On 1 May 2000, Michael Chong wrote:
: While perusing one such pocket, I found The Machine in Ward
Eleven by
: Charles Willeford. Under closer inspection, it was way over
my means
: at $65 Canadian. A voice over my shoulder asked "Is that
Willeford?"
: I looked up to see a bearded man in fedora and
trenchcoat.
I think I asked how much they were charging for it, actually,
and checking my records I see got my copy at the first
Toronto pulp con for $35. Demand for Willeford's stuff must
be going up. That same dealer had a never-reprinted PBO David
Goodis title for $150! (I was wearing a tweed jacket,
too.)
It was nice to run into a rare bird. I met Doug Levin and
Michael Sharp
(who seems to have dropped off the list, or into lurk mode) a
couple of years ago at the MLA when it was here. If anyone
pulls through Toronto, let me know and perhaps we can have a
drink. I'm not ogreish in real life. I should add that
Michael's very knowledgeable and well-read, and maybe he'd
join us.
The hardboiled pulps at the show could get pretty expensive,
with the interesting BLACK MASKS costing the most--far beyond
what I could every pay, especially if I wanted a collection
of more than a miniscule size. I picked up half a dozen
copies of ARGOSY from the '20s and '30s. Did they published
much hardboiled stuff, or did HB writers publish in it? I
took a quick look through some biblio on the web site and
turned up a story by Ross Macdonald and one by Woolrich, but
that was about it.
Michael and I both had a gander at some copies of MANHUNT but
the guy wanted $20 or more, which seemed pretty steep, even
if they did contain original stories by W.R. Burnett.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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