This is Academy Award week and one the films in line for best picture is a brilliant courtroom drama titled Anatomy of a Fall ((Anatomie d’une chute). My family has always loved courtroom dramas. So I created trials with and for my students.
Here is a first piece about courtrooms. Another one, about Duddy Karavitz, will be featured on Friday. Stay tuned!

 

My Mom had a crush on Perry Mason

 

My mom had crush on Perry Mason.

Saturday nights, in the 1950s and 60s,

She had a virtual date with the illustrious defense attorney,

Who won each and every case.

 

Mom would don her pink baby doll pyjamas,

A Christmas gift – and suggestive hint – from my father,

And curl up on the ratty old sofa in front of our rabbit-eared tv,

With its tendency to “go on the blink,”

Decked out to seduce Perry, our so it seemed to us kids.

 

Mom resented Della Street,  Perry’s personal secretary,

Who clearly lusted after Perry… subliminally speaking, of course…

While spurning the advances of the predatory private detective Paul Drake.

 

The episode would open with Perry’s stentorian theme music,

Conveying his suaveness, sophistication, and true grit,

While steely-eyed Perry examined his case file,

With just the slightest of smiles,

For he was well and truly on it…

 

He was going to defeat the hapless D.A., Hamilton Burger,

And ensure that the guilty abjectly confessed,

While the innocent were liberated from the vice-like grip

Of life in prison or of the electric chair.

My mom’s life was an unending incarceration,

Perpetual punishment for a crime she did not commit.

She was flayed by my father,

By his truculence and molten moods

And by his acerbic tongue,

A short fuse that would ignite an incendiary barrage of insults.

 

In Perry’s realm of courtroom drama,

There was resolution without fail.

Justice always prevailed.

Each and everyone received their just deserts.

 

My mother would have needed Perry to defend her,

To protect her from all the hurts,

Inflicted by an arbitrary, undivinable spouse,

Whose inchoate wrath

Poisoned our entire house.

 

My father’s theme music would have been

Albéniz’s Asturias (Leyenda), played with repetitive, maddening intensity

By a furious, diabolical pianist.

Mom’s life was infused with grief, longing, and sadness,

For what was lost,

And for what might have been.

That was her music; that was her theme.

My Mom had a crush on Perry Mason,

He was the stuff of her Saturday night dream.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Mason_(1957_TV_series)

 

https://www.robertreeveslaw.com/blog/21-amazing-bizarre-facts-perry-mason/

 

https://judicature.duke.edu/articles/the-moral-order-of-perry-masons-universe/

 

Lancement du livre  Book launch

Je suis ravi d’annoncer le lancement de la version française de mon livre. I’m thrilled to announce the launching of the French version of my book.

Recyclage du livre My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny

en français!

 

Titre du projet : Le temps passé avec vous fut bref mais tordant

 

Message de l’éditeur    Publisher’s message    (English to follow)

 

Nous vous félicitons ! Nous avons terminé la distribution de votre livre aux canaux suivants :

 

  • Ingramspark Paperback
  • Enhanced Amazon Distribution
  • Kindle Ebook
  • Kobo Ebook
  • Smashwords Ebook
  • Ingramspark Hardcover

 

Qu’est-ce que cela signifie ?

 

Votre livre sera bientôt disponible à la vente auprès des détaillants en ligne abonnés à ces canaux (tels que Barnes & Noble et Amazon). En règle générale, les livres électroniques sont disponibles au bout d’un jour ou deux, mais les listes de livres imprimés mettent souvent plus de temps à apparaître sur les sites web des détaillants.

 

Project Title: ‘Le temps passé avec vous fut bref mais tordant’

Hello Robert,

Congratulations! We have completed your book distribution to the following channels:

  • Ingramspark Paperback
  • Enhanced Amazon Distribution
  • Kindle Ebook
  • Kobo Ebook
  • Smashwords Ebook
  • Ingramspark Hardcover

 

What does this mean?

Your book will soon be available for sale through the online retailers that subscribe to these channels (such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon).Typically, eBooks become available in a day or two, but print book listings often take longer to appear on retail websites.

I’ve been recycled at long last!

 

 

Robert McBryde Author: IndieReader approved, adolescence, hippies, pop music, 1960s, 1970s, blogging, social media,  CBC radio, literary non-fiction, tales, short stories, vignettes, immigrant experience, sports, Quebec anglos, living in France,  childhood and animal stories, creative memoirs, satire, autobiography, family relations, fathers, raising children, aging, facing death, fear of death, travel, social commentary, love and marriage, translation: English-French; French-English

Publisher’s Note:  Funny, manic, and wistful… self-deprecating creative nonfiction…The author, Robert McBryde, a professional translator, has been compared to David Sedaris for the sometimes-snarky autobiographical satire characterizing his literary sketches. Many of the stories in his new book, titled My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny, have been featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio network.

Author’s Note:

I’ve written a new book of creative non-fiction titled My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny, recently published and now on the market. The book is based on stories that I told over the years as a writer/ broadcaster and host on CBC radio based in Quebec City, Canada.

The book is available via my website. The purchase links are at the bottom of the home page.

https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/

Normally I will post at least two blogs per week. Stay tuned…especially Wednesdays and Fridays.

If you purchase a book via the platform of your choice, please leave a review.

Here is an excerpt from my IndieReader review:

“[This] memoir is… an enjoyable and touching read. Radio listeners in Quebec are already familiar with the wit and wisdom of Robert McBryde. The non-fiction collection, MY TIME WITH YOU HAS BEEN SHORT BUT VERY FUNNY, gives the rest of the world access to the author’s inimitable style.”

https://indiereader.com/book_review/my-time-with-you-has-been-short-but-very-funny/

“Please note that [this] book received a rating of 4 stars or above, making it “IndieReader Approved”, a designation we created to make it easier for readers and booksellers to identify quality indie titles. Post the sticker proudly, knowing that your title was judged by top industry professionals—not as merely a great indie book—but as great book, period.”

Here is a link to a cool group book review blog:

My Time With You Has Been Short But Very Funny, a review by Di

thebookreviewcrew.com

 

And this is a link to Goodreads. A great place to learn about new books and to read reviews.

Di’s review of My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny

goodreads.com

 

And, finally, a review from Amazon…

 

A Spirited Dive into Life’s Laughter and Tears (amazon.com)

 

You can follow me on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/robertmcbrydeauthor/

 

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-mcbryde-44051122/

And Facebook:

Robert McBryde Author (20+) Facebook

 

Happy reading! 😊

Your friend,

Robert

https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/