by Mickey Spillane
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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
It’s the third out of four books in a series. It’s about Spillane’s recurring antihero, Tiger Mann, with all you need to know about the plot spelled out on the cover. Note, though, how that cover includes the words “Oil King” and this book sits atop Max Catto’s King Oil. This is about preventing harm to an Arabian baron, and that is about a reckless American tycoon pursuing wealth at all costs. This also brings to mind the article in the blue New York Review of Books, about China’s oil (the book below King Oil is Pearl S. Buck’s China Flight), and the one in the Scientific American about global peak oil.
This is another case of Kubrick going for the lesser known book/series. Spillane’s big hit series was the Mike Hammer series, and while most critics and voices condemned his work as it came out for its crudeness and graphic sex and violence, Ayn Rand came out to his defence (which might partly explain how he retained credibility among later generations). She later repudiated the Tiger Mann character as having been too amoral, but she and Spillane carried on a lifelong admiration.
The man, Spillane, was apparently a teetotaler and a door-to-door Jehovah’s witness missionary, divorced twice, and fought hard against anything that would decay what he saw being American values, like Communism and antiwar protestors (like Chinese Communism?). So, while the book was probably chosen for its cute name and plot references, there’s a fascinating both-sides-of-the-fence quality to Spillane. As for WWII, he was a Second Lieutenant and flight instructor during the war, enlisting the day after Pearl Harbour.
Also, Tiger Mann adds another “tiger” reference to the scene, joining with Tiger of the Snows. Anne Jackson, playing the doctor, starred in a film with her real-life husband, Eli Wallach, called The Tiger Makes Out. Tigers in the film are heavily associated to Danny’s alter ego, Tony, and in this scene, Wendy and the doctor will give us the full scoop on Tony’s genesis.
Next literary reference: King Oil
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