Word: rattler
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature (University of California; $45). At once a paean to serpents and an encyclopedic review of what's known and not known about them, the book argues that instead of hunting snakes down to near extinction, as we've done with the timber rattler--once glorified on the American Revolution's "Don't Tread on Me" flag--we ought to consider them "worthy of respect" and deserving of "a place in nature...
...truth is, however, that the era of "English cozies" -- the ladylike, death-stalks-the-vicarage sort of teacup rattler that grannies used to write and read -- is mostly over and widely unmourned. Nor is it necessary these days for women who want to write about the darkest crimes -- P.D. James comes to mind -- to confect not-quite-believable male investigators. It's not a surprise that among the grittiest of this season's crime novels are three written by and about women...
...phrase "black musical" usually means either a gospel rafter-rattler or a nightclub evening of raunch and funk, typically highlighted by frenzied tap dancers and some enormous female singer with a voice like a howitzer. There have been exceptions that accorded blacks roles of dignity and depth (the richest emotionally, Dreamgirls, ironically was crafted by whites). But the norm is jumping and jiving, as in the new Five Guys Named Moe and the amiable gumbo of jubilant New Orleans sounds The High Rollers...