tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post7937169064280986514..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Memo from Macmillan Publisher Alan Maclean to Chairman (and Former Prime Minister) Harold Macmillan Concerning P. M. Hubbard's A Thirsty Evil (1974); plus Review of the NovelNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-48669393014251789592012-08-27T19:45:40.877-04:002012-08-27T19:45:40.877-04:00I'll put him on the list. Which gets longer e...I'll put him on the list. Which gets longer every time I read your blog, dammit. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-8057267015235552562012-08-27T12:42:14.586-04:002012-08-27T12:42:14.586-04:00Mike: Hubbard won't be the one that got away f...Mike: Hubbard won't be the one that got away for much longer: looks like there'll be ebook reissues of many of his novels appearing in early September and paperback early next year.<br /><br />Chris: all true, and excavating forgotten authors is a large part of what this blog's all about. By the way, you should try Hubbard (if you haven't already). I think you'll like him.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-87730104188855540722012-08-27T07:15:38.912-04:002012-08-27T07:15:38.912-04:00That does happen a lot, though--writers who were p...That does happen a lot, though--writers who were prolific, whose book sold strongly, and were well-reviewed, and in some cases adapted into successful movies--they just disappear from the public mind. <br /><br />And conversely, authors people barely heard of when they were alive (or were only published posthumously) can become far more famous after death. <br /><br />Posterity's a contrary bitch. <br /><br />Still, everybody says they want immortality, but given the choice between being successful and lauded when alive then forgotten after you die, or being poor and ignored in life then having a few of your works read for as long as there are people to read them--which would you choose? <br /><br />If nothing else, this story tell us you better be damned careful about who you pick as your literary executor. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-70100294091697940952012-08-26T12:45:41.010-04:002012-08-26T12:45:41.010-04:00I am not aware of any other well-regarded crime wr...I am not aware of any other well-regarded crime writer who “dropped off the edge” so totally and so quickly after his death.<br />In 1989 I met the new (then) Crime Editor at Macmillan and told her I was in the process of acquiring P.M. Hubbard’s complete works thanks to libraries selling them off! She looked bemused and admitted she’d never heard of Hubbard.<br />In 2009 when we started Top Notch Thrillers, Hubbard was at the top of my shopping list.<br />The agent for his estate demanded ridiculous terms (not huge money, just silly little conditions) which made a nonsense of our business plan (which was acceptable to living authors such as Alan Williams and Christopher NIcole as well a the estates of Geoffrey Household, Duncan Kyle, etc.) and obviously preferred the books to stay out of print (as some had for over 30 years).<br />I always regard Hubbard as “the one that got away”.<br /> <br />Mike Ripleyhttp://www.shotsmag.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-25241761281215336112012-08-24T12:42:48.160-04:002012-08-24T12:42:48.160-04:00I'm not sure the seller of this book knew of t...I'm not sure the seller of this book knew of the Supermac/Macmillan connection either, Adam; I didn't when I bought it. I assumed the Harold Macmillan of the memo simply had the same name as the former prime minister – until I did some digging, and realised he was one and the same. And the style and the "HM" matches other examples of his handwriting I've seen online, so I'm as certain of its authenticity as I can be.<br /><br />Ooh, bummer about selling that Cushing book. That sounds like a cracker. Similar to – although rather more special than – that copy of Ross Thomas's The Mordida Man corrected by a Penguin editor I <a href="http://existentialennui.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/mordida-man-by-ross-thomas-from-simon.html" rel="nofollow">blogged about a while back</a>.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-48317920830490817962012-08-24T12:25:58.439-04:002012-08-24T12:25:58.439-04:00Brilliant. I never knew the SuperMac/Macmillan con...Brilliant. I never knew the SuperMac/Macmillan connection either.<br /><br />I once had a copy of Peter Cushing's second memoir The Hammer Years, signed by Cushing to John Dunn, the Radio 2 DJ (Cushing had evidently been a guest on his show when the book came out).<br /><br />The great man didn't stop at signing it though. He went through the book and corrected, in his lovely elegant handwriting, several typos he'd noticed.<br /><br />I don't have that book any more, sadly. I sold it to a man in a pub for £50 when I was raising sponsorship for a charity thing I was doing. I really wish I hadn't now.Adamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-5936561173368422322012-08-24T12:20:20.647-04:002012-08-24T12:20:20.647-04:00Thank you, Brian. I was hoping you'd dig this ...Thank you, Brian. I was hoping you'd dig this one. No marks from Macmillan in the book I'm afraid – it's possible this copy went back to Maclean and Macmillan didn't keep it after all. But I was pretty pleased with what I managed to work out from the info in the memo.<br /><br />I think I'm missing five Hubbard novels now – a couple more turned up in just the last few days, including a first of your first Hubbard – although I'm still on the hunt for a first of one I already have. He's becoming very hard to collect now; interest in him seems to be rising, hence his imminent return to print.<br /><br />As for original cover art, I have a couple more things along those lines waiting in the wings – not Hubbard, but other authors I've written about – which I should get to within weeks.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-85612750475772667522012-08-24T11:17:49.517-04:002012-08-24T11:17:49.517-04:00I was impressed when you started acquiring some o...I was impressed when you started acquiring some original cover art for certain books but this acquisition is an even greater trophy. Well done.<br /><br />I confess that I did not know Macmillian the PM had anything to do with Macmillan the publisher. Did Macmillan make any marks in your copy of the book? Great detective work on your part filling out all the details of that note.<br /><br />I still have yet to read A Thirsty Evil and I am glad to hear that you found it a better read than some other critics did. And how many Hubbards do you have now? I've got all the adult novels except Pictures of Millie. (But a few of them are seconds and my Hive of Glass lacks a dust jacket and looks like it saw combat somewhere.)Book Gluttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14569975755798562829noreply@blogger.com