The Mystery of Barry Lyndon's Fart

I had fun last night watching BARRY LYNDON with Tom Franklin. Yes, that's my idea of fun, so go to hell. Speaking of going to hell! You should check out my great new comic strip. From the creator of Frowny 'n' Smiley comes Jerky the Li'l Jerk. He's the fun-loving little boy who tells people to go to hell. "Click" here for all the action you can stand. It's Jerky the Li'l Jerk! They're presented in reverse chronological order, so scroll up from the bottom, folks. You won't want to miss a single panel of America's newest sweetheart, Jerky the Li'l Jerk. Anyway, so I was thinking of all the people I've watched BARRY LYNDON with. I watched BARRY LYNDON with Pendleton Ward! (For details, "click" here.) I watched BARRY LYNDON with Lee Durkee! (For details, "click" here!) I watched BARRY LYNDON with Megan Abbott and Kent Osborne! Simultaneously! Looking back at the "post" reporting on my viewing experience with Pen, I thought, huh! I thought, gee! Didn't Pen make me stop the movie and replay a scene because he thought Barry Lyndon farted? And I couldn't convince him that Barry Lyndon didn't fart? And didn't I write this down? I thought it was on the "blog"! But after a long, humiliating search for "barry lyndon + fart" turned up nothing on the "blog" I started scanning other examples of my voluminous output, including my many, many unpublished novels. And you know where I found it? You'll never guess. You're not even here! No one is reading this. I've made my peace with that. Well, I'll tell you anyway. I did a thing for Popula where I just babbled into a digital recorder and transcribed the results, and it was there that I related the "Pen thinking that Barry Lyndon farted" tale. "Click" here for proof. How many things have I told you to "click"? Four? How many did you "click"? Zero? I guess you're busy. So, the "Barry Lyndon farting" story was especially difficult to find because for some reason I changed everybody's name when I was babbling into that recorder. I guess that was back when I valued privacy or human dignity or whatever it was we used to value around here. So I called Pen "Tex." He's from Texas in real life, though I think it was also a salute to the anarchic spirit of animation pioneer Tex Avery. For more about Barry Lyndon's farts, ask your pastor or visit your local library.

Pioneers of Not Caring

By now you know the time-worn old story - nay, legend! - of how Ace Atkins drove up one fine day to Memphis, Tennessee, and I rode along with my handy digital recorder and interviewed him about the time he went to Hollywood to work on a Pauly Shore movie. Well, sir, I promised not to bother you about it very much, and I do think I have lived up to my word. But! Just the other day, right here on the old "blog," I was lamenting our relative lack of monkeys as of late. And that is why I feel obliged to tell you that baby chimpanzees figure prominently in the latest installment of ACE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD on the "web" site FLAMING HYDRA. Sure, I've told you about MY baby chimpanzee encounter before ("click" here - you won't! Ugh! Why are you so awful? Have you ever asked yourself?) but did you know about ACE'S encounter with a baby chimpanzee? I'll wager you did not. Who are you? And why do I hate you so much? In conclusion, I know that chimpanzees are not monkeys, and I don't care. I'm famous now for not caring about anything - it's my brand! - but not caring that chimpanzees are not monkeys is something I was doing years ago. I cut my not-caring teeth on the difference between monkeys and chimpanzees! I also don't care that I said "in conclusion" but now I'm going to talk about something else. I also don't care that I'm writing, not "talking." Anyway, speaking of Hollywood, USA, a (formerly) secret project I've been working on got written up in VARIETY. I just wanted to make a correction. Kent and I are referred to in the article as "game masters," when everyone on the show, including ourselves, calls us "gamekeepers," a humbler and more fitting title. Do I seem to care about this one thing? I don't care if I do!

She First Laid Eyes on Jeffrey When He Burst Out of a Pie

It has been a busy few days! Many revelations. Just for example, we learned that Bill Griffith watches THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW every week. He said of the midwest, from which he hails, "Polka was our blues," and we all laughed, but then he kept expanding his argument until we were all nodding thoughtfully. "We" included Laraine Newman and Ace Atkins and Megan Abbott. Bill was doing his usual amazing job of showing us around Rowan Oak. He got out Jill Faulkner's rarely-seen scrapbook in which she pasted pictures of her favorite stars, snipped from movie magazines. (Jill was Faulkner's daughter, of course.) There were quite a few photos of Lucille Ball from her pre-comedy pin-up days - a coincidence, as Laraine and I had just been talking about her (and would continue to do so during our panel the next night). In one of them, Lucy was "showing her bloomers," as Laraine put it. I guess it felt strange to stand in a girl's bedroom and nose through her private scrapbook, even though (or especially because?) she grew old and passed away years ago. Another revelation: Laraine once auditioned for Bob Hope! She said it was nightmarish and mortifying. She did her "Valley Girl" character for him, back when no one - especially Bob Hope - knew what a "valley girl" was. He stared at her with a look on his face that said they did not belong in the same room, the same building, the same universe. If I paraphrase, it is only slightly. What else? The revelations are only beginning. I read things in REPROBATES: THE CAVALIERS OF THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR about which I neglected to inform you. I did make it to twitter - a poor substitute! - to quote Robert Herrick, who was quoted in the book: "Get up, sweet Slug-a-bed, and see/ The Dew-besprangling Herbe and Tree." When I got to "besprangling" I had to put down the book for the night, I really did, because nothing was going to top it. Besprangling! At the end of the chapter we found out how Queen Henrietta met her favorite dwarf: "She first laid eyes on Jeffrey Hudson at a banquet held in her honour by the duke, when he burst out of a pie and greeted her." What else? Megan and Bill had a good talk because - unbeknownst to one another - they had both been watching Lawrence Welk's Halloween special at the same time. Dr. Theresa and I missed it because we were watching HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES as part of our Halloween film festival. (Megan took the above photo of her TV screen during the Lawrence Welk Halloween special and tweeted it at me while I was watching HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES.) HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES does not linger in the memory. But I did write down three things on the back of an envelope to tell you about it: 1) John Ireland wears an ill-fitting lavender turtleneck. 2) It is one of those movies in which a cat appears at the beginning, and you think "Oh no! Something awful is going to happen to that cat!" And it does. 3) HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES concludes with a touching expression of gratitude to the Utah Historical Society! I wonder how the Utah Historical Society felt about that. I knew that Bill Griffith was a big horror fan, but I did not know that Megan Abbott and Laraine Newman were just as avid. So Bill and Megan bonded over pioneering camera techniques in BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974). At dinner last night Dr. Theresa and Laraine enthusiastically discussed THE STUFF (in which Laraine's friend Garrett Morris appeared) and other works of Larry Cohen. Megan and Laraine rhapsodized about THE BROOD and DEAD RINGERS, both by Cronenberg. Laraine brought up Kolchak: The Night Stalker. By coincidence, Dr. Theresa and I had just watched THE NIGHT STRANGLER, a TV movie starring that character, as part of our Halloween film festival. Hmm, what else? While Dr. Theresa and I were on the way to the airport to pick up Laraine, a song by Jim Ed Brown came on the radio, containing this rhetorical question: "Did you ever hear of a clown with teardrops streaming down his face?" To which I responded, "Yes! All the time." Yet somehow Jim Ed Brown seemed to think we'd be surprised.

State of the Modern Smoothie

Eating mashed potatoes, taking pain pills and reading ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE VAMPIRE. Gonna be some evening. Yes, I guess that's more of a tweet, but I'm off the twitter. And anyway, I used to "blog" about this kind of stuff before I even knew what twitter was. I WAS A PIONEER! A BRAVE PIONEER. I also have some complaints about smoothies that are better suited to twitter, and I think I will keep them to myself, so that's one good thing, that's one thing you can be grateful for in this crazy world.

Owls and Moustaches

I was up at Square Books earlier today, manfully resisting - for the nonce! - the impulse to buy a $50 book with an owl on the cover. I heard a voice: "Owls are very fashionable." It was Lyn. I was surprised and - may I confess it? - alarmed by the news. After all, I am a pioneer in a particular branch of owl studies, and I was not completely comfortable with the thought of hipsters jumping willy-nilly on the owl bandwagon. Lyn explained that she buys many of the gifts for Square Books (that is, she orders the items for the store that are not books); she has noticed an uptick in available owl merchandise. "Lots of owls," she said, predicting what novelties we'll see in the stores this holiday season. "Owls and moustaches." (See also.) You heard it here first.

McNeil's Delight

McNeil delights in sending me to "web" sites I cannot show you due to "blog" safety policy, like the one that says, "The first reaction for many on seeing this magnificent crop circle is usually a 'BiG WOW' coupled with some spine chills and a rising wave of excitement seeing this brilliant transdimensional crop circle message..." That site also reveals that NEWSRADIO cast member Joe Rogan is a "pioneer" who has "adventures" in "invisible realms."

Bill Blackbeard!

I was sorry to read that the great, pioneering - and visionary, I would say! - comic strip archivist and expert Bill Blackbeard passed away. Here is an excerpt from his obituary in THE COMICS REPORTER: "In 1977, with Martin Williams, Blackbeard co-authored The Smithsonian Collection Of Newspaper Comics. In doing so, Blackbeard changed the direction of comics and the direction of many lives of those that choose to read them. It is one of the ten most influential and important publications in comics history." I'll say! That book (along with Reader's Digest's STRANGE STORIES, AMAZING FACTS, of course) was one of the most formative of my young (at the time) life. Throw in the mid-70s LP box set THE SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION OF CLASSIC JAZZ (my first encounter with jazz - a sweeping experience "selected and annotated by" the VERY SAME Martin Williams [it must be, right?], who wrote a big, amazing booklet of educational liner notes) and you have the portrait of a young nerd, now an old nerd. Thanks for everything, Martin Williams and Bill Blackbeard! (Pictured, a panel (found at COMICS REPORTER) from Crockett Johnson's BARNABY AND MR. O'MALLEY, one of the many great pieces of American art I first learned about from Mr. Blackbeard's collection.) Now I need to look up Martin Williams, who it turns out is responsible for 2/3 of my personality.

Book Conference Ahoy

Ate grillades and grits last night in a big fancy house with movie stars, poets, comics artists, animators, Pulitzer prizewinners, painters, Paul from City Lights, Shakespeareans, scientists, book people of all varieties, then off for music at Ajax with much of the same bunch, and everybody was a great dancer, sure, but Dr. Theresa danced them all off the floor. Then Joe Matt walked Dr. Theresa and me home! And it was like living a page of a Joe Matt comic book! Book conference ahoy! This is what happens at a book conference, people. Isn't it about time you attended a book conference? You know you want to! Don't forget to come to my panel on Saturday with Joe Matt! Michael Kupperman! and underground comics pioneer Joyce Farmer (pictured, just nominated for a Reuben, the highest award in all of cartooning)!

The Award For Best Carpet

I have been flooded with telegrams demanding a full report on the 2nd Annual McNeil's Movie Korner Film Festival. Let me put your anxious minds at rest. The festival began as promised with THE VILLAIN, followed by THE ERRAND BOY, a screener of A SERIOUS MAN, THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE, HOME FROM THE HILL (filmed in part right here in Oxford, including a scene inside City Grocery when it was a grocery store), LET IT RIDE, and MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE. (I think the occasion demands some new, non-random illustrations.) Well, THE VILLAIN got things off to an abominable start, even though it featured cameos by "blog" objects of curiosity Foster Brooks and Ruth Buzzi. The term "thankless role" was invented for Ann-Margret, whose job in the film is to try gamely, though with evident exhaustion and diminishing returns, to get some simulacrum of a human response from her main acting partner Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the plus side, if you still have any doubts that Jerry Lewis is a genius, watch THE VILLAIN and then watch THE ERRAND BOY. Both films become, at some point, a series of independent vignettes. THE VILLAIN will help you appreciate the imagination with which Jerry sets up and shoots each standalone gag in THE ERRAND BOY. Even the ones that don't quite work are eminently bizarre, ambitious, and personal, as opposed to the flat anonymity of the former film. While there was no pervasive theme to this year's festival, such as "Psychiatrists and Turtlenecks," you can already sense to your great delight that there were small connections from one film to the next, and you are so excited that I am about to tell you what they were. For example, THE ERRAND BOY and A SERIOUS MAN both included the word "tsuris" in their scripts. THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE and HOME FROM THE HILL, while the production values and levels of awareness could not have been more different, were heavy on the Freud. In the former, there's a (SPOILER ALERT) long, cylindrical, threatening (partially bulbous?) one-eyed creature who gets his eye shot out! Okay? In HOME FROM THE HILL, George Hamilton and George Peppard love walking around with their shirts unbuttoned almost to their navels, a fashion statement repeated three decades later in LET IT RIDE by David Johansen of the New York Dolls, who plays "Loony." A prominent bit player goes for a similar look. At one point in LET IT RIDE, Richard Dreyfuss breaks the fourth wall, looks straight into the camera, and says (I think) "Am I having a great day or what?" This, of course, is a technique pioneered by MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE star Bob Hope, such utterances most often occurring under potentially salacious circumstances, as indeed is the case in LET IT RIDE. I can hear you asking, "But what about carpet? We know how much McNeil loves good carpet in his movies." Yes, we should start giving out an award for Best Carpet. We'll call it the Carpie. This year's Carpie goes to A SERIOUS MAN. "Love that carpet," McNeil said while watching the film. He had some exactly like it when he was a kid. "I used to roll marbles on the flat part," he reported.

Hilarious Witticisms

Our annual Halloween film festival concluded in its second half with Vincent Price in THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961), THE HAUNTING (1963; adaptation of "blog" "fave" novel THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE), and SWAMP THING (1982). The scariest thing about SWAMP THING was the enormity of Louis Jordan's glasses (pictured). Louis Jordan is not to be confused with the great Louis Jordan, pioneer of R&B, but I think the movie would have been fantastic with that Louis Jordan in it, even though the Louis Jordan who IS in it seemed to be turning into what Theresa called "a giant baked potato" after drinking a magic potion at one point, which was fine. There was this kid who helped Adrienne Barbeau navigate around the swamp, and though he was a little kid, his glasses were as big as Louis Jordan's, so that was exciting. Sometimes it was hard for me to understand what the Swamp Thing was doing. Like, I'd say, "Did the Swamp Thing just tear that guy's head off?" and Theresa would explain, "No, I think he squeezed his brains out." I guess it was mildly interesting that THE HAUNTING featured Russ Tamblyn and SWAMP THING featured Ray Wise, and they were both later in the cast of TWIN PEAKS, or maybe that was not interesting, what do you think? For me, the crowning glory of this year's festival was THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM. It has almost nothing to do with Poe's story, but a lot to do with Poe's fascinated terror of being buried alive. Vincent Price as Don Medina is afraid that his wife Mrs. Medina may have been interred prematurely, giving rise to many witticisms on my part revolving around the song "Funky Cold Medina." Oh what joyous laughter rang through our little home on such occasions! But mostly we were scared, because THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is scary! And all my humorous witticisms came to an end and I just shut up and watched the movie, flinching frequently. Speaking of Poe, you know how I am skimming a book flap every day for a year? Today I skimmed the flap of POE: A LIFE CUT SHORT by Peter Ackroyd. The book looks good, but the flap is anemic. So why does the book look good? I'm not sure, because that's the job the flap should be doing. It said we were going to learn about Poe's "bumpy academic career" and I was like, "Ooh! Scary!" That's what I was like.

The Pulley

It seems vital to the interests of the "blog" to report that in today's New York Times (in which I have a book review) the fellows from Spinal Tap are revealed to have a "favorite inside joke" at the expense of Larry King's Twitter account. Michael McKean (pictured) is credited with a particularly fine and hilarious imitation: "If there's a better invention than the pulley, I haven't heard of it." We mention this for two reasons: 1) The "blog" would like to establish itself as a pioneer in the field, having first drawn your attention to Larry King's Twitter account on May 4th. 2) It makes us think once again about how even the best approximations of certain kinds of oddball writing fail to match the weird power of the real thing. I can write tweeterings about pudding all I want, but Larry King will always have me beat in the non sequitur department, because he is like the Zen dude who's not shooting at the target to win a sack of gold, you know that dude. Go back and read your Chuang Tzu. Larry King is a living work of art! A famous line from THIS IS SPINAL TAP puts it best: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

A Valuable Appendix

I see that fellow Jerry Lewis fan Dave Kehr, with whom I so wrongly share the sidebar on the TCM "web" site, is talking in an appropriately giddy fashion about Mr. Lewis's upcoming New York appearance over on his "blog." Even more tantalizingly, Kehr provides a "link" to the "web" site of one Chris Fujiwara, who also mentions the live appearance AND gives a fleeting hint about his upcoming book from the University of Illinois Press. The title of that book? JERRY LEWIS. Put me down for a copy! I take it as a good sign that Mr. Fujiwara cites the very scene from THE PATSY that McNeil treasures as his favorite, as well as zeroing in on my favorite character (the shy zoologist) from THREE ON A COUCH and touching on (of all things) ONE MORE TIME, a highlight of the first (and apparently last) annual McNeil's Movie Korner Film Festival, and a piece of work which McNeil and I assumed was otherwise forgotten. (Speaking of THREE ON A COUCH, Mr. Fujiwara also makes appreciative remarks (although in a more academic vein than McNeil's) about the scene that prompted McNeil's immortal question (and answer), "Are you at the part where Jerry dresses up like a cowboy? Some pretty ladies walk by and he does some classic Jerry shtick. Hilarious!" I can only hope that Mr. Fujiwara is familiar with McNeil's Theory of Potential Energy - a must for any true Jerry understanding. And finally, modesty almost forbids my suggestion that he investigate, at least for use in a valuable appendix, the fast growing field of Bava/Lewis comparative studies as pioneered here on the "blog" and bolstered by a note from actual film scholar Tim Lucas. (Pictured, "the part where Jerry dresses up like a cowboy.")

The Chicken and the Pig

Looks like this weekend I'll be a small part of a Southern Foodways Symposium event featuring Great American Writer Barry Hannah and moonshine-hauling stock car pioneer and NASCAR forefather Junior Johnson (pictured), subject of a famous article by Tom Wolfe. My dad (whose birthday it is today, and who has raced a car or two in his time) will be in town, so there is a chance that I'll get to introduce him to Junior Johnson! When I called to wish Dad happy birthday, he told me a Junior Johnson story somebody had told him. In the story, Junior Johnson is being interviewed while eating ham and eggs. The interviewer asks him if he is "committed to" racing or just "involved." "Involved," says Johnson. He uses his breakfast as an example: "The chicken was involved, but the pig was committed." Maybe this story is true! Or maybe it's apocryphal. Maybe we'll find out! Or maybe we won't.

Literary Matters

Hold your nose! It is time once again to discuss "Literary Matters." Thank goodness that today we have only four brief literary matters, so it will be over before you know it. 1) Over at Square Books they have moved me - "promoted" me, they said, and I am mightily inclined to agree - to the "Mississippi Writers" section. Look at me, Ma! I'm a Mississippi writer! 2) More evidence: remember when I went to Jackson and met up with Pia Z. Ehrhardt for mysterious reasons and promised to tell you later? We were being taped for an episode of "Writers" on Mississippi's PBS affiliate. Pia and I were on a panel with New York Times bestselling author John Hart. Pia and I are not New York Times bestselling authors. Well, that show is on the air now. I haven't cringed my way through it yet, because for some reason the satellite only gives us TENNESSEE public broadcasting! I still love you so much, satellite! With an unconditional love! 3) I'm reading an earlier Ross MacDonald now. I think I like the later ones better. Or the middle ones. In any case, Lew Archer is more of a standard "tough guy" in the one I'm reading. I guess around the mid-sixties or so he becomes a little more bruised and sensitive, which I find appealing. So, in this early one, he walks in on a woman whose husband has been murdered and she says, "I've been sitting here listening to the Bartok." I guess that tickled me because it sounds like "the youtube" or "the Google" (the latter of which usage I pioneered BEFORE George W. Bush, you may recall). Now that I type it up, "the Bartok" doesn't seem as funny. In fact, it seems to function as a commonplace and reasonable shorthand for some particular work. But literary matters have to come from somewhere! So it stays. 4) I never properly thanked Katie Glasgow of Mitchell Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for placing me on the American Booksellers Association "Indie Next" list for August. She had extremely nice things to say, but as I am never "talking about ******* again," I can't tell you what they were. I checked the Mitchell Books "web" site to try to get in touch and thank her personally, but I see that they are closed for the summer. Wait, I just noticed that they hosted a reading on the 23rd, so I am confused. I'll try again! Hey, you can rent out part of Mitchell Books for your birthday party! That's how they rock in Fort Wayne and I am digging it. Well, I notice that though it is usually known for its wide ranging and mind-numbingly dull topics, this has been the most self-serving (though still admirably torpid) edition ever of "Literary Matters." And I'm glad, do you hear me? GLAD! (Pictured, the Bartok.)

The New Way to Watch Jerry

Yesterday, I believe Theresa was reading John Banville or some such personage while I was in the other room watching three Dean and Jerry movies in a row. I have concluded that THIS is the way to introduce yourself to Jerry, in contrast to the earlier method outlined on this "blog." Go off by yourself and watch the first three Jerry movies you can lay your hands on, with or without Dean, in quick succession, with no breaks for food or water. Immerse yourself! Do not allow yourself to pass judgement. Although any movies would do, I think some remastered widescreen Technicolor extravaganzas such as I enjoyed yesterday will seal the deal without fail. You will become properly mesmerized by the pretty colors and lights. Use the MGMIEET method (another psychological technique previously pioneered by this very "blog") and think of the films as objects like rocks, fire hydrants, or rainbows. What you're doing is introducing your brain to a new way of thinking - all right, you're brainwashing yourself. But I think it will work. Afterward, you will be able to enjoy Jerry for Jerry - for what he is. You will no longer be upset about what he is not. You will give thanks for Jerry in this holiday season! If you are a millionaire, rent a movie theatre and project some nice prints for yourself. Immersion will be complete. Invite the whole neighborhood for free. Supply snacks. You can afford it! You're a millionaire! (This method does not require fasting and solitude like the home version.) Satisfaction guaranteed.

McNeil's Movie Korner: The Marshall Plan

With all the hubbub over McNeil's curatorship of McNeil's Gold Medal International Emergency Exit Theatre, it is all too easy to forget his pioneering efforts in McNeil's Movie Korner. We correct that inequity today, with a brand new installment of the cherished feature, beginning with a confession/explanation. We are sure you have noticed that we never mention TCM anymore, that greatest of all cable channels and giver of sustenance and light, and formerly one of the primary objects of "blog"cern. The truth is, WE DO NOT RECEIVE TCM ON THE "CABLE" SYSTEM in our new digs! We are not complaining. Everything here is generously provided for us free of charge - more amenities than we could have ever dreamed - and it is quite nicest experience we have ever had. But going "cold turkey" on TCM was an adjustment! Thanks to McNeil, however, I hear a good deal about the programming nearly every day. McNeil is descriptive! (You recall my earlier plan for an oral history of McNeil's "internet" use; the "living 'blog'" idea, I believe, was also inspired by McNeil.) Yesterday's TCM update, delivered by McNeil via telephone, went like this: "Do you know who George Marshall is?" I replied that he was a director. "Yeah," said McNeil. "He directed HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER and ADVANCE TO THE REAR! I think Jerry hired him to direct HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER because George Marshall was seventy-something at the time and Jerry could push him around." (McNeil said this with admiration.) "Who was in ADVANCE TO THE REAR again?" I asked McNeil. "Stella Stevens, baby! I think George Marshall should be our new hero." I said okay. "Let's make him our hero," McNeil reiterated. I confirmed my commitment. "Let's put together the George Marshall Box Set," said McNeil. I said I'd get right on it. "Look him up on the 'internet' and 'link' to something," McNeil said. I said okay.

Scholarship Uncovers Trove of Tidbits

Academia is abuzz with reports of Theresa's upcoming class. Whilst doing some research for that very class today, Theresa ran across a journal completely devoted to the study of Lizzie Borden. It sure is a crazy world we live in! Speaking of which, do yourself a favor and read up on the pioneering criminologist Frances Glessner Lee (pictured), the "wealthy grandmother" who founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard and, in the 40s and 50s, built intricate dollhouses that exactly duplicated real-life crime scenes. A showcase of her work, compiled by Corinne May Botz under the title THE NUTSHELL STUDIES OF UNEXPLAINED DEATH (the greatest title ever), is among Theresa's favorite curiosities.