BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/13/03 FRI):
---Filling orders is about all I can report for today, I guess. (This was blank before.) Friday the 13th and I didn’t evek know it.

---Music played:
- Johnny Cash AMERICAN IV: THE MAN COMES AROUND (Xgau: A Minus)
- THE DISCO YEARS, VOL. 4: LOST IN MUSIC (Xgau: A Minus)
- The Bottle Rockets SONGS OF SAHM (Xgau: A Minus)
- PAROXYSM sampler (MP3s downloaded from www. paroxysmrecords.com and recommended)
- Dismemberment Plan THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN IS TERRIFIED (Xgau: A Minus)
- Todd Snider TODD SNIDER LIVE: NEAR TRUTHS AND HOTEL ROOMS (Xgau: A Minus)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/12/03 THURS):
---Here from Earthling Publications:
Thomas, Jeffrey GODHEAD DYING DOWNWARDS, Earthling, 5/03, 1st edn, one of 315 SIGNED copies, (novella of the supernatural; Keene intro), 40-page booklet, new $10

---Received a catalog from Marietta Publishing (Bruce Gehweiler) of Marietta GA. Lists several books I already have (and which have generally been selling nicely): NEW MYTHOS LEGENDS, LIN CARTER’S ANTON ZARNAK, FRONTIERS OF TERROR, THINGS THINGS THAT ARE NOT THERE, WARFEAR plus a number of chapbooks. And a few that I will have to add to my next order: THE OCCULT DETECTIVES OF C.J. HENDERSON, FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS by Cherrie Priest, LAST RESORT by Wendy Webb.

---Music played:
- PIET KEE AT WEINGARTEN (organ)
- Michael J. Schumacher ‘FIDICIN DRONES’
- CULTURES ELECTONIQUES / 7 (2-disc)

06/11/03 WED:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/10/03 TUES):
---Here today:
Waldrop, Howard A BETTER WORLD'S IN BIRTH!, Golden Gryphon Chapbook 2, '03, 1st edn, one of 500 SIGNED copies, (author's lifework minus two; 56 pages), new 15.95

---Music played:
- Evanescence FALLEN
- THE ENGLISH CONNECTION

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/09/03 MON):
---This arrived today and looks pretty good:
Kurland, Michael IMAGES CONCEITS & LOLLYGAGS: A Motley of Stories, Gryphon, 3/03, 1st edn, (stories; introduction by Richard A. Lupoff), new 20.00

---Music played:
- HAIKU D’ETAT (Xgau: A Minus)
- John Lurie AFRICAN SWIN AND MANNY & LO
- Khevrisa EUROPEAN KLEZMER MUSIC (Xgau: A Minus)
- THE ROUGH GUIDE TO BHANGRA (Xgau: A Minus)

06/08/03 SUNDAY:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/07/03 SAT):
---Some things from Necro Publications:
Houarner, Gerard & Gak DEAD CAT BIGGER THAN JESUS, Bedlam Chapbook #1, '03, 1st edn, (Stoker nominated bandaged cat with attitued is back), new 9.95

Lee, Edward & John Pelan TRANSCENDENCE, Necromics #1, '03, (art by Dejan Ognjanovic), (explicit horror comic book; story, gallery), new 6.00

Thomas, Jeffrey LETTERS FROM HADES, Bedlam '03, one of 476 SIGNED copies, (travelogue of Hell set in a beutifully dark and textured world), new 14.95

---Music played:
- Cultures-Electroniques / 9 (2-disc)
- Cultures-Electroniques / 8 (2-disc) - these four discs work well in my 5-disc changer, which is still serving duty while I wait on the repair technician for word about my regular CD player.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/06/03 FRI):
---Shelving books, I note that the copy of EARL AUBEC I received from White Wolf has a 2-inch closed tear in the front panel of the dustjacket, so I have changed its cataloguing:
Moorcock, Michael EARL AUBEC and Other Stories, White Wolf, 11/99, 1st hc edn, (Eternal Cham-pion #14; 590 pages), as new in dj with 2" closed tear in front panel 15.00
---That is down from its already bargain price of $24.99.

---Music played:
- Krebs CLAVIER-UBUNG
- Cultures-Electroniques / 9
- THE COMPLETE STAX/VOLT SOUL SINGLES Vol. 3: 1972-1975 (Disc 5)
- Philip Glass EARLY KEYBOARD MUSIC

06/05/03 THURS:
---Ran ten-and-a-half miles today. Must have taken it out of me, because I was about worthless (or more worthless than usual) all day. The usual thing: had stray cats to round up, the old minivan to engineer a towing away of (finally), etc. The paint-peeling 1987 Caravan is now back at the dealership where we bought it, awaiting word on whether it is belly-up or can be resuscitated.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/04/03 WED):
---A couple here from Small Beer Press:
LADY CHURCHILL'S ROSEBUD WRISTLET (An Occasional Ouburst) #12, 6/03, Small Beer, (Jan Lars Jensen, David Erik Nelson, Ursula Pflug, etc.), new $4
---previous issues also available:
LADY CHURCHILL’S ROSEBUD WRISTLET (An Occasional Ouburst) #4, Small Beer, (Westgard, Link, Ian McDowell, Nalo Hopkinson) • ---#5, (Butner, Emswiler, Muirhead, Lucy Snyder) • ---#6, 5/00, (Sallis, Karen Joy Fowler, Link) • ---#7, 10/00, (Jeffrey Ford, Klages, Sallis), new each, 3.00
---#9, 10/01, (Fifth Anniversary Issue) • ---#10, 6/02, (Jeffrey Ford; 48 pages) • ---#11, 11/02, (Gloss, Goss, Klingbiel, Klang; another 52 pages), new each, 4.00

Rich, Mark FOREIGNERS, and Other Familiar Faces, Small Beer (6/03), 1st edn, (jaunty, off-beat stories), 68-page booklet, new 5.00

---This response to someone wanting magazines from DNA (FANTASTIC, WEIRD TALES, ABORIGINAL SF, ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE):
“At this point it may be your best bet to go ahead and seek elsewhere for DNA magazines. I have not been able to get a response much as I tried. Perhaps I will eventually get them. Stranger things have happened, but for now it seems to be a no go. I will let you know if I can get back on track with them.”

---A stray from Greenwood here now:
Umland, Samuel J. (ed) PHILIP K. DICK: Contemporary Critical Interpretations, Greenwood '95, (primary & secondary bibliography), new no dj as issued $73
---Ridiculously priced but I suppose their books are intended for libraries with their inflexible demand and willingness to pay whatever it costs. Like a $73 hammer for the Pentagon. But I did just receive a sale flyer from Greenwood offering an extra 10% discount, so until June 30 I will reciprocate by offering a 30% instead of the usual 20% to members of the discount plan. Back around May 18 I posted here a long list of their “Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy”. If anyone is thinking they might want any of these, now is the time to act!

---Music played:
- Art Pepper THE WAY IT WAS!
- Aaliyah I CARE 4 YOU (Xgau: A-)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/03/03 TUES):
---Back in stock:
Shirley, John …AND THE ANGEL WITH THE TELEVISION EYES, Night Shade ('01), 1st edn, (on, above, and below the streets of Manhattan), one of 150 SIGNED copies with added chapbook, BOXED, new in dj 55.00
---The $27 trade edition is still here too. I notice at the website this ltd. edn is listed as sold out, so this might be a last chance opportunity.

---A few more from Wildside here now:
Bond, Nelson THAT WORLDS MAY LIVE, Wildside, 4/02, (long-lost novel from the Golden Age of SF), new 15.00

Brackett, Leigh THE TIGER AMONG US, Wildside, 7/01, (a novel of unrelenting suspense), new 15.95

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth AT CHRIGHTON ABBEY and Other Horror Stories, Wildside Fantasy Classics ('02), (excellent introduction to author's work), new 12.99

Connors, Scott (ed) A CENTURY LESS A DREAM: Selected Criticism on H.P. Lovecraft, Wildside '02, 1st edn, (articles reprinted from Necronomicon Press & Cryptic Publications), new no dj as issued 49.95

Emerson, Willis George THE SMOKY GOD Or The Voyage To the Inner World, Wildside, nd, (orig: 1908), new 12.95

Onions, Oliver THE BECKONING FAIR ONE, Wildside, nd, (perhaps the greatest ghost story in the English language), new 13.95

Wharton, Edith TALES OF MEN AND GHOSTS, Wildside ('02), new 15.95

---And back in stock:
Park, Paul IF LIONS COULD SPEAK & Other Stories, Cosmos/Wildside ('02), new 15.00

---Received this email:
“With your lengthy silences, I was beginning to get worried
that you might be having health and/or financial difficulties, and
thusly I felt reluctant to bug you too much. Hope things are okay now
and that you are in a position to resume being bugged with various new
orders and queries.”

---I don’t wish to give the impression I am indisposed healthwise or financially, although it would be foolish to deny these are ever considerations. My ability to keep up with emails, orders, book shipments, invoices, book shelving, excess clutter, urge for leisure time, sleep needs, etc. etc. is declining with age and with a precipitousness that could be alarming--but if I let myself get too worked up about my workload, I might be in even worse shape than I am now. All I can say is: Do bug me! My response might be irritatingly slow, but I try to at least keep track of things enough so that a response will be forthcoming in due course. I am always trying to get myself to sit down and get to work. When I do I am quite happy to do so. It is sometimes a question of too many distractions. Being a sole operator, when I stop working, nothing gets done. I will keep working on it and try to write about it less.

---Music played:
- Telemann BURLESQUE DE QUIXOTTE - ALSTER-OVERTURE
- The Lounge Lizards QUEEN OF ALL EARS
- Joseph Haydn THE EARLY DIVERTIMENTI Vol. 4
- HESPERUS: Spain in the New World

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (06/02/03 MON):
---On this rainy day I am endeavoring to get long-delayed work done, as usual.

---Added to bookmarks: short stories at east of the web and I printed out “The Man With The Cough” by Mrs. Molesworth (included in The Collected Ghost Stories from Side Real Press mentioned below.
---Pasted from the above website’s scifi.Story site:
“Welcome to the science fiction short story section at east of the web. Find this month's featured stories above. You can browse the science fiction library by subgenre or search it for a title, author or keyword. Clicking on an author's name lists all their stories along with further information and links. Stories can be read online, printed or downloaded for reading offline or on handheld devices.”
---Read Rock&Roll& - by Robert Christgau: Loser on a Roll, Jon Langford Makes Friends and Influences People.

---Music played:
- Liona Boyd BAROQUE FAVOURITES
- Bill Evans COMPLETE RIVERSIDE: Discs 1 &2
- Art Pepper LIVING LEGEND
- Madonna AMERICAN LIFE

06/01/03 SUNDAY:
---Noticing the length of time between posting date and composition date I see that I need to do some serious work to get this weblog more current on a daily basis so it doesn’t fall months behind like my email updates. Part of the problem is that I am not alone in the house this summer. Unfettered access to the eMac, with its somewhat better Internet connection, has been hard to come by. I do have some material ready to post for the intervening days, even if it is not as rich in content as I might wish. I will try to spend a little time and get back to the here-and-now, so maybe I can regain that sense of immediacy a weblog ought to have (for better or worse).

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/31/03 SAT):
---Working on cataloguing a couple boxes of virtually-new SF (including a fair number of recent UK books, especially from Earthlight, mostly review copies sent to a noted writer. Here is what is being added to the catalog as a result:
hardcovers:
Bova, Ben (ed) THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME: Volumes Two A & B, SFBC, ('73), (greatest SF novellas of all time chosen by SFWA), vg+ in djs the pair, $15
Bova, Ben JUPITER, Tor, 1/01, 1st (US) edn, (in Solar System series), vg-f in dj $15
Lyons, Jonathan BURN, Domhan ('00), (surreal 21st century), PR laid in, vg-f 6.00
McDevitt, Jack INFINITY BEACH, HarperPrism, 3rd('00), (audacious far future), vg-f in dj 10.00
Nix, Garth LIRAEL, HarperCollins, 2nd, (fantasy; sequel to Sabriel), vg-f in dj 12.00
Silverberg, Robert (ed) THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME: Volume One, Doubleday ('70), (The Greatest SF Stories of All Time; 558 pages), vg+ in dj 25.00
Swanwick, Michael BEING GARDNER DOZOIS: An Interview by…, Old Earth '01, (critical commentary, history, biography--bravura homage), f in dj 15.00
Williams, Walter Jon ANGEL STATION, Tor, 7/89, 1st edn, vg in dj 14.00

book club:
@ $3: • Russell THE GREAT EXPLOSION
@ $5: • Kress BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS

misc. softcovers:
Grimwood, Jon Courtenay PASHAZADE: The First Arabesk, Earthlight '02, f 8.00
Grimwood, Jon Courtenay REDROBE, Earthlight '00, 1st, (apocalyptic story of the new millennium), f 9.00
Grimwood, Jon Courtenay REMIX, Earthlight '99, 1st, (William Gibson meets Quentin Tarrantino), f 10.00
Jensen, Jan Lars SHIVA 3000, Macmillan '00, (rich and diverse epic), vg-f 10.00
Miller, Ron BRONWYN #1: Palaces & Prisons, Timberwolf, 2nd edn('01), (fantasy), vg-f 6.00
Reynolds, Alastair CHASM CITY, Gollancz '01, 1st, (Revelation Space seq), vg-f 10.00
Robson, Justina MAPPA MUNDI, Macmillan '01, 1st, (mediical nanotech SF), vg-f $12
Robson, Justina SILVER SCREEN, Macmillan'99, 1st, (author's first published SF), vg-f 12.00
Silverberg, Robert (ed) NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2001, Harcourt '01, 1st edn (pb var), vg-f $9
STAR WARS® GAMER #1-9, '01, (fiction, RPG, deck plans, etc.), vg-f the nine, $15

paperbacks:
Pan 48433 Asher, Neal GRIDLINKED, '02, (author's first full-length SF novel), f 6.00
Tor 58968 Barnes, John CANDLE, 12/00, (convincing future), f $4
Orbit pb 859 Besher, Alexander CHI, '99, (vital chi essence being siphoned off), vg-f 5.00
Earthlight 0911 Byrne, Eugene THINGS UNBORN, '01, (bustling alternate world), f 6.00
Earthlight 0895 Calder, Richard IMPAKTO, '01, (aborted child who refused to die), vg-f 6.00
Earthlight 03720 Calder, Richard MALIGNOS, '00, (dark, edgy, dense, intricate SF), f 6.00
Earthlight 03719 Calder, Richard THE TWIST, '99, (orig; John Twist, shootist), f 6.00
Orbit pb 100 Clute, John APPLESEED, '02, (author's first SF novel), f 8.50
Pan 48595 Hammond, Ray EMERGENCE, '02, (near-future SF by journalist), f 5.00
Roc 45843 Harper, Steven DREAMER, 9/01, (Silent Empire; first contact), f 3.00
NEL 71706 Johnston, Paul THE BLOOD TREE, 2nd, (crime; Edinburgh, 2026), f 5.00
NEL 71704 Johnston, Paul WATER OF DEATH, '99, (crime; hunt-the-psycho), f 5.00
Carroll & Graf 844 Leinster, Murray QUARANTINE WORLD, '92, vg $3
NEL 79246 Lumley, Brian NECROSCOPE: DEFILERS, '01, (horror; 659 pages), f 6.00
Roc 45823 Mackay, Scott THE MEEK, 4/01, (they shall inherit the universe...), f 4.00
Earthlight 03754 McDonald, Ian ARES EXPRESS, '02, (terraformed-Mars funny SF), f 6.00
Roc 45827 Morehouse, Lyda ARCHANGEL PROTOCOL, 5/01, (author's 1st), f 3.00
HarperTrophy 47183 Nix, Garth SABRIEL, 12th, (fantasy; an ALA Notable Book), f $3
Scholastic T941 Nourse, Alan E. THE COUNTERFEIT MAN, 10/67, (stories), f 2.50
Signet Vista 13581 Pinkwater SNARKOUT BOYS & BACONBURG HORROR, 5/85, vg-f 3.00
Bal 61 Pohl & Kornbluth SEARCH THE SKY, ('54), (orig), vg-f 8.00
Ace pb 88564 Rucker, Rudy WHITE LIGHT, 11/80, (orig), vg-f 6.00
Avon Eos 79694 Silverberg, Robert (ed) FAR HORIZONS, 5/00, f $4
Roc 45837 Spencer, Wen ALIEN TASTE, 2nd, (wolfpack-raised tracker SF), f 4.00
Ace pbk 00886 Wharton, Ken DIVINE INTERVENTION, 12/01, (earth colony), f $4
Spectra 58374 Williams, Liz THE GHOST SISTER, 7/01, (orig; bioengineering SF), f 3.50
Bantam 58051 Willis, Connie PASSAGE, 1/02, (life-after-death novel), f 5.00

5/30/03 FRI:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/29/03 THU):
---A shipment from Wildside has arrived:
Benson, Robert Hugh LORD OF THE WORLD, Wildside, nd, (orig: 1907), new 19.95
---THE NECROMANCERS, Wildside, nd, (orig: 1909), new 18.95

Burroughs, Edgar Rice THE CHESSMEN OF MARS, Wildside, nd, new in dj 32.95
---THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, Wildside, nd, (Fort Dinosaur), new in dj 26.95
---OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS, Wildside, nd, (intro by Amy Sterling Casil), new in dj 27.95

Clore, Dan THE UNSPEAKABLE and Others, Wildside ('01), (Joshi intro), new 19.95

FANTASY ANNUAL #5, Cosmos ('03), (Bayley, Fearn, Dan Morgan), new 16.99

Goulart, Ron BRINKMAN, Wildside, 7/01, (photo-reprint of 1981 edn), new 14.95

Haggard, H. Rider THE WITCH'S HEAD, Wildside '99, (photo-reprint), new 19.50

Joshi, S.T. H.P. LOVECRAFT & LOVECRAFT CRITICISM: An Annotated Bibliography, Wildside, nd, (reprint of 1981 work; 473 pp), new no dj as issued 49.95

Richards, Anna M. A NEW ALICE IN THE OLD WONDERLAND, Wildside. 9/00, (35 years later, a different girl, also named Alice wants to visit Wonderland), new 14.95

---Back in stock:
Bayley, Barrington J. THE SINNERS OF ERSPIA, Cosmos/Wildside ('02), new 15.95

Betancourt, John Gregory & Robert Weinberg (eds) WEIRD TALES: Seven Decades of Terror, Barnes & Noble '97 (dist. Wildside), 1st, SIGNED by Betancourt, (the best of the worst frights; 438 pages), new in dj 12.95

Biggle, Lloyd, Jr. THE CHRONOCIDE MISSION, Wildside, 4/02, 1st edn, new 15.95

Di Filippo, Paul A MOUTHFUL OF TONGUES, Cosmos/Wildside ('02), new in dj 29.95

FANTASY ANNUAL #4, Cosmos/Wildside '00, (new stories; Bounds, High, Tubb, etc.), new 12.00

Joshi, S.T. H.P. LOVECRAFT: The Decline of the West, Wildside, nd, new 19.95

McCaffrey, Anne (ed) COOKING OUT OF THIS WORLD, Wildside '92, 2nd, (lost classic), new 10.00

Smeds, Dave PIPER IN THE NIGHT, Wildside ('01), 1st edn, (surreal), new in dj 37.95

---Received this email:
“I am just checking with you to find out what if anything is going on. I haven't heard from you since early this year. Are you still issuing catalogues? Did you drop me from your mailing list? I miss hearing from you--am still planning on giving you business if you are selling. Let me know.”

---My reply:
“I seem to be in midlife or something, because my urge to put out paper catalogs is at a wane. I have been fooling around a bit when I get the chance with putting information in my weblog that includes new arrivals as they come in and other book-business-related matters, as well as whatever I might feel like imparting into the great webunknown. I also have a bunch of stuff waiting to go into email updates when I can think to keep going with those, to people who asked to get them. Even without catalogs it seems I am having just as much trouble keeping up with orders coming in, but perhaps that has more to say about my increasing laziness than anything else.”

---I sent out an email update (of sorts) querying recipients about the Side Real Press solicitation for the UK book below. Seems that people who get Tartarus, Sarob, Ash-Tree might want to add Side Real to their list of collectible publishers.

---Am printing out a new Membership Discount Plan information sheet. I know a few discounts have been changed/added, but mostly it is staying the same. Might as well keep it current, though, even if the changes are few.

---Music played:
- Ilan Guetta plays BACH ELECTRIC - conclusive argument that Bach would have wielded an axe were he alive today
- Pietro Castrucci 6 CONCERTI GROSSI

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/28/03 WED):
---Received this solicitation for:
“COLLECTED GHOST STORIES
by MRS MOLESWORTH
ISBN: 0-9542953-0-7.
300 numbered copies. Hardback 320 pages. Illus. £30.00 inc. p&p
SIDE REAL PRESS is pleased to present for the first time in a single volume
the complete collected ghost stories of noted Victorian Authoress Mrs.
Molesworth.
Mary Louisa Molesworth (1839-1921)produced over one hundred books in her
lifetime. Known primarily as a writer for children and young adults, she,
like her contemporaries Rhoda Broughton and Mary Braddon, also tried her
hand at the supernatural genre, ultimately producing ten tales. The majority
of these were collected into two, now rare, volumes, Four Ghost Stories
(1888) and Uncanny Tales (1896).
COLLECTED GHOST STORIES gathers these, and other ghost stories scattered
from her more general collections together with ‘A Ghost Of The Pampas’,
the only known ghost story by her son Bevil (1870-1898).
Avoiding the normally ornate style of the typical Victorian ghost story,
she produced tales with “a refreshing sharpness and lucidity......invested
with wit, charm, intelligence and subtle chills” (Penguin Encyclopedia Of
Horror And The Supernatural) .
Edited and introduced by J.N. Smith the volume is presented as a numbered
limited edition hardcover of 300 copies. The cover reproduces the original
four colour design of the original U.K. edition of Uncanny Tales . This
edition also includes the original illustration accompanying ‘Old Gervais’
from Sunday Magazine,(1892).
Contents: Introduction, Lady Farquhars Old lady, Witnessed By Two,
Unexplained, The Rippling Train, The Shadow In The Moonlight’, The Man With
The Cough, At The Dip In The Road, Not Exactly A Ghost Story, Old Gervais, A
Strange Messenger, A Ghost Of The Pampas*. * By Bevil Molesworth
SIDE REAL PRESS has been founded as in Imprint specialising in
supernatural/weird literature past and present. Each volume will be printed
as a limited edition quality hardback. All items can be ordered direct from
the publisher.
COLLECTED GHOST STORIES costs £30.00 retail”
---Anyone interested? I am not sure what the $ cost would be. Maybe in the $50 range. I could possibly give a 15% discount, but I would need to crunch numbers first.

---Email sent to Belgium:
“Not much VHS recording here lately. I joined Netflix DVD rental service and have not used the VCR nearly as much. If you have any particular USA broadcast TV shows you like (ANGEL, BUFFY, etc.), but you probably get them there even better. I don't have cable TV so lots and lots of movies (as well as, fortunately, sports) give me a miss here. The DVDs I rent more than make up for any sense of deprivation. Even whole seasons of TV-show series can be accessed, such as on HBO which I hitherto only would hear or read about. If any made-for-TV thing comes along I record that might be of interest I will set it aside for you. Cost of VHS tapes is less than $1 so it is enough if occasionally I can send you something you might be of interest. I thought a promising show was a Rose Red-prequel (or something) executive produced by Stephen King that debuted recently, but I could not watch it (finding it unwatchable) and the reviews were bad so I ended up rewinding the tape after ten minutes and recording over it--this weeks NOW (with Bill Moyers on PBS) or FRONTLINE or Charlie Rose or Austin City Limits. Maybe I should have stuck it out or sent it along, but I didn't.”

---Music played:
- THE SPECIALTY STORY: Disc 4
- my CD COMP 4 (still available by request with any book shipment)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/27/03 TUES):
---A couple arrived today from Meisha Merlin:
Conn, John F. THE SOCIETY, Meisha Merlin, 1/03, 1st edn, (thriller), new 16.00

Moore, James A. SERENITY FALLS, Meisha Merlin, 3/02, 1st edn, (quite possibly the best horror novel since Salem’s Lot; 746 pages), new 20.00
---Despite the date of publication I don’t see that I have had this in stock previously, although it looks familiar (as does The Society).

---This here from PS Publishing in the UK:
Wexler, Robert Freeman IN SPRINGDALE TOWN, PS '03, (Shepard intro), new 16.00

---And back in stock:
Campbell, Ramsey RAMSEY CAMPBELL, PROBABLY: 30 Years of Essays and Articles, PS '02, 1st, (140,000 words; Winter intro), {trade pb still available @ $45}, BOXED, new in dj 90.00

Di Filippo, Paul A YEAR IN THE LINEAR CITY, PS Publishing, 4/02, 1st edn, one of 800 total SIGNED copies, (Bishop intro), {hc in dj available @ $40}, new 14.00

---A couple days with the computer off, taking Memorial Day easy. I should have learned that even if it takes me until 4 PM to start getting something done, even then it is possible to make significant headway. At least all the NBA playoff games, just about, have been on cable.

---Neil instructs me to stop asking him to help me out with my book-business labor needs. I am not sure what he is up to in his room for hours on end, but it involves feverish keystrokes and a co-opting of the eMac (which he has run a cable down to through the air vent). No doubt it is more important than anything I might give him to do. My toilings are so indiosyncratic anyway (or idiotic anyway) that would be hard to involve other people, even people you might think would have a stake in my success. To that end of undermination, Amy informs that she expects to take an actual vacation this summer, involving a camping trip.

---Music played:
- Yohimbe Brothers FRONT END LIFTER (Xgau: A Minus)
- Steven Mackey RAVENSHEAD: The Complete Opera In Two Acts (2 CD)

5/26/03 MON:
---Text to follow?

5/25/03 SUN:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/24/03 SAT):
---Catalogued today:
Benson, E.F. THE FACE, Ash-Tree '03, (Collected Spook Stories #4), new in dj $45

Wyndham, John NO PLACE LIKE EARTH, Darkside '03, 1st, (stories), new in dj 40.00

---Back in stock:
Shepard, Lucius LOUISIANA BREAKDOWN, Golden Gryphon '03, 1st edn, (Poppy Z. Brite intro; J.K. Potter art & afterword; 145 pp), new in dj 21.95

---Filling some orders that have been around here way too long. I hope I can get myself repositioned as all caught up, with everything neat and tidy, some day and some day soon.

---Music played:
- CD Compilation #1 (my own first foray into this metier; has ups and downs, but I enjoy hearing these things again in their new gestalt; and the ease of doing it makes it a slow-brainer)
- DEXTER’S LABORATORY: The Hip-Hop Experiment (Xgau: A Minus)
- CD COMP #4 (yours truly’s fourth foray at trying to cherry pick from amongst the plethora)
- THE SPECIALTY STORY: Disc 3 (eMusic download that Neil burned for me using his fast Univerity connection)

5/23/03 FRI:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/22/03 THU):
---Letter from me accompanying shipment of a Perley Poore Sheehan bibliography (which has been a pretty good seller), in response to an inquiry:
“Thanks for the order. As for books from Battered Silicon (KING OF THE PULPS), I haven’t been able to get their publications lately--mainly because I can’t meet their ordering guidelines for number of copies of individual titles I need to get at a time. Other publishers allow me to get assorted titles if they want me to buy ten books for the bookseller discount. I think Mike Chomko might be your person:
Michael P. Chomko
2217 W Fairview St
Allentown PA 18104-6542
chomko@enter.net”

---I am drawing a blank here, but I pass along this email I received:
“Hello,
I think you already know who I am. But if you don't remember me, I am Carlton Mellick III author of the surreal-horror/bizarre-fantasy novels Razor Wire Pubic Hair, Satan Burger, The Baby Jesus Butt Plug, and Electric Jesus Corpse. I'm also going to be in the next Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.
Anyway, I'm hoping we could swap links. My website is at www.avantpunk.com ... let me know yours and I'll link to it asap.
Well, good luck with everything and take care,
--Carlton Mellick III
author of the surreal and bizarre
www.avantpunk.com
Mellick1@aol.com”

---Herewith unilateral link to there or mention of there but I will forego link from there to here.

---Another individualized response pasted here to maybe make my hard work go farther:
“I forgot to reply to your question about magazines. I don't think I have too many of those listed in my catalog at the moment. Except maybe:
LOCUS #409, 2/95, (1994: The year in SF) • ---# 421, 2/96, (1995: The year in SF) • --#423, 4/96, (Baxter & Holdstock interviews; H.L. Gold memorials), vg-f ea., $2
EXTRAPOLATION, win/83, (on Vance, Russ, Herbert, Clarke, Wells), vg 3.00
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION #17, 1/90 (Pohl on Twain) • ---#18, 2/90 • ---#25, 9/90, (on Farmer & Ballard; Tony Daniel), vg each, 2.00
SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW, sum/91, (Special Fiction Section; Clancy editorial), vg $4
also, this, which you don't ask about:
SCIENCE-FICTION STUDIES #20 to #52, 3/80 to 11/90, (an entire decade of what is generally regarded as the most important academic journal in the SF field; critical analyses, book reviews), the entire 33-issue run, as new the set, 137.50
---#52 (1990), #59 (1993), #61 to #66 (1994-5), 8 issues, f as a set, 35.00
and this, SF-REVIEW related:
Geis, Richard RICHARD E. GEIS: A PERSONAL JOURNAL #1 to #13, self ('78-9), (xeroxed sheets; ravings & rants by noted fan & pornographer), vg the set, $25”

---Music played:
- Tin Hat Trio THE RODEO ERODED (Xgau: B Plus)
- Nirvana NIRVANA (2002)
- The Go-Betweens SPRING HILL FAIR (2-CD, with bonus disc) (Xgau: A Minus)
- compilation CD from Sweden (a heterogenius concoction with some fun Swedish pop, different renditions of familiar songs, etc.; genuinely likeable; the ease of burning CDs if you have the proper equipment makes these music compilations a neat thing to be able to do; by the way, my own CD Comp 5 is now ready to send)

5/21/03 WED:
---Another rat-race wild-goose chase. All for a little buzz developing in my CD player, plus the need to take a runoff of more copies of the Sheehan bibliography up to my printer in Ames, who I wanted to check in with anyway to explain my unaccounted absence these many weeks onto months. He had hoped I would stick with it at least another ten years to keep him in business that length of time he hoped to continue before retiring. I indicated I would try to have another catalog ready by the middle of June. He leaves for his vacation Jun 27, so I could bring him my layouts as late as Jun 23 and he would have some extra recreational cash.

---Then 60-cycle buzz offered up by CD player made me have to take it to the repair place recommended by Audio-Video Logic (where I bought it). Will have to get by with old Sony ES 5-disc changer (which actually sounds much better than the old player was starting to sound). Later: I am noticing a hardness or edginess in the sound that maybe would not be so relentless if I didn’t have half-inch thick Hyperlitz speaker cables that do nothing to filter or color the sound. So far, it has not been displeasing but I am not sure I will want to crank up the volume, even in deskchair sweetspot, as I could do before with my CAL Icon II without feeling any unpleasant onslaught seemingly no matter how far I turned the dial (the 4 ohm PS Stratus Mini speakers power hungriness might have played a role). Now I might just have to keep it down for my own sake, and not just that of others upstairs.
---Note that I remember the names of the equipment with some effort and perhaps imperfectly, having bought the system a few years ago and resolving then to stand pat with it, and not be continually wanting something better. They were all pretty much recommended components in Stereophile magazine. “C” pricerange with “$$$”, meaning (as I took it) that they performed as well as components in a higher pricerange. The CD player, however, was B-listed (‘A’ being the most and prohibitively expensive). I got it as “B stock” too, with cosmetic defects. It served long and well. I hope the repair needed won’t be excessive. These days CD-playback technology might have outstripped what this several-year-old player can deliver, so that even a cheapo unit might have capabilites that hadn’t even been invented then. But the build-quality, I think, is still there. Indeed, A-V Logic had just sold a used Cal Icon the day before, brought in by someone trading up. I maybe should have inquired what the up-trade was for, but I don’t need to be contemplating any costly moves myself. I think the buyer of the trade-in was maybe smarter than the trader-inner, despite my unit having taken a southerly turn.
---Anyway, that is some of what I did all day.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/20/03 TUES):
---Lately I have not been as smitten with the sound quality from my stereo system. Yesterday I noticed a buzzing sound coming from my CD player. It became quite noticible, even while music was playing (especially The Cardinall’s Music which depends on a catherdal sound allowing reverberations to be held during pauses). It does not take an audiophile to be annoyed by a buzzing sound. I took it in to AudioVideoLogic where I bought it a few years ago, and they turned me over to their technician in another part of town. But he was not open today, so tomorrow I have another excursion to run that will not help my forward momentum toward getting everything done.

---I guess it paid off to send the PKD list, because every last one of the paperbacks are now sold. So once again I am without any PKD pbs. Maybe I should price them higher.

---Music played:
- The Byrd Edition 6: THE CARDINALL’S MUSICK (Music for the Holy Week and Easter) - better late than never
- Bettie Serveert LOG 22 (Xgau: A Minus) - hails from Urbana IL (“Smack in the middle of ridiculous places, smack in the middle where I shouldn’t have been.”)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/19/03 MON):
---Need to get orders ready to send to Leisure Books (distributed by HarperCollins but I am not sure I can combine all titles; besides I have plenty for a decent-enough size Leisure order, especially since they only shipped half of what was on my last invoice--reminding me of the sticky point here: having to re-construct the order for books not received then). Also ordering from Tartarus soon (books sold out that may still be available).

---Music played:
- Bill Evans THE PARIS CONCERT, Edition One (1979 jazz)
- compilation from Jan-Erik in Sweden (from Nov of last year)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/18/03 SUNDAY):
---Email sent that might be of interest to more than one recipient:
“I seem to have fallen by the wayside issuing printed catalogs. My infrequent email updates and weblog entries seems to be keeping me in business, as well as unexpected emails such as yours which have been a lifeblood, since they often precipitate further business. To that end, although I don't think I have a lot of PKD new arrivals, I am always on the lookout and that may have brought in a thing or two of interest. At any rate, her is what I have now. In hc:
Dick, Philip K. THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, SFBC, nd, new in dj 6.98
---SELECTED LETTERS OF…, Volume One: 1938-1971, Underwood ('96), (1st), (another map of the man; introduction by James Blaylock), new in dj 39.95

Misc. Softcover:
Dick, Philip K. THE COLLECTED STORIES OF…, Volume 1, Citadel, 8th, new 14.95
--- CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST, Vintage, 4th, new 10.00
---THE DIVINE INVASION, Vintage, 2nd, new 10.00
---DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, Del Rey, 6th, new 13.00
---DR. BLOODMONEY, Vintage, 5/02, (post-nuclear holocaust), new 13.00
---FLOW MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID, Vintage, 3rd, vg $6; new 10.00
---GALACTIC POT-HEALER, Vintage, 5th, new 12.00
---THE GAME-PLAYERS OF TITAN, Vintage, 2nd, new 10.00
---THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, Vintage, 7th, (Hugo-winning novel), new 10.00
---A MAZE OF DEATH, Vintage, 4th, new 11.00
---THE MINORITY REPORT and Other Classic Stories, Citadel, 6th, new 14.95
---THE PHILIP K. DICK READER, Citadel, 4th, (two dozen stories), new 15.95
---A SCANNER DARKLY, Vintage, 12/91, new 10.00
---SECOND VARIETY and Other Classic Stories, Citadel, 5/02, (from '50s), new 14.95
---THE SHIFTING REALITIES OF…: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings, Vintage, 3rd, (Edited and with an Introduction by Lawrence Sutin), new 13.00
---THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH, Vintage, 12/91, new 10.00
---THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER, Vintage, 2nd, new 10.00
---VALIS, Vintage, 2nd, new $10; 4th, vg 7.00
---WE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE and Other Classic Stories, Citadel, 5/02, (stories from '52-5 except title story; Spinrad intro), new 14.95
(and of course the Galactic Central bibliography)

MMPB:
iPocketessentials 29 Butler, Andrew M. PHILIP K. DICK, '00, (almost everything), new 6.95
zzzDel Rey 30129 Dick, Philip K. BLADE RUNNER (=Do Androids Dream…), 4th, vg 4.00
zzzDell pb 11084 Dick, Philip K. CLANS OF THE ALPHANE MOON, 1/80, g-vg 3.50
zzzAce G- 637 Dick, Philip K. & Ray Nelson THE GANYMEDE TAKEOVER, ('67), g 4.50
zzzAce F- 377 Dick, Philip K. THE CRACK IN SPACE, ('66), (orig), vg+ 10.00
zzzBelmont 618 Dick, Philip K. TIME OUT OF JOINT, 2/65, vg 6.00
zzzDell pb 9200 Dick, Philip K. UBIK, 5/70, g 4.00
zzzBantam 14156 Dick, Philip K. VALIS, 2nd, g 3.50
Bantam 20594 Dick, Philip K. VALIS, 4th(10/81), vg 5.00”

---I pasted the list of Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy published by Greenwood Press:
* "A Better Country" - The Worlds of Religious Fantasy and Science Fiction
Martha C. Sammons (2/24/1988)
* A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature
Donna R. White (4/30/1998)
* A Literary Symbiosis - Science Fiction/Fantasy Mystery
Hazel Beasley Pierce (11/16/1983)
* Alien to Femininity - Speculative Fiction and Feminist Theory
Marleen S. Barr (8/14/1987)
* Apertures - A Study of the Writings of Brian W. Aldiss
Brian Griffin, David Wingrove (3/5/1984)
* Aspects of Fantasy - Selected Essays from the Second International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film
William Coyle (1/22/1986)
* Back in the Spaceship Again - Juvenile Science Fiction Series Since 1945
Karen Sands, Marietta Frank (8/30/1999)
* Chaos Theory, Asimov's Foundations and Robots, and Herbert's Dune - The Fractal Aesthetic of Epic Science Fiction
Donald E. Palumbo (12/30/2002)
* Clockwork Worlds - Mechanized Environments in SF
Richard D. Erlich, Thomas P. Dunn (12/28/1983)
* Comic Tones in Science Fiction - The Art of Compromise with Nature
Donald M. Hassler (10/25/1982)
* Contours of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Eighth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Michele K. Langford (5/23/1990)
* Cosmic Engineers - A Study of Hard Science Fiction
Gary Westfahl (2/28/1996)
* Death and the Serpent - Immortality in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Carl B. Yoke, Donald M. Hassler (1/22/1985)
* Dracula in the Dark - The Dracula Film Adaptations
James Craig Holte (5/30/1997)
* Ellipse of Uncertainty - An Introduction to Postmodern Fantasy
Lance Olsen (4/3/1987)
* Eros in the Mind's Eye - Sexuality and the Fantastic in Art and Film
Donald Palumbo (7/16/1986)
* Erotic Universe - Sexuality and Fantastic Literature
Donald Palumbo (2/21/1986)
* Fantastic Odysseys - Selected Essays from the Twenty-Second International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Mary Pharr (3/30/2003)
* Folklore and the Fantastic in Twelve Modern Irish Novels
Marguerite Quintelli-Neary (12/30/1997)
* Forms of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Third International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film
Jan Hokenson, Howard Pearce (5/15/1986)
* Formula Fiction? - An Anatomy of American Science Fiction, 1930-1940
Frank Cioffi (10/27/1982)
* Foundations of Science Fiction - A Study in Imagination and Evolution
John J. Pierce (3/4/1987)
* From Satire to Subversion - The Fantasies of James Branch Cabell
James D. Riemer (7/21/1989)
* Functions of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Thirteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Joe Sanders (11/30/1995)
* Great Themes of Science Fiction - A Study in Imagination and Evolution
John J. Pierce (10/20/1987)
* H. P. Lovecraft - A Critical Study
Donald R. Burleson (9/27/1983)
* Immortal Monster - The Mythological Evolution of the Fantastic Beast in Modern Fiction and Film
Joseph D. Andriano (1/30/1999)
* In the Image of God - Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card
Michael R. Collings (4/10/1990)
* Into Darkness Peering - Race and Color in the Fantastic
Elisabeth Anne Leonard (7/30/1997)
* J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances - Views of Middle-earth
George Clark, Daniel Timmons (9/30/2000)
* Kurt Vonnegut - Images and Representations
Marc Leeds, Peter J. Reed (5/30/2000)
* Lord Dunsany - Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination
S. T. Joshi (3/30/1995)
* Merlin's Daughters - Contemporary Women Writers of Fantasy
Charlotte Spivack (1/13/1987)
* Modes of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Twelfth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Robert A. Latham, Robert A. Collins (9/30/1995)
* Monsters, Mushroom Clouds, and the Cold War - American Science Fiction and the Roots of Postmodernism, 1946-1964
M. Keith Booker (5/30/2001)
* More Real Than Reality - The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts
Donald E. Morse, Csilla Bertha (11/30/1991)
* No Cure for the Future - Disease and Medicine in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Gary Westfahl, George Slusser (9/30/2002)
* Odd Genre - A Study in Imagination and Evolution
John J. Pierce (3/30/1994)
* Offensive Films - Toward an Anthropology of Cinema Vomitif
Mikita Brottman (7/30/1997)
* Out of the Night and Into the Dream - Thematic Study of the Fiction of J.G. Ballard
Gregory Stephenson (10/30/1991)
* Philip K. Dick - Contemporary Critical Interpretations
Samuel J. Umland (1/30/1995)
* Phoenix From the Ashes - The Literature of the Remade World
Carl B. Yoke (11/13/1987)
* Reflections on the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Fourth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Michael R. Collings (10/16/1986)
* Rewriting the Women of Camelot - Arthurian Popular Fiction and Feminism
Ann F. Howey (2/28/2001)
* Robbe-Grillet and the Fantastic - A Collection of Essays
Virginia Harger-Grinling, Tony Chadwick (3/30/1994)
* Robert Silverberg's Many Trapdoors - Critical Essays on His Science Fiction
Charles L. Elkins, Martin Harry Greenberg (11/30/1992)
* Science and Destabilization in the Modern American Gothic - Lovecraft, Matheson, and King
David A. Oakes (6/30/2000)
* Science and Social Science in Bram Stoker's Fiction
Carol A. Senf (10/30/2002)
* Science Fiction and the Theatre
Ralph Willingham (11/30/1993)
* Science Fiction Fandom
Joe Sanders (11/30/1994)
* Science Fiction for Young Readers
C.W. Sullivan III (3/30/1993)
* Science Fiction, Canonization, Marginalization, and the Academy
Gary Westfahl, George Slusser (1/30/2002)
* Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture - Coming of Age in Fantasyland
Gary Westfahl (4/30/2000)
* Seven Masters of Supernatural Fiction
Edward Wagenknecht (10/30/1991)
* Some Kind of Paradise - The Emergence of American Science Fiction
Thomas D. Clareson (12/11/1985)
* Space and Beyond - The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction
Gary Westfahl (1/30/2000)
* Spectrum of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Sixth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Donald Palumbo (3/30/1988)
* Spiritual Exploration in the Works of Doris Lessing
Phyllis Sternberg Perrakis (4/30/1999)
* Staging the Impossible - The Fantastic Mode in Modern Drama
Patrick D. Murphy (11/30/1992)
* State of the Fantastic - Studies in the Theory and Practice of Fantastic Literature and Film
Nicholas Ruddick (7/30/1992)
* Strange Constellations - A History of Australian Science Fiction
Russell Blackford, Van Ikin, Sean McMullen (5/30/1999)
* Strange Shadows - The Uncollected Fiction and Essays of Clark Ashton Smith
Steve Behrends (4/4/1989)
* The Aesthetics of Ambivalence - Rethinking Science Fiction Film in the Age of Electronic (Re) Production
Brooks Landon (8/30/1992)
* The Celebration of the Fantastic - Selected Papers from the Tenth Anniversary International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Donald E. Morse, Marshall B. Tymn, Csilla Bertha (9/30/1992)
* The Comedy of the Fantastic - Ecological Perspectives on the Fantasy Novel
Don D. Elgin (2/19/1985)
* The Company of Camelot - Arthurian Characters in Romance and Fantasy
Charlotte Spivack, Roberta Lynne Staples (12/30/1994)
* The Connecticut Yankee in the Twentieth Century - Travel to the Past in Science Fiction
Bud Foote (11/30/1990)
* The Dark Descent - Essays Defining Stephen King's Horrorscape
Tony Magistrale (3/30/1992)
* The Dark Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Ninth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
C. W. Sullivan III (2/28/1997)
* The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature - Fiction as Social Criticism
M. Keith Booker (5/30/1994)
* The Fantastic in World Literature and the Arts - Selected Essays from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Donald E. Morse (11/11/1987)
* The Fantastic Sublime - Romanticism and Transcendence in Nineteenth-Century Children's Fantasy Literature
David Sandner (11/30/1996)
* The Fantastic Vampire - Studies in the Children of the Night--Selected Essays from the Eighteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
James Craig Holte (3/30/2002)
* The Intersection of Science Fiction and Philosophy - Critical Studies
Robert E. Myers (11/22/1983)
* The Legacy of Olaf Stapledon - Critical Essays and an Unpublished Manuscript
Patrick A. McCarthy, Charles Elkins, Martin Harry Greenberg (1/10/1989)
* The Lost Worlds Romance - From Dawn Till Dusk
Allienne R. Becker (6/30/1992)
* The Mechanical God - Machines in Science Fiction
Thomas P. Dunn, Richard D. Erlich (10/28/1982)
* The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut - Imagining Being an American
Donald E. Morse (8/30/2003)
* The Poetic Fantastic - Studies in an Evolving Genre
Patrick D. Murphy, Vernon Hyles (11/20/1989)
* The Reclamation of a Queen - Guinevere in Modern Fantasy
Barbara Ann Gordon-Wise (2/28/1991)
* The Return from Avalon - A Study of the Arthurian Legend in Modern Fiction
Raymond H. Thompson (2/19/1985)
* The Road to Castle Mount - The Science Fiction of Robert Silverberg
Edgar L. Chapman (10/30/1999)
* The Scope of the Fantastic--Culture, Biography, Themes, Children's Literature - Selected Essays from the First International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film
Robert A. Collins, Howard D. Pearce (11/14/1985)
* The Scope of the Fantastic--Theory, Technique, Major Authors - Selected Essays from the First International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature
Robert A. Collins, Howard D. Pearce (4/25/1985)
* The Shape of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Seventh International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Olena H. Saciuk (1/25/1990)
* The Supernatural in Short Fiction of the Americas - The Other World in the New World
Dana Del George (8/30/2001)
* The Transcendent Adventure - Studies of Religion in Science Fiction/Fantasy
Robert Reilly (1/24/1985)
* The Unexpected Universe of Doris Lessing - A Study in Narrative Technique
Katherine Fishburn (12/6/1985)
* The Utopian Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Twentieth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Martha Bartter (12/30/2003)
* The Way to Ground Zero - The Atomic Bomb in American Science Fiction
Martha A. Bartter (10/24/1988)
* Tolkien's Legendarium - Essays on The History of Middle-earth
Verlyn Flieger, Carl F. Hostetter (1/30/2000)
* Trajectories of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Fourteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Michael A. Morrison (10/30/1997)
* Transformations of Language in Modern Dystopias
David W. Sisk (12/30/1997)
* Transrealist Fiction - Writing in the Slipstream of Science
Damien Broderick (6/30/2000)
* Ultimate Island - On the Nature of British Science Fiction
Nicholas Ruddick (1/30/1993)
* Unearthly Visions - Approaches to Science Fiction and Fantasy Art
Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, Kathleen Church Plummer (1/30/2002)
* Visions of the Fantastic - Selected Essays from the Fifteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Allienne R. Becker (12/30/1996)
* Welsh Celtic Myth in Modern Fantasy
C.W. Sullivan III (3/7/1989)
* When World Views Collide - A Study in Imagination and Evolution
John J. Pierce (5/23/1989)
* Worlds Enough and Time - Explorations of Time in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, David Leiby (6/30/2002)
* Worlds Within Women - Myth and Mythmaking in Fantastic Literature by Women
Thelma J. Shinn (10/16/1986)
* Young Adult Science Fiction
C.W. Sullivan III (3/30/1999)

---Anyone interested in any of these titles, let me know. Maybe my next order will be sooner rather than later. Check their website for exorbitant prices. Keep in mind my 20% discount if you belong to the discount plan.

5/17/03 SAT:
---Got back from Illinois with Neil. He was grilled by Amy about his school year for half of the six-hour drive back and slept the other half. He seems a little gaunt and sleep deprived but otherwise appears to be doing okay. He does plan to return to school in the fall, so it looks like he wants to keep at it. I tried to interest him in helping me out a bit this summer with my seriously understaffed book business. One lazy person (me by myself) can’t quite seem to cut it. But he does not think it would be very interesting. To me it is perpetually of utmost interest, but not every one is me. Not even Neil--or especially not Neil. Maybe I can give him projects here and there that he will be willing to take on. I told him he could even keep track of how much time he spends working for me and I would give him maybe $10 an hour (what he got at Big Creek Software, the last place he worked). It would seem he could be quite an asset, with his aptitudes. I should try to keep thinking of ways to involve him. But I would hope for a better future for him than to end up being the sole-proprietor of a mailorder book business.

5/16/03 FRI:
---Went to Champaign-Urbana to pick up Neil from the university there upon completion of his first year.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/15/03 THU):
---Catalogued today:
CEMETERY DANCE #43, '03, (Ramsey Campbell, Hugh B. Cave, Ed Gorman, Graham Joyce, Gary Raisor, new 5.00

VanderMeer, Jeff VENISS UNDERGROUND, Night Shade ('03), 1st edn thus, one of 750 SIGNED copies, (adds afterword and new story), new in dj 40.00
---I still have the Prime Press trade pb for $15.

---Books from White Wolf here, after long-delayed order. It could be they have gone over completely to gaming books, but a few of their earlier books were still available. I don’t think I can set up links to the individual titles but further descriptions are easy enough to find from the White Wolf website:
Collins, Nancy A. DARKEST HEART: A Sonja Blue Novel, White Wolf, 9/02, 1st edn, new 11.99

Moorcock, Michael CORUM: The Prince With the Silver Hand, White Wolf, 2/99, 1st hc edn, (Eternal Champion #12; 3-in-1 edn; collects The Bull and the Spear, The Oak and the Ram & The Sword And the Stallion), new in dj 24.99
---EARL AUBEC and Other Stories, White Wolf, 11/99, 1st hc edn, (Eternal Champion #14; 590 pages), new in dj 24.99

---And back in stock:
Collins, Nancy A. A DOZEN BLACK ROSES, White Wolf ('96), (hip vampire), new 11.99

Gunn, James (ed) THE ROAD TO SCIENCE FICTION Volume 6: AROUND THE WORLD, Borealis, 5/98, 1st, (exploeres the SF written in 16 countries), new 14.99

---There were also a bunch of White Wolf paperbacks which I have not catalogued yet. They are mostly series novels (Clan, Vampire, Dark Ages, Predator & Prey) special ordered for customers or replacing sold out titles.

---A batch has arrived from Greenwood. These excessively-priced editions intended for the library market I can give a 20% discount, if that puts them closer within reach of the average person. I had to order at least ten books to get the discount, so it might be a while before I can try for another batch:
Ashley, Mike ALGERNON BLACKWOOD: A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood '87, 1st, (Ramsey Campbell foreword), new no dj as issued 74.95

Clareson, Thomas D. SOME KIND OF PARADISE: The Emergence of American Science Fiction, Greenwood '85, 1st, (history of American SF), new in dj $68

Collings, Michael R. IN THE IMAGE OF GOD: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape In the Fiction of Orson Scott Card, Greenwood '90, 1st, (bibliography, list of works cited; index), new no dj as issued 64.95

Pierce, John J. WHEN WORLD VIEWS COLLIDE: A Study in Imagination and Evolution, Greenwood '89, 1st, (del Rey foreword), new no dj as issued 69.95

---And back in stock:
McCarthy, Patrick A., Charles Elkins & Martin Harry Greenberg (eds) THE LEGACY OF OLAF STAPLEDON: Critical Essays and An Unpublished Manuscript, Greenwood '89, 1st, new no dj as issued 54.95

Roberson, William H. & Robert L. Battenfeld WALTER M. MILLER, Jr.: A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood '92, 1st, (glossaries), new no dj as issued 54.95

Shreffler, Philip A. THE H.P. LOVECRAFT COMPANION, Greenwood, 3rd, (offers a roadmap through Lovecraft's nightmare), new no dj as issued 62.95

---I also received a slightly damaged copy of:
Joshi, S.T. LORD DUNSANY: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination, Greenwood '95, 1st, (includes bibliography, index), new no dj as issued 69.95
which I guess I will send back. Also, this:
Joshi, S.T. & David E. Schultz AN H.P. LOVECRAFT ENCYCLOPEDIA, Greenwood '01, 1st, (exhaustive guide; essential), new no dj as issued 79.95
but the copies I have now are already spoken for. I will re-order again next time, whenever than may be.

---I am finally readying an order to send to Wildside, since one of the customers for the LOVECRAFT ENCYCLOPEDIA also wanted a couple books from Wildside. Later: word that the Wildside order is being processed, so maybe it will not be so long. Again, mainly books for special orderers and replacing sold-out stock. If I were to delve over their inventory a bit, I am sure the order could have been several times larger.

---Music played (if not listened to):
- Atmosphere GOD LOVES UGLY (Xgau: A Minus)
- Youssou N’Dour NOTHING’S IN VAIN (Xgau: A)
- Derek and the Dominoes LAYLA (Xgau: A Plus)
- Lou Reed THE RAVEN (Xgau: B Plus)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/14/03 WED):
---I can’t find a publisher’s website to set up a link for this, but it is blurbed as the quintessence of some ofthe most inspired creativity you will find anywhere in the world of supernatural fiction:
Blackwood, Algernon PAN'S GARDEN: A Volume of Nature Stories, Stark House, 4/03, (orig: 1912; Mike Ashley intro), new 17.95

---I meant to only run 9.5 miles but a couple quarter-mile markers were missing so I ended up going 10.5 miles. Slowed down considerably toward the end but made it in probably at least a speed-walk pace.

---Music played (if not listened to):
- James Moody/George Walllington THE BEGINNING AND END OF BOP (Blue Note Jazz Classics) - one of my many cutout vinyl LPs from way back when; this has a notched corner. I wish I had another shot at picking up some of these now, especially at the price I paid then.
- Sonny Rollins KEN BURNS JAZZ (Xgau: A Plus)
- Afrika Bambaataa LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT BEAT 1980-1985 (Xgau: A Minus)
- STABAT MATER: Late medieval Motets of Penitence and Passion
- Peter Garland THE DAYS RUN AWAY (Tzadik)
- Synaesthesia DEATH AMBIENT
- Le Tigre FROM THE DESK OF MR. LADY (Xgau: B Plus)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/13/03 TUES):
---Text to follow?

---Music played (if not listened to):
- Koffi Olomide BEST OF KOFFI OLOMIDE (Xgau: A Minus)
- Shania Twain THE WOMAN IN ME (Xgau: HM*)
- Charles Mingus KEN BURNS JAZZ

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/12/03 MON):
---Terribly difficult to get me to stay down in the cellar on this picture-perfect day. Behind on laundry for clothesline, the lawn needing to be mowed, Sunday NY TIMES in mail, etc.

---Another book here now:
Bishop, Michael BRIGHTEN TO INCANDESCENCE: 17 Stories, Golden Gryphon '03, 1st edn, (Golden Gryphon Book #26; Lucius Shepard intro), new in dj 24.95

---And:
CRAWDADDY new #28, 5/03, (rock and roll; last issue of new series), new 4.00
---Too bad to see Paul Williams forced to fold Crawdaddy (link shows contents of Issue 27 and earlier--most of which I still have in stock if you want them from me [30% discount to members of discount plan]). I remember CRAWDADDY in its initial incarnation. I think I remember a column by Paul Krassner and Paul Williams’ early promoting of Philip K. Dick. This was probably something that helped herd me back into reading SF after I may have strayed. For some real nostalgia I should spring for the Archival issues from 1966-1968 that are available--and help Paul with the debt which is forcing him to take a real job (writing the catalog for a music museum).

---Still no response from Subterranean. I will now begin letting customers know that they will have to seek elsewhere than through me for their books.

5/11/03 Sun:
---Mother’s Day

5/10/03 Sat:
---Threatening weather played a part in keeping me offlne.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/9/03 FRI):
---Bigtime downpour around midnight was hard to sleep through and recycling truck barrelling around 6AM I woke up tired and incapable.

---No reply from Subterranean to my email. Maybe I should have been less petulant. I won’t remind them of my order for HANDFUL OF COPPERS. If they lose my orders for SIDESHOW, AZTECHS, BOOK OF DAYS and send me books I did not order, that is about all I should have to deal with.
---This appended to my final reckoning with Subterranean:
note: I guess you might as well cancel my account: for at least four reasons (per my email bitchings and moanings, which I’m sure we both are getting tired of). It is just that I have to have some expectation that orders I place will be filled and not disregarded or discarded.
---Perhaps precipitous but I am disappointed that what I thought was an okay relationship seems to have disintegrated. Just for fun I asked my spreadsheet to tell me how much I have sent you over the years: it is $12356.76 since 1999, not including present remittance. I myself would not want to forsake that kind of business, but I am nowhere near the kind of operation Subterranean is.

---Music played:
- Blood, Sweat & Tears CHILD IS FATHER TO THE MAN (LP)--skippy and scratchy but still fun to spin the same grooves I spun so many times way back then)
- The Go-Betweens BRIGHT YELLOW BRIGH ORANGE (Xgau: B Plus)
- Jon Langford and His Sadies MAYORS OF THE MOON (Xgau: A Minus)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/8/03 THU):
---I don’t know how long I will be able to have the computer on today, with the forecast for another bout of severe thunderstorms. The sky is starting to look dark.

---It ended up the storms held off until evening. They were strong but not tornadic here as elsewhere. Maybe another inch or two of rain. Lots of sump pumps running hereabouts, but ours still hasn’t started to kick in. I hope that is not because it is malfunctioning. It has been a while since it has been needed. Our land has exceptional drainage, so I feel like just about any amount of rain can be taken in by our soil (famous last words--I hope not). I turned on the dehumidifiers a couple weeks ago. This year I added a couple fans to give circulation down there. I should have had them down there before, because it sure seems to make a difference.

---CDs played:
- Marianne Faithfull KISSIN TIME (Xgau: A Minus)
- Dexter Gordon GO! (1962 jazz) - I like these original albums, as opposed to something like a multi-disc THE COMPLETE BLUE NOTE RECORDINGS OF DEXTER GORDON with alternate takes.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/7/03 WED):
---A couple more arrivals:
Kirk, Russell WHAT SHADOWS WE PURSUE: Ghost Stories, Volume Two, Ash-Tree '03, 1st, (Edited, with an Introduction by John Pelan), new in dj 45.00
---and:
Partridge, Norman THE HOUSE INSIDE, Subterranean '03, 1st edn, SIGNED, booklet, new 12.00
---Finally received this, after three or four reminders about my order. I should have also received another chapbook (Ligotti’s SIDESHOW), but I guess that is another no-go. I see it is listed as sold out on their webpage. I am getting tired of having my orders show up months later than other dealers, and my having to remind them to send books, and keep track of their doings lest I lose out. Regretfully, I ended sending them this email:
“I was waiting to return the not-ordered EMBRACE THE MUTATION ltd. expecting long ago the three more AZTECHS you promised (prior to its going OP). Also, Ligotti SIDESHOW and now BOOK OF DAYS which I hear has shipped a while ago but has not shown up here. It seems maybe you would prefer we just part ways. I can't be promising customers books and then have them disappear, with my orders evidently ignored. You seem to be doing fine without my business and you come up with some nice books to publish, so maybe we should just clean up this mess by declaring it null and void. Look for my check for recent invoices with book return. I would say cancel my orders but that seems to have happened already anyway.”
---My exasperation is tempered by the knowledge that there are many who I am sure perceive my own performance as no better. I well know how things can get delayed and seemingly lost, but I get the sense here that I do not need to keep trying to horn in and get books from someplace that will not seem to even try to keep track of my orders. Lots of dealers I am sure are swarming for the books published by Subterranean, so I feel quite superfluous as a source for their books. I apologize to those who I have led to expect I could supply these books. Maybe Subterranean will bow and scrape to keep my business, but my inclination is to give it up. I figured out a couple years ago, when I was also having difficulties that by 2001 I had sent Subterranean more than $10,000. What it has been since then I could figure out too, but do not feel so inclined at the moment. But I am sure it has been substantial enough--at least for my level of business. I guess not for theirs.

---CDs played:
- Black Box Recorder THE FACTS OF LIFE (Xgau: A Minus)
- Unsung Heroes UNLEASHED (Xgau: A Minus)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/6/03 Tues):
---These catalogued today:
Howard, Elizabeth Jane THREE MILES UP and Other Strange Stories, Tartarus '03, 1st thus, (four stories collected here for the first time), new in dj 40.00

Willis, Connie ROSWELL, VEGAS, AND AREA 51: Travels With Courtney, Wormhole Contemporary Chapbook Vol 8 ('02), 1st edn, one of 1052 total SIGNED copies, new 13.00
---another copy of the preceding, one of 250 hardback copies, new no dj issued $35

---Thunderstorms the past several days. Yesterday was okay, as is today, but I still managed to fritter away the time. Lots of times I may have otherwise had the computer on but the thunder and lightning were too close for comfort. We have had maybe 10 inches of rain (by my unofficial compilation) in the past week-and-a-half. So far no problems with our house, unlike some unfortunates in states to the south, in the path of the twister-swath. That kind of thing usually starts out somewhat to our south then works its way up here as the season progresses, so I look forward to a few tenterhook days coming up. That is the way it is this time of year in this part of the country. I don’t think I will ever get used to it!

---I think I quoted an outlandish figure earlier on empty boxes for the Manly Wade Wellman SELECTED STORIES set from Night Shade. I thought what I wrote down from my earlier conversation with Night Shade that maybe I heard wrong or wrote it down wrong. Now It looks like they will cost me about $25+ including shipping. I will pass them along at cost with your next book order, if you have one pending or one you would like to send (email at Cdrummbks@aol.com). Let me know ASAP if you want one.
---Here is the email from Night Shade that I received:
“Hi all,

If you're reading this, then you expressed interest in ordering slipcases
for our Wellman series. Here's the details.

The slipcase will hold all five volumes, and will look nice. However,
there's a catch. The source for the slipcases is expensive, and I don't
have a lot of other options. The slipcases will run $22 apiece, plus
shipping. The original estimate was around $10-$11 a pop, but I guess not.
I'm open to options, if anyone knows any.

The upside is that only subscribers and dealers will get slipcases, so you
guys will be the only source for slipcases.

If you're still interested, I need a final order by the end of the week,
so I can get the order in and get it started.

Thanks,

Jason Williams
Night Shade Books”

---I suppose five $35 books could afford to take on a $25 slipcase. Let me know if you want me to try to put together a set of the books too.

---My reply to a person who wants to help me out by selling books on eBay for me:
“Sorry I haven't replied about your eBay thoughts. I haven't had a chance to look into that. I will consult with my son (or try to--he stays up until 5AM, just about when I arise) when he gets back from college in a couple weeks. He does a bit of business with eBay (as a customer as far as I know), but he could maybe give me some insight into how I should proceed. I know there is a much larger customer base out there than what I am presently tapped into, and I do appreciate your thinking about how I can make improvements in this area.”

---CDs played:
- THE COMPLETE STAX/VOLT SOUL SINGLES Volume 2: 1968-1971 (Disc 6)
- Ali Hussan Kuban THE ROUGH GUIDE TO… (Xgau: A Minus)
- Ken Burns Jazz’ THE DEFINITIVE THELONIOUS MONK (Xgau: A Plus)
- Ken Burns Jazz’ THE DEFINITIVE HERBIE HANCOCK
- Love FOREVER CHANGES (Xgau: A Minus)

5/5/03 MON:
---Text to follow?

5/4/03 SUN:
---Text to follow?

5/3/03 SAT:
---Text to follow?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (5/2/03 Fri):
---Finally getting around to cataloguing the batch of Random House books sitting around here for an atrociously long time:
Adams, Douglas THE SALMON OF DOUBT: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time, Harmony, 7th, (chapters culled from novel-in-progress, other writings), new in dj 24.00
Brin, David & Kevin Lenagh CONTACTING ALIENS: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe, Spectra, 7/02, 1st, (essential companion), new 14.95
Burroughs, Edgar Rice THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, Modern Library '02, 1st thus, (Aldiss intro; with Reading Group Guide questions), new 12.95
de Bernières, Louis CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, Vintage International, 5th, new 14.00
Dick, Philip K.DR. BLOODMONEY, Vintage, 5/02, (post-nuclear holocaust), new 13.00
Lessig, Lawrence THE FUTURE OF IDEAS: The Fate of the Commons In a Connected World, Vintage, 2nd, (technology/law; with a 2002 preface), new 15.00
Lovecraft, H.P.MORE ANNOTATED LOVECRAFT, Dell, 2nd, (Joshi & Cannon [eds]), new 13.95
Robinson, Kim Stanley THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT, Bantam, 6th, (alternate history), new in dj 25.95
Starr, Jason HARD FEELINGS, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 1/02, 1st, new 12.00
Sterling, Bruce TOMORROW NOW: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years, Random House '03, 1st edn, (what to expect next in culture, geopolitics, and business), new in dj 24.95
Vachss, Andrew THE GETAWAY MAN, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2nd, new 11.00
---ONLY CHILD, Knopf '02, 1st edn, (a Burke novel), new in dj 24.00

---And these back in stock:
Bear, Greg VITALS, Del Rey, 1/02, 1st edn, (biotech-murder continuum), new in dj 24.95
Blease, Kathleen (ed) ONE DARK NIGHT: 13 Masterpieces of the Macabre, Ballantine, 9/00, 1st edn, (full of gothic mood and ghastly haunts), new 10.00
Highsmith, Patricia THE BOY WHO FOLLOWED RIPLEY, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 10th, (psychologicially intricate & hauntingly perverse masterwork), new $12
Jones, Stephen (ed) SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH, Del Rey, 9/01, (Lovecraft, others), new 14.00
Niven, Larry THREE BOOKS OF KNOWN SPACE, Del Rey, 7th, (3-in-1 edn), new 15.95
Stephenson, Neal THE DIAMOND AGE, Spectra, 5th, new 13.95
Vachss, Andrew BORN BAD: Stories, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2nd, new 13.00
---SACRIFICE, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 7th, (P.I. Burke), new 12.00
---SHELLA, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 10th, (Burke; boiled to hte bone), new 12.00
---STREGA, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 8th, (Burke), new 12.00
Wagner, Phyllis Cerf & Herbert A. Wise (eds) GREAT TALES OF TERROR & THE SUPERNATURAL, Modern Library, 6th, (orig: '44; 1034 pp), new in dj 24.95

---I don’t know if I will go to the trouble of setting up links to the descriptions of these books individually, but here are some publisher links to possibly follow: Random House, Bantam Dell, Del Rey, Knopf, Modern Library, or Vintage.

---A new one from PS Publishing :
Roberts, Adam JUPITER MAGNIFIED, PS, 3/03, (Lovegrove intro; 104 pp), new $16
---By the way, when I recently added a couple out of stock items to my order for upcoming PS releases, I received word that THE TAIN is sold out.

---Sent an order out to White Wolf, for things that had built up in my order file, mostly special orders and restocks. If I need to order from them again soon (as often proves to be the case, even though this order has been building up for literally years), I will pore over their more recent releases and whatnot to find out what I maybe should be getting. In the meantime, it looks like these guys are still in business, probably mostly with the game-related merchandise. I did not look to find out, not wanting to beef up my order any more than it is already. Although now that I think about it I should have at least checked to see if maybe they ever came out with more in their Harlan Ellison series. I know I am ordering some Moorcock and ROAD TO SCIENCE FICTION books but for all I am aware these may be long gone.

---CDs played (all week):
- Blue Oyster Cult AGENTS OF FORTUNE (LP, side two) (Xgau: B plus) - as good as I remember it (one of my favorites back in the day)
- LFTR-PLLR SOFT ROCK (2-CD) (Xgau: A Minus)
- King Sunny Ade THE BEST OF THE CLASSIC YEARS (Xgau: A Plus)
- Bach PASSIO SECUNDUM JOHANNEM (2 CD)
- Fela Anikulapo Kuti ROFOROFO FIGHT/THE FELA SINGLES (Xgau: ?)
- CITY HIGH (Xgau: A Minus)
- THE ROUGH GUIDE TO INDONESIA (Xgau: A Minus)
- Peter Tosh SCROLLS OF THE PROPHET: The Best of… (Xgau: A Minus)

5/1/03 THU:
---Text to follow?

4/30/03 WED:
---Text to follow?

4/29/03 TUES:
---Received from THE PROGRESSIVE:
"This week at www.progressive.org you'll find the alarming, the outrageous,
and the inspiring.
Editor, Matt Rothschild reviews the alarming steps being taken by Ashcroft,
and the rest of the Republicans as they continue to trample on our civil
liberties at home while Bush plays schoolyard bully around the globe.
You'll find "The Ashcroft Raids," "The Anti-Sex Party" and "Don Corleone
Bush."
You'll be outraged by the latest installment of "McCarthyism Watch." CBS
is airing a miniseries in May called "Hitler: The Rise of Evil," but the
man who was producing it is out of a job for speaking his mind.
But, I think you'll take inspiration from Elizabeth DiNovella's interview
with comedian, actress, and activist Janeane Garofalo."

---Added to bookmarks:
- Gutenberg Project (for downloads of public domain literature; I have printed out pages 1-20 of PHARSALIA by Lucanus of some 246 total that I now have in a word-processing document; the ways I can think of to go off on tangents!)

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/28/03 Mon):
---Not many extra comments lately to put up here. A few orders that have gone too long unprocessed have been occupying my worktime lately. I am still jotting in my fountainpen notebook at odd moments but I still haven’t taken the time to transcribe anything, if there is even much worth transcribing. I will continue to put up dates to maybe go back and fill in later.

---Email from a formerly not-online customer in Germany:
Hi Chris,
It's been a long time since I heard from you. The last catalogue I recieved was # 144 which arrived at 12 / 27 / 2002.
Did # 145 got lost in the mail ? I hope you're still in business....
Best Wishes
P.S. I am online now. (finally)
---My response:
Great to hear from you online. I have been delayed getting Catalog 145 out. I decided to try to get caught up with a few things I have allowed to slide too long before putting out a new catalog. Meanwhile business generated by my email updates and newish weblog keeps me busy and the cashtrickle continuing. Can I add you to my email update list?
---I wish I could get in touch with everyone by email or on the web. That seems to be the way things are going.

---CDs played today (combined with Friday’s when I did some work but generated now cellar notation):
- Alpha Blondy THE BEST OF ALPHA BLONDY (Xgau: A)
- The Libertines UP THE BRACKET (Xgau: A)
- Blue Oyster Cult AGENTS OF FORTUNE (LP, side one) (Xgau: B plus)
- World Saxophone Quartet REVUE
- Bhundu Boys THE SHED SESSIONS (2-CD) (Xgau: A minus)

4/28/03 SUN:
---Text later?

4/27/03 SAT:
---Text later?

4/26/03 FRI:
---Text later?

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/24/03 Thu):

---The in-trickle continues with a couple that look to be good sellers:
Turner, Gary & Marty Halpern (eds) THE SILVER GRYPHON, Golden Gryphon '03, 1st edn, (new stories by Golden Gryphon authors; Book #25), new in dj 27.95

Wandrei, Howard THE EERIE MR. MURPHY: The Collected Fantasy Tales of…[Vol. 2], Fedogan & Bremer '03, 1st edn, (D.H. Olson [ed & intro]), new in dj 35.00
---I can’t find a F&B website per sé, but a Canadian bookseller has done a good job of having one of his pages standing in as one.

---I received an inquiry about what art books I have from Underwood. My list:
Fenner, Cathy & Arnie Fenner (eds) SPECTRUM IV: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Underwood '97, 1st (pb variant), (all color), new 25.00
--- & ---(eds) SPECTRUM 5, Underwood '98, 1st, (best art of year), new 25.00
--- & ---(eds) SPECTRUM 6, Underwood '99, 1st, (best art of year), new 25.00
--- & ---(eds) SPECTRUM 7, Underwood '00, 1st, {hc in dj available @ $35}, new 27.50
--- & ---(eds) SPECTRUM 9, Underwood '02, 1st, {hc in dj available @ $35}, new 27.00
Finlay, Virgil PHANTASMS, Underwood-Miller '93, 1st edn, (weird art), as new 6.00
---WOMEN OF THE AGES, Underwood-Miller '92, (beautiful art book), as new 8.00
Maitz, Don DREAMQUESTS: The Art of…, Underwood-Miller ('93), (1st), as new 7.00

---HC:
Ellison, Harlan “REPENT, HARLEQUIN!” SAID THE TICKTOCKMAN, Underwood '97, 1st trade edn, (illustrated by Rick Berry; deluxe coffee-table edition), new in dj 17.00
Fenners, Cathy & Arnie (eds) SPECTRUM 8, Underwood '01, 1st, (art), new / dj 35.00
Frazetta, Frank LEGACY: Selected Paintings & Drawings, Underwood, 8/99, 1st deluxe limited hc edn, one of 2500 numbered copies, (companion to Icon), {trade edn available @ $35}, BOXED, new in dj 125.00
Jones, Jeffrey AGE OF INNOCENCE: The Romantic Art of…, Underwood '94, (1st), (introduction by Roger Dean), new in dj 29.95
(Discount for MDP members on Underwood--and Fedogan & Bremer and Golden Grphon too, for that matter--is 30%, except "as new" which is 10%)

---The robins won’t have any trouble finding worms today. The bike trail was covered with them, emerging from saturated soil, on my 8-mile run today. I am off schedule from what I had laid out for myself for a training plan, but at least the cold driving rain was conducive after a week’s layoff. The one time I aced the competition in high school JV cross-country (this was 1965) was on a similar day. Being long is only desirable when the winds and rains are trying to drive one backwards. I guess I slice through it a little better than someone a little shorter and a usually a lot fleeter. Not that it is so much fun out there in the dismal dank, but after awhile you get used to it. Certainly a lot more solitude, except for the guy I thought was fishing at Big Creek Lake who hastily whipped it back in and was zipping up as I went by. It wasn’t a fishing rod!

CDs played today:
- Rolling Stones FORTY LICKS (2-CD)
- THE ROUGH GUIDE TO CUBAN SON (Xgau: A minus)

4/23/03 WED:
--It looks like today is the day I will have to mow the lawn for the first time this season. The weather has been about as nice as can be: sunshine, little wind, temps in the 60s. Supposed to be thunderstorms tomorrow, however.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/22/03 Tues):

---I think it might be better if I placed the CDs Played at the end of the notes.

---An email from Scotland:
hi Chris
The last book catalogue i received was #144 just before christmas. Could you
let me know if i should have received any catalogues since then.

---My reply:
You should have received another catalog by now, but I haven't issued one. I am mired in orders, emails, books to catalog, housecleaning, and whatnot. It seems business keeps chugging along more than I can keep up with even without issuing a catalog. I am trying to get a few things taken care of before I send out another catalog, which invariably puts me up against it worse than ever. But I do hope to get one sent before not too long, and then maybe by then I will be organized enough to get back into a regular routine again.

---New arrivals continue trickling in:
Kiernan, Caitlan R. TRILOBITE: The Writing of Threshold, Subterranean '03, one of 552 SIGNED copies, 94-page chapbook, new with added CD inspired by works of Kiernan 14.00
---and:
POLYPHONY Vol. 2, ('03), (OA; stories that skate gracefully across the boundaries of SF, fantasy, magic realism, & literary fiction; featuring a mix of new and established writers), new 16.95

---A book from SFBC special-ordered for a customer he received as a gift before I got around to getting it:
Clarke, Arthur C. THE COLLECTED STORIES OF…, SFBC, nd, (966 pages), new in dj 14.99
---I wonder if a link to this from the SFBC site would work.

---Amy found a picture of our house on the web.

---Added to bookmarks: ElectricStory.com (Lucius Shepard movie reviews, Waldrop column, etc.)

CDs played today:
- DJANGO REINHARDT - not the Koch Präsent cheapie I was after but a Belgian import; still shows some pretty slick guitar licks
- Roger Lasley WALKING BACKWARDS - another great guitarist (and this is one CD that I also have for sale)
- Shania Twain SHANIA TWAIN

4/22/03 TUES:
---Received word of a new Robert Christgau CONSUMER GUIDE (Not Hop, Stomp: An Easter-season turkey shoot). Tremendously entertaining and perceptive. I missed his usual Thanksgiving column of pans, so this is welcome--and easier on the pocketbook.

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/21/03 Mon):

CDs played today:
- Philip Glass SONGS FROM LIQUID DAYS
- Lois V. Vierk RIVER BENEATH THE RIVER (Tzadik)

---A couple books that have been here a while that I have neglected to catalog:
Cady, Jack GHOSTS OF YESTERDAY: Stories, Night Shade ('03), 1st edn, one of 100 SIGNED with added chapbook, (new and uncollected fiction; a nonfiction piece), new in dj $45
---the regular hc @ $27 and the trade pb at $15 are still available.

Harrison, M. John THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPEN, Night Shade ('03), 1st edn, one of 150 SIGNED with added chapbook, (visionary stories; intro by China Miéville), new in dj $45
---the regular hc @ $27 and the trade pb at $15 are still available.

---Here is the list of forthcoming PS books I forgot to send up:
JUPITER MAGNIFIED Adam Roberts (novella; hc/pb)
IN SPRINGDALE TOWN Robert Freeman Wexler (novella; hc/pb)
DEAR ABBEY Terry Bisson (novella; hc/pb)
INFINITY PLUS TWO Brooke & Gevers (anthology; hc only)
BY MOONLIGHT ONLY Steve Jones (anthology; slipcase/hc)
FLOATER Lucius Shepard (short novel; hc/pb)
CHANGING OF FACES Tim Lebbon (novella; hc/pb)
JIGSAW MEN Gary Greenwood (novella; hc/pb)
BIBLIOMANCY Elizabeth Hand (four novella collection; slipcase/hc)
TOLD BY THE DEAD Ramsey Campbell (collection; slipcase/hc)
FUZZY DICE Paul Di Filippo (novel; slipcase/hc)
GIG James Lovegrove (two interlinked short novels; slipcase/hc)
---For now, the discount to members on these is 15% but the cost of postage is a lot more than other UK publishers ($2.50 per book!), so next update of discounts will list PS at 10%, but an extra 5% will be tacked onto pre-orders.

4/20/03 SUN:
---Easter

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/20/03 Sun):

CDs played today:
- Richard Pryor ...AND IT’S DEEP, TOO!: Disc 8 & 9 (Xgua: A Plus)

---Back in stock from American Fantasy (Garcia Publishing Services) but in a second printing, with variant-color covers from the first edition:
Wolfe, Gene & Neil Gaiman A A WALKING TOUR OF THE SHAMBLES: Little Walks For Sightseers #16, American Fantasy, 2nd, (demented travel tome; 58 pp), new 15.00
---These copies are signed “Best from the Shambles” by artist Randy Broecker.

4/19/03 SAT:
---A story in the local Champaign IL newspaper about son Neil’s spring break activities.

---Bookmarks added:
- Jim Hightower or Jim Highttower Weblog
- Common Dreams

---Received from THE PROGRESSIVE:
“The Iraq war is over, but the occupation of Iraq has just begun and now the
Bush administration has set its sights on Syria, calling it a member of the
"Axis of Evil J.V. team" along with Cuba and Libya.
Editor, Matthew Rothschild, has posted the following commentaries regarding
the occupation of Iraq:
- "And Now the Occupation"
- "Is Mosul the Future?"
- "On to Syria?"

BOOKCELLAR NOTES (4/18/03 Fri):

CDs played today:
- Grétry SUITES & OVERTURES
- THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF NIGERIA AND GHANA (Xgau: A)
- Bud Powell JAZZ GIANT
- Momus 20 VODKA JELLIES (a gift)

---The pile on my desk is almost enough to obscure the computer screen. I need to get it taken down now.

---Amy taking a vacation day today, so unless she can get out to do her gardening I will have to play nice CDs and quietly.

---A couple new ones from PS Publishing (each is published in a signed 800-copy editon, including these of 500 softcovers):
Barclay, James LIGHT STEALER, PS, 12/02, (Stan Nicholls intro; 89 pp), new 16.00

Burns, Cliff RIGHTEOUS BLOOD, PS, 12/02, (two novellas; Lebbon intro), new 16.00

---After a less-than-anticipated wait, Volume 5 of the selected Wellman stories is here:
Wellman, Manly Wade OWL’S HOOT IN THE DAYTIME and Other Omens: The Selected Stories of…, Vol. 5, Night Shade '03, (Wagner intro; Page afterword), new no dj as issued $35
---A while ago I got a call from Night Shade about the availability of slipcases for the set. Cost was predicted as coming in at something like $68 plus shipping, or maybe $75 for just the slipcase. These were to only be available to original subscribers to the set (few in number) and book dealers. Anyone wanting to fork over $75 for one of these, let me know and I will see if I can still latch onto any.

4/17/03 THU:
---Amy left the eMac on System X when she used it last, and I had some CDs to re-shelve, so I ripped a few of the tunes that had been noted and came up with enough for my what I call CD COMP 4. This is just a thing for myself to put in the rotation for songs to be in a different gestalt (occurring with new neighbors) that maybe stand out from other songs on their original discs. All very random and unprogrammed. I listened to the result through the DVD player and I like it. Anyone wanting a copy with their next book shipment, I would be more than happy to toss one in.

4/16/03 WED:
---Amy was starting to complain about the material from the back room accumulating on the front porch. I have been trying to clean out the back room enough to make space for everything, but I took a few days off before the process had proceeded far enough. I ended up today spending a too much of the day assembling the other shelf unit I had obtained and filling it with things stashed on the front porch. Now most of the worst stuff is off the front porch. The back room is still in bad shape but nothing like before. It should make book packaging less of a hassle when I go looking for a suitable box in the back room.

4/15/03 TUES:
---Text to follow?