Cheap Fiction

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Jimmy notes:
"Though I myself prefer The Disappearing Floor, I
too must credit Dixon for broadening my vocabulary,
nurturing a commitment to the scientific method,
instilling good liberal values and turning me on to
the world of books.  In Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
suggests that nearly all of the silicon valley
computer geeks played with Lego as children; I wonder
how many Pyn-heads got their start in books with
The Tower Treasure."

I devoured the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, Jr. (part of the same family 
conglomerate that produced Nancy Drew and lots of other stuff) until
I was old enough to appreciate Sherlock Holmes and real SF.

The Swift, Jr. BTW was interestingly altered from the more overtly
racist Swift, Sr. books that upset Grover Snodd in "The Secret Integration."
The Funny Cook and Sidekick in this case was a proto-Marvyite Texan
named "Chow" Winkler.

I know someone has looked at how these series books have changed over the
years.  THE FOOTPRINTS UNDER THE WINDOW, for example, in the Hardy series
all referenced to illegal Chinese aliens.  I suppose they're Mexican now!

Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)