This is part one of two issues about reading - not for literary value, not great writing - but reading for fun. Reading has value as literature - no doubt - and that has a great reward in itself.* But any long time reader, bibliophile, librarian, or book collector, knows that reading adventures go way beyond that. They ride down all kinds of avenues. They go beyond just reading, to all the 'novel' things books can be. And each author, no matter the content of his book, shares a common bond - a great love for the subject they are immersed in. That shows in the text, the illustrations and the care they take in making the book.
Here's an issue of my favorite books (and a history of a lifetime of reading.)
(Fine Print: With few exceptions, I own all these books. They were bought used, with 90% purchased for less than $5. Only a few cost more than $10.
*For best classic works see the Musea Art Guides to best: novels, dramatists, poets, short story writers, children's illustrators etc. on the Musea website.
SERIES:
If one is good then a series of sequels is great! Here are some favorite series of books that I like to read and collect:
WHITMAN Children's Series. Assorted Authors. Whitman Press published many entries to its kid book line. In the 40's it was Movie Stars like Gene Autry, and Comic Book Heroes, like Blondie. In the 50's and 60's it was TV stars like Annette, and Roy Rogers. And all through the 40-70's it included young people classics. Great covers, fun reads, and highly collectible.
DOC SAVAGE. Kenneth Robeson. The real author of most entries in the series was Lester Dent... Assorted publishers. Doc Savage, pulp fiction hero of the 30's, was great, not due to super powers but to his daily training. Doc was aided by his 5 man crew of experts (and what characters they are): Monk, Ham, Renny, Long Tom, and Johnny. Together they make this one of the best adventure series of all time. (also by Robeson, The Avenger series of the 40's.)
PERRY MASON. Erle Stanley Gardner. Assorted Publishers. The criminal lawyer with his able secretary Della Street, and private detective- next -door, Paul Drake, always seemed to solve the crime in the final courtroom scene.
HORATIO ALGER. Assorted Publishers. Alger was the most popular 1900's writer of boys’ books. They are all highly readable stories of American kids with pluck.
MYSTERY TO ME (OR WHO DUNNIT?)
MAPBACKS. This is a series of paperback mysteries by assorted writers from the 1940's published by Dell Publishing. The reason they are called 'Mapbacks' is because in each case a map of the scene of the crime is displayed on the back cover. These were all done by the illustrator, Ruth Belew. They are colorful works of art in their own right. Look for the keyhole with an eye peering through, logo.
TANTALIZING LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES. Ed. Isaac Asimov (In any book discussion, Asimov seems to come up sooner or later.) Charles G. Waugh, Martin Harry Greenberg. Walker Press. Nothing better than a locked room mystery and this anthology brings some of the best together with not a filler in the bunch. There are the early masters such as Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jacques Futrelle; plus, some newer writers like Edward D. Hoch, and Erle Stanley Garner. I grade this four spyglasses.
MIX AND MATCH: "WHAT DUNNITS.”Humans, aliens, robots, clones- what's the crime and who's the criminal?" Mike Resnick, editor. Daw Books. SCI-FI PRIVATE EYE. "Amazing tales of cosmic crime from bestselling authors". Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg, editors. Neither book is a perfect collection (there's too much filler and the writing is too often too gobblegook complex) but they are on the right track. Both anthologies have mixed sci-fi and mysteries, and between the two one could find a single collection of fine space mysteries. It's a great idea for a book (or a film).
BOOKS ON BOOKS - GOOD READING "A Guide to the World's Best Books." Edited by the Committee on College Reading. Atwood H. Townsend, Chairman. Mentor Book. I always try to buy another copy of this paperback when I see it. It's worth multiple copies. It starts with a list of "100 Significant Books", the classics we all should know, then goes age by age, then genre by genre through all the best books in print. It's my favorite guide to books. (For zines on zines, see any back issue of FACTSHEET FIVE or ZINE WORLD.)
PUBS Here's 3 pubs that stand out for me. DOVER: quality well made books, at fair prices. PETER PAUPER PRESS: Thin elegant gift books you'd give to a dear friend. I specially like their Haiku collections. Basho and Issa are my favorites. FANTAGRAPHICS: Look for the best of current underground comics here.
POP! GOES THE POP-UPS. Here is a series of art pop-up books from Knopf that is strictly for adults and sophisticated readers. Of the series, I own THE MUSIC PACK, THE ART PACK, and THE ARCHITECTURE PACK. RonVan Der Meer, et. al... Each covers their art with pop-ups, pull-outs, and assorted added extras. Example, a pop-up orchestra from The Music Pack. There's a wealth of discovery in each. (An aside: Why not do a pop-up series, where every book is a single art work - a single 3-d version of a major painting?)
WONDERFUL WORLD OF OZ. ALL THINGS OZ. "The Wonder, Wit, and Wisdom of the Wizard of Oz." Edited by Linda Sunshine. Clarkson Potter Publishers. This anthology of Oz is filled with Oz-zy illustrations from the Willard Carroll Collection and they are the star of the show. 352 pages of Oz related artwork, illustrations, and more. Oh what a big wonderful world Oz is. Author L. Frank Baum published the first Oz book, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', in 1900, and the last (14th), 'Glinda of Oz' in 1920. But Baum did other wonderful kids books, and Ruth Plumly Thompson did more of the Oz books after Baum stopped. It's a fun big fantasy world to explore.
ADVOCATES (books that changed my thinking)
THE MEDIA MONOPOLY. Ben Bagdikian. Beacon Press. This 1983 classic opened my eyes to the dangers of media consolidation.
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES. Jane Jacobs. Modern Library. Here are groundbreaking ideas on city planning.
20 YEARS OF CENSORED NEWS. Carl Jensen and Project Censored. Seven Stories Press. Project Censored, shows year by year, the most under reported news stories. It's a highly respected, and little mentioned, media report card.
WORLD HUNGER TWELVE MYTHS. Frances Moore Lappe, Joseph Collins, Petere Rosset with Luis Esparza. What you think causes world hunger is probably all wrong. My ideas were. There are lots of surprises here.
ARTS (GENERAL)
THE ART OF MAKING DANCES, Doris Humphrey. Grove Press. Written just before her death in 1958, noted dancer/choreographer/teacher Doris Humphrey pours out her passion, experience, love, and practical know how in dance. The best book on dance that I've seen.
TWO FOR PLAYS. 1) 500 PLAYS, ed. By Theodore J Shank, Collier Books, and 2) GUIDE TO GREAT PLAYS, Joseph T. Shipley. Public Affairs Press. Most main plays are summarized in one or both of these excellent guides. The 2nd, a thick hardback, was a library sale book for $1.50!
DRAWING TEXTBOOK. "The Teaching and Utilization of Drawing for Educational Purposes. Bruce McIntyre. Former Disney Cartoonist McIntyre is on a crusade to educate parents on the importance of educating kids on how to draw. He says that the half of our brain wired for language is covered in the curriculum but the other half, the side wired for pictorial perception, is not covered at all. This little pamphlet shows that regular kids can master basic drawing easily and well. If we can write clearly we should also be able to draw clearly. Quote, "It is being overly generous to say that 5% of our college graduates know how to draw."
ISSAC MIZRAHI PRESENTS, THE ADVENTURES OF SANDEE THE SUPERMODEL or 'Yvesaac's Model Diaries'. 3 issue collector set. Simon Schuster Press. This 3 book cartoon adventure of designer "Yvesaac" and model "Sandee" could be listed as either a great cartoon book or a first rate art book (note how favorite books often cross genre lines?). But I'm listing it as my favorite book on the art of fashion. Start with the illustrator William Frawley. He is first rate (and why haven't I heard of him before?) And of course the clothes are "FAB. Sandee has that certain naive charm that captivates the NYC fashion world - a world filled with some real schemers. It’s a wonderful over-sized 3 book, comic adventure that delves into the now-its-in and now-its-out fashion world.
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN THEATER 1860-1980. Fifth edition. Daniel Blum. Enlarged by John Willis. Crown. 6,000 pictures tell the year by year stories of Broadway. Here are the hits, and the flops; the stars and the character actors, the classic American Plays, the Shakespeare revivals, and all the rest. It’s a book about an entire world of entertainment. 464 Pages.
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN RADIO. An A-Z Guide to Radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern. Ron Lackmann. Facts On File. Here is an encyclopedia of radio with lots of attention on the golden age of the forties before TV invaded. When I was VERY young, we had no TV. And one of my favorite memories in those first few years, was a gag from the Fibber McGee and Molly Radio Show. Fibber would always want to get something out of his closet, a closet packed to the brim with junk. And no matter the warning from Molly, Fibber would open it up and we'd hear the sound of a ton of debris tumbling out. It always got a laugh out of me. This encyclopedia tells the rest of the story. And an important one it is because too many don't know the fun of hearing a story and imaging the pictures in your mind.
THE BOX, An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961. Jeff Kisseloff. Viking. This 592 pager gives the history of TV through snippets of interviews of the people that were there. The early days were an amazing time of flubs, experiments, and occasional genius ideas. Fascinating reading.
WORLD'S BEST CLOWN GAGS, Jackie Flosso Presents Classic Clown Capers. Compiled by Clettus Musson. Flosso Hornmann Magic Co. This over sized paperback looks self-published. It's nothing fancy. Its design seems amateurish and jumbled up, and it reads like it was written without an editor's touch. But actually all those mistakes lend charm and personality to it. The content includes lots and lots of clown bits of comedy and how to do them, from the 'Squirting Flower' bit to the roving "Spotlight bit" bit. Classic clown fun.
ART NOUVEAU BELGIUM/FRANCE Cat. On an Exhibition Organized by the Institute for the Arts, Rice University, and The Art Institute of Chicago. This big, delicious, heavily illustrated, oversized- paperback book covers that sinewy art style known as Art Nouveau. There's the posters, the furniture, the architecture, the works. What a delight to see this collection of that wonderful period in art.
THE COMPLETE DIRECTORY TO PRIME TIME NETWORK TV SHOWS 1946-PRESENT (1981). Tim Brooks/Earle Marsh. All the TV facts you might want to know about all the old shows (though this edition stops at the 80's). Includes first telecast, summary, broadcast history, cast, etc. Everything's here from 'Mr. Peepers' to 'Mr. Wizard'. An overall excellent TV reference. A WORD IN TRANSLATION - The Case of Mary Barnard and Sappho.
SAPPHO. "A New Translation by Mary Barnard". University of California Press. We know little about the 6th century, Greek lyric poet, Sappho, and we are left with mostly snippets of her poems. Yet even in this little bit we see one of the world's greatest poets. Along with BASHO, she is my favorite poet of all time. But that is with one condition - the translation must be by Mary Barnard. For me her translation is the only one that zings and sings with the spirit and passion Sappho put in the original poems. Here is perhaps the best case we have for the importance of having a gifted translator to a classic work.
NIECE'S THESIS (and books by friends). Books by family and friends are always favorites whether its "HENDRICKS AND ROCK, "A Family History", my father's book on our family, THE SUBVERSIVE TECHNIQUES OF THE GAWAIN-POET IN THE M.S. COTTON NERO A.X., Jacquelyn Rose Hendricks, my niece's thesis, poetry and short stories from my Great Aunt Flora, or books from zine friends such as: DEAR MR MACKIN, Rich Mackin, DREAMTOONS Jesse Reklaw. CRUISIN CENTRAL, "A Rock 'N' Roll Novel “Charlotte Webb., GAME QUEST, Leopold McGinnis, and PORNOGRAPHIC FLABBERGASTED EMUS, Wred Fright..
BEATLES – YEH, YEH, YEH.
THE COMPLETE BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS. "The Official Story of the Abbey Road years 1962-1970.. Mark Lewisohn. Hamlyn. No one has influenced my music more than the Beatles. And Lewisohn is THE Beatles expert. Here he discusses every recording session they did. Marvelously, fascinatingly, complete!
ELVIS. Elvis Presley was not only a fine singer but a rare phenomenon. Here are my favorite Elvis Books.
ELVIS PRESLEY'S GRACELAND. THE OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK. This 72 page book of photos and articles on Presley's home, Graceland is a first rate intro to his life and music. It's officially good!
THE LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS/ CARELESS LOVE, THE UNMAKING OF ELVIS PRESLEY. Peter Guralnick. Little Brown. There may be no definitive biography of Elvis but this two-volume bio comes the closest so far in my opinion. Volume one takes him to fame and his army stint. Volume two is his life after.
ELVIS FLIP BOOK. Vol 2. Elvis Presley Enterprises. You probably saw a book in childhood that had a slightly altered cartoon on each page and when you flipped through the pages quickly, you saw a moving cartoon. This novelty mini book - 4" by 2"- works on the same principle; but instead of cartoons, it shows photos of a young Elvis performing. Quickly flip the pages and Elvis comes alive, gyrating across the stage!
NO BOOK COVER? CAN BE A GOOD BUY. Book sellers and collectors often put a premium on old books IF they have their original jackets. But if you are interested in the book not the cover, you can often get a great bargain on used no-jacket books. Keep an eye out for them.
COFFEE TABLE BIG. These books are nothing but GRAND. Big in size with glorious illustrations. Here are some favorites
REEL ART, Great Posters from The Golden Age of The Silver Screen. Stephen Rebello and Richard Allen. Abbeville Press. Giant 342 page book is filled to the brim with color photos of movie posters. Any celluloid lover will love this.
THE SCIENCE BOOK. Peter Tallack ed. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Open it up (its in chronological order from 35,000 BC to 200AD) On the right side is the year and the main science discovery. On the left side is a gorgeous related illustration. It's a total of 250 of the most important science discoveries in history! A beauty of a book!
THE WORLD OF RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT. Julie Mooney and the Editors of Ripley's Believe it or Not! Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers. This book, about the size of a record album cover on steroids, covers the curioddities - it’s a strange world after all! (Also see quirky). NOTES ON MUSIC.
ROCK ON. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock N. Roll" Norm N. Nite. Crowell Pub. I like this book so much I have both a hardback and paperback version. Pictures and entries center on the pre Beatle era of rock when it still had 'roll' too! It includes all the performer's single releases. We often forget how many bad singles there were in between the golden oldies!
FOREVER LOUNGE. "A Laid-back Price Guide to the Languid Sounds of Lounge Music”. John Wooley, Thomas Conner, and Mark Brown. Antique Trader Books. Here's a guide to the ring-a-ding world of lounge music. Lounge music is that 50's big band sound of Mantovani, Mancini, and Mathis. It's the Rat Pack, Julie London, Esquivel, Percy Faith, and Jackie Gleason (yes the Honeymooner!). A special plus here (besides the authors' obvious love for this music), is the illustrations -LP covers of gorgeous, sexy, 50's models!
GUIDE TO LOW-PRICED CLASSICAL RECORDS. Herbert Russcol. Hart Publishing Co. This guide taught me classical music. Whenever WRR (Dallas owned Classical music station) would play a new piece, I'd look it up in this guide and read about the composer. A few years of that and I found the pieces I liked, the pieces I hated, and the pieces that are best to sleep by! Avery much used guide to classical music.
LET'S DO IT. Cole Porter. Chronicle Books. Here's a charmer. Ward Schumaker illustrates the lyrics of the Porter classic song, "Let's Do it", lets fall in love!
WAY BACK MACHINE. LETTERS FROM A SELF MADE MERCHANT TO HIS SON. George Horace Lorimer. This 1901 book was the fictional collection of letters from John Graham, an American industrialist to his just-starting-out son Pierrepont. With 350,000 in print even then, at the turn of the century; you know this must have been a popular book. The reason why is probably because it is such a superb encapsulation of the good, basic, practical, humble, conservative, American can-do attitude. The elder businessman gently suggests practical advice to his son that he has learned over the years, often with humorous examples. An overlooked classic.
BOOKMARKS. As an artist and reader, I have been making my own bookmarks for years. At first I made color copies of favorites, laminated them, then cut them to fit. Now I think I have a better easier way that I would like to suggest to all those interested. Take your favorite designs, place them on a page, and photocopy the page on CARD STOCK paper. Then cut to fit. The card stock gives it the heft and thickness that it needs, but with none of the hassle of lamination. Try it, or contact me with an SASE, and I'll send you one as long as they last.
STARRY-EYED. Everyone wonders. Everyone thinks about the metaphysical side of life. Two books that have been influential in my thinking are: LINDA GOODMAN'S STAR SIGNS. "The Secret Codes of the Universe." Linda Goodman. St Martin's Press. Goodman is best known for her popular astrology classic "Sun Signs". Here she talks about other metaphysics ideas. The chapter that most influenced me was the one on Numerology where she uses the Chaldean - Kabal,1-8 system. It's amazingly insightful to me.
CHIRON. "Rainbow Bridge Between the Inner and Outer Planets". Barbara Hand Clow. Llewellyn Publications. I've always been amazed by astrology. Yet as a Virgo, I didn't even have my own planet. Here Clow talks about the astrological significance of Chiron, the healer, and its suggested rulership of Virgo. It's about time.
GLUE THAT BINDS. I've often bought used books with pages coming out, and spines that are broken. Most would throw them away. Take a little Elmer's glue and see what you can do to save it. It's amazing how well a little bit of glue can make an old torn up book. Of course this remedy doesn't take the place of proper book restoration for valuable classics, but for most beat up old books, its just the first aid they need to bring them back to life.
HOLLYWOOD-LAND
THIS IS HOLLYWOOD. "An Unusual Movieland Guide. Ken Schessler. Ken Schessler Publishing. Ken goes LA neighborhood by LA neighborhood and tells of all the movie "murders, suicides, graves, historical sites, and landmarks" with 44 maps and exclusive photos. See all the places where it all started, flowered and sometimes came to a tragic ending. Example, he lists all 23 places in LA, Judy Garland called home!
WORKING IN HOLLYWOOD. Alexandra Brouwer and Thomas Lee Wright. Avon Books. Want to know the nuts and bolts of filmmaking? This book goes through every job in making a film, from the Producer at the film's inception, to the Theater Owner at the end. Learn the first hand experience of all these professionals: The Costume Designer, The second Assistant Director, The Gaffer, The Boom Operator, The Hair Stylist, the Animal trainer, The Caterer, the......
CLASSICS OF THE SILENT SCREEN. "A Pictorial Treasury by Joe Franklin. Citadel Books. Learn about the best silent films and stars from 1914 -1931 with '400 Rare Photographs".
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END OF PART ONE.
GUIDE TO READING ADVENTURES - PART TWO.
Here is the second Musea issue of favorites from my book collection. Enjoy!
CARTOONY
THE NEW YORKER 25TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM 1925-1950. Harper. Here's a superb collection of the best of New Yorker Cartoons. Very upper class humor often so subtle you don't get it. But these are the best of the lot so there is a lot of charm and sophistication from cartoonists like Charles Addams, Peter Arno, James Held, Jr., Reginald Marsh, James Thurber and many more.
BLACK MARIA. Charles Adams. Pocket Books. I buy any title I see of this master of the macabre. Something is always fiendishly and dangerously askew!
PETER ARNO'S SIZZLING PLATTER. Peter Arno. Simon and Schuster. This New Yorker cartoonist drew cartoons that were suave, sexy, and funny. Oh and very artistically skillful too. His favorite subject seemed to be young beautiful naive girls, and old wealthy men. Delicious big-city charm.
THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE. "A 10th Anniversary Exhibit. Gary Larson. Andrews and McMeel. Its one thing to have a nice oversized trade paperback of Larson's offbeat cartoons. Its another to include his personal history with it. Find out how the weirdness came about from this Seattle cartoonist.
MADNESS TIMES TWO. Here are two notable cartoonists from Mad magazine: MAD MARGINALS. "A Collection of His Drawn-Out Dramas. Sergio Aragones”. Warner Paperbacks. If you've ever seen a Mad Magazine you'll notice the tiny cartoons in the margins. Here they are big time, and well worth the size! "The Third Mad Dossier Of" SPY vs. SPY. Prohias. Paperback Library. Here is Spy - dressed in White, and Spy - dressed in Black, out to out maneuver each other with trick endings galore.
CRAIG YOE'S WEIRD BUT TRUE TOON FACTOIDS!. Craig Yoe. Gramercy Books. This does for cartoons and cartoonists what Ripley did for oddities. It's filled with page after page of 'toon factoids' such as "The world's largest collection of cartoon cels belongs to movie director, Steven Spielberg." Fascinating facts.
REFERENCE. When I was younger I read to know. Two reference books that I read in their entirety were, WEBSTER'S NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY, and BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. Both were tomes of info that took forever to read.
WEIRD SCIENCE. Science books are almost all out of date. But here are 4 that are still Favorites. LIFE EVERYWHERE. "The Maverick Science of Astrobiology". David Darling. Basic Books. This is a favorite of my collection, because after I wrote the author with some of my ideas, he suggested I do a paper on UV and the Origin of Life for his website. See it at www.daviddarling.info, then search Tom Hendricks.
ASSORTED TITLES. Stephen Jay Gould. No one writes better science essays than this Harvard Professor.
SERIES: DANNY DUNN. Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. This fifties kids series has impulsive Danny and 2 sidekicks getting into danger, then getting out with Danny's science knowledge.
THE GRAND TOUR. "A Travelers Guide to the Solar System". Illustrated by William K. Hartmann and Ron Miller. No artists today do space art better than these two scientist/artists. PI. Somewhere I have a book on the history of PI. But never mind that, I used to be able to recite pi to 86 places: 3.141592653589793238. etc. (Or you could just say "the square root of 10" and be almost as close!
ZINE LIBRARY and MAIL ART. My collection of zines and mail art is a library in itself, and it certainly deserves an entire issue of its own. Here I can only remind readers that the explosion of zines and mail art was an explosion of riches, riches that still have not been fully documented or appreciated. (See Zinewiki.com for perhaps the most complete zine documentation. While there see the 80+ entries for The Musea Zine Hall of Fame.).
IS RITA THERE? I used to work at a Mom and Pop bookstore called appropriately, "The Little House of Books". Our advantage was the personal service we gave our customers. (Our disadvantage was that we could buy books from Wal-Mart cheaper than we could from our distributor! But I digress). One regular customer used to routinely call in his book order to the owner, Virginia, and every time he did, he would always start with the same stale joke, "Is this Rita Book?"
ART BOOKS
PICASSO, THE BLUE AND ROSE PERIODS. Bierre Daix, Georges Boudaille. New York Graphic Society. The best art books pick a specific subject - not to big, not too small - and cover it well. Here they cover my two favorite periods of Picasso's art - I'm in heaven!
THE POP-UP BOOK OF M.C. ESCHER. Pomegranate Artbooks. You probably know the brilliant puzzle-like d drawings, lithographs, and prints of M.C. Escher. And you know what a pop-up is. Now put the two together - a marvelous match!
DAVID DIKE FINE ART AUCTION PREVIEW 2005 or 2006. These two art catalogues have recently become favorites of mine. Here we have the glorious and under appreciated art of Texas with a Golden age during the 30's and 40's. Its a wonderful world of landscape magic - right in our own backyard.
THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS OF... There are more than one line of art books that takes a single artist and shows all his works. (Abrams did a nice line of these for example). But no matter the book they all usually show big pictures of the artist's main works and small reference photos (usually black and white) of all the others. I love to see the 'works' of my favorite artists!
DRAWING LESSONS FROM HAMM. Three of the best books on how to draw are by Jack Hamm.
CARTOONING THE HEAD AND FIGURE. DRAWING THE HEAD AND FIGURE, and DRAWING AND CARTOONING FOR LAUGHS. All Perigee Books. For me these are the best and most complete how-to books for the beginning artists. I'm drawn to them.
PIP PIP AND ALL THAT ROT (TOTALLY BRITISH)
ANYTHING BY P.G. WODEHOUSE. His most famous characters are the sensible butler Jeeves, and his charge Bertie (the boob?). But no matter the Wodehouse novel you choose, you'll get the same comic plot. He tells it over and over again! But who cares when it's perhaps the greatest comic writer anywhere. Pure British humor - "Right ho!"
THE COMPLETE STORIES OF SAKI. Hector Hugh Munro. Wordsworth Classics. Here is a Brit who writes with a biting sword of sharp humor that is usually leveled at the pretensions of the upper classes. A prolific and gifted short story writer who's life ended on the WW1 battlefield. His last words were, "Put that Bloody Cigarette out!"
THE SITWELLS. "And the Arts of the 1920's and 1930's". Thomas F. Staley, ed. University of Texas Press. Edith, and brothers, Osbert , and Sacheverell, were born of the upper crust with cold nonsupportive parents. Together the siblings championed everything new in the arts of their era. Their own works never seemed to raise much over the dilettante level but between the three, they did seem to know and or support just about everybody who was anybody during that era. This lavish book is full of illustrations and photos from their lives, the lives of their friends, and the art they promoted.
SCI-FI
QUESTAR, 'Illustrated Science Fiction Classics". Golden Press. If you have read much classic sci-fi, you are probably like me, you love the adventure and the science ideas they suggest, but you hate the convoluted way they write. None of even the best of the genre are Hemingways - i.e. straight talkers. More and more I've found that I have to read and re-read a sci-fi paragraph to get even the basic story. I personally think they are trying too hard to be 'great' writers. So, with this in mind, it was a great pleasure for me to find this 224 page comic book - yes comic book of illustrated science fiction classics. It's big with 20 complete stories from John Campbell and Isaac Asimov to A. E. Van Vogt, Larry Niven, and "Anne McCaffrey. And its the best of two worlds. It covers all the spacey ideas and rocket adventures, but does it in a way that is easy to read and visually exciting. I think this is a real find, and what a bargain it was new at $1.95 in 1979!.
MAGAZINE COVERS. Forget the text - look for great illustrations on the cover.. Best covers are from the 30's pulps or the 40's and 50's sci-fi monthlies .
RAY GUN. Eugene W. Metcalf and Frank Maresca. Fotofolio. It's a guy thing for sure, but I could not resist this picture book of toy ray guns. There's not only full page pictures of each of an arsenal of ray guns, there are lots of those wonderful space graphics from the boxes they came in, too. It all began in 1934, with the first metal toy ray gun, the XZ-31 Rocket Pistol from the Daisy Manufacturing Company that capitalized on the Buck Rogers craze. And from then on, nobody looked back - unless it was to shoot an alien monster!
DIME NOVELS. Dime novels had their heyday from 1860-1910. It's hard to over estimate their popularity. Horatio Alger alone (see series books) accounted for sales of 250 MILLION copies! A good sampling of that era of writing is the book, EIGHT DIME NOVELS. Edited by E.F. Bleiler. Dover Press. Detectives, Indian Fighters, and Adventurers galore!
BOOKSTORES I HAVE WORKED AT. B Dalton at Town East. (My job was to help unload the books and price them. At first I thought it was like Christmas, opening up packages of books all day. Then they began to repeat - the same ones over and over and over - not so fun anymore ! Doubleday Book store, Northpark Mall .I met some famous authors here - example, Joseph Heller. Doubleday Downtown until it closed. (By then downtown Dallas was a ghost town for bookstores). Little House of Books, Highland Park. a mom and pop store a few blocks from my house.
OUR WORLD GOES POP, OR SWEET AS AN ONION
THE WHOLE POP CATALOG, The Berkeley Pop Culture Project. Avon Books. This book brings the 'Whole Earth Catalogue' idea to pop culture with just about everything included from Abbott And Costello to Yo-Yo's. Big size with lots of photos and fun.
OUR DUMB CENTURY, "The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source”. If you have ever read The ONION online you know what to expect from this parody newspaper. And here it is, a BIG paperback collection of front page headlines for the last century. Some examples. 1915: "600,000 Killed in 4-Inch Advance On Western Front. Heroic soldiers pay ultimate price to make patch of mud safe for democracy. 1937: "Amelia Earhart Missing. Famed Aviatrix 'Probably Just Shopping," Search Teams Say." 1967: Grateful Dead Begins Playing 28-Year Song",
I HATE NEW BOOKS AND NEW BOOKSTORES! You'd think that a book lover like me, that has worked in NEW bookstores for over a decade of my life, would love them and the new books stocked inside them. NO! I hate new book stores and the stiff books they sell. The stores are too corporate and money grubbing, and - as if to match - the books are too stiff and overpriced. I love a book that's been worn. It's aged, its been past around, it has survived for some reason. That's my kind of book - and my kind of store is the book store that sells that kind of book. I tend to think that the bookstore of the future will be a mix of new and used. That's probably the best of both worlds.
KIDS. Here's 4 from a vast unversed of wonders.
RICHARD HALLIBURTON'S COMPLETE BOOK OF MARVELS. Bobs Merrill. This book has both of Halliburton's classic travel books for kids, "The Occident” and "The Orient," all in one volume with b/w photos and a great cover.
THE MAGICAL LAND OF NOOM. Text and Illustrations by Johnny Gruelle. Books of Wonder. Gruelle is best known for Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Here in a beautiful kids book, a brother and sister , Johnny and Janey, fly to the far side of the Moon (Noom) with Oz like adventures. Kids and adults will be entranced with the fun story and charming illustrations.
MUD PIE COOKBOOK . I can't find it but somewhere in my collection I've got a wonderful old kid's book that gives recipes for all kinds of mud pies using real mud! Now where did I put that?.
COLLEEN MOORE'S DOLL HOUSE. "The Story of the Most Exquisite Toy In the World. Garden City Publishers. Famous movie star, Colleen Moore, decided to take part of her fortune, build the worlds most detailed and grand dollhouse ever made, and send it on tour across the country, with profits going for crippled children relief. Who wouldn't want to take a tour of this house!!! I BID ... Auction catalogues are always big fun for me. Whether it's a 'Christie's Review of the Season', or Sotheby's Art At Auction." I like to take one of their seasons in review with the prices paid at auction, pretend I have a million or two, and see what I would buy with that budget. Lately Dallas has its own local auction house with Heritage. They seem to be growing like weeds. Look for them to compete with the two big boys before the decade is out.
WALT WORLD. I grew up with Walt Disney. And before Mickey turned corporate, Disney was the best of the 'white bread and cheesey' genre. Here's some fun related books: WALT DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, AN ART IN ITS MAKING. 'Featuring the Collection of Stephen H. Ison'. Martin Krause, and Linda Witkowski. Hyperion Books. Disney gambled everything he had on his first full length feature film of Snow White (1938). Never before had so many artists worked together on a single art project. This miniature book highlight s the art works made in preparation for the film with 175 full color illustrations.
MOUSE TALES, "A Behind The Ears Look At Disneyland". Kavid Koenig. Bonaventure Press. This trade size paperback is an unauthorized look at Disneyland. According to the author, there are more Grumpy's than Snow Whites here! It tells of lawsuits, breakdowns , fires, accidents, and even a secret club inside called "Club 33." Fascinating Dis dish!
DISNEY STICKERS. I found three different "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vintage Stickers" packs at a discount store Each $1 package has 2 sticker sheets with assorted OLD Mickey art. This is the good stuff, the classic age of Disney cartoon art, and just the thing for that letter or collage you want to dress up.
COMPLETES. Sometimes you want the complete works. COMPLETE STORIES AND POEMS OF E. A. POE. Doubleday Read it - every word. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF O. HENRY. Doubleday. Still reading it - every word.
FAVORITE BOOKSTORES. I have two in Dallas: 1. Paperbacks Plus in Lakewood. (Together we have set up the Musea Reading Fund - free book credit for ANYONE that wants to purchase ANYTHING that is remotely considered a classic. Not only classic lit, but art books, classic recording, etc.). 2. Half Price Books. The Northwest Highway Superstore is my favorite branch because it is HUGE. And for 3. I have a dream of one day going to the behemoth 'Powell’s' Bookstore located in Portland Oregon. It sounds like a dream to me. WRITINGS OF MINE on Books, Bookstores, and Libraries: LIBRARY PLANET (sci-fi novel), ,MANNY'S LIBRARY(short story), RIP VAN REVOLUTIONARY (satire on chain bookstores), and many book related poems.
CELL PHONES AND BOOKSTORES. Who are these people who think that just because they are on the phone they can talk louder than usual while they peruse the stacks, and no one reading will mind? They raised in caves? Do they get a "get-out-of-manners" card when they sign up for that phone? You people, STOP IT. One day I swear I'll follow these clods around saying at the top of my lungs something like , "Yes I know its rude to talk out loud and annoy readers, but I don't care, I have no manners and I never think of anyone but myself. Look I can afford a cell phone. That makes me immune to social graces...."
PHOTOS-FINISHED
THE MANY FACES OF HULL-HOUSE. "The Photographs of Wallace Kirkland. Ed. By Mary Ann Johnson. University of Illinois Press. Hull House, founded in 1889, by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, was a social settlement institution begun in an old mansion in Chicago. It grew to a city block. It's purpose was to help immigrants strive and prosper in their new land. Hull House was an amazing social experiment , and these b/w photos document it at its heights. Here is a prime example of great deeds done by great , and relatively unknown, Americans.
COMICS, and MAGAZINES. I can't even begin to cover these two subjects . Each is due an issue of its own! Oh and what about tiny, miniature books?
THE NET, PRO AND CON. Will screens take over books? Not yet! I love the net for what it can do - instant info on just about everything (Wikipedia), news spread at the speed of light, and a real sense of cyber community. BUT books have that tactile classic feel that makes them more than a blip on the timeline radar! I don't know if books will last - we may someday be reduced to a portable book machine that downloads 'books' from a 'main library' - but I hope they do.
WRITERS ON WRITING. These are my favorites for writing help. 38 MOST COMMON FICTION WRITING MISTAKES, "And How To Avoid Them" Jack M. Bickham. Writers Digest Books. And HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. Orson Scott Card. Writers Digest Books. Note, his advice works for all writers not just sci-fi ones.
BLANK BOOKS. I love them. Their potential is mindboggling. Write something stupendous of your own, or leave them alone with a title like "Best Koans of All Time Inside."
BOOK SHOWS. Nothing more elegant. No people more sophisticated, and smart. No better way to spend an afternoon. Period.
QUIRKY
BIZARRE BOOKS. Russell Ash, Brian Lake. Pavilion. This book on books lists and talks about the worlds most bizarre titles such as "Fish Who Answer The Phone", and "You Can Make a Stradivarius Violin".
HOW TO IMPERSONATE FAMOUS PEOPLE. Christopher Fowler with illustrations by Stuart Buckley. Prince Paperbacks. Title says it all.
OPUS 100. Isaac Asimov. The author writes about his first 100 books! Not only that but he did two more, OPUS 200, OPUS 300!!!
A VOID. (La Disparition). George Perec. This 1969 French novel has the distinction of being written without the letter "E". And Gilbert Adair, has followed suit in his English translation of 1994. I don't have a copy, but I'm on the lookout for one!
FACES. François and Jean Robert. Chronicle Books. The premise is simple enough. The authors take pictures of machines that look like faces - headphones, a mop, dresser drawers, etc. There's a surprising amount of character and animation in these 'faces'.
CLOWN PAINTINGS. Edited and with an introduction by Diane Keaton. powerHouse Books. Actress Keaton collects Clown Paintings. This book shows off her collection with commentary about clowns from fellow actors. Some of the paintings are amateurish, others are startlingly powerful and moving!
PHILIP GARNER'S BETTER LIVING CATALOGUE. "62 Absolute Necessities for Contemporary Survival. Delilah Books. This is quirky squared - a 'catalogue' of products that Dali would be shocked at! Example, "Shower in a Can."
REVOLUTION IN LIBRARIES.
Public libraries have lost their way. They seem to be dumping perfectly good books, for videos and pop fiction. They aren't fun anymore. I suggest a revolution in libraries. Instead of the clinical stacks we have now, I suggest a looser more fun library.
Imagine a room devoted to 60's music that is both musical library and exhibit. Not only would it spotlight major recordings of that era, but it would have exhibits connected with the music, memorabilia, best album photos, related books, and artifacts. This new type of library would be an exhibit that allows the reader to see the era in context with the politics, world events, science, and other arts around the music. I bet you never thought of libraries as being FUN or an ADVENTURE. But why not? Where's the rule that mandates dullness?
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END OF PART TWO.
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