Favius Friedman

My favorite name book - just a little paperback picked up used when I was 14. I read it over and over. I was fascinated by names and what they meant and all the nicknames one could make out of those names.

I learned, for instance, Neysa is a nickname for Agnes. Neysa is such a pretty name. If I ever wrote a book, she'd be my leading character. Her middle name would be Elizabeth. (I had all this decided when I was 14 and it would be sacrilege to change it now. Not that I'm actually writing a book, but if I do - watch out! Neysa E will save the day.)… (mer)

Favius Friedman's "Great Horror Movies" is an overview of the horror genre written for twelve-year-olds, and twelve is exactly how old I was when I bought it from the Scholastic Book Club in 1974. I loved this book then, probably the first book approaching film criticism I ever read. A year later I would be in thrall to Pauline Kael, and Mr. Friedman's book would seem pretty silly to me, but looking back on it now it seems to be intelligently written (within its bounds)and nicely, if superficially informative. Friedman's concept of "horror" is pretty broad, including such films as "Lord of the Flies," "Dr. Strangelove" (and its fraternal twin, "Fail-Safe")and "Shadow of a Doubt." I'm guessing that he hoped to expand his audience's scope beyond the usual creepy-crawlies one expects in horror films, and in my case it worked. I set out to see every film in the book, which was not so simple in the days before cable TV and home video. It's a nostalgic read for me now, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to adults, but you could do worse than hand it to a movie-loving kid that you know.… (mer)