Normally I don’t do a separate post about every Subterranean Press book that comes in, but since I picked up both the trade and limited state of this book, I thought I would do a post to highlight the different cover art.
Reynolds, Alastair. Beyond the Aquila Rift. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, trade state, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Another huge career retrospective collection, and at 781 pages, I think it’s the largest yet.
Reynolds, Alastair. Beyond the Aquila Rift. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #171 of 350 signed and numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. I find it slightly odd that the trade edition includes a wraparound dust jacket illustration, whereas the spine and rear of the limited are just a background dark blue color, but the cover art here is by Reynolds himself.
I’ll have copies of the trade edition available for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Bob Dylan, the brilliant, iconoclastic musician who has for decades defied people’s expectations, was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday morning.
Dylan was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the American song tradition.”
One of the most prominent musicians of the last half-century, Dylan had long been rumored to be considered for the prize, but literary watchers considered his name among those in the running a novelty. He is the first American to win the prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.
The room of watchers at the Swedish Academy seemed shocked by the announcement, one calling the decision “radical” when asking Sara Danils, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, about the choice.
She compared Dylan to the poet Sappho, and then suggested the interviewer begin with Dylan’s record “Blonde on Blonde.”
Blink.
Blink.
I never put any stock in the Nobel Prize in Literature (or Peace, for that matter) and can conceive of worse choices. But I was unaware that Jack Black’s character from High Fidelity was on the Nobel Prize committee.
So here’s the opening track of Blonde on Blonde:
Perhaps the lyrics offer a glimpse at how the committee came to its decision…
Now that I’ve finished cataloging those National Book Auction Books, I can finally start cataloging the books I bought at Armadillocon, way back in July. First up: Two Neal Barrett, Jr. chapbooks I already had in wraps, but not in the hardback versions I picked up there. Both of these are unnumbered copies, presumably from Neal’s own contributor copies, and both bought for $40 from two different sellers (Adventures in Crime and Space and Rick Klaw).
Barrett, Neal, Jr. The Day the Decorators Came. Subterranean Press, 2000. First edition hardback, a signed but unnumbered copy among 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy with pictorial pastedown on front boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Barrett, Neal, Jr. Way Out There. Subterranean Press, 2004. First edition hardback, a signed but unnumbered copy among 52 lettered copies, a Fine copy with pictorial pastedown on front boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
At this point I think all I’m missing of Neal’s books are some media tie-ins and the pseudonymous series work (of which he did quite a bit).
In fact, making is probably the wrong word, since it evidently premiered on SyFy tonight. (I’ve been busy.)
If you hadn’t heard of it before, it’s a Creepy Pasta about a obscure kid’s TV marionette show, except most kid’s shows don’t have characters like “The Skintaker.” And naturally, kid’s remember how creepy it was, but parents only remember them watching static.
Here’s a trailer:
And here’s someone’s interpretation of the imaginary show’s imaginary theme music:
Here’s the second set of William F. Buckley books from that National Book Auction lot. Once again, most of these are signed on bookplates, and it occurs to me that maybe these were done as bonuses for National Review subscribers. Here are the non-fiction books, most of which are signed.
Signed Buckley Non-Fiction
Buckley, William F. Atlantic High. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with wear at points. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With deep appreciation/Bill Buckley.” Non-fiction book about Buckley sailing across the Atlantic.
Buckley, William F. A Hymnal: The Controversial Arts. Putnam, 1978. Hardback (no edition stated), a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and a page number circled in red with the word “Rush” written beside it on the table of contents on page 9, in a Very Good- dust jacket with chipping at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high regards/Bill Buckley.” Collection of essays.
Buckley, William F. Inveighing We Will Go. Putnam, 1972. Hardback (no edition stated), a Near Fine copy with slightly soft heel and waviness to first few pages and a couple of dust spots to page block edges, in a Very Good- dust jacket with a long semi-closed tear across the bottom of the front cover and two 1/4″ chips at heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “To Mrs. Helen C. Avera/[Something] all/Wm. F. Buckley.” Collection of essays.
Buckley, William F. Execution Eve and Other Contemporary Ballads. Putnam, 1975. Hardback (no edition stated), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with some tiny closed tears at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “To Lorenzo Avera/[Something]/Wm. F. Buckley.”
Buckley, William F. Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography. Regnery Publishing, 2004. Fourth printing hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with CD of Buckley reading in plastic insert at back. Signed by Buckley on a bookplate. Regnery used a very heavy, high-quality paper on this book.
Buckley, William F. Overdrive. Doubleday, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with shallow chipping and creasing at heel and slight wear at head and points. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With warm regards/Bill Buckley.” An autobiography of a week in Buckley’s hectic life.
Buckley, William F. Racing Through Paradise. Random House, 1987. First edition hardback (stated, with a numberline starting with 2, as per standard Random House custom), a Fine- copy with line of wear across bottom of spine at heel, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Buckley on the front free endpaper: “For Claire Worth/With higher [something]/Bill Buckley.” Non-fiction book about Buckley sailing through the Pacific.
Unsigned Buckley Non-Fiction
Buckley, William F. In Search of Anti-Semitism. Continuum Publishing Company, 1992. Hardback, no printing stated, a Fine- copy with slight bump at head and light crease to first few pages, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bump at head and small crease to corner of top rear flap. Long essay on charges of antisemitism against various figures on the right, followed by a round of essays and letters from various people in reaction.
Buckley, William F. On the Firing Line: The Public Lives of Our Public Figures. Random House, 1989. First trade hardback preceded by a signed edition from the Franklin Library), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just the lightest traces of wear. Collection of transcripts from Buckley’s Firing Line program on PBS, including Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Kurt Vonnegut, etc.
And that, finally, is the last of the National book Auction Books, and the last of all the batches of books I bought on July 9…
Hope you like drone rock with a repeating riff played for an extended period of time, because that’s what Austin’s own All in the Golden Afternoon is laying down in “The Long Goodbye,” which reminds me of Talking Heads’ “The Overload.” The ubiquitous Ulrich Schnauss was evidently involved in this as well.
All in the Golden Afternoon is one of six bands that will be appearing at Lucious Heaven, a night of shoegaze bands at Cheer Up Charlie’s on October 15, 2016, which is a mere $5.
It’s October already, so time to start putting up some Halloween posts, so here’s Betty Boop’s version of Snow White. Really digging those crazy background images during the Cab Calloway song…
The very last lot I got from National Book Auctions wasn’t related to SF/F/H. It was a box of William F. Buckley books, which the listing showed that some indeterminate number of which were signed. I won it for $50, and upon getting it, discovered that slightly more than half were signed. This post just covers the ones I’m keeping which were fiction, all of which are Blackford Oakes spy thrillers.
Buckley, William F. Marco Polo, If You Can. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with small crease to top inner flap. Inscribed by the author on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/Best regards/Bill Buckley.” (I believe “Worth” is the last name; I have numerous example of books in this lot inscribed to the same person, and “Worth” seems the most obvious choice. In my (admittedly limited) experience, Buckley didn’t sign terribly many books “Bill”, “Wm. F.” seems considerably more common. If I had to guess, I’d say the books were signed for a longtime correspondent of Buckley’s, someone who took decent care of them but wasn’t a book collector per se (some, but not all, of the books in this lot were in a dust jacket protector, and a few others in plastic book bags).) Actually, I already had a signed first of this book, but this is a better copy. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 913.
Buckley, William F. Mongoose, R.I.P.. Random House, 1987. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with large foxing squares (probably from a newspaper clipping) to rear inside cover and rear free endpaper, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with significnat creasing to rear cover. Inscribed by Buckley: “For Claire Worth/With best & warm wishes/Buckley.” Unlike most of the signed books in this lot, this was signed by Buckley directly on the front free endpaper rather than on a bookplate. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 914.
Buckley, William F. Saving the Queen. Doubleday, 1976. Hardback (there’s no First Edition statement on the title page, so this is possibly a reprint, though the R10 gutter code on page 248 would put it in March of its publication year, and occasionally Doubleday did slip up and forget to include the First Edition statement on the true first), a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head and heel and front inner hinge a little bumpy from the glue line under the paper, in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of dust soiling along extremities. Inscribed by Buckley: “For Claire Worth/With warmest regards/Bill Buckley.” Another book directly signed rather than on a bookplate. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 912.
Buckley, William F. See You Later Alligator. Doubleday, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel and a 1″ closed tear to bottom rear cover. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With best regards/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 920.
Buckley, William F. The Story of Henri Tod. Doubleday, 1984. First trade edition hardback (preceded by a Franklin Library signed edition), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wear at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high hopes/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 921.
Buckley, William F. Who’s on First. Doubleday, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with 1/16″ chip at rear heel join, slight dust soiling to rear cover and a 1″ surface scratch. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high hopes/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 918.
It’s somewhat frustrating not having a good bibliography of Buckley at hand, which is why I’m picking up William F. Meehan III’s William F. Buckley, Jr.: A Bibliography…
