Patricia Highsmith Shelf Porn (Slight Return)

Apropos of nothing other than I took a load of pictures of my Patricia Highsmith shelf for yesterday's post on Deep Water and only used one of them, plus it subsequently occurred to me that an update to this shelf porn post from over three years ago might be of mild interest – and furthermore Patti Nase Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books Patricia Highsmith special is, as the "Friday" in the title suggests, actually today, not yesterday (evidently I simply couldn't wait another day for the world to read my erudite and pithy ruminations on Deep Water) – presenting the Existential Ennui Patricia Highsmith first (and other) editions book collection, 2013 iteration:

You can see that it's expanded somewhat from the collection as it stood back in 2010:

Although, remarkably, it's still in the same glass-doored cabinet it was back then, whereas all my other books have migrated to various far-flung (i.e., upstairs) bookcases and, in some cases, sadly (but necessarily; hello, little Edie), boxes in the loft.

Additions and updates since 2010 are, in the bottom photo, from left to right: a first edition of Andrew Wilson's biography of Highsmith, Beautiful Shadow (Bloomsbury, 2003; I think I already owned that one by the time of that post, but it must have been shelved elsewhere); an uncorrected proof of Carol (Bloomsbury, 2000, alias The Price of Salt); a signed limited edition of Ripley Under Water (London Limited Editions/Bloomsbury, 1991); a first edition of Little Tales of Misogyny (Heinemann, 1977; not, in fact, the one seen in the 2010 photo, which I've since sold, but a signed edition I've since acquired); a first edition of The Tremor of Forgery (Heinemann, 1969, replacing the Penguin paperback I read in 2009); a first edition of The Glass Cell (Heinemann, 1967 – another replacement, this time for an ex-library copy); and first editions of This Sweet Sickness (Heinemann, 1961), A Game for the Living (Heinemann, 1959) and, of course, Deep Water (Heinemann, 1958).

And resting atop the hardbacks, new additions are: an uncorrected proof of Ripley Under Ground (Heinemann, 1971); a first American paperback edition of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Dell, 1959); a first (revised) edition of Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction (Poplar Press, 1983); and just visible far right, an uncorrected Heinemann proof – which, it suddenly strikes me, I've yet to blog about – of the aforementioned The Tremor of Forgery (Heinemann, 1969) and a curious hardback edition of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Heinemann, 1973). (Not seen in that more recent photo, by the way, is my 1961 Pan paperback edition of Deep Water, as I was using it to write my review.)

I make that thirteen Patricia Highsmith books bought in the three or so years since I posted that original Highsmith shelf porn piece in May 2010 (actually, fourteen: I briefly owned a 1994 Chancellor Press omnibus edition of four of the Tom Ripley novels but donated it to a Lewes charity shop). Which is only slightly less than the roughly fifteen Highsmith books I must have bought in the two years from May 2008, when I moved to Lewes, to May 2010. So, y'know: at least I'm slowing down a bit.

Hmm. Something else just occurred to me: the acquisition of that Heinemann first of Deep Water means I could, if I so desired, put together a proper Patricia Highsmith Heinemann first edition cover gallery...

A Book Collector's Guide to Moving House, or, Bloody Hell I Don't 'Arf Own a Lot of Books

And we're in. The move to the new house – still in Lewes, for those who've asked – was successfully accomplished on Friday, and the new place is currently littered with boxes and bags and in the living room a pile of chipboard flooring waiting to be hefted up to the loft (we're currently using the chipboard as a huge coffee table). All in all the move went pretty smoothly, but I'm afraid, what with one thing and another, normal blogging service won't be resumed just yet; there are various visits by various sets of parents and relatives to deal with first, not to mention Rachel's impending birthday, plus I've yet to finish unpacking and shelving all of my books.

Speaking of which, I thought it might be instructive to give you a sense of what moving house is like for someone who, to be frank, owns a fuck of a lot of books (and comics, and records, and CDs). Indeed, it was those books which prompted the removal firm we hired – the excellent Martins Removals of Newhaven – to mark the job down as a three-man endeavour rather than the usual two. And once the books were all boxed, I began to see their point...

You can just glimpse a comic box peeking out behind the amusingly named ("Weener"... uh huh huh huh), specially provided books boxes in that second pic; there were around a dozen of those as well (and there are still more in my mum and dad's loft in south London). Handily, Rachel came up with a simple yet effective system for keeping track of what was in each books box:

She scrawled the names of the authors on the top of each one. This innovation became crucial once the boxes were removed...

...and deposited in the new house:

Pick the bones out of that little lot. Which was precisely what I proceeded to do, and which in the event proved oddly enjoyable, as it afforded me the opportunity to shelve the books in a different order. To wit:

A work-in-progress bookcase, with some of Rachel's books on the top shelf (it seemed only fair to allow her a little space...); Anthony Price and Kingsley Amis next shelf down; then Adam Hall (Elleston Trevor), P. M. Hubbard and Geoffrey Household on shelf number three; and Len Deighton and John le Carré on the fourth shelf down (and a Stieg Larsson box set and a couple of strays underneath). And over on the other bookcase...

We have Patricia Highsmith, Gregory Mcdonald and Donald Hamilton on the top shelf; Ross Thomas and Graham Greene next shelf down; Andrew York, Dan J. Marlowe, Richard Price, Charles McCarry, Joe Gores and Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder novels underneath those; and more Westlake/Richard Stark and Dan J. Marlowe, plus Peter Rabe, on the fourth shelf down. Once again, the lower two shelves are TBC, but I'm making headway on those on both bookcases:

Things are bound to change around a bit, but I'm reasonably pleased with the results thus far. Of course, there is yet another bookcase in a separate room, into which some of my non-fiction will be going, along with a selection of graphic novels, the remainder of those heading up to the loft (once it's floored) with the comics. However, I can't show you that bookcase, because it's currently housing books which I've yet to blog about, and I don't want to spoil any surprises. Mind you, if you take a close look at the above photos, you might be able to spot one or two other novels which I'll shortly be blogging about – some of which will also be making it into my Beautiful British Book Jacket Design of the 1950s and 1960s gallery...

Be seeing you.

Dortmunder Daze: Donald E. Westlake Dortmunder First Edition Shelf Porn

Well, I pondered, and so instead of adding to and expanding my first edition cover gallery of Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder novels, I came up with this:

As you can see, I gave the problem a lot of thought. Ahem. Anyway, it's not often one sees images of the spines of books online, as opposed to the front (or, less frequently, back) covers, so it's a little different at least. All of these books are hardback with dustjacket; from the left, we have:

Watch Your Back!, Mysterious Press, US, 2005
The Road to Ruin, Robert Hale, UK, 2005
Bad News, Robert Hale, UK, 2002
What's the Worst That Could Happen?, Mysterious Press, US, 1996
Don't Ask, Mysterious Press, US, 1993
Drowned Hopes, Mysterious Press, US, 1990
Good Behaviour, Allison & Busby/W.H. Allen & Co., UK, 1987
Why Me, Viking Press, US, 1983
Nobody's Perfect, Michael Evans & Co. US, 1977
Jimmy the Kid, Michael Evans & Co. US, 1974
Jimmy the Kid, Hodder & Stoughton, UK, 1975
Bank Shot, Hodder & Stoughton, UK, 1972
The Hot Rock, Hodder & Stoughton, UK, 1971

And look of that. I've linked each of those to the original post on the book. How's that for service? Existential Ennui: going above and beyond the call of duty.

Donald Westlake/Richard Stark Shelf Porn (Slight Return)

Hmm. I'm rapidly running out of space on the bookcase shelf devoted to Donald Westlake/Richard Stark. The Westlake/Stark first editions have practically crowded out any other novels, with only a couple of Peter O'Donnell and Joe Gores books still hanging in there for dear life:

Westlake Shelf: Left Hand Side

Westlake Shelf: Right Hand Side

And they'll have to make way for a couple more Westlake Scores soon. But then what? What happens when the Westlake Shelf is full? Do I just... stop?

More Shelf Porn!

Where were we? Ah yes, the main bookcase. Well, my main bookcase. There's another one with all of Rachel's books on it, which is, frankly, a bloody mess. I tidied my main bookcase up over the weekend. Hint hint. But here's a section of one of Rachel's shelves, with all her Agatha Christies on:











Lovely. Back to my shelves. From the top: (Well, nearly the top; the very top shelf has got CDs on it. Chaos!)











All fairly self-explanatory. And the next shelf down:











And the next one:











Nice bit of double-stacking there, I think you'll agree. Those Marvel hardback graphic novels sticking up at the back are the first couple of collections of Ed Brubaker's Captain America. There's also a French collection of Jim Woodring's Frank nearest to us, next to another Paul graphic novel (see previous post), which is obviously in the wrong place. Jesus. In the front row are some Jim Thompson paperbacks (you can just about see The Killer Inside Me and Nothing More Than Murder), various other paperbacks, a first edition hardback of Brian Aldiss' book about science fiction, Billion Year Spree (the yellow cover down the other end), and, nearest to us, a novel I actually edited – Tank Girl: Armadillo. Next!











And the bottom one:











And now, full frontal shots (phwoar, slight return) of the top two and bottom two shelves, but not the middle one, which I inexplicably forgot to photograph. Top two shelves:











Looking a little disorderly there. Possibly could do with another tidy. And finally, the bottom two shelves:











On the upper shelf there we have some old Marvel Treasury Editions sitting on the top (including Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey adaptation); the two collections of Chris Ware's sketches; lots of Fantagraphics' indie Mome anthology; and all sorts of magazine-size comics, including all the A4 copies of the brilliant British anthology Escape (the A5 ones are on the lower shelf in the previous picture). And on the lower shelf, Superman/Batman graphic novels (the whole of the Jeph Loeb run, which I really liked, so ner); Alan Moore's Top Ten hardbacks; various other DC hardbacks; lots of books by Norwegian cartoonist Jason; the whole run of Lucifer graphic novels (I also have the original comics, saddo that I am); a few more indie things, some more DC stuff, and right on the end, Joe Matt's first oversized hardcover Peep Show collection. Marvellous. Any questions, see me after.

Of course, this doesn't include all the comics I have stashed in the big spaces above the built in wardrobes, nor all the comics I have in my mum and dad's loft, nor all the books I have up there too. Hoarder much?

Shelf Porn!

It's a new day
It's a new dawn
It's the same old Tories
So let's have some shelf porn!

Yes, we may be lumbered with a Conservative (and Liberal Democrat, although that's essentially the same thing these days) government, but we'll always have Paris. I mean we'll always have books. Not Paris. Paris is lovely, but it's irrelevant. I mean irrelevant to this post. Not irrelevant in a wider sense. Although it is to the Tories. But anyway.

Thus far, we've had Richard Stark/Donald Westlake Shelf Porn and Patricia Highsmith Shelf Porn. Now I'd like to take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of Lon-- no, hang on, I'd like to take you by the hand and guide you around the rest of my bookshelves. Let's take a look, shall we?









This is the shelf underneath my Highsmith and Stark (and Kingsley Amis) books. From left to right we have two big Love & Rockets hardbacks (Palomar and Locas, the first of which I bought in the famed Lambiek comic shop in Amsterdam I think); then some Joe Sacco graphic novels (Safe Area Gorazde among them); a couple of Michael Rabagliati Paul graphic novels; epic alt-comix anthology Kramers Ergot volumes 4 to 6; some DC Comics crossover Crisis collections (including the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths, a comic I absolutely loved when I was younger); a few Daniel Clowes books; and various Marvel hardcovers, including X-Men: Messiah Complex, which is probably the best post-Morrison X-Men story. And then at the back a few hardback novels (including Stephen King's The Stand) and some political tomes, Alan Clark's brilliant Diaries among them (there are more political memoirs and the like behind the books on the top shelf).

Three views of the shelf above my record collection. Various things here, including, from left to right, J. G. Ballard's Running Wild (illustrated by Janet Woolley); first editions of Gregory Mcdonald's first three Fletch novels; assorted crime and SF novels, including a first edition of Poul Anderson's Brain Wave; my Gavin Lyall collection; a first of Peter O'Donnell's debut Modesty Blaise novel; the Kinglsey Amis-written James Bond Dossier and Book of Bond; Book Club editions of Ian Fleming's From Russia, with Love and Dr. No; Pan paperback editions of Bond novels (lots of first paperback editions there); and Richard Stark paperback editions.

Phew. To be continued...

Patricia Highsmith Shelf Porn

And for today's second post, here's a little more shelf porn for you, this time featuring my Patricia Highsmith collection:











Probably a little hard to work out what's what down the far end there, so here's a full frontal shot:











Phwoar. From right to left: first UK editions (all Heinemann – apart from the final two, which were published by Bloomsbury – all hardback, all action, all the time) of The Two Faces of January, The Cry of the Owl, The Glass Cell, A Suspension of Mercy, Those Who Walk Away, Ripley Under Ground, A Dog's Ransom, Ripley's Game, Little Tales of Misogyny (short story collection – very dark, quite amusing, and a good insight into Highsmith's views on women), Edith's Diary, People Who Knock on the Door, The Boy Who Followed Ripley, Found in the Street, Ripley Under Water, and Small g: A Summer Idyll. And on the top are a Penguin paperback of The Tremor of Forgery, a first (and very rare) Corgi paperback edition of Strangers on a Train, and first Pan paperback editions of The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Blunderer (which I'm reading at the moment), and Deep Water.

Phew. I've been collecting Highsmiths for a couple of years now, so that's not a bad little collection. And it strikes me it might be a useful resource (for, er, no one in particular) to do a post with pictures of all the UK first editions at some point. I don't have them all, of course, but I've got the lion's share, and I'm sure I can find images of the ones I'm missing. Hmm...

Stark and Westlake Shelf Porn

I like the idea of shelf porn. I'm actually surprised there isn't a blog devoted to it (maybe I should start one...). It's a simple idea that's spread across the internet the last year or two: basically it's photos of people's bookshelves, usually comics- or graphic novels-based, a kind of 'gaze in awe at all my luverly books' thing. So I thought I'd post some of my own shelf porn, starting, naturally enough, with my Donald Westlake/Richard Stark collection:











Niiiice. Lots of Allison & Busby editions of the Parker novels there, plus Coronet paperbacks on top, some Random House (Plunder Squad and Butcher's Moon)/Mysterious Press/Robert Hale editions on the near side, and a Hodder & Stoughton edition of the first Grofield novel, The Damsel, on the end there. (Amusingly, these days, if you google something like 'Richard Stark The Damsel' or 'Richard Stark Plunder Squad', Existential Ennui pops up in the top ten hits.)











And a slightly wider view, with the first Modesty Blaise novel and the first three Fletch novels on the near end, Kingsley Amis firsts down the other end, and assorted graphic novels underneath.

Again: niiiiiiice.

To be continued...