Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
All of these were bought at various Half Price Books locations with 10% off coupons.
Gaiman, Neil. Trigger Warning. HarperCollins, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of crimping at head. Short story collection. Bought for $12.14
Lake, Jay. Last Plane to Heaven. Tor, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Short story collection. Foreword by Gene Wolfe. Bought for $7.19.
McCrumb, Sharyn. Bimbos of the Death Sun. TSR, 1987. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Near Fine- copy with a dime-sized sticker pull on the top left front cover, foxing to inner covers, and touches of edgewear. Her acclaimed, Edgar-Award winning murder mystery set at a science fiction convention. Replaces a less attractive copy. Bought for $2.24.
Morrow, James. Reality By Other Means: The Best Short Fiction of James Morrow. Wesleyan University Press, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. I’ll have one of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Stephenson, Neal. The System of the World. William Morrow, 2004. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with trace of crimping at head, a couple of small spots of dust staining to boards and a small bump along bottom front board, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight crimping at head and touch of crimping at points, inscribed by Stephenson: “To Harris,/Neal Stephenson.” Bought for $7.19.
Twain, Mark. Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 2. University of California Press, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-covered dust jacket. The second massive volume in Twain’s anecdotal autobiography, the one he insisted not be published until 100 years after his death. Supplements a copy of Volume 1. Bought for $8.99.
Tags:biography, Books, Fantasy, James Morrow, Jay Lake, Mark Twain, Mystery, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, April 20th, 2022
Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. Fantasia Romantica. Dragonstairs Press, 2022. First edition chapbook original, #9 of 48 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. “Fantasia Romantica is Michael Swanwick’s witty take on the romantic lives of six fictional heroines. Was Rosie waiting when Sam Gamgee came home? And what was going on with Susan Pevensie?” Out of print almost instantly upon publication.
I will have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Michael Swanwick, small press publishers
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Tuesday, April 19th, 2022
Two recent “Little” books from Borderlands Press, one with a hilarious typo right on the cover.
Chambers, Robert W. (Lisa Morton, editor). A Little Yellow Book of Carcosa and Kings. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Morton, a Fine copy, sans dust, as issued. Four linked horror tales, all reprinted from The King in Yellow, all set in a then-future United States. Now sold out from the publisher. I have one copy of this still available through Lame Excuse Books.
“Chambers, Robert W.” (i.e., Arthur Machen)(Bentley Little, editor). A Little Brown Book of Unnatural Narratives. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Little, a Fine copy, sans dust, as issued. Three stories (“The Inmost Light,” “The Shining Pyramid” and “The Novel of the White Powder”) all reprinted from previous Machen collections. Hilariously, Borderlands accidentally kept the author embossing for Chambers from the above volume on the cover design when they printed this Machen collection, which is probably the funniest mistake since “Karl Edward Wanger” on the first state dust jacket of Gods in Darkness. With inserted slip apologizing for the typo laid in. I’ll have a few copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Arthur Machen, Books, Borderlands Press, Horror, Robert W. Chambers, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Thursday, April 14th, 2022
The Sheckley was bought directly from the publisher, while the two Watts titles were bought from a collector culling his collection.
Sheckley, Robert. Masters of Science Fiction: Robert Sheckley. Centipede Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #350 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in publisher’s shrinkwrap. “Signed by Jim & Ruth Keegan, with facsimile signatures by Robert Sheckley, Christopher Priest, and John Pelan.” The signed edition is sold out from the publisher, but I’ll have a few copies in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Watts, Peter. Blindsight. Centipede Press, 2020. First limited edition hardback, #177 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Watts Hugo-Award nominated novel about a mission sent to examine an alien probe in the Kupier Belt. Well-written and super depressing, Blindsight argues that self-aware, sentient life is an evolutionary dead-end. (There’s an interview Joe Rogan did with Neill Blomkamp about the resurrected vampires that are part of the book, but they’re not even the most interesting or fundamental part of the novel.) Supplements a copy of the Tor true first edition.
With:
Watts, Peter. Echopraxia. Centipede Press, 2020. First limited edition hardback, #177 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Sequel to Blindsight that I haven’t read yet. Sets of these went out of print shortly after their announcement, and seems to be pretty close to Unobtanium on the secondary market. Bought for $400 for the pair from a private collector.
Tags:Books, Centipede Press, Limited Editions, Peter Watts, Robert Sheckley, Science Fiction, signatures, signed, small press publishers
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Monday, April 11th, 2022
I’m not dead, just the next best thing to it: Doing my taxes.
Here’s a book I tried to pick up cheaper than what was going on eBay, didn’t manage that and ended up having to pay a bit more.
Hill, Joe. Strange Weather. William Morrow, 2017. First edition hardback, “Barnes & Noble Black Friday Signed Edition” as per the ISBN and copyright page (the first signed edition listed), one of an undetermined number with a signature page bound in (very similar to the one in Full Throttle), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of four novellas. Bought for $40.05 from a fellow Biblio dealer.
Tags:Books, Horror, Joe Hill
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Thursday, March 24th, 2022
Another signed Harlan Ellison 1st, this one an Ace Double PBO:
Ellison, Harlan. The Man With Nine Lives/A Touch of Infinity. Ace Books, 1960. First edition paperback original (35¢ on cover, as per Currey), a Near Fine- copy with wear at head and heel and the usual age-darkening to pages, signed twice by Ellison at each of the two title pages. The Man With Nine Lives is a novella and A Touch of Infinity is a short story collection. Quite an attractive copy, nice and square with quite bright covers, and better than usually found. Richmond, Fingerprints on the Sky, page 107-108. Currey, page 178. Bought off eBay for $44.95.
Tags:Ace Double, Books, Fantasy, Harlan Ellison, PBO, Science Fiction
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Monday, March 21st, 2022
I’m closing in on a complete Clark Ashton Smith collection in hardback. Here’s one of the pricier Smith Arkham Houses:
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Dark Chateau. Arkham House, 1951. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight crimping and a touch of wear at head, small embossed name at bottom of half-title page, moderate foxing to rear gutters, slight foxing to front gutters, and a thumbnail edge-like indention to the top of the first few pages, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with slight loss at points and age-darkening to white lettering on spine. Only 563 copies printed, one of the smaller Arkham House runs. Joshi, Schultz & Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography, I.13.a. Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams, page 27. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 44. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 44. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 42. Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 46 (also ranked as the eighth scarcest Arkham House volume, and the ninth priciest). Bought from PBA Auctions for $406.25 plus shipping.
The only Smith Arkhams I now lack are:
Genius Loci and Other Tales
Spells and Philtres
The Abominations of Yondo
Tags:Arkham House, Books, Clark Ashton Smith, Horror, poetry, small press publishers
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Tuesday, March 15th, 2022
I don’t think I have any other Richard Matheson lettered editions, but I picked this one up at a very attractive price.
Matheson, Richard, and Richard Christian Matheson. Pride. Gauntlet Press, 2002. First edition hardback, letter R of 52 lettered copies, a Fine- copy with a slight outlines of the enclosed CD of the authors reading the story on the rear cover, and a Fine traycase with a manuscript page inserted on the inside lid, sans dust jacket, as issued. A somewhat elaborate production. Features iterative drafts of this collaborative father-and-son short story. Bought from a fellow Biblio dealer for $65.
Tags:Books, Gauntlet Press, Horror, Limited Editions, Richard Christian Matheson, Richard Matheson
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Monday, March 14th, 2022
Several PS Publishing titles that arrived in January, one via a dealer order and the others via a discounted sale.
Coldiron, Katherine. Midnight Movie Monographs: Plan 9 From Outer Space. PS Publishing/Electric Dreamhouse, 2021. First edition hardback, #209 of 300 copies with a signed faux movie ticket laid in (along with a “Watch Bad Movies/Make Good Art” sticker), a Fine copy in decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket. A book-length study of Ed Wood’s infamous magnum opus of the same name, widely hailed (or derided) as the worst movie ever made, as featured in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I have copies of this available though Lame Excuse Books.
Di Filippo, Paul. Aeota. PS Publishing, 2019. First edition hardback, trade edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Supplements a signed, limited edition. Bought for £5. I have one copy of this available though Lame Excuse Books.
Dowling, Terry. The Complete Rynosseros (Volumes I, II and III). PS Publishing, 2020. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 300 signed, numbered sets, all Fine copies in decorated boards and Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase. All Dowling’s Tom Rynosseros stories. An attractive production with Nick Stathopoulos art. Volume III features Dowling discussing the origins and developments of every story. Volume I even has an introduction by Jack Vance! Bought for £60 for the set, a considerable discount from the £150 offering price.
Ford, Jeffrey. The Best of Jeffrey Ford. PS Publishing, 2020. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. 550+ page volume. Bought for £5. I have one copy of this available though Lame Excuse Books.
Sholly, Pete Von. The PS Book of Fantastic Fictioneers: A History of the Incredible (Volume One Ackerman to Jackson and Volume Two: James To Wood.). PS Publishing, 2019. First edition hardbacks, Fine copies in Fine (One) and Near Fine (Volume Two, due to a 1″ slit along the spine edge) dust jackets. Profusely illustrated non-fiction book set covering creators of the fantastic, from Edgar Allen Poe to Ray Bradbury to Jim Henson to Joel Hodgson. Bought for £20 for the set.
Tags:Bad Movies, Books, Ed Wood, Electric Dreamhouse, Fantasy, Horror, Jack Vance, Movies, Paul Di Filippo, Plan 9 From Outer Space, PS Publishing, Science Fiction, Terry Dowling
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Wednesday, March 9th, 2022
Just over two months since the new year started, and already I have six Joe R. Lansdale items added, include a lettered edition and a DVD.
(Howard, Robert E.) Joe R. Lansdale, Nathan Fox and Dave Stewart. Pigeons From Hell. Dark Horse, 2009. First edition graphic novel trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed by Lansdale. Based on the Robert E. Howard novella. Bought for $10 from a private collector.
Lansdale, Joe R. Radiant Apples. Subterranean Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #347 of 1,500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Deadwood Dick novella. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I have copies of this available through Lame Excuse Books.
Lansdale, Joe R. Zeppelins West. Subterranean Press, 2001. First edition hardback, #222 of 350 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. This edition includes extra sketches at the back. Bought from a UK book dealer for £54.
Lansdale, Joe R., and Timothy Truman. On the Far Side With Dead Folks. Avatar, 2004. First edition graphic novel trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Adapted from Lansdale’s “On the Far Side Of The Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks.” Bought for $10 from a private collector.
Lansdale, Joe R., editor. Retro Pulp Tales. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback, Letter J of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, signed by all the contributors (Bill Crider, Kim Newman, etc.) to this pulp fiction anthology as well as Lansdale. Bought from a private collector for $250 plus shipping.
The “hairline crack” at the bottom is a scanner artifact.
(Lansdale, Joe R.) Bubba Ho-Tep: Hail To The King Edition. DVD, 2007. First edition thus, a Limited Edition with the case wrapped in a miniature Elvis Presley jacket, a Near Fine+ copy, still sealed, with some peel from the black plastic at the top of the case that can probably be fixed once I open it up to watch or get Joe to sign. DVD of the movie starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis, based on the Lansdale story, with a script by Lansdale and director Don Coscarelli. Bought off eBay for $15.
Tags:Books, graphic novel, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Limited Editions
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