David Pearce's Copy of Drinks Before Dinner by E. L. Doctorow

David from Manhattan brings us up to date on another book from the library of the late David Pearce, M.D., an ophthalmologist whose wonderful books we have had a number of occasions to view on the blog. He found this one in a Manhattan bookstore for $25. David writes:

Pearce appears to have had E. L. Doctorow and a drooping eyelid as a patient. I own a copy of "Drinks Before Dinner" inscribed in 1980, "To David Pearce, from his ptosic author E.L. Doctorow." Doctorow's knowledge was always impressive, but I'm guessing he inadvertently merged "ptotic" and "ptosis" to come up with a plausible substitute.

The cover of "Drinks Before Dinner" I downloaded from on-line. The inscription is on a tan paper, not a result of my phone. The cover is a 1978 painting by Paul Davis. The play came out in Nov. '78, the book was published the following year. Mike Nichols director, Joseph Papp producer, Christopher Plummer the lead. An impressive list, but reviews were mixed. Doctorow was a brilliant novelist, but this is his only play.

Book cover by Paul Davis

That would be Doctorow's right eyelid (his right, your left) that is droopy and thereby demonstrates ptosis, making it, correctly speaking, ptotic (and not, as Doctorow reasonably but erroneously surmised, "ptosic"):

Note:  Did E. L. Doctorow come into this world as a forceps delivery? Just asking.

My sincere thanks to David from Manhattan for this, his forty-eighth contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Several of his previous contributions were also from the library of the esteemed Dr. Pearce. Thanks to him also for educating me in the adjectival form of ptosis, something that had previously eluded my attention.

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Ben Wicks: Trick or Treat?

A cartoon from 1963 serves to remind us of the importance of staying safe on Halloween. Dick Buchanan submitted this scan to Attempted Bloggery. He writes that "Ben Wicks was a Canadian and celebrated there for many worthy projects. He was a regular in the Post during the 1960's."

"Trick or treat?"
Ben Wicks
The Saturday Evening Post, November 2, 1963

Scan by Dick Buchanan

The supposed threat of violence perpetrated by trick-or-treaters on which this gag hangs might strike some today as not very fertile ground for humor. It seems unlikely though that the Post's editors gave this any serious thought at the time. This issue is dated just a few short weeks before Americans were to be reminded of our collective vulnerability by the assassination of President Kennedy. Would a gag cartoon such as this have been selected for publication immediately after that horrific event? Perhaps not.

Note:  This is the first appearance of cartoonist Ben Wicks on this blog. 

I want to thank Dick Buchanan for once again coming through with a timely and beautiful scan from the celebrated Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. Dick contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Color Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1957." You'd better go and have a look.

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