Tales Of The Blue Meanie [Paperback]

Allan Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2008

In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place "Pepperland," after the Beatles movie, "Yellow Submarine." Threatening this paradise is'The Blue Meanie, a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Allan Cole is a best-selling author, screenwriter and former prize-winning newsman. The son of a CIA operative, Cole was raised in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. For more details and to contact Allan, visit his website at www.acole.com. And see his entries in Wikipedia.com, and IMDB.com (International Movie Database)

Here’s what critics have said about Cole’s other works: Lucky In Cyprus: A haunting, humbling, and sobering experience - J. A. Kaszuba Locke, Bookloons.com; A Reckoning For Kings: Classic war novel – SF Chronicle; The Timura Trilogy: Page turner of the year – Locus Magazine; The Sten Adventures: Landmark science fiction series – Publishers Weekly; A Cop’s Life: Must-read for anyone with a badge – Philadelphia Fraternal Order Of Police

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Allan Cole is a best-selling author, screenwriter and former prize-winning newsman. The son of a CIA operative, Cole was raised in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more details and to contact Allan, visit his website at www.acole.com. And see his entries in Wikipedia.com, and IMDB.com (International Movie Database)

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (November 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440448760
• ISBN-13: 978-1440448768
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,806,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALLAN COLE is a best-selling author, screenwriter and former prize-winning newsman. The son of a CIA operative, Cole was raised in Europe and the Far East. For details see Allan's website at www.acole.com. Here's what critics have said about Cole's work: The Sten Series: Landmark science fiction -Publishers Weekly; When The Gods Slept: Page turner of the year - Locus; The Far Kingdoms Series: Glorious... Swashbuckling - Locus; A Reckoning For Kings: Classic war novel - SF Chronicle; Lucky In Cyprus - A haunting, enlightening experience - BookLoons.com; A Cop's Life: Must read by anyone with a badge - Philadelphia Fraternal Order Of Police.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready for some wild nostalgia?, December 12, 2008

By 

J. Mitchell (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tales Of The Blue Meanie (Paperback)

You can always count on a good read from Allan Cole, one of my favorite writers. This one is more fun than I've had in a long while. It covers Allan's years living in Venice Beach, CA, in the sixties, and to quote Allan himself, it truly is damned funny. It will make you nostalgic for all the best parts of those times, and make you cringe at some of the worst. It's the sixties experience everyone should have had. It's worth reading just to get to know the Blue Meanie himself. Full of good characters and their great stories, it'll have you humming "Yellow Submarine" to yourself. A good fun read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Venice Forever, November 27, 2008

By 

Jay Tompkins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales Of The Blue Meanie (Paperback)

Once I picked up the book I was hooked. I just couldn't put it down. It's full of great stories, characters and memories of that amazing period of time in an equally amazing place (Venice Forever).

You can not read this book without saying to yourself, is this stuff true. Well there is little if any exaggeration going on here. I know this to be true, I am one of the characters. I'm Jay. I bet Alan could write volumes on these few short years that we where all together on Washington St in Venice, California.

Thanks, Allan. It's a great read.

Jay Tompkins

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a bit of nostalgia, November 26, 2008

By 

Jack Leishman (Talent, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales Of The Blue Meanie (Paperback)

Man, this really DOES take me back. Imagine Steinbeck and his cast of characters, moved to the California Venice Canals in the late 60s; add in a touch of Kerouac and maybe just a bit of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and you have a taste of "Tales of the Blue Meanie." This is a great read and a lot of fun, and encapsulates a slice of life and a slice of time in the late 60s and early 70s that I mostly have cut off and left behind. Now, I may be just a bit biased because I am one of the cast of colorful characters depicted in the story, but I think it's very well written and a page turner none-the-less. Kudos to Allan for capturing the tastes, smells, and rollicking insanities and inanities of the period. And, what's amazing to me, that after all of the good and bad dope and the gallons of red mountain that was consumed, that, to the best of my recollection, most if not all of this is as I remember it happening (not to mention that we all survived relatively intact).