The Girl with the American Adaptation

David Fincher, the director of Se7en and Zodiac, has been hired to direct an English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The script is by Steve Zaillian, who wrote Schindler's List, and Daniel Craig is rumored to be playing Michael Blomkvist. The part of Lisbeth Salander has not yet been cast.

Having just watched the Swedish version of Stieg Larrson's novel, I'm saddened by the idea that American audiences can't be bothered to watch movies with subtitles. It's more the shame because the film by Niels Arden Oplev is one of the finer adaptations of a (fairly complicated) novel that I've seen. There's absolutely no need for another version except to squeeze more money out of the worldwide Larsson phenomenon. I only hope to God that Fincher and Zaillian don't set their motion picture in the United States.

 

Small-Town Premiere

Living in a small town comes with its share of trade-offs. There might not a decent Chinese restaurant for fifty miles, but you get to know people in all sorts of interesting contexts. Last night, for example, the best-selling author Tess Gerritsen hosted a premiere of the new TNT TV show based on her books, Rizzoli and Isles, at the local opera house. At the pre-party beforehand at the exquisite Camden Harbour Inn, I ran into not only the literary folk you might expect, but also my physician and dental hygienist among the attendees. In fact half the town of Camden seemed to be at the showing; the opera house was literary packed with Tess's many friends and fans who had come out to cheer on her new success. After the show (which I genuinely enjoyed), we all flooded out onto a foggy Camden street where a hired trolley was waiting to return people to their cars up the hill. You know you're living in a special place when half the community turns out late on a misty Monday night to watch television together.

A Fatal Shooting in Augusta

In The Poacher's Son I do my best to write about the dangers Maine game wardens face on a daily basis. One of the points I try to make in the book is that wardens are de facto police officers, and the threat of violence hangs over their heads in ways most people don't appreciate. Sadly, today was one of those days all wardens dread:

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine law enforcement officers shot and killed an armed man within sight of the entrance of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Togus this morning.

The Attorney General’s Office identified the victim as James F. Popkowski, 37, of Medway.

Popkowski, a patient at the medical center, was fatally injured during an armed confrontation with Togus police officer Thomas Park and two game wardens, Sgt. Ron Dunham and Warden Joey Lefebrve, according to a press release from Attorney General Janet Mills. Police said Popkowski had carried a gun “in a threatening manner.” Seeing the confrontation, the game wardens came to the aid of the Togus officer.

Popkowski was killed in the confrontation that occurred shortly after 9 a.m.. Mills said Dunham and Park fired at Popkowski and that preliminary evidence indicates that officers shot in defense of themselves.

Because I am not covering this story as a reporter, interviewing the principles and witnesses, it would be inappropriate for me to speculate on the sequence of events that led to the shooting until the attorney general has finished her inquiry. 

Dinner with Doiron

Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, the awesome non-profit writing center where I was once executive director, is celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary on August 12 with the birthday party to end all birthday parties. For a mere $200 you can dine at one of Portland's best restaurants with the likes of Richard Russo, Richard Ford, Ann Beattie, Ann Hood, Lily King, Phillip Hoose, Joyce Maynard, Jennifer Finney Boylan, James Hayman, Betsy Sholl, or...me.

You're guaranteed to eat well. Last year, Bon Appetit named Portland "America's Foodiest Small Town." My dinner is at the Salt Exchange.