Tom Wolfe - Brilliance Personified

Once in a while when we're out scouting, I invest in a book for me. Or Barbara. I bought myself a copy of Wolfe's latest offering: Hooking Up. It's worth a read. Or two. Or maybe even three. And it's every bit as good as Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers  q.v.
The link below is worth following so that you can see that there are still some real writers out there:  Tom Wolfe

Westeners International, Redux

Like many other organizations, WI has a list of the top 100 books in their field. Here 'tis:
WI Top 100.  Enjoy !

We're All Westeners, But...

The major joy of owning a bookstore is the constant knowledge acquisition that comes with buying, pricing, and stocking interesting books. This week's knowledge came from the books published by the Denver Corral of the Westeners International organization. Who are they?  From the WI website:

Tits On A Stick

Every day as Barbara & I wend our way to work we see a billboard that is rather disgusting. It advertises a nightclub - not a (non)Gentlemen's Club - with the portrait of a young woman who appears to be completely drugged, with vacant eyes, a vacuous expression, open arms, extending her hand to anything - or nothing - that might be in her line of sight. Her appearance and costume inspired this article's title. Her name is not Elizabeth Gaskill, also known as Mrs. Gaskill.

H.P. Kraus

The BookThinker copyrights their articles, which of course is the right thing to do, but they are kind enough to permit republishing of their articles, as long as they're credited. Here at Greyhound's Books, we always give credit where credit is due, and damn just as freely. Kudos again to The BookThinker !
H.P. Kraus

A Tip From My Former Partner, Cynthia

My dear Cynthia, the Romance Queen of the East Coast, likes to keep Barbara & me  apprised of the latest developments outside of Las Vegas. She has a rather high opinion of my Bookstore Series of courses, and sent this:

Hey DEF,Looks like Bookstore 101, etc. has competition in FL.    8-)   CP:

Has anyone attended the 5-day Owning a Bookstore seminar presented by Paz & Associates? I am wondering if this would be worthwhile as I am still in the planning stage. Would like to hear about any thoughts or experiences. Here's a link to the seminar website: http://pazbookbiz.com/training-workshops/opening-a-bookstore-workshop/

 

Now, would someone explain to me what  #8, -, and ) mean ?

Boston - 220 Years Apart

As many of you know, I'm an Improper Bostonian, but had many illustrious predecessors, among them General Henry Knox, Bookman manque.

Who is Sanora Babb and Why Was Her Timing So Very Bad ?

We have the largest selection of author-signed books in the Valley -over 2500  different titles in all genres - so we're always looking for more. Sanora Babb's first published novel is The Lost Traveler and we bought an inscribed copy of it this week. Much of a Bookman's time is taken up in research. We have to make sure we're providing our customers with good and absolute value for their money. Doing this, of course leads us to find out very interesting facts about books and authors. Old Sanora Baby, was quite the gal ! Follow the link, if you'd like to become enthralled:   Sanora Babb

AE Monthly Article

Susan Halas gives us a historical perspective on a family of booksellers. Once again, I recommend that you subscribe to the AE Monthly newsletter.
Halas History

Silver Spring Books, Silver Spring Maryland

Many years ago I was a member of a group shop that was wholly minority-owned: four-and-a-half Black People, and me, the solitary Jew Boy. The half was the son of one of our partners.  Now, two African Americans still remain there - yes, things have changed as has vocabulary. But, I'm still with Cynthia and Dan in spirit. Cynthia sent this article to me from the local rag, and I thought you might recognize the store. Hint: it's quite similar to the one Barb & I have here in Las Vegas. Now, if we can only get Cynthia to come out here for a visit we'll be happy !

Howard Schwartz and Patterson Smith

Ah, yes ! Non-stop gambling and non-stop book selling in Las Vegas. Our friend and colleague, Howard Schwartz, late of the Gambler's Book Club, stopped in to educate us yet again, and brought a hard-copy monograph on gambling books that had emerged from the morass of his file cabinet. The gentleman who wrote it some number of years ago is still alive, well, and expert. We promised to tell you things you may not know, and here's one of them. Actually, several. If you follow the links below, you'll be directed to Patterson Smith's website, and two very interesting articles.

As Promised...

Not only the Newcastle Library, but other similar books:
Newcastle Library, et alii

The Double-Ringed Unicorn

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy paperback series was launched in 1969, and reprinted fantasy which was out of print or available only in back issues of pulp magazines.  The series lasted until 1974. The books were considered a triumph in fantasy publishing, with Lin Carter as editor and cover art by illustrators such as Gervasio Gallardo, Bob Pepper, Robert LoGrippo, and David McCall Johnston.  More to come on these folks.

The series ended when Ballantine sold out to Random house. But the mission was carried on in 1973 by Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library. More to come on these folks, too.

However, many collectors still seek out the the books with the Circled Unicorn logo. Here’s a list, not of collectors, but of the books themselves:

Was Dexter Sinister ?

Timothy Dexter, born in Malden Massachusetts, was a rather strange, but strangely successful individual. His autobiography, A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, or Plain Truths in a Homespun Dress was one sentence long, and that sentence contained no punctuation marks. A 4th edition of the pamphlet (1848) currently sells for $ 75.00 - $ 350.00, but  you could read this masterwork in a new edition for $15.00 - $ 20.00. Not the first book we would recommend you buy. Or read.

Book Facts From History

Homer’s Odyssey contained the earliest instance of a plot flashback.
Xu Shen’s Explaining Words, Analyzing Characters - 100 A.D. - is the first dictionary.
Harn Darn Jun’s Forest of Jokes  - 200 A.D.. - is the first joke book.
The Memoirs of Aratus of Sicyon - 213 B.C. - is the first autobiography.
The longest word that The Bard ever used is: honoroficabilitudinitatibus.

Timelines are always fun !

- October1809  Diedrich Knickerbocker disappears in New York.

One Lump or Two ?

The Grand Vizier of Persia spent a lot of time on the road, or the sand, if you will. He traveled with his 117,000 volume library, and kept it properly organized by training his camels to walk in alphabetical order ! Try that with cats, if you will.

Mysteries solved !

Erle Stanley Gardner learned quite a bit about writing from his reading of “The Youth’s Companion,” a magazine published in the 1930s, by Perry Mason & Company.

Robert B. Parker, author of innumerable mediocre mysteries about Boston PI Spenser pictured his main character as a tough guy who is a knight in shining armor, and named him after the poet Edmund Spenser.

Mickey Spillane, whose wives' charms - read ass- appear on the jackets of many of his books, drew a comic strip featuring detective Mike Danger, that no publisher was interested in. He decided to write a novel, and changed Mike’s surname to Hammer, after Hammer’s Bar and Grille, one of Spillane’s hangouts.

Arthur Conan Doyle, after christening Mr. Holmes as Sherringford, re- baptized him as Sherlock, after a famous violinist of the time, Alfred Sherlock, thence the pervasive droning violin.

John D. MacDonald started writing the wimpy Travis McGee - oops, that’s Dallas McGee,  novels in 1962. Before Dallas appeared in print, President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, and Dallas became Travis, perhaps unwittingly maintaining the Texas connection.

Some Bestsellers Aren't So Bad

Being a bestselling book doesn't mean that the book is worthwhile. Since the World started in 1943, when I was born, I though that you might like to see what sold in that most fateful of decades. Some of them are still really good reads. Enjoy !