2011 Books 50-51

50) Boardwalk Empire - the Birth high times and corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson: some more historical non-fiction, this was wonderfully engaging. Again, good readers help, as the book was read by Joe Mantenga, who carried just the right tone for the book.  The history of the city itself - a place so uniquely grounded in the tourist industry and so wedded to organized crime - is fascinating and very much somewhere someone might want to set a game. I keep wondering what a super hero set in 1930's Atlantic City would feel like...the idea of a Batman type mired in a massively corrupt city doesn't quite work, because it's not like the locals felt terribly oppressed by the tourist-friendly crime that made the place tick. More likely a tarnished angel who looks into the crimes that everyone knows are crimes working hand in glove with the corrupt establishment. The presence of accepted crimes that _are_ truly vile, such as Mann Act violations and enforced prostitution, that are sanctioned by the government make that problematic as well. Thinking on it, however, if I wanted to run a Trail of Cthulhu game in the back half of the year 1920's-30's Atlantic City might be a good starting place. 

51) Promethea by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III: The last of the Americas Best Comics reread, it's still beautiful and very strange. The character has the same pared down powerful simplicity as Tom Strong serving as the foundation of a much more complicated story. OK, yes, it's didactic as points, but I also found it consistently engaging. If you're not interested in Kabbalah or the Tarot or other mysticism then yes, much of this is going to be a loss. But if you are, whew, what a ride.