Frederic Colier

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Episode #14                        “People in Strange Lands”

Broadcasting Feb 10th, 2014. on LIFE 25 (channel 25 on TWC)

This week Frank Debonair investigates the fascination that some crime writers have with dark psychological characters.  What does it mean to write about the dark corners of the human mind?  Are these new grounds to gain a better insight into our psyche?  Do they say something about our true nature? Or are they a reflection of society at large?

Crime authors Andrew Gross, Mark Rubenstein, T. Jefferson Parker, Linwood Barclay, and Jon Land undergo extensive cross-analysis under Frederic Colier’s razor-sharp curiosity.

The last Pick Of The Week of the season takes a different turn and showcases books by authors whose characters are trapped in existential and moral dilemmas: Daniel Woodrell, “The Maid’s Version.”  Martin Fletcher, “Jacob’s Oath.”  Andre Dubus III, “Dirty Love.”  And Javier Marias, “The Infatuations.

As always thank you for your support.

The Book Case Team

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Episode #313                        “In the Dustbin of History”

Broadcasting Feb 3, 2014, NYC Life at 9:30 pm

We are resuming our series for the first time this year with an episode on historical thrillers. Frank Debonair notices that the dustbins of history are replete with losers, merely because the winners of conflicts get to write the history books and dispose of their opponents in the dustbins of history.

But Frank is interested in history writers, their weight, how their narration shapes consciousness and society, and how it becomes the material for countless thrillers.  What right do they have to question the past? Can their audacity teach us something? Or can history first of all teach us anything?

The Interview segments shot at Thriller Fest include Steve Berry, Alan Topol, Greg Dinallo, and Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal, and Andrew Kaplan.

For the Pick of the Week, Frank Debonair settles for an anthology special.  He features Elena Shubina, editor of “Read Russia;”  Otto Penzler, for “Kwik Krimes,”  Gardner Dozois,  for “The Year’s Best Science Fiction,” and David Henry Sterry & R.J. Martin Jr., for “Johns, Marks, Tricks, and Chickenhawks.”

The Book Case Team

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Episode #12                        “Tougher than Mothers”

Tonight at 9: 30 pm on NYC Life, channel 25, Dec 2nd, 2013

Frank Debonair talks about alternative voices.  What are they in an age when the Civil Rights movement no longer occupies the headlines of news?  What are the new trends?  What does “coming out” mean? Is it still relevant in those days of gay rights? Can a male writer truly impersonate a female character?  What about women who meddle in men’s territories, such as war? What kind of writers are they?

To find out our Private Book Investigator interviews:  Christopher Shinn, about his new play “Teddy Ferrara;” Deborah Copaken Kogan, about her modern version of Harvard “The Red Book,” and Alan Jacobson, “No Way Out,” a new Karen Vail story.

The Book Worlds segment is a special on actor-turned-playwright-turned-author: Jason Odell Williams, and his first YA novel, “Personal Statement.”

Molly Haskell, “My Brother, My Sister;” Dr. Joe Wenke “Papal Bull;” Lionel Shriver, “Big Brother;”  Norman E. Rosenthal, “The Gift of Adversity,” are this week part of the Pick of The Week.

The Book Case Team

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Episode #11                        “To Be, not be, or Be Be?”

Tonight on NYC LIFE Broadcasting Nov 18th, 2013, at 9:30 pm

Frank Debonair addresses the current state of the nation regarding the invasion of computers, and most precisely of the digital technology, in our lives.  Being himself a man of the Sixties, he has a hard time fathoming what a computer is or even what it is for.  Nonetheless, he understands that it is a hot topic giving a wide range of social and research writers new insights and opinions about the becoming of our society.

To appease his concerns, you could say to gain clarity, Frank sends the PBI to interview Douglas Rushkoff, “Present Shock;”  Patricia Churchland, “Touching a Nerve,” and Jonathan Crary, “24/7.”

For the Book World, Gabriel Levinson from the Antibookclub discusses the pros and cons of micro publishing.

The POTW for this week reflects the serious tone of the episode.  Frank Debonair introduces provocative titles, such as the ones by Avi Tuschman, “Our Political Nature,” “The Value of Violence,” by Benjamin Ginsberg, “The Family,” by David Laskin, and finally Salvatore Esposito, “Abu Ghraib: after the Scandal.”

Looking forwards

The Book Case Team