BLOWING THE BLOODY DOORS OFF and other lessons in life by Michael Caine

The man himself

Michael Caine dragged himself up from almost cliched humble beginnings to become an oscar winning, restaurant owning national treasure, not to mention Batman's butler. His decades in the business have had highs and lows and a longevity that means what he has to say about the movie business (and by extension all business) ought to be worth listening to as he presents the lessons that he has learned in his life and times.

Those lessons turn out to be 'show up on time', 'know your lines', 'grab your opportunities', 'be kind' and 'be lucky' (plus a few others that I don't recall). Considering that I summed those up in a single line and don't even recall the others after a few hours suggest that they weren't really that much to hang a book on all by themselves. Certainly, quite a few of them got repeated several times.

That said, Mr Caine knows how to tell a story and be thoroughly entertaining whilst doing so. He also knows that a film star's autobiography (even a sort of autobiography like this) works best when it is filled with anecdotes about other film stars and Michael Caine seems to have met them all. He kicks of with a story about John Wayne and never looks back.

Michael Caine seems like an all-round good bloke, both from the stories that he tells and the tone in which he tells them. He seems to have maintained a sense of himself and his past despite the heights to which he has risen. He would certainly be someone to have in your list of fantasy dinner party guests. The time that you spend with him in this book may not profoundly change your life, or even tell you much that you don't already know about how to live it, but it will be time well spent as the book is as engaging and entertaining as the man seems to be and that should be enough for everyone.

ELEVATION by Stephen King

We have reached the point where anything that Stephen King writes will be published. I generally don't have a problem with that, but this 'novella' is a thin tome with what looks suspiciously like double spacing. If it took me two hours to read then I'm surprised.

It also felt like some reheated old ideas thrown together. The central conceit of Thinner was a man who got thinner no matter what he did. The central conceit here is that a man is getting lighter no matter what he does. Gravity is losing its hold. Does this cause anyone great concern? No not really.

The main concern is that there's a married lesbian couple running a restaurant and people don't approve. The local seasonal running race should take care of that. Really? In Trump's America, one photograph is all it takes to change conservative views?

It is a slight tale that doesn't last long or think deep, both of which are surprising for King.

That said, the man does know how to write and you breeze through it pleasurably enough, though by the end of the this snack you're left far from satisfied.