Topical Guide 192
Mark Dorset
Art: Hylas and the Nymphs
Others of Larry’s projects were more original: his planting most of the island in bamboo and hacking out intricate pathways through it (in Bamboozled) remains my favorite, and I remember with fond admiration his success in persuading Lucinda and several of her pubescent friends to dye their hair auburn and participate in a tableau vivant based on John William Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs (in That Crazy Redhead).
Little Follies, “Call Me Larry”
Literature: Adolescent: The Phantom Island
In each of the Larry Peters adventures, the plot of the adventure itself turned somehow on the latest of Mr. Peters’s or Larry’s inventions, preoccupations, or avocations. For a reader who was familiar with the series and its conventions, one of the pleasures of reading any new volume came from trying to anticipate the way in which Larry’s current interest would figure in the resolution of the mystery, the capture of the crooks, the unmasking of the spies, the rescue of the hostages, or whatever other satisfactory resolution would conclude the story. Take, as an example, The Phantom Island, the eleventh novel in the series.
Little Follies, “Call Me Larry”
In Issue 14 of The Babbington Review, Peter recalls his youthful efforts to write himself into the Larry Peters adventures, beginning with The Phantom Island. He Intended to turn a Larry Peters adventure into a Peter Leroy adventure, but he found to his surprise that it became a Lucy Peters adventure. Characters do have a way of taking control of a narrative sometimes.
The Viano Quartet:
More, including their performance schedule (Denver, San Diego, New York, and Edmonton coming up), at the Viano Quartet’s website.
[more to come on Thursday, February 10, 2022]
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You’ll find an overview of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy. It’s a pdf document.