Special Interest

Current Projects

Craig is working on several fiction projects at the moment and when they blossom into a deal, announcements will be made here, there and everywhere.

He is also working on a personal money management book called The Movie Lovers Money Guide to instruct people on how to manage their money by watching movies. This ties together Craig's two loves: movies and money. Craig has just launched a companion web site to support the upcoming book. Check it out:

Read about Craig in this article from The Globe And Mail.

Check out my personal take on the outstanding success of Mel Gibson's Passion at http://www.buttafly.com/originals/forgrave_0304.php . Jesus Christ...What's Next? A Hollywood franchise is born.

Suggested Experiences in Print, Cinema and the Net

If you liked Devil Jazz and can't wait for my next book, you should read some favorite books of mine, watch some movies or visit an excellent web site or two. I have included books and movies that have inspired me and helped to shape my own taste, style and passions. I have added links to online bookstores for you convenience and so you don't get mixed up with other books with the same or similar title and author. I would hate to have you buy the wrong book.

For me, the satirical novel starts and ends with Catch 22. JosephHeller hit one out of the park with this crazy, confused and insane insights into the human condition during war. It is a delight to read again or discover for the first time. Help the bombardier, somebody.

The satirical movie starts and ends with Dr. Strangelove. No other movie has the combination of writing, directing, acting and execution like Dr. Strangelove. To me, what is most remarkable is that it was made in 1964 when the Cold War was at its apex of serious paranoia. It would have been hard to laugh with this tale at the time. Now of course, it is totally up to date as a comment on the absurd logic of government policies and crisis management.

With the current Passion for Christ and the anti-Christ, The Life of Brian is the brave, outrageous and wonderful story about the guy who was born next to Jesus and tries to look on the bright side of life. Just terrific and brave. And a reminder of what the Romans have done for civilization and entertainment and personal hygiene and law and order and on it goes.

I have been a huge fan of Tom Robbins for many years and his latest book, Villa Incognito is another installment in a generational journey of the absurd, the obvious and the hilarious. Any book that starts out with the sentence, "It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute" is an instant favorite of mine.

Ben Elton is part of the British satirical club that includes Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. He helped write the Black Adder series and writes novels with the same disdain for authority and pretension. Dead Famous takes on reality TV within the murder mystery format, but it is all about fame, the media and our insatiable lust for voyeuristic thrills of other people in the sweatbox of insatiable lust.

Christopher Buckley is a marvelous writer of political satire and his Thank You For Smoking is a sly and twisted fable about political interest groups, lobbyists and addiction to money, power and nicotine. Being a non-smoker for all my life and detesting second hand smoke with a passion, I find the whole tobacco industry addictively fascinating. How can it keep going on and on? I guess it is about money and lobbyists and power and the freedom to die of one's own choice. Oh well. Maybe gaining weight should be taxed like smoking? We would see how many people would slim down if their taxes went up with every ice cream cone they slurped.

Black Adder is the finest example of British comedy that I can imagine. Spanning most of British history (the interesting bits), and with only 6 episodes per period, it is a splendid adventure in complete nonsense, insults and intelligent idiocy. My personal favorite is the Elizabethan era with Miranda Richardson as the Queen.

Douglas Coupland started his career with the Generation X label as his addition to the language of society (much like Heller added Catch 22 to an earlier time). His satires of the rich and famous, young and bored and everything in between is explored in short pieces, photos and other interesting bits in his Polaroids From The Dead.

The Office is a painfully funny look at life at work. Ricky Gervais is masterful as the boss who wants to be liked as both a jolly soul, a tough boss and your best drinking buddy all wrapped in one cringing package. The characters that inhabit the office are priceless. You cannot go to work with the same perspective after watching this series.

There are many books that are no longer published but you can find if you search used bookstores. These treasures are part of my traveling bookshelf of classics that provide comfort on cold, rainy nights.

1066 And All That by Sellar, W.C.; Yeatman, R.J. (ISBN:0140014241).

Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley(ISBN:0586045511)

The Mouse That Roared by Leonard Wibberley (ISBN:0553270141)

Finally, I visit The Onion regularly because it is just too clever in reporting the most obvious events and taking the fringe view of world events. You should visit, if you haven't already...The Onion