----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Owen" <
scottaowen@hotmail.com> To: <
rara-avis@icomm.ca> Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 4:22
AM Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Reprinting the lost classics
>
> >>Mainstream publishers will always chose what
they think will sell -
> >quality has little to do with it. Not all the
Jim Thompson books are
> >masterpieces but almost all have been reprinted
since the 1980's.
> >Personally, I'm glad to have the material
available for me to decide
> >which are the good ones & which aren't). And
what is junk to one
reader
> >may be a flawed masterpiece to another(again,
see Thompson reprints).
I
> >agree you'd want to see the "good" books
republished but I also feel
> >that some authors' books are worth republishing
even if they aren't
all
> >masterpieces - in the end there's only one way
of finding out if a
book
> >is any good & that is to read it, which is
rather problematic if the
> >book isn't available to read.
> >
> Rene:
>
> Don't get me wrong. I don't mind seeing an author's
works reprinted
in toto
> a la Thompson. I'm in hock to the rare book dealers
enough as it is.
I
> just think that publishers should start with the top
drawer material.
They
> should dig deeper into the barrel only after getting
(and keeping) the
best
> stuff in print. I think there's nothing worse than
stacks of
remaindered
> books to kill a publisher's interest in a reprint
program.
>
In that case, I guess we'll have to agree to agree. Quite
right, it's better to start with the best material. What gets
frustrating is when that same material is rarely out of
print, with overlapping printings, even, when other great
stuff has remained untouched. When it comes down to it,
nobody wants this stuff less available (with possible
exception of rare book dealers). Obviously there are severe
economic restrictions - I remember being overwhelmed by the
number of Black Lizard titles released in the 80's & was
steadily purchasing the books a year or two later when they
were remaindered en masse. In that case, there were too many
too soon - but what a glorious failed experiment! Those books
have had a tremendous influence far beyond the meagre
financial reward they reaped & were no doubt the impetus
behind the tremendous upsurge of interest in Jim Thompson
& a couple of other authors & noir in general. I
doubt we'll ever see anything quite like the Black Lizard
line again, unfortunately.
> I'm thinking specifically about my personal fave,
Fredric Brown, a man
who
> has been poorly served by the reprinters. True, some
of his best
books have
> been resurrected over the years, but several
excellent titles(MADBALL
and
> THE WENCH IS DEAD spring to mind) have been out of
print since the
'50s.
> Yet ROGUE IN SPACE, perhaps his worst ever book, has
been reprinted at
least
> once.
>
> It just hurts.
>
> --Scott
>
It would be great to see more Brown books revived. I don't
know how they'd go but I know that many 2nd hand book dealers
in this part of the world know him - I've been told his
(mystery only - not the SF, as far as I can gather - you do
see copies of them around) books sell as quickly as they hit
the shelves. He's one of the authors that people are always
looking for.Only thing is, I don't know how many people are
involved in searching for Brown's books- it could be just
half a dozen obsessives!
Rene
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