I see from John Crowley‘s Livejournal that the 25th anniversay edition of Little, Big is a go. I’ve been waiting to hear that for something like a year and a half. Originally the go-no-go decision was supposed to be made in March of this year, but the subscription period was extended, and then in July the limitation was reduced (and… Read more →
Category: Books
Religion and Pornography
Let’s do some embedded YouTube videos quick, before someone notices that YouTube has no business model! I do love the Daily Show. I think this clip nicely captures the beauty of trying to debate the essentially arational. Or, as Paul Myers puts it “This is exactly what I hear when someone tries to promote their favorite cult.” Now, that’s not… Read more →
Something to look forward to in 2007
I was quite pleased to see this: July 2007 Territory by Emma Bull (new hardcover) On PNH’s list of stuff he (and Teresa) have edited. I’ve been patiently waiting for Emma’s next book since 1997 (or 1994, if you want to get picky about the possessive). It was harder to be patient after I heard her read from (what must… Read more →
Hear Christopher Moore
…over at the Authors On Tour Live site, the current podcast at the moment is Christopher Moore (previously mentioned), who’s touring A Dirty Job. (I read that the week it came out, and quite enjoyed it.) Check it out. Read more →
I am so… aroused.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a page on the Internet that has aroused me more than this one. (Link is safe for work, unless you have the same mental quirks as I do.) If I weren’t working right now I would totally spend the next couple of hours following those links at the bottom. And I am buying that… Read more →
This is the Age of Reason, these are the Rights of Man
For some reason I can’t get Dick Gaughan out of my head today. More specifically, I can’t get Gaughan’s version of the Graham Moore song “Tom Paine’s Bones” out my head. Gaughan’s version is so much more passionate, or maybe angry, than Moore’s, that it sticks in my head as the definitive one–of course, it might just be that Gaughan… Read more →
SF Authors (and editors) saying more smart things…
We’ll grab a couple of them today: Will Shetterly talking about Mormon underwear: Here’s one way to tell a faith from a racket: If it makes you think you’re better than everyone else, it’s a racket, not a faith. I kind of love that. It’s the answer to all the “One True Religion” and “Chose People of X” things that… Read more →
Y.A.L.: 100 Science Fiction Books
Phobos Entertainment – Features – 100 Science Fiction Books So just how does one find stellar SF? For starters, why don’t you try out these 100 narrative works. Each one should be part of every SF reader’s—not to mention every SF writer’s—repertoire. Many of these novels are award winners, and most have inspired profound trends in science fiction. Well, it’s… Read more →
Keeping It Real
Seeing the review of Keeping It Real pop up on Strange Horizons yesterday reminded me that I wanted to say something about the book. Somehow I managed to avoid any notice that this book was forthcoming, despite my relatively recent interest in Robson, and was somewhat shocked to find out that it was already out (in the UK) before I… Read more →
A good week for books…
It’s been a good week for books here at the Ranch. I’ve had lovely new books from Subterranean Press arrive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (plus a copy of the new issue of Subterranean’s magazine today). I had a SHOCKING SURPRISE arrival from another source (more below) early in the week. Read more →
Dreamland by Edgar Allan Poe
…because I’m just in the sort of mood where I spend several hours thinking about a poem, and writing a ridiculously long post about it. I’m even feeling contrary enough to leave the whole damn thing without a “more” break in it. Dreamland By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only, Where an EidolonAn eidolon (from Greek… Read more →
Butter Sculpture as Novel Inspiration?
For many years now I’ve been polishing my story about driving across America to take a friend’s car to San Francisco. The story has everything: Monet in Chicago, parties at the Renn Fest outside Minneapolis and a day at the Minnesota State Fair, the Shetterly tour of Weird America (Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse Mountain, Carhenge, etc.), a spooky… Read more →
The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî
Years ago I read through Philip José Farmer‘s Riverworld books. Those of you who have read them will recall that Richard BurtonWikipedia entry (along with lots of other historical personages) played a pretty big role in the series. One of the indirect results of my doing that reading was that I was driven to find a copy of Burton‘s “Kasîdah“,… Read more →
The social relations of business
Gwenda points to an interesting discussion at Asimov’s message board. Apparently the magazine (or rather, the managing editor) had purchased a story from Jim Grimsley (author of the nifty book The Ordinary, and a bunch of other stuff I haven’t read yet), and the owners of the magazine ordered the story killed. As you can imagine, this has ruffled some… Read more →
I promise to use this power only for good
It’s not quite exactly what I demanded of the universe, but the news that Golden Gryphon will be doing a lovely matched edition of Jeff Ford‘s three Well-Built City books is certainly welcome. New intros, etc. Also this will make it easier to assemble sets for gift-giving purposes. Now, if only the universe would pay closer attention when I specified… Read more →
