Monday, November 23, 2009

26. Escape from New York by Mike Maquay

The novelization of Escape from New York has long been respected as one of the few that actually lives up to the quality of the movie. The paperback is also quite rare. I saw a copy once in a movie memorabilia store in TO but it was selling for around $40 or something. Savvy bookhunter Lantzvillager of Mount Benson Report fame did find it though and lent it to me. I re-watched the movie with my wife in order to catch her up on the masterpiece that is the first half of John Carpenter's career. We were going to use the theme song (also composed by Carpenter) for the walk-in music for our wedding, but we couldn't find any sheet music for it. I did buy the musical album, which turned out to be friggin' awesome. I took the neighbour's dog for a walk the first time I listened to it and almost took out the entire park I got so psyched.

So all that is to say that I was motivated to read the book finally. Lantzvillager lent it to me. It was a quick and enjoyable read, giving lots of really cool depth to the world of the movie and Snake's background. There was a radical strain in the '80s that capitalism has almost entirely snuffed out today. It's in Carpenter's movies (the apex being They Live) and was definitely strong in the book. Escape from New York is about sticking it to the man, an attitude considered passé today sadly. Read it and remember.