All the Ms: Machen to Mack

Machen, Arthur: Arthur Machen wrote sci-fi horror with an occult edge. Lovecraft read him. C.S. Lewis followed Charles Williams' dive into the genre with his sci-fi novels, which writing he perceived as a kind of exorcism. It’s not very likable stuff (says I). I read the beginning of The Great God Pan and felt no need to read more. 

Maciel, Amanda: Lots of teen novels deal with teenagers being jerks to each other. Tease is one. It’s somewhat more interesting than usual since it is from the perspective of one of the bullies. I didn’t continue since “After School Special” keeps flashing through my head with these books. But lots of teens love them.

MacInnes, Helen: I’d heard of MacInnes but didn’t know the genre. It’s spy literature. Since the only spy novels/shows I like are comedies, including spoofs, I didn’t continue, but the book did get me thinking. Spy literature is still going strong but it had a kind of hey-day in the mid-twentieth century (Above Suspicion was published in 1941). Agatha Christie wrote some. Ian Fleming, of course. The first Mrs Pollifax was published in 1966. And so on. 

Mack, Karen and Jennifer Kaufman: Freud’s Mistress is the fictional telling of the true-life relationship between Freud’s wife’s sister and Freud, which may or may not have included an affair. The book’s first chapter details the awfulness of life for women in the late nineteenth century (more awful, in some ways, for someone like Minna, who resided between the upperclass and the peasant or working class: as the Bronte sisters would attest, being a governess or lady’s maid was fairly dreadful work). I’ve never been particularly interested in Freud, so I didn’t go further than the designated chapter/page count.

Mack, Tracy and Michael Citrin: On the first two shelves of “M,” I have already encountered 2 Sherlock Holmes tributes! Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars: The Mystery of the Conjured Man starts with a con-artist medium, quite appropriate to the time period!
 
Mack, W.C. Despite not getting into The Screech Owls’ book (see prior post), I did find Mack’s Athlete vs. Mathlete about twins and basketball quite engaging–so the issue might be the tone or the perspective, not the topic.