Archive for February, 2016

Phenomenal Remix of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”

Friday, February 12th, 2016

Trent Reznor has been offering the individual tracks of his music for other people to remix for a while now. I stumbled across this truly awesome Andrej Prebanda remix of “Hurt” on YouTube:

Yeah, I like the Johnny Cash version as well.

More on David Hartwell

Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Now that the New York Times has finally bestirred itself to publish a David Hartwell obituary, it offers me a chance to throw up a few more Hartwell-related links from:

  • Kathryn Cramer.
  • Michael Swanwick.
  • I would have had this up earlier, but I was distracted by shiny objects. But Dwight’s post jogged my memory…

    Library Addition: Tobias Buckell’s Xenowealth

    Wednesday, February 10th, 2016

    I finally got my copy of Toby Buckell’s Xenowealth collection, a Kickstarter project I first backed in November of 2014.

    Buckell, Tobias S. Xenowealth. Self-published, 2016. First edition hardback, one of an unspecified number signed by the author, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Short story collection set in the same universe as Crystal Rain. There were only 63 backers of the hardback level, so it’s possible the total print run for this edition is under 100 copies. Due to an error, my name was not listed among the backs on the acknowledgements page, but Toby sent me an extra copy each of the hardback and the trade paperback to make up for it.

    Xenowealth 1

    Library Addition: Two Gnome Press Anthologies

    Monday, February 8th, 2016

    I picked up two nice Gnome Press anthologies from a National Book Auction at quite a reasonable price.

  • Greenberg, Martin. Journey to Infinity. Gnome Press, 1951. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bend at head in a Fine- second state (30 titles) dust jacket with a few small traces of wear, and a few pinhead spots on the front cover, otherwise extremely bright and attractive. Chalker/Owings (1991), pages 198-199. Kemp, 204. Bought for $25 with buyer premium.

    Journey to Infinity

  • Greenberg, Martin. All About the Future. Gnome Press, 1954. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight dust soiling to page block edges and one small indention to very bottom of from board, in a near Fine- dust jacket with a 1″ closed triangular tear at bottom front along spine, a semi-closed 1/8 tear at head, and shallow chipping at points. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 202. Kemp, 204. Note that Kemp calls for black boards with red lettering; my copy is gray boards with a reddish cloth spine with silver lettering, and Chalker/Owings doesn’t report on the binding state at all, which would make this a previously unrecorded binding variant. (Edited to add: Some fellow collectors believe that this is in fact the primary binding state, and that Kemp got it wrong and the black boards/red lettering state is the variant.) Bought for $20 with buyer premium.

    All About the Future

  • Shoegazer Sunday: Vidulgi OoyoO’s “Infinity”

    Sunday, February 7th, 2016

    Korean psychgazer band Vidulgi OoyoO’s “Infinity” is one of those songs that starts slow and keeps building on the same basic groove, a bit like Lemon’s Chair, though Vidulgi OoyoO has a harder and faster edge.

    (Hat tip: Primal Music Blog.)

    Random Thing That Amuses Me

    Thursday, February 4th, 2016

    The name of this top-ranked high school football recruit: Chauncey Gardner.

    I’m just going to assume all my readers know why I find that name amusing. And how often do I get to use the “football” and “Peter Sellers” tags for the same post?

    Library Addition: First Edition of Samuel Butler’s Erewhon

    Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016

    I ignored a couple of my own collecting rules when picking this up, namely picking up a book from before my usual collecting period, and picking up a rebound copy. However, the book in question was important enough, and the price I paid cheap enough, that I don’t mind.

    (Butler, Samuel). Erewhon or Over the Range. Trübner & Co., 1872. First edition hardback, a rebound copy in modern full leather (at least according to the auction description, but “modern” is a relative term; the new binding is worn enough that it appears to be at least 50 years old), original covers bound in rear of textblock, with heavy rubbing on joints and corners, hinges starting, minor scattered foxing on preliminary and terminal leaves, pages characteristically brittle, overall a Very Good rebind copy. Published anonymously, Erehwon (“nowhere” spelled backwards) is satire in the mode of Gullivers Travels, and one of the most important 19th century Utopian/Dystopian novels. Bleiler Checklist (1978), page 36. Bleiler Checklist (1948), page 68. Bleiler, SF: The Early Years, page 113. Reginald (Volume I), page 84. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 1-19. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature Volume Two, page 729. Bought for $75 (including buyer’s premium) from Heritage Auctions.

    P1010019

    P1010020

    And here’s a picture of the original boards bound into the back:

    P1010023

    Note that E. F. Bleiler in SF: The Early Years says there was a second, corrected state printed the same year as the first edition. I have been unable to find points that distinguish between the first and second state, and the original boards bound into my edition seems to match those first editions copies I’ve been able to locate online.

    I believe this is now the oldest book in my library, replacing a first edition of Camille Flammarion’s Urania (1890). Next oldest would be my first editions of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow and H. G. Wells’ Select Conversations with An Uncle (Now Extinct), both 1895.

    Library Addition: Orbit 9 Inscribed to Robert and Virginia Heinlein

    Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016

    This is somewhere halfway between a mere curiosity and a really interesting association copy:

    Knight, Damon, editor (Leon Stover, Gene Wolfe, R. A. Lafferty, etc.). Orbit 9. Putnam, 1971. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a touch of edgewear at points in a Near Fine- dust jacket with slight edgewear and very slight darkening to white rear jacket. Inscribed by contributor Leon Stover: “For Robert & Virgina Heinlein/with thanks for/9 June 1984/Leon Stover.” Stover would not only later publish a critical book on Heinlein from Twayne, but was working on the official authorized biography of Heinlein before the latter’s death, a project cancelled after a falling out with Virginia Heinlein. Bought for $6.50 from Houston bookstore Kaboom Books.

    Orbit 9

    IMG_0583

    Nice Texas Monthly Profile of Joe R. Lansdale

    Monday, February 1st, 2016

    In case you missed it, there’s a swell profile of Joe R. Lansdale in the latest Texas Monthly. For a writer who’s always been on the cusp of fame, he’s done pretty darn well for himself. It helps that he’s good and prolific…

    (Hat tip: Bill Crider.)