Posts Tagged ‘Ed Bryant’

Library Additions: Complete Run of Pulphouse Short Story Paperbacks

Thursday, December 14th, 2023

When Pulphouse first unveiled the short story paperback, I remember thinking “That’s stupid.” For all they bragged about “buying a single story for $1.95,” you could buy an entire issue of Asimov’s (with 5-10 times as much content) for $2.50. And, indeed, they were not swift sellers. Though a few of these (the Wolfe, the Lansdales, etc.) became slightly collectable over the years. (And a few of the companion Short Story hardbacks even more so.)

But I bough these from that same collector culling his collection for $1 each.

Almost all of these are paperback originals thus (though some of these have previously shown up as the title stories in collections, like Bloch’s Yours Truly, Jack the Rapper or Zelazny’s The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth), though exceptions (like Blaylock’s Paper Dragons) are noted. Some of the early ones (“Loser’s Night,” “Xolotl”) are the first publication anywhere, but most of the stories have appeared somewhere previously. Unlike most Library Addition entries, these will be listed by series order rather than alphabetical by author.

All of these are Fine copies unless otherwise noted.

  • “Author, J.Q.” Issue Zero. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #0, a binding dummy for the entire run of the series, with bank pages. Would never have bought this on it’s own, but since I was buying the entire thing I got this too. This one has a tiny bit of edgewear on rear spine join.
  • Anderson, Poul. Loser’s Night. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #1.

  • Brunner, John. A Case of Painters Ear. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #2.
  • Sheckley, Robert. Xolotl. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #3.

  • Boston, Bruce. All the Clocks are Melting. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #4.
  • Antieau, Kim. Blossoms. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #5.

  • Friesner, Esther M. Ecce Hominid. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #6.
  • Duchamp, L. Timmel. A Case of Mistaken Activity. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #7.

  • Bryant, Edward. The Cutter. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #8.
  • Wilhelm, Kate The Girl Who Fell Into the Sky. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #9.

  • Bloch, Robert. Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #10. Not to be confused with the short story collection of the same name.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Steel Valentine. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #11. Isajanko, The World Lansdalean C01.a.i. Supplements another copy and a Short Story Hardback version.

  • Bishop, Michael. The Quickening. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #12.
  • Zelazny, Roger. The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #13. Not to be confused with the short story collection of the same name. I needed this for my Zelazny collection.

  • Haldeman, Joe. More Than The Sum of His Parts. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #14.
  • Clemence, Bruce No Way Street. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #15. Guy had this, and a story in Synergy 3, and that was it…

  • Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn. The Spider Glass. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #16.
  • de Lint, Charles. Uncle Dobbin’s Parrot Fair. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #17. One of the harder titles to find.

  • Williams, Walter Jon. Dinosaurs. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #18.
  • Charnes, Suzy McKee. Listening to Brahms. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #19.

  • Robinson, Kim Stanley. Black Air. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #20.
  • Etchison, Dennis. The Dark Country. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #21. Not to be confused with the short story collection of the same name.

  • Aldiss, Brian W. Journey to the Goat Star. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #22. Tiny bit of rubbing along spine.
  • Brin, David. Piecework. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #23.

  • Caraker, Mary. I Remember, I Remember. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #24.
  • Schow, David J. Sedalia. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #25.

  • Stableford, Brian. Slumming in Voodooland. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #26.
  • Yolan, Jane. The Sword and the Stone. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #27.

  • Fowler, Karen Joy. The War of the Roses. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #28.
  • Morlan, A.R. The Cat With The Tulip Face. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #29.

  • Shiner, Lewis. Twilight Time. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #30.
  • Wagner, Karl Edward. Where the Summer Ends. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #31.

  • Lee, Tanith. Into Gold. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #32.Tiny rub on spine.
  • Willis, Connie. Daisy, in the Sun. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #33. Tiny rub on spine.

  • Bell, M. Shayne. Inuit. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #34.
  • Wilson, F. Paul. The Shade of Lo Man Gong. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #35.

  • Wilson, F. Paul. Buckets. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #36.
  • Martin, George R. R. The Pear-Shaped Man. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #37.

  • Butler, Octavia. The Evening and the Morning and the Night. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #38. Holy moley, the prices on this online are crazy. The prices for the signed hardback I can at least sort of understand, since Butler died young, but the prices for unsigned copies like this are still crazy. I had no idea.
  • Dozois, Gardner. The Peacemaker. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #39. Supplements a copy of the Short Story Hardback edition.

  • Wolfe, Gene. The Hero as Werewolf. Pulphouse, 1991. Issue #40. This is one I did actually need, and I still need the hardback version. Also, this is the last one from 1991. Pulphouse put out 40 of these in 1991. This is called “channel stuffing.” I wasn’t dealing books at the time, but I’m pretty sure SF/F/H dealers were not thrilled at this tsunami of small press books of dubious sales-worthiness.
  • Oates, Joyce Carol. The Bingo Master. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #41.

  • Effinger, George. Schrodinger’s Kitten. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #42. Supplements the hardback version.
  • Bear, Greg. Sisters. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #43.

  • Holder, Nancy. The Ghosts of Tivoli. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #44.
  • Brin, David. Dr. Pak’s Preschoool. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #45. Supplements a copy of the Cheap Street edition (which precedes).

  • Lansdale, Joe R. Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #46. Isajanko, The World Lansdalean C03.a.i. Supplements a copy of the Short Story hardback version.
  • Somtow, S. P. Fiddling for Waterbuffaloes. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #47.

  • Murphy, Pat. Rachel in Love. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #48.
  • Card, Orson Scott. Unaccompanied Sonata. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #49.

  • Le Guin, Ursula K. Nine Lives. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #50.
  • Bloch, Robert. The Skull of the Marquis de Sade. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #51.

  • de Lint, Charles. Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #52.
  • Kress, Nancy. The Price of Oranges. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #53.

  • Busby, F.M. If This Is Winnetka, You Must be Judy. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #54.
  • Cadigan, Pat. My Brother’s Keeper. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #55.

  • Bryant, Edward. The Thermals of August. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #56.
  • Blaylock, James P. Paper Dragons. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #57. A few small rubs along spine. Supplements a copy of the Axolotl Press hardback (which precedes).

  • Resnick, Mike. Kirinyaga. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #58. Kelleghan, Mike Resnick: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to His Work A39.
  • Sloca, Sue Ellen. Candles on the Pond. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #59. As far as I can tell, this is her only publication anywhere.

  • Wu, William F. Shaunessy Fong. Pulphouse, 1992. Issue #60. Has some slight rubbing along front near spine. Last in the Short Story Paperbacks series.

  • Reference: Jack Chalker and Mark Owings, The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Critical and Bibliographic History, 2002, page 719 (numbers 1 through 10), page 721 (numbers 11-20), pages 722 (numbers 21-30). This is what Chalker had to say about the Short Story paperback line:

    In January, 1991, Pulphouse continued its expansion with the Short Story Paperbacks and the selected Short Story Hardbacks, although we’re still only half- convinced that these are in any sense legitimate books. What they were, though, was what seemed to be a quick way to make money, and if people bought them, fine. They brought the whole operation as of the start of 1991 at a whopping 80+ titles a year. It should be noted that the paperbacks series was supposed to be originals and reprints, but became, after the initial ones, primarily reprints, a move that, while understandable, seemed to us to take away the one good reason why most people might buy them.

    Money held by SF/F/H collectors is a finite commodity, and Pulphouse in the early 1990s seemed to treat it as a limitless resource. If you’re publishing books by Lansdale, Zelazny, Wagner, De Lint, etc., that’s a license to print a little money. But Antieau, Clemence, Caraker? Not so much. Why they thought collectors were going to shell out money for such items is a mystery.

    The entire set bought for $61.

    Library Additions: Four PBOs

    Monday, February 1st, 2021

    Four paperback first editions bought from a fundraiser sale for the Joe R. Lansdale documentary All Hail The Popcorn King, each for $2:

  • Bryant, Edward, and Harlan Ellison. Phoenix Without Ashes. Fawcett, 1975. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with one faint spine crease and a few touches of edgewear, otherwise apparently new and unread. Currey, page 76 and 178. Richmond, Fingerprints on the Sky, page 108. Supplements a slightly less attractive copy. Now I can file one copy under Bryant and one under Ellison…
  • Delaney, Samuel R. Babel-17. Ace, 1966. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and ¢40 price on cover, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with rubbing along front spine join, slight edgewear, and slight age darkening to pages. Nebula Award winner for best novel. Currey, page 139.

  • Delaney, Samuel R. City of a Thousand Suns. Ace, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and ¢40 price on cover, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with considerable foxing to inside covers, age darkening to pages, and trace of dust soiling to white covers. Currey, page 139.

  • Vance, Jack. The Dragon Masters/ b/w The Five Gold Bands. Ace Double, 1962. First edition paperback original, a very Good- copy with wrinkling to covers, spine creasing, edgewear and usual age-darkening to pages. Hewett, A11. Cunningham, 26a. Currey, page 498. Supplements a first hardback edition.
  • Library Additions: Signed Bradbury, Bryant, Card, Powers, Simmons, Etc.

    Friday, December 28th, 2018

    Here’s the “miscellaneous signed fiction” from that Camelot 60% off sale. (There should be one more Camelot roundup, of reference books, tomorrow.)

  • Bradbury, Ray. The Dragon. Footsteps Press, 1988. First edition chapbook, #187 of 300 signed, numbered copies, Fine. Has wrappers with a transparent red Mylar window. “But wait,” you cry, “didn’t you already pick up a copy of this chapbook?” Yes, but that one had a blue Mylar window! I told you book collectors were crazy…Bought for $20, marked down from $50.

  • Burgess, Tony. Pontypool Changes Everything. ChiZine Publications, 2010. First hardback edition and first edition thus, #27 of 150 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Novel that was the basis of the 2008 film Pontypool, which I very much enjoyed, as well as additional material not in the 1998 softcover first edition. Bought for $30, marked down from $75.

  • Bryant, Edward. A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned. Wormhole Books, 2001. First edition hardback, one of (according to Chalker/Ownings 2002) 52 hardback copies, signed by Bryant and numbered 143 (suggesting they just grabbed random chapbook copies to bind rather than a particular number range), a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Chapbook of a story that originally appeared in Skipp & Spector’s The Book of the Dead. Bought for $30, marked down from $75. I was at the Armadillocon midnight reading where Ed read this story…

  • Card, Orson Scott. Hamlet’s Father. Subterranean Press, 2011. First edition hardback, #130 of 1000 signed, numbered copies. Stopped buying Card a while back, but the controversy over this made me want to pick it up just to piss people off. Bought for $14, marked down from $35.
  • Hughes, Rhys. Engelbrecht Again!. Dead Letter Press, 2008. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with signature plate laid in. Since I’m one of the few people who actually owns (and has read) The Exploits of Engelbrecht, the short story collection about the titular dwarf surrealist boxer, obviously I had to pick this up. Bought for $20, marked down from $50.

  • Powers, Tim. Down and Out in Purgatory. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #192 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $24, marked down from $60.
  • Simmons, Dan. This Year’s Class Picture. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #144 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Originally appeared in Skipp & Spector’s Still Dead (I guess hardback reprints of stories from Skipp & Spector zombie anthologies is a minor theme for this post.) Bought for $20, marked down from $50.
  • Thomas, Ryan C. Salticidae. Thunderstorm Books, 2013. First edition hardback, #65 of 75 signed, numbered copies (out of 150 copies total), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with a story not in the other edition. Oversized. Not familiar with the author, but I do collect giant spider novels. Bought for $30, marked down from $75.

  • Looking at the Burgress and Bryant scans, it may be time to get a new scanner…

    Library Additions: Several Half Price Books Purchases, Three Signed

    Monday, December 17th, 2018

    These were all books I picked up at various Houston Half Price Books stores the day after Thanksgiving. Those without prices were bought at half cover price.

  • Chabon, Michael. Moonglow. Harper, 2016. First edition hardback, one of an unstated number of signed limited copies sold by Powell’s Books, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket in a special slipcase, with a non-fiction Moonglow chapbook containing “The Box,” “The Facts,” and “The Interview” (Near Fine, with slight creasing) laid in. #63 in the Powells’ “Indiespensible” series, special signed editions sent out to book club members with various extras. Bought for $25.
  • Crais, Robert. The Wanted. Putnam, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Crais. I was looking through the discounted section of a Half Price Books, saw that this was a nice copy, thought to myself “I wonder if it’s signed,” picked it up, and it was. Hence George Locke’s dictum: “Don’t look for books, look at books.” Mystery novel. Bought for $3.00.

  • Duncan, Andy and Ellen Klages. Wakulla Springs. Tor, 2015. First edition hardback (evidently a reprint of an electronic version), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, presumably as issued. Weird trim factor, being a small format hardback sightly smaller than a paperback. Bought for $4.99.

  • Howard, Robert E. Trails in Darkness. Baen, 1996. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear to top front cover and slight foxing to inside covers. Volume VII in the Robert E. Howard library.
  • Howard, Robert E. Beyond the Borders. Baen, 1996. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy. Volume VI in the Robert E. Howard library.
  • Kuttner, Henry (& C. L. Moore). Clash By Night. Hamlyn, 1980. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with a a long crease across the front cover. Short story collection. Kuttner’s name alone appears on the cover, but the title page also has C.L. Moore’s name, and all the stories are collaborations between the two.
  • Sammon, Paul M., editor. Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror. St. Martin’s Press, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight edgewear at head, heel and points. Signed by contributors Joe R. Lansdale, Ed Bryant, Nancy Collins and Chas. Balun. I had a copy of this (and I’m cited as an expert in here), but I didn’t get Ed Bryant to sign my copy, so this was a nice find. Bought for $12.49.

  • Ed Bryant, RIP

    Friday, February 10th, 2017

    Howard Waldrop called to inform me that SF writer Ed Bryant has died at age 71. This is a shame but not a surprise, as Ed had been ailing for many years.

    Ed was in the category of “friends you only see once or twice a year.” He was a regular Armadillocon attendee in the early days, and I saw him read “A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned” before it appeared in Skipp & Spector’s The Book of the Dead. He was also an astute reviewer in the field for many years.

    He will be missed.

    I will update this when I have a suitable link to a proper obituary.

    Friends of Ed Bryant eBay Auction

    Sunday, October 23rd, 2011

    Ends TODAY! (October 23) To help out with Ed’s medical bills (as mentioned here).

    Ed Bryant Could Use Your Help

    Monday, September 12th, 2011

    Due to health and financial troubles. Details and a way to donate at the link.