Archive for July, 2020

Squirrel Ninja Warrior

Thursday, July 30th, 2020

A light, diverting video for your amusement…

Library Additions: Various Subterranean Firsts

Friday, July 17th, 2020

Here are some Subterranean Press books I picked up at the usual dealer discount over the last few months.

  • Blaylock, James P. The Gobblin’ Society. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #259 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Blaylock’s latest Steampunk Langdon St. Ives adventure.
  • Butler, Octavia. Unexpected Stories. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #391 of 1000 copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Contains two newly unearthed stories, plus an introduction by Nisi Shawl and an afterword by Butler’s agent and literary executor Merrilee Heifetz.
  • Kelly, James Patrick. King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #131 of 1000 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Novella about a circus of uplifted cats and dogs.
  • Swanwick, Michael. The Postutopian Adventures of Darger and Surplus. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Swanwick’s loveable con artists are back in this short story collection.
  • I have all of these for sale through Lame Excuse Books.

    Library Addition: Signed, Traycased Edition of Jack Vance’s Minding The Stars

    Wednesday, July 15th, 2020

    Jack Vance’s estate sold off some of his contributor copies recently. I bid on many, but only won this one:

    Vance, Jack (Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan, editors). Minding the Stars (The Early Jack Vance, Volume Four). Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine- traycase with one small fingernail-tip sized indention at bottom front, with a provenance card from the Vance estate laid in. The only edition signed by Vance. Bought off eBay for $255.00. The other traycase editions I bid on went for substantial more.

    Shoegazer Sunday: The Telewire’s “Head on Straight”

    Sunday, July 12th, 2020

    Been a long time since I featured something from The Telewire, but “Head on Straioght” is part of my regular Shoegaze rotation.

    Library Addition: Two Volume Masters of Science Fiction: Kate Wilhelm

    Saturday, July 11th, 2020

    Had to scramble to pick this set up:

    Wilhelm, Kate (John Pelan, editor). Masters of Science Fiction: Kate Wilhelm (Volumes One and Two). Centipede Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #457 of 500 numbered hardbacks signed by the editor and artists Jim and Ruth Keegan, both Fine copies in Fine dust jackets, with dust jacket protectors, new and unread.

    For some reason I’d fallen off the Centipede Press mailing list, so I actually had to purchase these at cover price of $90 for the set. (The indignity!)

    Library Addition: Signed First of Nelson Bond’s Nightmares and Daydreams

    Thursday, July 9th, 2020

    A signed Arkham House at a nice price:

    Bond, Nelson. Nightmares and Daydreams. Arkham House, 1968. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slightly bumped pints, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wear at points and the barest trace of dust soiling to white rear cover. Signed by Bond. Currey (1979), page 49. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 98. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 106. Nielsen, 104. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 96. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 38. Bought off eBay for $35.

    Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Books

    Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

    Here are two Ellison limited editions I refrained from picking up when they were published:

  • Ellison, Harlan. Getting in the Wind. Kicks Books/Edgework Abbey, 2012. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with four postcards, a pair of dice, a signature plate signed by Ellison, in a dropbox, with a picture of the cover pasted on front, in a plastic bag with a seal for “Sex Gang Perfume.” (This one with the seal broken so I could look at the contents.) An elaborate production. This copy and the following reprint all the stories from Ellison’s very early PBO Sex Gang, published as by Paul Merchant in 1959, along with other very early Ellison stories. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 52.

  • Ellison, Harlan. Pulling a Train. Kicks Books/Edgework Abbey, 2012. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with four postcards, a a switchblade comb, a signature plate signed by Ellison, in a dropbox, with a picture of the cover pasted on front, in a plastic bag with a seal for “Sex Gang Perfume.” (This one with the seal unbroken.) An elaborate production. This copy and the above reprint all the stories from Ellison’s very early PBO Sex Gang, published as by Paul Merchant in 1959, along with other very early Ellison stories. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 56.
  • These two limited editions were originally offered at $150 each. I thought they were nice, but not $150 nice. Bought off eBay for $50 each.

    Believe it or not, you could actually buy “Sex Gang perfume” from the publisher’s website as well…

    Ennio Morricone, RIP

    Monday, July 6th, 2020

    Legendary film score composer Ennio Morricone has died at age 91. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, John Carpenter’s The Thing and The Hateful Eight all had scores by him, among the 500+(!) he composed.

    Here’s probably my favorite piece by him, from his soundtrack to Once Upon A Time In The West: