"my ambition is to get
my time as a cockroach shortened for
good behaviour and be promoted
to a revenue officer
it is not much of a step up but
i am humble
i never ran across any of this
ectoplasm that sir arthur
conan doyle tells of but it sounds
as if it might be wonderful
stuff to mend broken furniture with
archy"
- ghosts by Don Marquis
pickMargaret St. Claire, writing as Idris Seabright, was one of a few women writing SF in the '50s, a sexist, male-dominated industry that clearly influenced her story, "An Egg a Month from All Over".
George Lidders is a creepy incel type who women warn their young daughters away from. Since his mother's death, his only occupations have been "pretty unpleasant" fantasies about women, and his Egg A Month subscription, which provides enthusiasts with ⬇️
pick1st story, "The Big Contest" by John D. MacDonald was written & set during the '50s UFO Craze. The frame story has the usual loafers of a Midwestern town lounging on the street & musing about recent saucer sightings. Old Hobe Traike regales the gathering with a rambling account of a big local contest during the 1911 Spitting Craze (??♂️), and the peculiar winner, Woolmutt. How does this relate to UFOs? "Sit down, shut up, & I'll tell ya." ??
While I'm making progress with the August #ClassicLSFBC book, Earth Abides, I'm taking time out with a 1954 anthology of "science fantasy" stories, including such SF luminaries as H.G. Wells, Fritz Leiber, L. Sprague de Camp, Algis Budrys & August Derleth. There's also the Asimov "Robot" story "Liar" that the CLSFBC read earlier this year: it's cool to read it in its first book incarnation.
Also, I luurrrve the retro cover art by Rafael DeSoto ?
bailedWell I know this isn't the erotica for me when I find the introduction and context of this book fascinating but wasn't into the actual stories. Published in the 80s during the anti-porn feminist wars, this book of well-written lesbian BDSM stories was controversial and popular. It became a cult classic, especially in Canada as Customs kept seizing it at the border when Vancouver's queer bookstore ordered it. Not for me, but definitely for others!
I am still so much into Japan and all things Japanese (even trying to learn the language on Duolingo!), that I treated myself to this collection of short stories. It‘s a chunkster and it will probably take me forever but I am very excited about it. I will read a story after each book I finish. That‘s the plan!
A beautiful gift from my dressage instructor. We frequently talk books, and she knows I love Jane Austen. This has gold edges and a built-in ribbon bookmark.
pickAnother of the many rereads I started months ago and have been reading on and off ever since. She and her work have always spoken to me, but I don‘t know if I‘ve ever identified with her personally through her poems quite as deeply as I do at this particular moment in my life. Then again, maybe with the really great writers you feel that all over again each time you read them.
"Some people cannot be trusted with a helpless body. You know who you are. Some people don't choose to take responsibility for the pain they inflict... Some people think it's kinder to ignore a need they don't understand, to starve someone in the name of decency or equality or love...I don't believe in God..But if you'd feel safer spending a night with one of them than you would with me or some other macho slut, I'll remember you in my prayers."
Okay, so I just encountered the strangest printing error I‘ve ever seen… In my used copy of The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker I just saw that that 21 of the uncollected poems are missing and in their place is the end of something called Women‘s Indian Captivity Narratives, I think the tagged book. And then the poems pick up again. 🤨😏🤣
My apologies for spamming your feeds today - I've been on my own while Mrs B and her crew went to Radio 2 Party in the Park, and my ADH has run a bit wild! 😜 2h