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if betsy likes a book this much, it's gonna be good

Buster Keaton Influx and Catherine Brighton and Elizabeth Bird and Katherine Tillotson

In at least one of our blog posts, there's reference to "Life Like Tales," the piquantly charming, sweetly elegant dance that was choreographed for UCDavis last spring (okay, and the choreographer's last name is Thorne, full disclosure here). I mention this only to illustrate our "Buster Keaton Influx." For Christmas, all the choreographer really wanted was books about Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

For those who know me, this meant that Buster & Charlie were soon busily making their way through our door, in twos (because some of the books were so delicious there was one for the home library and one for the choreographer's library).

Anyhow, we had a big Buster influx in December. He's quite a guy, and it's probable that I will list the Buster books at a later date. But, in the hopes of making this quick, here goes:

Thanks to the magnificent work/eye of Katherine Tillotson, who noted that we would find interesting thoughts on Fuse #8 about possible nominations for the upcoming award season, we, again, bumped into Buster...and thought well, here is a Buster Keaton Zeitgeist, surely...so...

please take a look at this wonderful review of Catherine Brighton's "Keep Your Eye on the Kid: The Early Years of Buster Keaton" by Elizabeth Bird--Fuse #8, herself!--who says, "Droll, witty, beautiful, and factual, it fulfills every requirement you could have of a picture book biography, rewarding us every time we read and reread it. Truly amazing. Truly fantastic."

Which is enough to make me want to run out and add Catherine Brighton's Buster book to the Keaton et Chaplin library we started in December.

If you want to know why the Struwwelpeter that has been hanging around our house since 1989 illustrates this post, well...you shall just have to go read Elizabeth's review of Catherine's Buster.

Now, I am thinking that the amazing Joan Vigliotta (of course) brought this book to our attention months ago...but I am often late to book club (big surprise there!) and I think I missed the intro. So, kudos also to Joan.

And to think that I got on the computer to order a pair of walking shoes from Zappos for the upcoming (ohlordyIamsoveryhappytobegoing) trip to NYC. And to think that I thought this would be a short post.

One last ramble: I noticed, in December, that Buster's unusual name could be sourced to his father's friend, Harry Houdini. Fuse #8 covers this. I mention it, though, because it all seems to tie into the Buster Zeitgeist (re: New York Times, Steampunk Article), and "Life Like Tales," and...

off to find some shoes. Here's hoping I won't be boiling the leather halfway through the trip to New York. Know any good delis near Cooper Street?