If you want mass market paperbacks by Bob Hope, and you do, there is no better source, apparently, than the vast network of Michigan flea markets, from one of which - ONCE AGAIN! - Megan Abbott has been kind enough to send me a nice surprise. This time it's a little number called I OWE RUSSIA $1200. In the VERY FIRST FULL PARAGRAPH Frank Sinatra offers to take Mrs. Khrushchev to Disneyland like so: "Yeah, you gotta make that scene." AND Bob refers to her as "Mrs. K." AND she refers to Khrushchev as "Nickie." So - and nothing against our book club - it's ALREADY demonstrably better than our book club selection. So then I flip open the book at random and find Bob entranced and fascinated by Coccinelle, the transgender entertainer (pictured). The first time he spots her, Bob is sharing a table with Dean Martin in a Paris bar! And she walks by and winks at him! When he finds out the "truth," he says, "I wish I could have another talk with my father." That old "rake," as Megan has aptly called him! Then there's a full-page picture of Coccinelle and Bob Hope on the set of PARIS HOLIDAY. Really, could any book be any better? I tried to find a decent picture of Bob and Coccinelle on the "internet," but all I saw was a thumbnail picture, and not nearly as nice as the one in the book, though it seems to have been snapped in the same general location. I love literature! (Above, Coccinelle. Below, Bob Hope dancing with Anita Ekberg - not Coccinelle, sadly - on the aforementioned set of PARIS HOLIDAY.)
