Hal Johnson Books

Today is your last day to get a 99¢-copy of the pulp noir sensation that will presumably someday sweep the nation! Tell all your friends, except your friends who are hosers, ginks, or rats.

www.amazon.com/Blvd-Blood-H...

Got two books on 99¢ sale this week!
www.amazon.com/Blvd-Blood-H...
www.amazon.com/Immortal-Lyc...
(It used to be three but I accidentally set one to be on sale for 7 hours, not seven days—whoops!)

A garland of quotations 158 Culled from the finest tastemakers in literary history, and re-woven every Wednesday

There is nothing more awful than imagination devoid of taste.
•Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years (1829).

NEW GARLAND TODAY!

haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/a-garland-...

A garland of quotations 157 Culled from the finest unknowns in literary history, and re-woven every Wednesday

"She that’s afraid of the grass must never piss in a meadow."
•anonymous, The History of Mother Bunch of the Weste (1793).

haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/a-garland-...

Did you know that the author of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the book AND the screenwriter of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the movie were both British spies?

Their sociopathy TBD.

The Cracksman a short story

Trying out posting some old fiction; this is from my Barthelme period: haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-cracks...

Tell all your friends! Come say hello!

The strange power of Taras Bulba (I mean the book by Nikolai Gogol)

You like Great Books, don't you? Well, now I'm talking about the Great Books (Gogol’s Taras Bulba specifically)!

haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-strang...

A garland of quotations 155 Culled from the finest lambs in literary history, and re-woven every Wednesday

“The learned say that your lights will one day be no more,” said the firefly to the stars.
•Tagore, Stray Birds (1913).

haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/a-garland-...

The best movies of the century so far People keep making these lists and they’re all foolish and embarrassing blunders, so I thought I’d make my own blunder, as foolish and embarrassing as it may be.

FIGHT ME!
haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-best-m...

I wrote a book of twenty alternate history scenarios (across 2400 years and 6 continents—sorry, Australia!) that is "sure to delight" any "history buff."

Blvd. of Blood A suspense-thriller from Hal Johnson Killing a lot of people in a row isn’t really that hard—the hard part is not getting caught. Colin Lang is a boring actuary with no intention of getting caught. H...

www.amazon.com/Blvd-Blood-H...

I realize I should have made this post more visually distinctive than the previous one. Anyway, the book is available for all!

@ragesinggoddess.bsky.social , you are quoted (anonymously) on the back.

Um…a lady sips soda while sitting in a car. But it's a book cover!

Okay, it's here! Available now in paperback and (inexplicably) ebook. Some typos fixed. A very nice cover by C. G. Coleman. No AI involved. A perfect Christmas gift.

Only downside? It's on Amazon, alas. But I'm still excited. www.amazon.com/Blvd-Blood-H...

Coming soon…

#137 on the only legitimate list of the 200 Best Songs of the 1960s! haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-200-be...
#contours

And today we plunge beneath the surface of things!

A garland of quotations CXLIX Culled from the finest delvers in literary history, and re-woven every Wednesday

Feeling is deep and still, and the word that floats on the surface
Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden.
Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions.
•Longfellow, Evangeline (1847).

NEW GARLAND TODAY!
haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/a-garland-...

The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s part 3 of 10 #141–160

COME FIGHT ME!

Look at there horrible people! haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-most-a...

Happening now! Hagemann Memorial Author Showcase, East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Avenue, East Haven, CT!

#191 on the only definitive list of the best songs of the 1960s…

haljohnsonbooks.substack.com/p/the-200-be...

Oh, wow. This is going later than they implied it would.

Much later

I'll be here tonight! At Badsons in Derby, CT. Come say hello if you like loud noises!

Lugosi AND Zucco? Yeah, that's a snub!

Mama's moving up in her artillery…https://youtu.be/Z8Jd281xrAU

The Ten Best Movies of 1944 My favorite year for cinema

I know everyone has strong opinions about this one! Fight me!

What's up with Piers Anthony? An analysis of his oeuvre, or rather poeurvre

Anyone interested in Piers Anthony studies should check out my new in-depth analysis...and tell all your friends!

It's happening now! The Conti Building in Shelton!