More of the Fred Duarte/Karen Meschke book collection showed up at the Austin Public Library’s Recycled Reads Bookstore. Two of the books here were 50% off their marked price, and the other two were pretty cheap. All these are in dust jacket protectors.
Godwin, Parke, and Marvin Kaye. The Masters of Solitude. Doubleday, 1978. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with purple remainder speckling at heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with moderate soiling to white back cover. Inscribed by both authors: “[In Kaye’s hand]Worldcon 1986″/[In Godwin’s hand] For Fred/Parke Godwin/[In Kaye’s hand] For Fred/with best wishes/Marvin/Kaye.” I did not previously have examples of either author’s signatiure. Bought for $12. (Note: Kaye’s name comes first on the cover, but I have more of Godwin’s books so I’ll be filing it there.)
Hunter, Stephen. Pale Horse Coming. Simon & Schuster, 2001. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Hunter. Bought for $5. Dwight tells me that this is one of his best.
Jeter, K.W. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Warped. Pocket Books, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Jeter: “For Karen + Fred—/See you in/San Antonio!/Best,/K. W. Jeter.” Meschke was con chair for the 1997 San Antonio Worldcon. Bought for $5 after discount.
Kay, Guy Gavriel. Tigana. Roc, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Kay: “For Fred,/All best,/Guy Kay.” Bought for $15 after discount.
Other books I found there will show up in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
For more on Fred Duarte, see here, or click the Fred Duarte tag to see other books I acquired from his estate. (For more items from Meschke’s collection, watch this space…)
Been a while since I did a Sunday Shoegazer. I’ve been busy.
Operating out of Guadalajara, Mexico, Lorelle Meets the Obsolete hits a sweetspot between shoegaze, slowcore and psychadelic, sounding a little bit like a heavier Mazzy Star. “Waves Over Shadows” is off Balance.
Three signed first edition hardbacks picked up from two different sources. The Effinger and the Lovegrove were picked up from a Lame Excuse Books customer for trade credit, and the Zelazny was from eBay.
Effinger, George Alec. Relatives. Harper & Row, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine- dust jacket with one 1/4″ closed tear on bottom front and very slight dust soiling to rear. Inscribed by Effinger: “For Dan Monte—/This is pretty scarce title. I/think the Center for Disease Control/developed a vaccine against this novel/shortly after publication. Well, it/was only my second book and I/was still learning—/George Alec Effinger.” I knew George (he came to the second Turkey City Writer’s Workshop I ever threw) and he signed most of his books for me, but I don’t think I picked this one up before he died. This and the Lovegrove were exchanged for credit.
Lovegrove, James. Provender Gleed. Gollancz, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed and dated by Lovegrove. I should really read some of the Lovegrove I already have…
Zelazny, Roger, editor. The Williamson Effect. Tor, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel and a few pinprick spots of foxing to FFE (maybe something with acidic paper was laid in there) in a Fine dust jacket. Tribute anthology for Jack Williamson, published after Zelazny’s death. Signed by Williamson and contributors Ben Bova, Mike Resnick and David Weber. Won off eBay for $24.07. Replaces an unsigned copy.
I doubt there’s anyone alive who’s read everything Isaac Asimov wrote (there’sw simply too much of it), but a goodly number SF fans probably think they read all of Asimov’s science fiction, or at least up through about Foundation’s Edge and Robots of Dawn, at which point it became obvious that the good doctor’s novel-writing career was running on fumes. But I suspect that many are unaware of this YA science fiction novel (really more like an illustrated novelette) that came out in 1975.
Asimov, Isaac. The Heavenly Host. Walker, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a trace of wear to boards, in a Near Fine dust jacket with a couple of 1/4″ closed tears at top edge, a few traces of dust soiling, and slight sun-yellowing around the perimeter (greatly exaggerated in the scan). Young adult novel set on another planet. Currey (1979), page 17. Bought from an online dealer for $20 plus shipping.
I had already purchased this and was about to cue it up here when news of Ellison’s death reached me. This is the most I’ve ever paid for a mass-market paperback, but signed copies usually go for about thrice what I paid for this.
Ellison, Harlan. Rumble. Pyramid Books, 1958. First edition paperback original (“Pyramid Books edition 1958” on copyright page and 35¢ price, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with slight wear along spine, faint crease on top front corner, slight characteristic age-darkening of pages, and a few other touches of wear, otherwise a bright, tight, square copy of a book usually found in much worse shape. Inscribed by Ellison: “Best of/luck to Perry/and to Sue, undisguised/lust and an all-expense paid/trip to anywhere with me/Harlan Ellison/22 JAN 73”. Mainstream novel of juvenile delinquency. Currey (1979), page 179. Slusser, Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin, page 62, 1. Segaloff, A Lit Fuse, page 75. Bought for $66 off eBay.
The man many thought was too stubborn and angry to die has passed away in his sleep: Harlan Ellison, dead at 84.
Ellison was a tremendously important science fiction writer in his heyday in the 1960s, the infant terrible of the American New Wave. His prose was both razor sharp and packed an emotional urgency pretty much unseen in the field heretofore, the SF counterpart to the “angry young man” briefly fashionable in the literary world. Among his prodigious short fiction output was “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” a story most would place among the genre’s very best, if not the best, and he won Hugos and Nebulas left and right back when they actually meant something.
He had a singular gift for memorable titles, superb taste in enemies, and a penchant for suing people at the drop of a hat (sometimes deserved, sometimes not). He wrote several memorable screenplays, including “Demon With a Glass Hand” for The Outer Limits and “City on the Edge of Forever” for Star Trek, as well as a large number of comic book issues. He was exceptionally smart, extremely charismatic, unusually hotheaded, irascible, opinionated and irreplaceable, and the source of hundreds of stories of his outrageous antics.
The field shall not see his like again.
Below: A few Ellison-related titles from my library. And I’ll actually be listing another recent purchase tomorrow…
John Brunner is something of an odd author for me. I have nice firsts of Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up, and pick up his signed first editions when I see them cheap, but I’m not actively trying collect everything he wrote.
But I saw this on sale on eBay from a major UK dealer who has tons of nice stuff that’s usually at prices in excess of what I want to spend, and thought it was worth picking up.
Brunner, John. The Crutch of Memory. Barrie and Rockcliff, 1964. First edition hardback (“First published 1964,” as per Currey), a Near Fine- copy with dust soiling to page block edges, slight bumping at head and heel and extremely slight blunting of points, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow chipping at head and heel, some dust soiling around the edge of the white rear cover, foxing to blind side of dj spine and edges, and general wear. With Brunner’s own ownership bookplate affixed to front flap. Brunner’s first mainstream novel. Currey, 1979, page 70. de Bolt, The Happening World of John Brunner, page 205. Bought £9.50 plus shipping.
Saw this mentioned on Penny Arcade and immediately decided to order a copy. Good thing, since it was sold out by the next time they posted…
Holkins, Jerry and Mike Krahulik. Lexcalibur: Useful Poetry for Adventurers Above And Below The World. Penny Arcade, 2017 (actually 2018). First edition hardback (“First Printing. November 2017. Printed in China.”), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread, with additional “Table of Malcontents” poem on bookmark laid in. Fantasy-gaming themed humorous poetry. Not actually offered for sale until May 2018.
Here’s a book I picked up less for the contents than as an affordable way to obtain Fletcher Pratt’s signature:
Pratt, Fletcher, editor. Civil War in Pictures. Civil War in Pictures, 1955. First edition (thus? no statement of printing, and there was a Garden City Books edition in 1955 as well, but what online references I’ve found (such as this from Henry Wessells) mention this Holt edition), a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at tips, a non-authorial bookplate on inside front cover (mostly obscured by the dj flap), and very faint yellowing to pages, in a Very Good dust jacket, with very shallow loss and head and heel, a 1″ semi-closed tear at bottom rear cover, same bumping at tips, and slight foxing to blind side spine. Signed by Pratt for members of the Civil War Book Club. $10 would have been very pricey indeed for 1955 (though it’s possible that was just for show and the club members received it for a substantial discount). Pratt died in 1956. Bought for $37.50 on eBay.
Two more signed Ray Bradbury Christmas broadsheets, both bought off eBay:
Bradbury, Ray. Christmas Greetings (AKA Scanning the Universe. Self-published, no date (but 1984). First edition broadsheet original, one sheet of paper, a Near Fine copy, folded for mailing. Inscribed: “Stephen! Ray Bradbury.” Yet another Bradbury poem referencing George Bernard Shaw. Credited to Ray and Marguerite Bradbury. Not sure if this has been reprinted anywhere. Bought off eBay for $35 plus shipping.
Bradbury, Ray. A Christmas Wish 1994 (AKA Go Not With Ruins In Your Mind). Self published, 1994. First edition broadsheet original, one sheet of paper, a Near Fine copy with a paper clip indention at top left. Inscribed by Bradbury: “Dear/Holly!/[line]/Happy New Year!/[line]/Ray Bradbury/ 1/3/95”. Credited to Maggie and Ray Bradbury. Bought off eBay for $34.89 plus shipping.
