Colors, Critters, Cats, and my Journey with MS

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Detour: An Extraordinary Tale

by Martin M. Goldsmith.

Filmed as Detour (1945), directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

Published by Black Curtain Press.
First published 1939.
Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1515426785
ISBN-13: 978-1515426783

Description:

Alex Roth is a musician who thumbs it out for L.A. and the woman of his dreams. Things hit a snag when a bookmaking driver Alex flags down suddenly ends up dead. With its tight, crisp writing comparable to James M. Cain and Chandler, the work translated perfectly on screen into the legendary noir "Detour," perhaps the greatest low-budget film ever made.

THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED … 1938. Alexander Roth is hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles, where he hopes to reconnect with his self-absorbed, cutesy-poo girlfriend. A car stops to pick him up and he is soon plunged into a long nightmare from which there may be no escape. This fatalistic novel is a forgotten noir masterpiece that has languished for decades in the swamps of neglected crime fiction. In 1945, film director Edgar G. Ulmer cranked out the movie version in a couple of weeks on a microscopic budget, and it is now widely recognized as one of the greatest gems in film noir history. The novel is its equal in every way. Legendary crime fiction author Lawrence Block provides a foreword unique to this edition.

Born on this day – Jonathan Swift:

Jonathan Swift

Writer

November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745

Credits:

Books:

30 Eternal Masterpieces of Humorous Stories (2019); 40 Model Essays (2005); A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1995); A Discourse Concerning The Mechanical Operation Of The Spirit (1970); A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works (1729); A Tale of a Tub and Other Works (1704); Abolishing Christianity and Other Short Pieces (1708); Baucis and Philemon (2017); Best of Swift (1967); Cadenus And Vanessa (2010); Classic Sea Stories (1996); Collected Poems: v. 1 (1958); Directions to Servants (1731); Directions to Servants and Miscellaneous Pieces 1733-42 (1959); Gulliver’s Travels (1726); Irish Tracts 1720-1723 and Sermons (1948); Irish Tracts 1728-1733 (1955); Jonathan Swift, the Complete Poems (1983); Jonathan Swift: A Critical Edition of the Major Works (1984); Jonathan Swift: Poems selected by Derek Mahon (2006); Journal to Stella (1766); Major Works (2003); Polite Conversation (1738); Political Tracts, 1711-1713 (1951); Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue (1969); Sayings of Jonathan Swift (1994); Selected Poems (1967); Selected Prose and Poetry (1959); Selected Prose Works of Jonathan Swift (1949); Selected Writings (1950); Service Is No Inheritance, Or, Rules to Servants According to the REV. Dr. Swift (1987); Stella’s Birth-Days (1967); Swift vs. Mainwaring: The Examiner and the Medley (1985); Swift’s Irish pamphlets (1990); The Account Books of Jonathan Swift (1984); The Battle of the Books (1704); The benefit of farting explain’d (1996); The Bickerstaff Partridge Papers (1940); The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, D.D. (1963); The Drapier’s Letters (1935); The Examiner and Other Pieces Written in 1710-11 (1940); The History of the Last Four Years of the Queen (1951); The Intelligencer (1992); The Last Will and Testament of the Revd. Dr. Jonathan Swift (1984); The Letters of Jonathan Swift to Charles Ford (1935); The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction (1999); The Poems of Jonathan Swift (1958); The Portable Swift (1948); The Prose Works Of Jonathan Swift (1940); The Prose Writings (1968); The Writings of Jonathan Swift: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds, Criticism (1973); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018).

Movies and television:

A Modest Proposal (2005 / 2013); Balai (2020); Butcher Boys (2012); Camera Three (1956); Case for a Rookie Hangman (1970); Castle in the Sky (1986); Cloud Cuckooland (1988); Crayola Kids Adventures: Tales of Gulliver’s Travels (1997); Exploring (1963); Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat (2023); Gulliver chez les Lilliputiens (1923); Gulliver en el país de los gigantes (1903); Gulliver in Lilliput (1982); Gulliver in the Country of Dwarfs (1974 / 1980); Gulliver Mickey (1934); Gulliveriana (1996); Gullivers Reisen (1924); Gulliver’s Space Travels: Beyond the Moon (1965); Gulliver’s Travels (1902 / 1939 / 1977 / 1979 / 1992–1993 / 1996 / 2010); Jackanory (1966); Kinderbücher für Erwachsene (1954–1955); Le royaume nain de Lilliput contre Gigas le long, prince des géants (1914); Les voyages de Gulliver (1974); Los viajes de Gulliver (1983); Manga sekai mukashi banashi (1977); Méliès 88 (1988); Monsieur Clown chez les Lilliputiens (1909); Nuhikun (1978); Proposition de manger les enfants (2000); Siesta Z (2017); The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960); The English Programme (1997); The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1968); The New Gulliver (1935); World Fairy Tale Series (1995).

Born on this day – Mark Twain:

Mark Twain

Writer

November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910

Credits:

20 Mule Team (1940); A Borrowed Identity (1913); A Buckaroo Broadcast (1938); A Child of the Paris Streets (1916); A Front Page Story (1922); A Gambler's Way (1914); A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941); A House Divided (1931); A Lady to Love (1930); A Law Unto Himself (1914); A Man to Remember (1938); A Modern Melnotte (1914); A Night on the Road (1914); A Princess of Destiny (1929); A Romance of the Hills (1913); A Western Sister's Devotion (1913); A Western Welcome (1938); Adventures of Red Ryder (1940); Adventures of Rusty (1945); American Aristocracy (1916); An Old Fashioned Young Man (1917); Ann's Finish (1918); Arizona Nights (1927); Army Surgeon (1942); At the Postern Gate (1915); At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern (1922); At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern (1922); Aurora of the North (1914); Bad Man from Red Butte (1940); Bad Man of Deadwood (1941); Bandit Ranger (1942); Battle of Greed (1937); Be Neutral (1914); Beauty Parlor (1932); Beggars in Ermine (1934); Betty's Bandit (1912); Between Men (1935); Biff Bang Buddy (1924); Billy the Kid Returns (1938); Blazing Guns (1943); Blonde Trouble (1937); Blondie Johnson (1933); Bombardier (1943); Bonnie of the Hills (1913); Branded a Coward (1935); Broncho Billy and the Western Girls (1913); Broncho Billy Reforms (1913); Broncho Billy, Guardian (1914); Broncho Billy's Capture (1913); Broncho Billy's Elopement (1913); Broncho Billy's Strategy (1913); Burning Gold (1936); Cactus Capers (1942); Captain Calamity (1936); Captains Courageous (1937); Casey at the Bat (1916); Charity Castle (1917); Circumstantial Evidence (1935); City of Missing Girls (1941); Code of the Streets (1939); Colorado (1940); Common Clay (1930); Conflict (1936); Contented Calves (1934); Cornered (1932); Courage (1915); Crime Takes a Holiday (1938); Cyclone on Horseback (1941); Dangerous Intruder (1945); Dark Command (1940); Destry Rides Again (1939); Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939); Dog-Gone (1939); Don Mike (1927); Don Mike (1927); Don't Get Excited (1929); Drum Taps (1933); Dude Cowboy (1941); Dulcy (1940); East Side of Heaven (1939); Empty Saddles (1936); Enemy Agent (1940); Everyman's Law (1936); Fast and Furious (1931); Fighting to Live (1934); First Comes Courage (1943); For the Honor of Bettina (1915); Forgotten Girls (1940); Frontier Feud (1945); Frontier Gal (1945); Frontier Justice (1935); Get That Girl (1932); Ghost Patrol (1936); Git Along Little Wifie (1933); Go-Get-'Em, Haines (1936); Going Up (1923); Greed for Gold (1913); Gun Law (1938); Gun Lords of Stirrup Basin (1937); Gun Packer (1938); Gun Smoke (1935); Gunman's Code (1946); Hearts and Fists (1926); Hearts in Bondage (1936); Heavenly Days (1944); Her Country's Call (1917); Highways by Night (1942); Hollywood, ciudad de ensueño (1931); Home Boner (1939); Hoodoo Ann (1916); Hot Rhythm (1944); I Love That Man (1933); I Stole a Million (1939); I Was a Convict (1939); I'll Tell the World (1934); Impossible Susan (1918); In Love with Life (1934); In Name Only (1939); Intolerance (1916); Invisible Ghost (1941); Isle of Destiny (1940); It's in the Bag! (1945); Jesse James (1927); Jesse James at Bay (1941); Jilted Janet (1918); Keeping Up with Lizzie (1921); Kit Carson (1928); Lavender and Old Lace (1921); Lawless Empire (1945); Leave It to Dad (1933); Legion of Terror (1936); Legion of the Lawless (1940); Let's Be Fashionable (1920); Lightnin' Crandall (1937); Little Men (1940); Love Affair (1939); Love and the Law (1913); Love and Water (1914); Love on a Bet (1936); Love Your Landlord (1944); Lover Come Back (1946); Lucky Partners (1940); Madison Square Garden (1932); Mammy (1930); Man from Music Mountain (1938); Man's Desire (1919); Marry the Poor Girl (1921); Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933); Mary's Ankle (1920); Melody Ranch (1940); Merrily Yours (1933); Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942); Midnight Molly (1925); Miss Jackie of the Army (1917); Missing Girls (1936); Mister Antonio (1929); Modern Times (1936); Molly Go Get 'Em (1918); Montana Moon (1930); Morning Glory (1933); Mr. Lucky (1943); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); Murder in Times Square (1943); My Lady Friends (1921); My Little Chickadee (1940); Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931); Never Too Late (1935); Night Parade (1929); Nina, the Flower Girl (1917); No More Women (1924); Northern Frontier (1935); Officer Thirteen (1932); Oh, Doctor (1937); Oh, What a Night! (1926); Oklahoma Frontier (1939); Old Dad (1920); On Probation (1935); On the Border Line (1912); One Man's Journey (1933); One More Spring (1935); Our Daily Bread (1934); Outlaws of Cherokee Trail (1941); Painted Desert (1938); Paper Bullets (1941); Park Avenue Logger (1937); Partners of the Trail (1944); Peck's Bad Boy (1934); Peggy Leads the Way (1917); Petticoat Larceny (1943); Phantoms, Inc. (1945); Pioneer Scout (1928); Pony Post (1940); Prairie Law (1940); Prairie Papas (1938); Prairie Spooners (1941); Pride of the Bowery (1940); Prison Break (1938); Prison Shadows (1936); Race Suicide (1938); Racing Blood (1936); Rainbow Valley (1935); Range Law (1944); Red River Robin Hood (1942); Red River Valley (1936); Red Skins and Red Heads (1941); Reformatory (1938); Reno (1939); Revenge at Monte Carlo (1933); Rhythm Wranglers (1937); Riders of the Dawn (1937); Roarin' Guns (1936); Robbers of the Range (1941); Rogue of the Range (1936); Roll Along, Cowboy (1937); Rosemary Climbs the Heights (1918); S.O.S. Tidal Wave (1939); San Diego I Love You (1944); Sarong Girl (1943); Scaramouche (1923); Second Hand Rose (1922); Shine on Harvest Moon (1938); Ship Cafe (1935); Silent Men (1933); Silver Comes Through (1927); Silver Comes Through (1927); Sing Sing Nights (1934); Single Handed (1914); Sinister Hands (1932); Sister Kenny (1946); Sixteen Fathoms Deep (1934); Slave Girl (1947); Slightly Married (1932); Snakeville's New Doctor (1914); So Long Letty (1929); So Red the Rose (1935); So This Is Washington (1943); Social Error (1935); Soft Shoes (1925); Son of Roaring Dan (1940); Song of the Eagle (1933); Songs and Saddles (1938); Sons of Steel (1934); Souls in Pawn (1940); Springtime in Texas (1945); Stagecoach Buckaroo (1942); Stars Over Arizona (1937); State's Attorney (1932); Stormy Trails (1936); Stranded (1916); Street of Missing Men (1939); Strictly in the Groove (1942); Sudan (1945); Sundown Saunders (1935); Sutter's Gold (1936); Swede Larson (1914); Swing, Sister, Swing (1938); Take the Heir (1930); Ten Laps to Go (1936); Tennessee Johnson (1942); Texas Gun Fighter (1932); That's the Spirit (1945); The Amazing Impostor (1919); The Arm of Vengeance (1914); The Atonement (1914); The Avenging Rider (1943); The Awakening (1914); The Barnstormers (1914); The Beauty Prize (1924); The Belle of Siskiyou (1913); The Big Shot (1937); The Border Patrolman (1936); The Boss of Big Town (1942); The Bride Walks Out (1936); The Bridge of Sighs (1936); The Broken Parole (1913); The Broken Parole (1913); The Caravan Trail (1946); The Cheaters (1945); The Chef's Revenge (1915); The Children Pay (1916); The Chorus Lady (1924); The Conquest of Man (1914); The Cowboy Millionaire (1935); The Cowboy Samaritan (1913); The Crusader (1932); The Curtain Falls (1934); The Dance at Eagle Pass (1913); The Danger Point (1922); The Day the Bookies Wept (1939); The Desert Hawk (1944); The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949); The Dude Ranger (1934); The Edge of Things (1913); The Emerald Brooch (1915); The Episode at Cloudy Canyon (1913); The Eyes of Julia Deep (1918); The Feud Maker (1938); The Flying Irishman (1939); The Fox (1914); The Fox Woman (1915); The Galloping Fish (1924); The Gambling Terror (1937); The Ghost Rider (1935); The Girl in the Taxi (1921); The Gladiator (1938); The Gold Ghost (1934); The Great Meadow (1931); The Green Archer (1940); The Grim Messenger (1915); The Headline Woman (1935); The Heart of a Magdalene (1914); The Hills of Peace (1914); The Hired Girl (1915); The Honeymooners (1914); The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935); The House of Bentley (1915); The House of Intrigue (1919); The Intrusion of Isabel (1919); The Iron Claw (1941); The Jailbird (1920); The Kid Sheriff (1913); The Lady Who Dared (1930); The Last of the Duanes (1930); The Lawless Nineties (1936); The Lightning Rider (1924); The Little Liar (1916); The Lonely Trail (1936); The Lost Jungle (1934); The Man Who Walked Alone (1945); The Marshal of Mesa City (1939); The Merry Monahans (1944); The Midnight Warning (1932); The Milky Way (1936); The Missing Links (1916); The Musical Bandit (1941); The Mystery of the 13th Guest (1943); The Naming of the Rawhide Queen (1913); The Naughty Flirt (1930); The Nutcracker (1926); The Old Swimmin' Hole (1940); The Padrone's Ward (1914); The Perfect Clue (1935); The Phantom of Paris (1931); The Phantom Plainsmen (1942); The Primitive Woman (1918); The Rainbow Man (1929); The Ranger and the Lady (1940); The Rider of the Law (1935); The Roaring Twenties (1939); The Rustler's Step-Daughter (1913); The Sable Lorcha (1915); The Savage Horde (1950); The Seventh Victim (1943); The Shadow (1940); The Sheriff of Cochise (1913); The Silver Bullet (1942); The Singing Cowgirl (1938); The Spanish Jade (1915); The Spoilers (1930); The Spoilers (1942); The Square Deal (1918); The Storm (1938); The Story of the Old Gun (1914); The Sunset Legion (1928); The Talkies (1929); The Three Gamblers (1913); The Trail of the Snake Band (1913); The Veiled Woman (1922); The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936); The Warning (1914); The Weaker's Strength (1914); The Widow in Scarlet (1932); The Wise Virgin (1924); The World Accuses (1934); The World Gone Mad (1933); The Zero Hour (1939); There Goes My Heart (1938); Thirteen Women (1932); This Is the Life (1914); This Land Is Mine (1943); Three Legionnaires (1937); Through Trackless Sands (1914); Thunder Mountain (1935); Thundering Hoofs (1942); Timber War (1935); Timber! (1942); Time Out of Mind (1947); Today I Hang (1942); Tomorrow's Youth (1934); Too Much Beef (1936); Trail of Terror (1935); Trail of the Vigilantes (1940); Tramp Trouble (1937); Trigger Tom (1935); Triple Justice (1940); Trouble in Sundown (1939); Truth Aches (1939); Twin Beds (1920); Undercover Man (1936); Unexpected Uncle (1941); Untamed (1929); Valley of the Sun (1942); Vivacious Lady (1938); Wagon Train (1940); Water Rustlers (1939); West of Sonora (1948); West of the Rio Grande (1944); Westward Ho (1935); What Came to Bar Q (1914); What's Your Husband Doing? (1920); When the Daltons Rode (1940); Why Broncho Billy Left Bear County (1913); Wide Open (1930); Winds of the Wasteland (1936); Wives and Other Wives (1918); X Marks the Spot (1931); You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939).

Born on this day – Lucy Maud Montgomery:

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Writer

November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942

Credits:

Books:

A Tangled Web (1931); A Vintage Christmas (2018); Across the Miles (1996); After Many Days (1992); After Many Years (2017); Against the Odds (1993); Akin to Anne (1988); Along the Shore (1989); Among the Shadows (1990); Anne of Avonlea (1909); Anne of Green Gables (1908); Anne of Green Gables / Little Women (2000); Anne of Ingleside (1939); Anne of the Island (1915); Anne of Windy Poplars (1936); Anne's House of Dreams (1917); Around the Hearth (2022); At the Altar (1994); Christmas with Anne (1995); Christmas with L. M. Montgomery (2021); Courageous Women (1934); Emily Climbs (1925); Emily of New Moon (1923); Emily's Quest (1927); Incredible Journey / Secret Garden / Little Princess / Railway Children (1997); Jane of Lantern Hill (1936); Kilmeny of the Orchard (1910); Magic for Marigold (1925); Mistress Pat (1935); Pat of Silver Bush (1933); Rainbow Valley (1919); Rilla of Ingleside (1921); The Alpine Path (1917); The Blue Castle (1926); The Blythes Are Quoted (2009); The Chronicles of Avonlea (1912); The Doctor's Sweetheart (1979); The Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920); The Golden Road (1913); The Green Gables Letters (1981); The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery (1987); The Road to Yesterday (1974); The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume 1 (1986); The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume 2 (1988); The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume 3 (1993); The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery Volume 4 (1998); The Story Girl (1911); The Watchman (1916).

Movies and television:

Anne (2007); Anne De Green Gables (1957); Anne of Avonlea (1975 / 1987 / 2021); Anne of Green Gables (1919 / 1934 / 1952 / 1956 / 1958 / 1972 / 1979 / 1985 / 2016 / 2019 / 2020–2024); Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning (2008); Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew (2017); Anne of Green Gables: Road to Green Gables (1992); Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series (2001); Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000); Anne of the Island (2024); Anne of Windy Poplars (1940); Anne Shirley (2025); Anne with an E (2017–2019); Avonlea (1990–1996); Before Green Gables (2009); Emily of New Moon (1998–2000 / 2007); Green Gables Fables (2014–2016); Heritage Minutes (2018); I Know a Secret (1982); L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars (2017); Lantern Hill (1989); Life and Times (1996); Project Green Gables (2015–2018); Sekai Meisaku Gekijou Kanketsu Ban: Akage no Anne Part 1 (2001); Sekai Meisaku Gekijou Kanketsu Ban: Akage no Anne Part 2 (2001); Television Theater (1958–2000); The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess (2024).