Sometimes in These titles mean nothing.
- Jan. 19, 2022, 11:39 a.m.
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- Public
Anita Scudder has a new name now. She’s remarried and we can hope and assume she is happy. We assume she is a decent person because she married our hero and after they were divorced she didn’t seem to make his life more difficult than it was. She raised the sons on Long Island - in Synnoset or some such town. She would send them to the city on the train to go to ball games or visit museums. She felt better about it after he quit drinking. She accepted the money orders for random and irregular child support, no doubt assuming, this time it’s her assumption not our own, that Matt was doing the best he could.
He’s always done the best he could. He was a cop after all, a cop who drank too much. A cop who didn’t have the best luck. She’d been attracted to him because he was a cop. He carried a gun, he had confidence, his role in society implied strength and probity. Is probity a word? Anita didn’t know. She should have used a word she knew.
Matt always meant well. He’d loved her. They had tried. But it’s just as well they aren’t together anymore. It was him who left, she occasionally assured herself. She would probably still be putting up with him if he hadn’t. Still life was simpler, often easier, without him. She didn’t have to worry as much. She didn’t know what time he came home anymore. She didn’t know how drunk he was. She didn’t even know if he was still managing to stay away from the booze after he had quit. She hoped so. For his sake, for her sons’ sake, for her own peace of mind.
Fiction says it’s hard to be a cop’s wife. You worry about him getting hurt, getting killed, getting in trouble. There are so many kinds of trouble for a cop to get into. More kinds than your everyday truck driver or accountant. Not that those lives are easy either. There’s always plenty to keep a man or his wife awake at night. Anita’s next husband won’t be a cop. He might not be a better husband but at least no one will be writing books about him.
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Imagine the young Kim Novak in her first credited movie in 1954. It was called “Pushover” and Fred McMurray was a cop in a trenchcoat. Imagine your arms full of young Kim Novak in a mink coat smelling of expensive perfume. The senses reel.
“Pushover” starts with a completely silent bank robbery. Best one you’ll see in some time.
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Sometimes there is just too much middle of the night.
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Another movie - this one is Canadian made in 2012 with the great Marcia Gay Hardin.
“If I Were You’, and the young actress has a speciALity. With or without wink.
Is that all you can do?
Pretty much.
This one has a great first scene too.
He was 46 and she was 21.
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I wonder what kind of speciALity Kim had.
The coats deserved their own credits.
Last updated January 19, 2022
Just Annie ⋅ January 19, 2022
I agree, sometimes there is too much middle of the night.
woman in the moon Just Annie ⋅ January 19, 2022
I guess it's a good thing to have the internet --- when we need a little company.
ConnieK ⋅ January 19, 2022
Anita dodged a bullet.
woman in the moon ConnieK ⋅ January 19, 2022
you're right
i think daisy is next
noko ⋅ January 19, 2022
I wonder if I could split the difference between the middle of the night with you. I get up absurdly early but always find things to do. After reading all those Block books the things I remember are his room and his phone and maybe a car now and then.
NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 19, 2022
I'm going to get a tee shirt with "Free Anita" on it.
woman in the moon NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 20, 2022
Are you a Lawrence Block fan? I just discovered him and I like his books a lot. Turns out we have seven of them from when Jim read him years and years ago.
They are easy and quick and really good and light enough to read in bed and in the bathtub.
NorthernSeeker woman in the moon ⋅ January 20, 2022
I don't think I've read one of his but they sound like perfect books to bring when having to sit in waiting rooms.
NorthernSeeker woman in the moon ⋅ January 20, 2022
I don't think I've read one of his but they sound like perfect books to bring when having to sit in waiting rooms.
Beret ⋅ January 20, 2022
Is Anita fictional? I've never heard of her.
woman in the moon Beret ⋅ January 20, 2022
She's the ex-wife of a character in a series of mystery stories by Lawrence Block. Block is one of those very prolific writers, mainly of mystery, crime, suspense stuff. He also was/is a columnist for Writers Digest and has written several books about writing. Most of the details of her life that I know are in what I wrote. She is never seen or heard, only referred to. It's like diaries here - do you ever wonder what the characters in our life would have to say if they were writing a diary?
Purple Dawn ⋅ January 22, 2022
I think I need to read a Lawrence Block book. I like how you wrote of the character.
woman in the moon Purple Dawn ⋅ January 22, 2022
I think you'd like them. Let me know if you get hold of one.
Purple Dawn woman in the moon ⋅ January 22, 2022
I will :)
Jinn ⋅ January 22, 2022
I was married to a police officer the first time I married. Most seem to have problems; they drink , party too much , and cheat . Then there is the whole issue that they think they are the authority in every issue. :-( It ruins lots of marriages and it ruined mine .
woman in the moon Jinn ⋅ January 22, 2022
I've been fortunate not to have had much contact with police. And those I have had contact with have been the midwest small town variety and I've always been pretty much on the 'side of the law'. But even with all those qualifications, I've felt manipulated by cops. I realize it's a hard job but there is a lot of room for misbehavior of every kind.
Jinn woman in the moon ⋅ January 22, 2022
The sense of “ power” all too often seems to go to their heads.
Serin ⋅ January 26, 2022
Had to look up "Marcia Gay Hardin" but now associating name to face, she can be a lot of fun to watch.
woman in the moon Serin ⋅ January 26, 2022
There was a hot play - won a lot of Tonys - called God of Carnage. Two couples Hardin, James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels and Judy Davis meet to 'settle' a dispute their kids had. It's on YouTube too. She has a huge lists of movies/performances.