by Max Catto
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ANGELL, PEARL & LITTLE GOD ⎔ BEACH GIRLS ⎔ BOO ⎔ CAESAR ⎔ CHINA FLIGHT ⎔ CHRISTMAS BOOKS ⎔ DEATH DEALERS ⎔ DENVER POST ⎔ DR. NYET ⎔ EUROPE ⎔ FOURTH GHOST BOOK ⎔ GINGERBREAD MAN ⎔ GOLF LIKE THE GREATS ⎔ GOOD NEWS BIBLE ⎔ HOLDING ON ⎔ IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE ⎔ KING OIL ⎔ MANIPULATOR ⎔ MY NAME IS ASHER LEV ⎔ NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (RED & BLUE) ⎔ NO END TO THE WAY ⎔ ORANGE WEDNESDAY ⎔ PEANUTS ⎔ SQUARESVILLE ⎔ TEENY WEENY ADVENTURES ⎔ TIGER OF THE SNOWS ⎔ TOWER ⎔ TRAPEZE ⎔ WISH CHILD ⎔ YOUNG JETHRO ⎔ UNIDENTIFIED
Published in 1970 it’s about a guy, Frank Dibbler (sounds a bit like Dirk Diggler…), who wants to drill for oil, and become an oil tycoon, in reckless pursuit of wealth at all costs. Sounds a lot like Oil! By Upton Sinclair (famously adapted by Kubrick fanboy Paul Thomas Anderson). The name of the book sounds like a reference to Stephen King, as if he’s saying the horror novels in this stack of books are “Oil” for “King”. Since King at least is on the record about John D. MacDonald, as discussed, that would seem possible. I’d have a hard time believing Kubrick and King never talked books, in their sessions together, so I wonder if Kubrick (who I somehow doubt would’ve gravitated naturally to pulp fiction) got the idea for some of these inclusions by such conversations, or such research into King.
That said, Catto was adapted a lot to screen, and his most popular film adaptation was called Trapeze, which we’ve discussed, but I’ll say a bit more. It’s about trapeze artists in a love triangle, and was one of the top three selling films in 1956. The hero is Mike Ribble, which echoes Frank Dibbler quite a bit (did Kubrick see a connection?).
Also, since it’s about a guy with 2 million acres of Texas land, this reminds of the unjust relocation of the Utes, as discussed in my indigenous section.
Catto is another author with a lot of titles that sound related to The Shining’s themes: The Killing Frost, A Prize of Gold, Gold in the Sky, The Devil at Four O’Clock, D-Day in Paradise, The Tiger in Bed, I Have Friends in Heaven, The Empty Tiger, and For the Love of Doc.
(Fun fact: King Oil is also the name of an old 70s board game.)
Next literary reference: China Flight
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EYE SCREAM 