Anders Monsen

Lost worlds and ports of call

Page 3 of 82

Getting back into running

October 26, 2024 /

I’ve run and participated occasionally in races on and off in my life, and on three different continents. In middle school in Zambia, I ran track and cross country, once finishing third in my school in what I remember as a thrilling race down to the wire (for third place, not first or second). I quit running shortly after that, for personal reasons. When I moved back to Norway for a few brief years, I ran for fun, unaware of local races or events, even though I lived half an hour away from the famous Knarvikmila 10K.

After moving to the US, it took a decade before I thought about running again. I ran my first ever event in 1997, the Capitol 10K, in Austin, Texas. I thought (in my naiveté) that I might run it in 45 minutes, but ended up 10 minutes slower after struggling up the long hill along 15th street. If I remember correctly, the then governor, George W. Bush, was the MC who tried to fire up the crowd before the start. “Dub” was an avid runner, though far from a popular person, in Austin at least.

It took another 10 years before I picked up running again, as after the Capitol 10K I had knee surgery to clean out some scar tissue that caused my knee to lock up if I stood in one place for more than a few minutes (a great conversation starter). By then I’d moved to San Antonio. One day, after walking to the local Blockbuster (RIP), I decided to run home. It took a mix of running and walking, but after that first evening, I started trying to run again. In 2009 I ran my second 10K with almost no training, along a local hilly course, and struggled to finish. The next year, I chopped 10 minutes off my time, and was hooked.

Since then, I’ve run four marathons, a dozen half-marathons, over 20 5Ks, some 10Ks and 10 milers, and a few distances in-between and beyond. In that time I’ve also dealt with multiple injuries and distractions. After my last half-marathon, back in 2018, I took six years off running altogether, due to other commitments that left zero time for running. Then, in 2023 those commitments ended, and I started running seriously again. Of course, I picked up an injury, and had to cancel two half-marathons scheduled for January/February in 2024.

This year, post injury, I’ve tried to find a balance in my running to avoid injury. This meant dialing back intensity and distance, and seeing past running paces only in the rear view mirror. I ran a 15K trail run in March, where I learned that the hip injury had not completely gone away, and taking off two months meant my fitness level had returned to near zero. During the Summer I ran two Parkruns, one in England, the other in Ireland. This Fall I’ve run a handful of races/events, ranging from 5Ks to 10K, with a 10 miler looming in a few days. Although I’ve placed in the top three (or first) in my age group, I tend to look mainly at my finish time. Looking at that time, I then bemoan how far away it is from just a few years ago. All my personal bests are behind me, it seems.

Yes, I’m nothing but a “hobby jogger.” Running, to me, is a way to clear my mind. Races aren’t so much a way to measure myself against others, but myself. I set new goals now, since I’m older, slower, and with six lost years, almost starting back at “level zero.”

Where I live, summers are hot. I’m also not a morning person, so I tend to run in the evenings. In the Fall, with night falling faster, the long runs usually mean wearing a headlamp to avoid cars and rocks. Winter, however, are usually mild, so the next few months may mean cooler weather, which is always better for runners. So far though, it’s been 90s and 80s all the way, even into late October. Plus, when the sun beats down on you, it feels like the weight of the world.

Will I run another marathon? I don’t know. I’m planning to run some half-marathons in 2025, so we’ll see how that goes. I’d love to do the FjordViking, in Knarvik, Norway. Here you run a half-marathon, 10K, and 5K in the same day. I’ve always wanted to run Knarvikmila, the 10K there, but if I’m going to make the trip, I almost have to try for that trifecta. As far as marathons, I’ve entered some lotteries, failed them all, and so I’ll only run another one if I get in. Maybe, at that point, I’ll take my training seriously.

So, here’s to all the runners out there, from the speedy ones to the social ones.

Books added: McCammon, Wilson

October 26, 2024 /

I went slightly above my hard budget for this entry in the Borderlands Press little book series, Robert McCammons’s A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots. Although most of the “little books” are limited to 500 copies, in this case they splurged and went up to 750. I’m not quite sure why exceptions to the 500 number rule have been made in a fairly small number of cases.

Whenever I’ve seen this McCammon book for sale, it’s usually been for over $100. In this case, two books popped up around the same time and for the same amount–each for $75. When I expressed interest in one of these books, and the seller enticed me with a slight discount, I went ahead and bought it. As a McCammon fan, I dove into the book right away.

McCammon’s book contains three short stories, each preceded by a recipe for a unique drink mix—hence the title of “Wicked Shots”. The drink itself appears in each story, but isn’t an integral part of it. The first story is about a serial killer of children who encounters a ghost, with drastic results. Set in the late 1950s in Alabama, it’s a chilling tale set in a particular time, but featuring a type of killer who knows no bounds in time. The second, about a former professional hockey player in New York, bleeds into fantasy and alternate realities. The third, about the dog-eat-dog corporate world, lacks a little power compared to the other two stories.

With this book, I’m now down to eight out of the 60 plus books in the Borderlands Press little book series that I lack. Of course, those remaining eight books are the hardest and most expensive books to find (four are from Series I alone). Twice I’ve missed out on bids for one particular author. As far as the others, each copy that I’ve seen for sale has been outside my budget. All save one of these books are early in the series. For some unknown reason, the one that’s more recent is either hard to find, or it’s priced far beyond other books published around the same time. De gustibus, I guess.

F. Paul Wilson’s novella, The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium, published by Necessary Evil Press, has eluded me in a couple of attempts to buy the book. When I found it for sale online at Half Price Books for $50, I gritted my teeth and paid the sum. Published back in 2007 and limited to 500 signed, numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, of which this is #133. From what I’ve experienced, this book usually sells for $100 for more. This copy has some faint spotting at the top, but otherwise looks in good condition.

TPOTCOE, to shorten the title, is comprised of material originally published in the HWA anthology, Freak Show, with added material to flesh it out and make it a coherent story. As it’s not included in The Compendium of F, Wilson’s three book set of collected short stories, I had to get this book. Also, I used to own a paperback copy of Freak Show, but lent it out years ago and it was never returned.

The story fits into Wilson’s wide-ranging Secret History of the World, in this case about a traveling circus of “freaks,” all touched by the Otherness, all apparently eager to see it take over the Earth.

Book added: John Holbrook Vance

October 13, 2024 /

For many years I’ve owned pair of a paperback copies of the John Holbrook Vance mystery novels, The Fox Valley Murders and The Pleasant Grove Murders. These Ace paperbacks were published in 1967. The latter bears a stamp on the inside cover from “The Exchange,” a now defunct used bookstore in Georgetown, Texas. The cover bears a large letter “F” next to the word “The” and a sharp crease along the spine mars both covers. In other words, they are far from pristine copies, but what can you expect when the books first appeared over 50 years ago, having passed through many hands and many readings.

John Holbrook Vance is the real name of my favorite writer, who published most of his books under the name, “Jack Vance.” Although Vance is known more for his science fiction and fantasy work, he wrote several mystery novels. Both of these books feature a sheriff in an imaginary county south of San Francisco by the name of Joe Bain. A final book in the series was apparently outlined, but never written (such a shame; it would have been nice to have see The Genesee Slough Murders in print).

In 1966, Bobb-Merrill published The Fox Valley Murders in hardcover. They released The Pleasant Grove Murders the following year. My beat-up copies of the two paperbacks are books that I’ve each read several times, while always wishing for more stories featuring that setting and the characters; it’s a time and place long gone, replaced by tech companies and vast wealth changing the landscape and populace.

A few years ago I bought the hardcover edition of The Fox Valley Murders. The stark cover illustrates the many murders in that book. Recently, I acquired the hardcover edition of The Pleasant Grove Murders. Finding a book originally published in the 1960s—published a half century ago as I write this post, and in decent condition mind you—is nearly impossible. Copies of this book that I’ve seen advertised for sale online have usually been ex-library books, or bear water stains, spine leans, and other flaws. Both my paperback copies of the two Sheriff Joe Bain murder mysteries have heavy spine leans, cover creases, strange smells, and many other flaws, but getting a hardcover edition has always been a goal. Sadly, neither copy is pristine; there are slight tears in the cover, a bit of speckling on the edges, and an musty smell.

In a sense, I don’t need either book, as Subterranean Press published them in an omnibus edition in 2012, along with The Dark Ocean, another favorite novel of mine. I already own the Underwood-Miller edition of that book, which was published without a cover. The Sub Press edition, under the title, Desperate Days (Selected Mysteries, Volume Two), remedies that with a brilliant scene taken from Dark Ocean. Still, the Sub Press book doesn’t include the maps from the originals, which is a strange omission. The first volume from Sub Press, Dangerous Ways, contains three other mystery novels (The Man in the Cage, Bad Ronald, and The Deadly Isles), but good luck finding a copy of that book at a reasonable price. However, the thrill of owning the first hardcover edition is too much to ignore, especially for books published in the mid-1960s, a time that now seems like a million years distant.

Book added: Charles de Lint

September 21, 2024 /

In 2000, Subterranean Press published Triskell Tales – 22 Years of Chapbooks, by noted fantasy author Charles de Lint. This book collected together for the first time a series of chapbooks that de Lint had self-published, many as Christmas letters, from 1974 to 1999. It was a hefty book—over 500 pages— published as a signed, limited edition of 2,000 copies, at a cover price of $40.

In 2006, Subterranean Press published the “sequel,” Triskell Tales 2, containing six more years of chapbooks. The trade hardcover edition was listed at $40, and a deluxe limited edition at $125, all for a much slimmer book. In retrospect this seems like a money-grab, but I’ve never been too fond of the multiple state business plan for small press books. Either publish them without signatures in a moderate number of copies, like Arkham House or Golden Gryphon (usually around 2,000 copies), or a smaller set that’s signed by the author. The idea of “numbered, lettered, limited” variations just comes across as annoying. Do they need the more expensive books to subsidize the lower priced ones? Is it just a way to bump up profits? Don’t know, but I still find it annoying.

For many years I owned a copy of the first volume of Triskell Tales. When copies of the second book appeared for sale, they were usually well above my price point. A few weeks ago I came across a copy of the trade edition of Triskell Tales 2 at a reasonable price. There are seven tales in the book, along with an introduction. Two of the stories have brief “author’s notes” at the end.

Looking back, 2006 seems a long time ago now. Much has changed in the world since then, in real life as well as in publishing. Are there other “triskell tales?” Perhaps. Will they appear in collected form like these two books? Perhaps not. The past few years de Lint has experienced some personal issues, with his wife falling ill in 2021, then passing away in 2024 after many years battling the Powassan virus.

There’s been a vast gap of almost two decades since I last read any of my many de Lint books, and while I believe I possess more than half of his books, there’s still a vast number of them yet to find. Maybe his stories belong to a different time, a happier age, both in terms of fiction and reality. They are hopeful stories, serious stories, a type of fantasy unique to the late twentieth century.

Books added: McPartland, Long, Chizmar

September 14, 2024 /

After picking up a pair of Centipede Press books that were bundled together (see my comments on those books here), I saw that the publisher had dropped the price on another book that long had looked interesting. This was John McPartland’s Tokyo Doll (2023). Listed for $19 in their “Specials and Nearly Sold Out” section, well off the original cover price ($55, I think), it was hard to resist.

Tokyo Doll first appeared in 1953, early in McPartland’s career. McPartland is firmly entrenched in the American noir detective genre, the titles almost as shocking as the covers (at the time). In fact, all of his books appeared during the 1950s. Sadly, his life and career ended prematurely in 1958 at the early age of 47, shortly after he got into screenwriting in Hollywood. Unlike a handful of other authors from that decade, most of his books remain out of print.

The cover of the hardcover edition of Tokyo Doll is considerably less lurid than the original paperback edition. In fact, the Centipede Press cover is nothing short of amazing, and the image below hardly does it credit.

Perusing the first few pages, the prose is tight, hard as a steel blade, almost breathless in pace and atmosphere–all typical of that genre. This is a book I look forward to reading. It’s not Centipede Press’s first foray in McPartland’s books; they published See You in Hell in a limited edition in 2020. The cover on that book doesn’t look nearly as nice, though prices for it now are well above what I paid for Tokyo Doll, which was, I guess, “priced to move.” I think See You in Hell was published in a limited edition only; the publisher mentions 500 numbered copies for Tokyo Doll, but the one I picked up was the unsigned, unnumbered version, which is fine by me.

At the same time as I bought the McPartland book, I also bought from Centipede Press a book in their long running series, The Library of Weird Fiction. These books usually go out of print quickly, given that they are massive retrospectives of well-known writers of early twentieth century fantasy/horror fiction (see Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, etc,). I’ve never been able to snag one until now (with one exception: a gift I bought for my wife, as she’s a huge Bram Stoker fan). This book in the Library of Weird Fiction contained stories by Frank Belknap Long. As his book was listed as one of the books nearly sold out, I picked it up at the (non-discounted) cover price of $60—unlike the Dune books, $60 is a cover price that’s at a manageable budget. Long’s name was familiar to me, but I don’t think I’d read any of his fiction, unless they appeared in some obscure collection. At over 800 pages, there’s a lot to absorb in terms of his short fiction.

The Library of Weird Fiction covers are uniform, with black and white photographs of the author. Owning a complete collection of these books likely is the mark of a true aficionado of that kind of fiction. On the secondary market the prior volumes fetch an absurd amount (well over $100-$200), so if I continue to collect the books in this series, I suspect I’ll need to make that happen when the books appear from the publisher, and not wait until they show up on the “almost out of print” section. There’s a brief introduction from noted scholar S. T. Joshi, and some photos of Long.

I’m more familiar with Richard Chizmar as an editor and the publisher of Cemetery Dance. Recently in a used book store I came across two copies of his 2019 novel, Gwendy’s Magic Feather. This is a sequel to a book he co-wrote with Stephen King. I stopped reading King’s books after the last Gunslinger novel, so I’d never heard of the first Gwendy book. But, as I’m a sucker for small press books, I picked this one up on the spot. King wrote the introduction, handing off the baton fully to Chizmar, rather than continuing to collaborate on the story. When I think of King’s writing, I’m reminded of the SNL skit where King (actor Jon Lovitz) is interviewed while he pounds out stories on typewriter (yes, this was before the computer…). King obviously has not stopped banging out stories, so any King collector needs a lot of shelf space.

Gwendy’s Magic Feather appears aimed at the juvenile market, with insanely short chapters and quite a few illustrations. It makes me wonder how many copies they produced and hoped to sell, especially with King’s name on the cover. If a pair of them ended up in the same used bookstore, did they really succeeded in that effort? Still, it’s available as a paperback, the story lives on. The short chapters, however, make me hesitate slightly to get into the book. That and the fact that it’s a sequel…

Books added: Conan Doyle and de Lint

September 4, 2024 /

I can’t stop now.

Even though there are nine Borderlands Press little books that I don’t have, all of which are either insanely hard to find, or far beyond prices that I’m willing to pay, I continue to buy new books in their series. The latest book in their “Past Masters of Horror & Fantasy Series,” of which this is their first in “Series V,” is a collection of stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Entitled A Little Orange Book of Odd Orchestrations and limited to 500 copies, their choice of authors continue to surprise me.

I bought this copy from the publisher, who charges a premium for shipping the book in what’s basically a padded envelope mailer. C’est la vie. Still, I’d rather support the publisher, whenever possible, since that will help them to keep publishing books in this series.

My copy is numbered #17 of 500, and signed by the editor. With four more books in Series V before they either switch to a different theme, or decide to continue with “Past Masters” one wonders who is next on the list. Kipling, maybe? I expected Clark Ashton Smith (CAS), since they’ve published H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, but so far that hasn’t happened. Hello, BP, I’m willing to edit any Jack Vance or CAS collection…

Between 2003 and 2008, Subterranean Press published three books by the noted fantasy writer, Charles de Lint, collecting many of his early stories. These books, A Handful of Coppers, Quicksilver & Shadow, and Woods & Waters Wild, were a few of the many de Lint books published by Sub Press around that time. Until recently, I’d remained ignorant of these books (strange, given the fact that I was a huge de Lint fan since the early 1990s). Over the years, I’d picked up only a couple of de Lint’s Sub Press books: Triskell Tales (2000) and The Road to Lisdoonvarna (2001), probably because the price at the time was “right,” of I found them in person at a convention (at that time I didn’t really buy books online). More than two decades passed before I bought any other of de Lint’s Sub Press books.

All of de Lint’s Sub Press books went out of print fairly quickly. Checking their web-site after the fact resulted only in regret and envy. Recently, as I’ve started looking more at the secondary market to find some out of print books, I’ve become aware of the other Sub Press de Lint books, copies of which now are available to purchase from online resellers. In some cases, the prices are beyond the original cover price, and a choice must be made. In other cases, I “go for it” and hold my breath as I await the shipment to see if the books matches the online description.

I bought the first two “early stories” books last year (2023), inspired as I was while in the midst of re-reading some de Lint novels. For many years I bought any paperback or hardcover de Lint book I could find in local stores (when that was an option, before the internet and bad business decisions killed several physical stores), then I took a break from SF and fantasy books. In the past couple of years I’ve looked back at favorite authors and tried to find books that I missed. Hence, the search for some de Lint books. Then, a few days ago, tempted by a huge discount, I bought Woods & Waters Wild, the last of the three collections of early tales.

All three books in this series that I now own are signed by de Lint. They’re not “limited” in the sense that they are numbered or granted some special format. The “signed, lettered editions” were listed at $175, $200, and $200, respectively, as stated inside the covers of my books.

Who pays such a price, I thought? Is a number in a book worth far more than $20, or the then original cover price of $40? To someone, sure. To me? Not so much. I have no idea how many copies were published in these states. They do say “signed, limited edition” in the jacket flap, but there’s no indication as to the limitation number. It would have been nice to see something, maybe on the last page of the book, stating that it was limited to X number of copies, whether that was 1,000 or 2,000 or other.

There are still quite a few of de Lint’s Sub Press books that I don’t own. Some are less tempting than others. I’ve already acquired Eyes Like Leaves and Promises to Keep. Some of these books appear to be aimed at the juvenile market. If the right opportunity arises, maybe I’ll try to get more of his books. There’s a measure of regret in any current purchase actions, as I’m not benefitting either the author or publisher. Either you jump right away and buy what the publisher offers, or you look for a dealer who bought books at a discount who now sells them at a premium, or a prior buy offloading their copies. Sometimes you get lucky and the seller offers the book at a discount. Buy it then, reader, buy it then.

My only quibble is that the publisher wasn’t consistent in their font and format used for these three books. This is a pet peeve of mine: if a publisher knows they are planning a series of books by the same author, don’t freakin’ change the format, especially on the spines, of the books in that series! Even the font inside the books is different. You’d think that different artists, editors, typesetters were hired with each book, and every one of them said, “let’s do something different!”

Book added: Bradbury’s Whale Story

September 2, 2024 /

One of my major literary influences is Ray Bradbury. As far as I know, I’ve been reading Bradbury’s stories since my early teens. I recall stories from English textbooks in pre-high school in Zambia, tales in Reader’s Digest editions when visiting grandparents in Norway, to my first actual books by Bradbury when I’d moved to the US in the late 1980s. At first: paperbacks picked up in used book stores, either new ones issued by Bantam Spectra, or older, tattered editions. I don’t recall when I first read Fahrenheit 451, or when I watched the movie version from my birth year. Or when I read The Martian Chronicles, or The Illustrated Man, or Dandelion Wine, or the countless other books and stories he wrote. I known that I’ve rad some of them multiple times, and that I own 29 of his books—collections or novels.

I finally met Bradbury in person in 1996, at a book signing in Austin, Texas. He signed a recently reprinted hardcover edition of Fahrenheit 451 and a first edition of Quicker Than the Eye. I could not believe my luck.

To this day, a dozen years after his death, I still look for Bradbury books that I don’t own, and try to read these books right away. This includes the mysteries, such as A Graveyard for Lunatics and Lets all Kill Constance, as well as SF stories in various collections. He’s one of my top three authors in any genre, in terms of influence and importance.

This past weekend, Half Price Books was having a 20% off sale. Who needs an additional reason to visit a book store? Anyway, I visited a pair of stores in San Antonio. In one, I found a first edition of Kazuo Ishiguro’s fourth novel, The Unconsoled. In the other, I came away with a quartet of books. Prime among these was Bradbury’s Green Shadows, White Whale. To be honest, my jaw dropped when I saw that book. Back in 1992, when it first was published, I almost bought a copy. However, at that time I still hesitated to spend more than $20 for a book, even if it was by someone like Bradbury, and when I looked again in stores a few years later, it was gone. Not even a remaindered copy remained, if ever those existed. This time, I found a copy for $8, a bargain beyond measure.

Green Shadows, White Whale is a fictionalized account of Bradbury’s journey to Ireland in the early 1950s to write a screen adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, with director John Huston. Having recently visited Dublin, it struck a chord with me to find this novel. Dublin in 2024 isn’t really Ireland; it’s Disneyland with pubs. My apologies to the Irish, but I found Dublin over-crowed and full of tourists; yes, I was one of those tourists, so maybe part of the problem. Still, I looked back to a visit to Cork a couple of decades previously and found that city more genuinely Irish. Maybe I need to spend time in the countryside. Maybe no real place no longer genuinely exists: they’re all are aimed at tourists, all full of tourists.

I look forward to reading this Bradbury novel, to laugh and cry with him as he relates his experiences and fictionalized accounts of events. There will never be his like again.

Books added: Maupassant and Rasnic Tem

August 29, 2024 /

Recently I ordered a pair of Centipede Press books. They were listed together, and as I’d considered buying one or the other at some point, I thought it was a good opportunity to get both. Synchronicity, I guess. In terms of pricing, one book was priced extremely low, so it might be an issue of the publisher clearing inventory. In some cases Centipede Press books fetch astronomical sums (mostly on the secondary market, but sometimes from the publisher, viz. the Dune books. Yowza!). In other cases (far fewer, I suspect), books don’t sell quickly enough, and so the price drops until inventory clears. In any case, peruse the Centipede Press web site and you’ll find almost all books published six months or more ago are out of print.

Rough Justice is a collection of stories by Steve Rasnic Tem. Tem is a noted horror writer, with ten novels and mote than twenty collections to his credit. I checked my collection and found only one book with his stories, the first Night Visions collection from Dark Harvest, published in 1984. Then again, my horror collection is somewhat slim, at least compared to SF, fantasy, and mystery books. Still, I was somewhat surprised that his book was currently priced as low as it was.

The other book is The Horrible and Others, by the French writer, Guy de Maupassant. As far as Maupassant goes, who lived from 1850 to 1893, I’m familiar only with the name, not the person or the fiction. Both books come in a signed and unsigned version (although the signatures in the Maupassant book are by the editor and illustrator, as Maupassant hasn’t yet risen from the dead to put pen to paper). I ended up getting the unsigned copies of both books; I own only a handful of Centipede Press books, mostly Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series, one book by Robert Silverberg, and finally Michael Shea’s monumental collection, The Autopsy and Others. (I did buy a couple of Bram Stoker books for my wife, who is a huge Stoker fan.) Aside from the Shea book, all others are unsigned. I’m content with that choice.

According to an online resource, “[Maupassant] wrote 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse.” Supposedly he’s considered a father of the modern short story. I would think that honor falls to Edgar Allan Poe, who died one year before Maupassant was born. Perhaps Maupassant perfected the short story, but he’s by no means the father of the short story. It seems every critic who focuses on a particular writer forgets anyone prior to that writer. If anyone is the father of the short story, it’s Poe.

Both books have quite nice wrap-around dust jackets, as is par for the typical stunning production quality from Centipede Press. The Rasnic Tem book collects over 40 short stories (and some are quite short), spanning the years 1983 to 2020.

The Maupassant book contains an illuminating introduction by editor S.T. Joshi, over 30 stories, and a bibliography. Until I saw this book I wasn’t aware that Maupassant had written any “weird” tales, but there are supposedly some classics in that genre within this collection.

Anyone interested in weird fiction or classic fantasy fiction should check out Centipede Press. Some of the books are pricy, and some cater to different tastes, but these are books that are both a pleasure to read and a pleasure to own.

Books added: A Handful of Eric Ambler novels

August 26, 2024 /

Recently I happened to be in England, and while in England, if one cares about books one must visit Waterstones. This is a chain of bookstores, present in most medium to large towns, and a delight to book nerds. Alas, not all Waterstones are alike. Some stores have separate sections for crime, or horror. Other store seem to absorb some crime and mystery book into their fiction section, and ignore horror altogether. In my foray into various Waterstones (Reading, Bath, London—-Islington and Hampstead), I came away not so much with books in my current focus of the crime/mystery genre, but a handful of books by Eric Ambler.

A few years ago my father sent me an Ambler novel, The Mask of Dimitrios. This was a spy novel (or thriller, depending on your genre definition), set in Europe in the 1930s. The 1930s is a favorite decade of mine, being between the two world wars. Since my father lives in England, the book was a Penguin Classics edition, with a striking cover of a blood-red harbor and river.

After reading it I immediately sought out other books by Ambler. However, in my local bookstores here in the middle-of-nowhere-USA I found only one book, Epitaph for a Spy. Online, there are a few other books. The US cover, to put it mildly, was horrible, but who cares about the cover? (Yes, for some reason, I do care about book covers…)

In England, in Reading’s Waterstones, I found three books, all by Penguin Classics and with striking covers. Also, in the shelf, were the two books that I already owned. At the time I didn’t remember that my Mask of Dimitrios copy was the same as the one in the store. Still, as I tend to resist buying books that I already own, I left them on the shelf. Then, a few days later in another Waterstones in Bath, three other titles. In other words, I returned home with six new Ambler books, and when I looked at the two that i already owned, I found that I had a nice little collection of seven Penguin Classic editions of Ambler’s novels, with just one outlier.

The covers by Penguin are brilliant, striking! Perusing Waterstones‘ shelves I found several other Penguin Classics editions by other authors, and the book nerd in me wanted to buy them all. I wanted to start a collection based on all their books. Crazy, I know, but just like their older orange editions, these newer editions with pale green spines beckon to collectors, to book nerds. “Buy me,” they said. “Read me, and care for me.” Alas, I had limited space in my suitcase, and only picked up a couple of other Penguin Classic books. This time, at least.

Some of the Ambler books include introductions, while some dive right into the story. What’s the better option? I’m not sure. The Mask of Dimitrios is supposedly a classic. The others? I don’t yet know if they fit that bill, but I know I look forward to reading them all, regardless of thrills or disappointments. I only wish the US publishers had the same panache in terms of design as Penguin.

So, if you happen to find yourself in England in a Waterstones, check out any of the Penguin Classic books. You’ll want to buy them, and you might just discover some great fiction, when fiction was great.

Book added: The Asimov Chronicles

August 25, 2024 /

For a while, I thought this was a lost/cursed book that I would never add to my library. Earlier this year I was in Atlanta, where I hiked part of the Appalachian Trail and attended a work conference. On the way to the trail, I stopped by a used bookstore. The sole reason for the side trip to this bookstore? On their web site they had listed this book, published by Dark Harvest Press in 1989, for sale for $50. When I arrived there, and asked for the book, they were unable to find the copy. Someone apparently had already bought it, and they never removed the listing. I looked around the store, and although they had a few other interesting books, I walked away without purchasing anything, as my mind was on that book, and that book alone.

Since that failed opportunity I occasionally checked online sites, such as Abebooks and eBay, but prices for decent copies exceeded what I cared to pay, or the books looked in debatable shape. Then, in August, I found a copy listed at the starting bid of $24.99. I placed a bid for the book for $25, expecting someone to swoop in shortly before the end of the auction and outbid me, as has happened in the past. This time it didn’t happen. The auction ended with my bid as the highest one. However, for several days there was no announcement, just a “sold” notice on the listing page. I figured that the seller had been disappointed that there only was a single bid, and that one bid was just one cent above the initial listing. On the third day, a notice that I was the winning bid. I paid the amount listed, plus shipping, and sat back to wait to see what would happen.

After I paid the bid amount, plus the shipping charge, I heard nothing. Usually there’s an email that the item is about to ship, and then it had shipped. In this case: silence. Then, a week later, a notice that the book shipped. Another week passed, and the book arrived. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot. There’s a strange smell to it, the edges of the papers are dirty, and there’s a slight wobble to the book. But, the worst part is that the protective cover had been glued to the book. I only noticed this when I tried to remove the dust jacket, and heard the tear as the glue pulled off part of the book. This sound made me cringe, as it felt like the book was being destroyed. I do not understand people who ruin books like this: gluing the cover to the book, stamping or writing in books, gluing anything inside the book. For a brief moment I placed this book next to my other oversized Dark Harvest books. Then, worried the smell would infect those books, I moved it elsewhere. I guess for $25 in this day and age, you can’t expect perfection. So, a reading copy this will remain.

I already owned 31 other Dark Harvest books, though this is not a complete collection. Dark Harvest was a small press active from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Initially they published mostly horror and SF books, a mix of novels, collections, and anthologies (including nine books in the series of anthologies under the name, “Night Visions”). The Night Visions books usually included two well-known writers, plus one new writer. Authors featured in this series include Stephen King, Clive Barker, George R. R. Martin, F. Paul Wilson, Dan Simmons, and others. Most of the books are in a regular size format, but they also published a novel and two major collections in an oversized format. The novel: Dan Simmons’ Carrion Comfort; the two collections: 50-year retrospectives on the works of Fritz Leiber and Isaac Asimov. Call it fantasy vs. science fiction. Many years ago I acquired the Fritz Leiber collection, shortly after it was published. A year ago I picked up Carrion Comfort, and only the Asimov collection remained from these oversized editions. Why the long gaps? Leiber is a favorite author of mine, and I’m fairly certain I bought this book at cover price. I already owned the Simmons book in paperback, and for years debated whether or not I really needed to spend the money for the Dark Harvest book, until I finally caved. And the Asimov? Well, perhaps I’m slowly becoming a completist, and feel the need or desire to have all the Dark Harvest books…

There are still still a few Dark Harvest books that I haven’t yet added to my collection: a Dean Koontz novel, collections of stories by David Brin, George R. R. Martin, John Varley, the third (and rarest) Night Visions anthology, and a handful others. It’s been a while since I read anything by Asimov, but now I have the opportunity to go discover (again) an overview of his work. Given the issues with this book—the glued cover—I likely will need to look for a better copy at some point.

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