*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"Living is
worth the effort if only because without life
we could not
read or imagine stories . . ."
--Mario Vargas Llosa
1) DRAW THE LINE .
. . It
looks like Joe Perry, guitarist from Aerosmith has the rock n' rolls
again. In the band, he is the Keith Richards to Steven Tyler's Mick
Jagger, and it is a formula that has made many a band very successful. (See:
New York Dolls, Ziggy-era David Bowie, etc.) He has written a memoir of
these halcyon days, with and without his band, called Rocks: My Life In and
Out of Aerosmith (9781476714547) 27.99. I guess he is not heeding his
own advice and not letting the music do the talking, which incidentally is a
much better song on his first solo album than the later version on Aerosmith's Done
With Mirrors. Unfortunately, once they cleaned up, as Bill Hicks has
pointed out in his stand-up bit, they weren't nearly as creative or as
exciting as a band, but hey, they're all still alive so that should count for
something . . .
2) NOBODY'S FAULT . .
. The 2014 Man Booker Prize was announced yesterday and
the winner was Australian author Richard Flanagan's Narrow Road to the Deep
North (9780385352857) 26.95. It's long overdue. Not that
he was on anybody's radar back when his debut novel was released, but he
probably should have won for Death of a River Guide (9780802138637)
13.00. His latest novel deals with POWs building the Thai-Burma Death
Railroad for their Japanese captors during WW II, and not so coincidentally,
his father was one of those POWs. Ironically, his father passed away the
day Richard completed his manuscript. Sorry American authors, maybe next
year . . .
3) BACK IN THE SADDLE . . .
Inconceivable! Carey Elwes, who starred as Westley in The
Princess Bride has actually written a book that people have been clamoring
for. Chock full of anecdotes, As You Wish (9781476764023) 26.00, is
an insider's account about what it was like to star in one of the greatest and
arguably, one of the most oft-quoted movies of all-time. I already have
my copy. "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep
well. I will most likely kill you in the morning . . ."
4) SICK AS A DOG . . .
Kathy Reich's latest Bones book, Bones Never Lie
(9780345544018) 27.00 released a couple of weeks ago, and as usual, it
rocketed to the top of the charts. That's not news. However, we
have just received autographed copies with snappy signed stickers on the front
cover and they are selling well. First come, first served . . .
Our best wishes
go out to my favourite cantankerous science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who
is recovering from a stroke. The prognosis is good and I'm sure the
doctors can't wait to get to get him out of their hair. Good luck!
Odds
& Sods
Hockey season
began last week and this would be the perfect time to crack open a copy of
Gordie Howe's new autobiography, Mr. Hockey (9780399172915) 27.95.
The foreword is by his good friend and a hockey god in his own right, Bobby
Orr. Bobby's bestseller from last year, Orr (9780425277027) 17.00,
is now available in tradepaper. Mmmmm, hockey . . .
For some inexplicable reason,
Minnesotans love their loons, so Linda Mazanec's new coloring book Gavia
Immer Splendid Swimmer (9780982242438) 7.95 should be right up their
alley. By the way, Gavia Immer is the Latin name for the great northern
loon . . .
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