Author Archives: John Mark Ockerbloom

In Sydney Fowler Wright’s Deluge, earthquakes and floods destroy most of civilization, but a small population in England survives. The post-apocalyptic novel is as much about criticizing present-day society as it is about the future society it depicts. A film … Continue reading →

After Rose Sellars’ husband dies, she and Martin Boyne can finally appropriately act on their feelings for each other. But while en route to meet with his now-fiancée, Martin finds himself inappropriately attracted to someone else. The Children “is not … Continue reading →

Curmudgeonly British writer Evelyn Waugh published his first novel, Decline and Fall, in 1928. Reviewing it in 2008, Alex Larman found it “surely one of the greatest debut comic novels of the last century”, and wondered why it had never … Continue reading →

Mickey Mouse isn’t the only franchise character joining the public domain soon. In 1928, Singapore-born Leslie Charteris introduced the gentleman criminal Simon Templar, aka The Saint. Charteris published dozens of stories with the Robin Hood-like character. The Saint was also … Continue reading →

Disney celebrates Mickey Mouse’s birthday today, the 95th anniversary of the release of Steamboat Willie. Myles Burke writes how the success of the synchronized-sound cartoon saved the studio and paved the way for more ambitious animated films. In 44 days, … Continue reading →

Virginia Woolf’s Orlando depicts the title character’s transitions through multiple centuries and genders. Nearly a century after it was first published, it continues to have a vibrant and varied life. Joanna Scutts says it “laid the groundwork for today’s cultural … Continue reading →

Generations of readers have enjoyed Wanda Gág’s Millions of Cats, and kept it in print ever since its 1928 publication. The book is memorable both for its text (with the repeated cadence “Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, Millions and … Continue reading →

The 1928 musical Good Boy is nearly entirely forgotten now, but one of its songs was a breakout hit. Helen Kane performed “I Wanna Be Loved by You” in the show, and the song was later famously taken up by … Continue reading →

“The history of the American musical theater,” wrote Miles Kreuger, “is divided quite simply into two eras: everything before Show Boat, and everything after Show Boat.” We’ve featured Show Boat in our #PublicDomainDayCountdown before. The Edna Ferber novel the show … Continue reading →