Science fiction writer and editor Mike Resnick died this morning a little after midnight according to a post by his daughter Laura Resnick, due to an aggressive lymphoma that followed on the heels of major surgery.
Mike was a friend from way back in the pre-WWW days of the Delphi Wednesday Night Group in the late 1980s, where a bunch of science fiction people (Resnick, Pat Cadigan, Gardner Dozois, myself, Dwight and many others) hung out on a regular basis. I sold Mike one of my earliest stories, “Huddled Masses” for his Alternate Presidents anthology, as well as “Saul’s Diary” for Galaxy’s Edge, and Mike used “Crucifixion Variations” for World’s Science Fiction Story Collection II, my only story ever published in China.
He got involved with science fandom early in life and never left. Mike was one of the last of a dying breed of science fiction’s writing machines, someone who early-on mastered the ability to crank out a prodigious amount of wordage every day. The Kirinyaga stories in the 1980s, set an orbital African primativist tribal “utopia,” was where he really started to make his mark, and he became a regular Hugo and Nebula winner back when that meant something. He edited dozens of anthologies, frequently buying work by new writers, and eventually founding Galaxy’s Edge. He raised prize-winning collies and collected books on Africa. When the Social Justice Warrior mob came for him and Barry Malzberg for the usual stupid reasons he told them to go pound sand.
He was a jovial presence at conventions, and he will be missed.
Slightly out of the ordinary for what I usually collect:
Penzler, Otto. Mysterious Obsession: Memoirs of a Compulsive Collector. The Mysterious Bookshop, 2019. First edition hardback, #219 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction. The story of how Penzler assembled his famed collection of mystery first editions. This edition sold out before publication. I have precisely one copy available through Lame Excuse Books. Bought directly through Mysterious Bookshop at a slight discount off the $50 cover price.
This was the most expensive book I bought this year:
Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. Heinemann, 1962. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with interior pocket removed, rear inner flap previously taped to rear inside cover, with tape stains there and to rear free endpaper, in a Near Fine, first state (16s, flaps untrimmed) dust jacket, with tape stains to rear flap, with a crease across bottom of front flap and a few specks of dirt to front flap, otherwise a very well-protected example of the first state dust jacket; call it a Very Good/Near Fine Ex-Lib copy. Signed by Burgess. A keystone work, and basis of the Stanley Kubrick film. Signed firsts of famous books made into famous films are among the most desirable first editions across a wide range of collectors. This edition also includes the final chapter, where Alex “groweth up” and contemplates leaving behind his antisocial ways for marriage and a family, omitted from most subsequent editions. Pringle, SF 100 36. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 48. Locke, Science Fiction First Editions, page 22. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-4 1. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction, pages 396-401. Bought off a noted UK SF dealer for £600, making it among the most expensive single volumes I’ve ever purchased, but I’ve never seen a signed copy in a first state dust jacket list for under a grand before.
Two more signed Michael Swanwick Dragonstairs Press first edition chapbooks:
Swanwick, Michael. Is There Something About You Irish?. Dragonstairs Press, 2019. First edition chapbook original, #50 of 60 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy (with slight phantom crease at top front), new and unread. Short essays on various Irish aspects of Swanwick’s life, done for the Dublin Worldcon.
Swanwick, Michael. Northern Lights. Dragonstairs Press, 2019. First edition chapbook original, #4 of 120 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, new and unread. Three short stories about supernatural Scandinavian creatures.
Note: White lines are in the original, and not a scanner artifact. (Good thing, too, since it’s a brand new scanner!)
I still have copies of both these available through Lame Excuse Books.
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Star-Treader And Other Poems. A.M. Robinson, 1912. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with crack to front hinge just starting at bottom, slight bumping at head and heel and page blocks dusty, in a Very Good dust jacket with faint soiling to front and rear, a 1/2″ x 1/8″ chip at rear heel join, shallow chipping at head. Inscribed twice by Smith (the first apparently with a fountain pen, the second with a ballpoint): “Clark Ashton Smith/Auburn, Cal/Nov. 27th, 1912” then “For Harry Rosenberry/with sincere compliments/of Clark Ashton Smith/Apr. 14th, 1961,” which was exactly four months before his death. Replaces an unsigned copy (now available through Lame Excuse Books). Not in Currey. Not in Bleiler’s Guide to Supernatural Horror. Bleiler Checklist (1978), page 181. Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams, page 128. Won off eBay for $333.
Crowley, John. Reading Backwards: Essays & Reviews, 2005-2018. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #101 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
Egan, Greg. The Best of Greg Egan. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #248 of 1,000 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Another giant career retrospective collection.
Resnick, Mike. Voyages: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones, 1938-1941. Subterranean Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #128 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought from the publisher during a 50% off sale.
I have copies of both the Crowley and the Egan available through Lame Excuse Books.
Bought this at a Half Price Books coupon sale last month:
Stephenson, Neal, and Nicole Galland. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. HarperCollins, 2017. First edition hardback, one of an unknown number of copies with a special signature page signed by both authors bound in, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with wear at points and a “Signed Copy” sticker taped to heel (in addition to the gold “Signed First Edition” sticker that seems standard now). Same ISBN (978-0-06-240916-4) as the trade edition. Bought at Half Price Books during a coupon sale for $10.
Three signed Joe Hill firsts, all bought from different sources:
Hill, Joe. Full Throttle. HarperCollins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, limited edition issue with page signed by Hill bound in. Short story collection. Bought at Half Price Books (who sell new books now as well), with two store stickers (including publisher’s gold “Signed First Edition” sticker) for 20% off cover price. Irritatingly, both this limited edition and the trade edition below have the same ISBN.
Hill, Joe. Full Throttle. HarperCollins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, trade edition, signed by Hill. Note that the dust wrapper on both this and the limited above have a new type of material with a distinct texture (almost like a paper version of suede). Bought from a noted mystery bookseller for 20% off.
Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key 4: Keys to the Kingdom. Subterranean/IDW, 2019. First limited edition hardback, #159 of 250 signed/numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, new and unread. The latest collected signed/limited volume of the acclaimed dark fantasy/horror graphic novel series. The IDW edition came out many years back, but as with the other Subterranean volumes, this includes additional material, including the full comic scripts. Bought from the publisher with a dealer discount.
Note that I have copies of all three of these available through Lame Excuse Books.
One of these I managed to miss when it came out, and the other I backed a Kickstarter for back in January.
(Dick, Philip K.) Paul de Coudray and Elizabeth Haidle. The Pipers. Mascot Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Graphic novel adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story of the same name. Backed on Kickstarter for $24.
Krahulik, Mike, and Jerry Holkins. The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition. Del Rey, 2010. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Retrospective “behind the scenes” collection of the gaming webcomic, which I somehow missed when it came out.
