Reader's Digest Condensed Books; Autumn 1957, Volume 31: Lobo / The Century of the Surgeon / By Love Possessed / Duel with a Witch Doctor / Warm Bodies

by MacKinlay Kantor, Jürgen Thorwald, James Gould Cozzens

Volume 31 - Autumn

Lobo - MacKinlay Kantor
The Century of the Surgeon - Jürgen Thorwald
By Love Possessed - James Gould Cozzens
"Duel with a Witch Doctor" (The Spiral Road) - Jan de Hartog
Warm Bodies - Donald R. Morris

575 pages, Hardback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel Andersonville

Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa, in 1904. His mother, a journalist, encouraged Kantor to develop his writing style. Kantor started writing seriously as a teen-ager when he worked as a reporter with his mother at the local newspaper in Webster City.

Kantor's first novel was published when he was 24.

During World War II, Kantor reported from London as a war correspondent for a Los Angeles newspaper. After flying on several bombing missions, he asked for and received training to operate the bomber's turret machine guns (this was illegal, as he was not in service).
Nevertheless he was decorated with the Medal of Freedom by Gen. Carl Spaatz, then the U.S. Army Air Corp commander. He also saw combat during the Korean War as a correspondent.

In addition to journalism and novels, Kantor wrote the screenplay for Gun Crazy (aka Deadly Is the Female) (1950), a noted film noir. It was based on his short story by the same name, published February 3, 1940 in a "slick" magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. In 1992, it was revealed that he had allowed his name to be used on a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten, who had been blacklisted as a result of his refusal to testify before the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) hearings. Kantor passed his payment on to Trumbo to help him survive.

Several of his novels were adapted for films. He established his own publishing house, and published several of his works in the 1930s and 1940s.

Kantor died of a heart attack in 1977, at the age of 73, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.

Reviews

[Wm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lobo - Good story of the love of an independent dog.
The Century of the Surgeon - Great outstanding history of surgery and its progression in story form.
By Love Possessed - Fairly good novel of a murder, love, and the intertwinings of characters with a suspenceful ending.
Duel with a Witch Doctor - A not so good, hard to read story of missionaries to natives.
Warm Bodies - Very good humorous novel about life on a Navy ship during WWII and the fast transition of a bachelor officer in difficult circumstances. Well written and very funny.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

_Lobo_ is really good and would undoubtedly have made me cry if I were a dog person. I'm not.
_The Century of the Surgeon_ is marvelously well-written and, assuming it's as accurate as it appears to be, I'm sure glad I live now and not then! I'm adding the important dates to our family's timeline on the walls... anesthesia, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, the discovery of anthrax... oh, it's full of cool stuff--and disheartening stuff. Human nature hasn't changed a bit!
_By Love Possessed_ didn't move me. It reflects a time period and a social group that I don't really comprehend. There may be some unspoken assumptions in it that would help, if I understood them.
_Duel with a Witch Doctor_ is really well-written. I can't say I enjoyed it, because it's gruesome and scary. But it has a definite point to it, which I begin to understand.
_Warm Bodies_ is hilarious! This one and the Surgeon book are reasons to reread this volume.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "The Century of the Surgeon" and was by turns grossed out, horrified, amazed, saddened, thrilled, and relieved that I didn't have to live through the 19th century, when surgery was still such an unknown. I've always enjoyed medical stuff, so this was my next natural step from reading my grandmother's "Modern Medical Counselor" as a child.

I love Neenaw's houseful of Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Many a time late at night when I couldn't sleep, in her little guest bedroom, I'd grab one of the books and pretty much every volume had at least one interesting book in it.

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm Bodies helped me realize that my laugh is quite ungainly. I am going to make sure that my husband reads that one; it's hilarious.

[Deloris J.]

I just started this book...bought it at Goodwill (I'm a sucker for old books), and so far, "Lobo" is a fun story to read, especially since it is about a dog, and I'm a dog-lover.