Nerd Alert!

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellows,

I bought this book in the 1980's. I got it from one of those crappy "Bookworld" stores and it cost me about £1. But it was my favourite. 

I should explain that, back in the 80's I was OBSESSED with movies. Even more than now. But you couldn't find any readable* magazines about them. It seems weird to say that now that the magazine racks are full of film mags, but it is true. 

Young people are so spoilt.

I found ONE cinema mag I loved. It was called, imaginatively enough, "Cinema" and it lasted for all of 6 issues before it folded. 

But it was the sister mag to "Starburst" magazine which was just for science fiction and horror. So I subscribed to that instead as it was all the same writers. At the time, I thought I would have preferred to get a mag that included all genres. But maybe it worked out for the best. "Starburst" is one of the big reasons I know so much about horror. 

It's not because I'm a weirdarse at all. 

John Brosnan was one of those magazine writers, and he was so funny and clever that this book is invaluable reference to me. I dip into it often. But it wasn't just for his insights; I just liked the "sound" of his writing voice.

It's strange isn't it, how you get influenced by the books you read and the writers you love? I've read John Brosnan so much over the years, that if you ever read anything I've written you're kind of hearing an echo of his voice too. 

That's a bit weird. 

S.

* Have you ever tried to READ "Sight and Sound"? Unless you are familiar of Louis Malle's use of mise-en-vague in order to further his satirical critique of the middle classes following the collapse of the Fourth Republic, I suspect you might find it a tad bit dry.