This question has been around for a long time, and naturally I have my firm opinions about what qualities and tasks booksellers should focus on. I’ve had a variety of bookselling experience-particularly in Lorry’s Book Company because of its unique stock–a blend of new titles, older but non collectible books, and some things at the … Read more
By now I believed I’d pretty much acquainted myself with all of the important Golden Age mystery authors, or at least up until the 50s. Even if never read, I recognize their names as ones that wrote classic or bad mysteries, or even mediocre ones. But the other day in trying to locate info about … Read more
The Last Will and Testament of Constance Cobble—Stanton Forbes–1980–used A mystery within a mystery makes this a standout among many Stanton Forbes’ excellent novels. I first came across Ms. Forbes the summer after my first year at college. I was at loose ends, didn’t have a job, couldn’t figure out what to do, so I … Read more
On one of my weird road trips I had the privilege of visiting the little town of Wells in the NY Adirondack mountains. So it’s disturbing to find out how much damage has been done to their library and the entire picture book collection for children. They are asking for monetary donations to replace the … Read more
This is getting ridiculous. A Study In Scarlet has been removed from a Virginia 6th grade curriculum–why? Because some of the passages are florid descriptions of what Arthur Conan Doyle believed were Mormon religious views and activities. And yes, again, on the basis of ONE complaint, a book that had been taught for years as … Read more
Meet the Tiger—Leslie Charteris-1928–used I was first introduced to the character of The Saint, or Simon Templar as he was usually known, through another novel. I was a pre-teen reading a slew of Gothics, the—‘did I marry a murderer after only knowing him 3 weeks?’—type of plot. One book stood out, not as a Gothic, … Read more
First, a disclaimer for those who are easily convinced that if some co-workers are nuts, that means I’m claiming all co-workers or bosses are nuts. Not so. And sociopaths are more in the line of people with no conscience, they who will do anything to anyone to get what they want. A small but strong … Read more
How many times can that be stated, I wonder? Naturally, it is assumed the opposite is true, that the book is sacred, and no cinematic representation can enhance it to the extent that the final result is more satisfying, or artistically superior than the original thoughts laid down on paper by the author. One of … Read more
