By Peter J Reilly, Contributor
Thanks to years of browsing and seeing things that I can’t resist along with a reasonably tolerant covivant, portions of my living area have the feel of a library about them. I think I’ve got a better American history section than most bookstores. It slows me down, as I often find myself picking up old friends and starting to read them again. The most recent reacquantance was The Last Angry Man. It is the intertwined stories of a 68 year old Jewish doctor in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn and an “ad-man” nascent TV producer who, fictionally, hit on the idea of reality TV in the fifties. Dr. Sam Abelman is an irascible old man, who refuses to adapt. His favorite phrase is “The bastards won’t let you live.” I have not seen any observation to this effect but noting that The Last Angry Man was released in 1958 when the work of James Gould Cozzens was at its peak of popularity and controversy due to the release of By Love Possessed , the title must have been inspired by Cozzens 1935 The Last Adam. Dr. Bull, the main character, is an irascible old man in a small town in Connecticut. Will Rogers played him in the movie , which I have yet to watch. I was reflecting that we don’t have fictional doctors like that anymore. Then I remembered House.