Well, and if whoever was responsible for Cujo hadn't changed the ending.

Verily. Another funny Stephen King rant is about how when Hollywood buys your book, they just want to tell you what's wrong with it, how to re-do it, and how about replacing the little old lady character with Lou Gossett, Jr., because he's available, and really marketable right now.

So: never judge a book by its movie.

How did Cujo actually end?

Signed, "Flinched Her Way Through the Movie, Because Rabid Dogs Are Scary"

Dana, in the book, the boy dies.

Heh. I loved to read King when I was 10, 11, 12 years old. Whenever I try to go back and re-read Pet Sematary and that stuff, I can't do it. Reminds me too much of home.

A couple of months ago I stumbled across Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula" books. (ouch! such a klutz) Scanning the Net for more background on some of the obscure characters in those books, I fell into the territory of serious Wold Newton fandom. Now I seem to spend most of my work day looking at hypothetical timelines linking every fictional character under the sun ... BTW, did you know Buffy's dad, Hank Summers, is the biological brother of Jaime Summers, the Bionic Woman? No, really ... it says so right there in the "Crossover Chronology"...

Thanks, Fred.

Also, bummer.

I thought Jaime was a "Sommers", CB.

I finished The #1 Ladies Detective Agency on books on tape and it was a wonderful marriage of book to actor/reader. The reader spoke in what I assume is a Satswani (it sounded like she said Satswani, but it could be Botswani? [this is the downside of not have words on paper in front of you]) accent, which helped anchor the book in place, the place being Botswana. The sense of place is the best thing about the book. Mma Ramotswe loves Botswana, and her descriptions of her family history, and the look, feel, taste, customs, sounds of Botswana, and sometimes other countries, are lovely. The mysteries she solves are in alternating chapters to, um, mediations about Botswana or the Botswani, and were only interesting to me (the mystery lover) in the way they reveal another aspect of life there. Recommended, especially for the sense of place in a foreign land. I've just started the second book Tears of the Giraffe, read by the same actress.

Java, I just bought No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, I'm looking forward to it.

If it's already been recommended, I apologize - but along that vein, I LOVE Laurie King's historical mystery series -- starts with The Beekeeper's Apprentice

It supposes that Sherlock Holmes as an older, semi-retired detective meets a young, brilliant woman who becomes his partner in crime, as it were. FanTAStic.