Fi book that was just like a bad movie: CRADLE by Gentry Lee and Arthur C. Clarke. This was the most rambling, derailed, nonsensical SF book ever. An alien spaceship on Earth carrying the next stage of human evolution isn't enough to drive the plot? Let's throw in teen sex, adultery, a homemade video game involving a porn star, military experiments, and Moammar Gaddafi's daughter (to be fair only in a brief flashback)! Ow my brain! Plus, the main characters are all rude jerks.
RAMA II (same authors) is not quite as bad, but it's Z-grade science fiction soap opera, again with the hideously annoying main characters and random sex elements (Renaissance erotic art, futuristic abortion drugs, blah blah blah.)
Avoid anything co-authored by Gentry Lee, unless you just want to laugh at it.
Quote from: Vultur on May 31, 2007, 08:46:28 PM
CRADLE by Gentry Lee and Arthur C. Clarke.
I keep a list of every book that I read. That is one of two books that I refuse to add to the list. I like to pretend that I never read it.