Probably the best essay I’ve read on noir fiction in a very long time, addressing the whiteness of noir, and the potential of its resurgence, making the point that noir has a place in protest literature. I think it absolutely has that chance, but not many writers take it. I certainly haven’t, but it’s something I’ll think about.
Nicholas Seeley, the author of the article, gives a good definition of noir stories as well:
By “noir,” I mean something more than a general tone of bleakness and dysfunction. … Anglo-American fiction evolved in the grip of a controlling public morality, which demanded the representation of behavior only within certain socially acceptable lines. The classic crime story, the kind written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dame Agatha Christie, is the whodunit: it takes place in an essentially orderly universe, with a common understanding of good and evil. Crime here is a dangerous anomaly, but order can be restored by a hero-detective who investigates and, eventually, unmasks the criminal: revealing evil for what it is, giving it a physical location in an individual, and in the process, re-affirming the innocence of the other characters.
Noir, as it emerged in the middle of a violent century, said to hell with all that. Its world was chaotic, baroque and hypocritical. Crime doesn’t disturb this world, it’s foundational to it. Noir stories gave the stage to criminals and their motivations, which range from unspeakable passions to a firm conviction that their particular crime serves a greater good. A detective may pursue such a criminal, but noir reveals the line between them to be a product of chance and circumstance—if, indeed, such a line exists at all.
I had a blog about book collecting and bibliophilia for many years over on blogger. I’m active over on tumblr too, but that isn’t so much blogging as a constant stream of amusing/pretty/cool stuff. I post a lot of photos and quotes and things I happen to like, (i.e. typewriters. I love me some typewriters.) It’s more immediate too, so there will be music links and funny memes, you know, tumblr stuff. Here, I’ll share links to articles, tools, and especially historic research resources I find helpful. I may occasionally post music to write to, or cool images.
Here, I’ll talk about my research, my writing, whatever I’m working on as I progress toward my writing goals. What are those goals? Well, in the short-term, I’ve managed to get a piece of flash-fiction placed with cool series from Akashic Books. Next is to finish another short (but longer than flash) piece and get it placed somewhere. Longer term, I’m working on what I’m seeing as a novella series, and then another series of full-length novels. Both series are historic thrillers/mysteries. One of those series grabbed me by the collar and is dragging me along.
What I’m working on now: a novella set in and around 1930s Denver. I was not alive in the 1930s nor have I lived in Denver, so there’s some research to do. This story also features a main character who I think will be a series character. Anyway, the short has been a lot of fun, using info I’ve dug up previously, but haven’t used.
I’ve gotten to know the main character in this one pretty well. He first appeared as a supporting cast member of my first attempt at a novel back in 2007 or so. Through edits, rewrites, and dumping the whole thing and starting over a couple times, he’s emerged as one of the two main characters of that novel — he was too fascinating, and too much fun to hang out with compared to my original main character.
Charlie Lovett‘s second foray into bibliomysteries is coming this fall (October it sounds like).
Last year I really enjoyed The Bookman’s Tale, which delves into Shakespeare, art, book collecting, and plenty of mystery and suspense. And a little romance, but not too much. I can be a bit like Fred Savage in The Princess Bride when it comes to the romance sections … Not that I don’t *like* kissing, I do!! It’s just sometimes in mysteries it can feel awkward, or somehow the author felt it was obligatory and characters go through passionless motions, or many other unfortunate experiences mirrored in my own life now now that I’m dating again and … Wow, I am derailed. Anyway….
The Bookman’s Tale was a good read, and includes a satisfying amount of biblio-ness (and art too!). It’s rooted around Shakespeare, which for me is honestly a strike against a bibliomystery (especially a new author!). There have been lots of real mysteries surrounding Shakespeare and his works, and some really exceptional fictional ones too. But, Bookman’s Tale holds up which isn’t surprising once I learned Lovett has a deep passion for rare books, and has spent time doing the necessary research to meet a bibliophile’s critical eye.
It wasn’t that books and the book world were merely the McGuffin to keep the plot plodding along, or that the main character’s employment tangentially involved books — so there’s a few scenes in a library (or the moon for all it matters) — NOT SO! Peter Byerly (the main character) is a rare book dealer who has lost his wife … with lots of flashing back to their early years together (which informs the mystery), which undoubtedly a devoted husband would do at such a time. It was good, not sappy, and certainly not a story that just happens to include a book or two to tell the *real* story of a man and woman falling in love. NOT HERE! The bibliofactor is on the same level of importance as the characters and the setting, which is what I look for in bibliomysteries. So, The Bookman’s Tale is a recommended read from me if you haven’t read it yet. Then you can join me looking forward to First Impressions.
First Impressions, coming out this fall, will also delve into authorship, Jane Austen, and more old books. And being rooted in Jane Austen, I bet there’ll be some kissing and I’ll like it.
Book lover and Austen enthusiast Sophie Collingwood has recently taken a job at an antiquarian bookshop in London when two different customers request a copy of the same obscure book: the second edition of Little Book of Allegories by Richard Mansfield. Their queries draw Sophie into a mystery that will cast doubt on the true authorship of Pride and Prejudice—and ultimately threaten Sophie’s life.
In a dual narrative that alternates between Sophie’s quest to uncover the truth—while choosing between two suitors—and a young Jane Austen’s touching friendship with the aging cleric Richard Mansfield, Lovett weaves a romantic, suspenseful, and utterly compelling novel about love in all its forms and the joys of a life lived in books.
This post was never published, and that was a mistake. And since I’m now planning to leave Montana, I thought I’d better post it while I was still here. The Book Farm may come back once I get settled in Nebraska … it was a lot of fun. So, cast your minds back to December 2011 —-
The snow is piling up this beautifully today, which means the tea kettle has been gurgling away and I’ve been reading. Time for a little break, and also a small realization. I was going to share something with you, dear readers, at the end of the summer, but forgot, and now it’s been months— You know how it is.
I sold books here and there online several years ago and it’s been a hard habit to break. I’ve heard bookselling gets into your blood, and I think it’s true.
As a book lover in a far-flung place without any bookstores, I get out to the garage sales, farm auctions, thrift stores, etc. when I can because that’s where the books are. Pickings ain’t great, but every so often I find something surprising. That’s why we all do it– Anything can be Anywhere.
I’d often find good books cheap — not collectible stuff, or even books I want to add to my shelves, but books that deserved a better home than the burn barrel. (We still burn garbage in Montana). Like the stack of decent hardback Cormac McCarthy for a dime each. I already have what I want of his, but these are books that need a home, and without a used bookshop in the area, there was nowhere to buy from or take them.
This summer I bought a book by Alan Armstrong called Off in Zora, about packing up a VW bus and setting up with his dog (Jefe) and his buddy Tom on the side of the road and sell books all over New England, but further afield too. Not just any books make it into the rolling bookshop. Books he believed in. Books they could talk about. Books worth passing on.
This appealed to me deeply. I also admit I was jealous of all the good bookish talk along the way. Being pretty new still, in my remote Montana community I’ve not met a lot of bookish people, or have many good book-centric conversations. That’s how Armstrong sold books — through conversation.
“I’ve learned from Tom that people need to be sold books. It’s a mistake to think that folks know what they want. Most readers are willing to have their susceptibility tried and even stretched a little. So we swell and puff like Falstaff to share enthusiasms and mind each other’s business, or what’s the passion for? Real booksellers at work glow like musicians when they’re making music.”
And it works. While reading Zora, I found myself with a book in one hand and my phone in the other, buying obscure, unheard of books online from Armstrong’s descriptions. Just wonderful. It also occurred to me, that if this method of selling books worked on me as a reader, perhaps I could make it work in person, though I’ve never been much of a salesman.
The problem is that I’m gainfully employed, and unable to sit at the side of a road somewhere, set up a stand, and wait for traffic. Where I live in northeast Montana, that could mean 5 cars all day.
So, The Book Farm was born. In northern Montana, we have a pretty short gardening season and an even shorter term for our local farmer’s market. It doesn’t open until mid- to late August and closes down at the first freeze, which is usually early October. So, maybe 8 Friday mornings, from 7:30 AM until noon where farm wives and widows come to town with pickups and SUVs full of produce, jams, and bread. I thought, this is where I could sell some books.
I slapped together a few wooden flats from scrap laying around from a few yard projects, and voila! I put a couple of shelves up in the garden shed to house my stock and hit the garage sales hard. I only had a couple of weeks, and had enough boxes to offer maybe 150 books. As any veteran used bookseller will tell you, the trouble isn’t selling books, it’s finding good books to sell.
But, fortune favored the bold — I started out with a little over 100 books that first Friday– and every one of them I could vouch for in some way. I tried to have something I could recommend to most readers, but I also wanted to be able to say — there is no junk here.
Wood book flats for hauling brain food to the farmers market in Sidney, Montana, 2011-2013.
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.
We learned earlier this week on Book Patrol, the long-time bibliophile favorite painting known as The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg is coming up for sale. Maybe. Apparently there are three versions of the painting by Spitzweg. The one potentially coming up for sale is currently held by the Milwaukee Public Library. They have *not* come out and said they were definitely selling, just that it was something they were considering.
I wondered if this one was the one that hung at Leary’s Book Store in Philadelphia. Leary’s is remembered fondly and well by throngs of bibliophiles, and many remembrances can be found online. It closed in 1968 after operating for “nearly 100 years” and the building was torn down. The quotes are because no one is quite 100% sure when Leary’s was founded, but their history as a book selling operation certainly goes back well over 100 years.
Leary’s has a long history, and its archives are preserved at Temple University. I had no experience at Leary’s being born a decade after it closed, very, very far from Philadelphia, but sounds like a place I would have loved to visit. 500,000 books? Road trip worthy!
1893, Leary, Stuart & Co.
So I dug into my question about the painting, remembering it from Leary’s related ephemera. A cursory search online revealed (to me, and maybe I’m wrong!!), that Leary’s didn’t actually own a copy of the painting, but rather appropriated the image. They had a stained glass window created for the store interior, and incorporated the image as a huge sign on the exterior of the building. The sign, when sold at auction was acquired by the Gale Research Company where it went to Detroit. I wonder if its still there. Or with whoever owns Gale Research now.
1902, Leary, Stuart & Co.
I know I can’t afford the Milwaukee library painting’s auction estimate of $400,000 (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for more), but nearly anyone can afford cool Leary’s ephemera from their good-ol-days featuring the work!
1955 postcard featuring The Bookworm hung from mezzanine
On an unrelated note, I hope this post didn’t frighten anyone thinking I was long gone. I won’t get into gory details (this is a book collecting blog!), but shortly after the last post in Dec. 2012 my life exploded, what remained imploded, and then flipped upside down. I’ve been rebuilding since, wandering in exile. I’ll be landing in Lincoln, Nebraska (my hometown) this July, and hope to get settled in quickly, and maybe even get to posting here again on occasion! I’d like that.
The Bookworm sign on the exterior of Leary’s in 1920.
It’s *pouring* snow here in my little corner of Montana this morning. Was only supposed to be a skiff of snow, but it’s at least 4″ of heavy stuff and still pouring down. It’s a good day to take a minute and find my next read. Like many bibliophiles, I can’t help but turn to British “classics” in winter. I’m not sure what it is. Some sense of nostalgia for a place and time I’ve never experienced first-hand must have something to do with it. No matter, I don’t have to understand it to enjoy it. Personally, it’s not Dickens at Christmastime, but Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, and PG Wodehouse that usually accompany me before my winter’s naps. A recent find was this unknown to me bookThe Mystery of Cloomber. I know nothing except a man (Santa?) is horrified by what he hears. I also happen to know this copy was once in West Virginia.
This copy includes a great book trade label from Bluefield Book & Stationery Company in Bluefield, West Virginia. Like many book stores approaching the 20th Century, they also sold other goods, like cut glass, china, office equipment, stationery along with “All The Latest Books.” I also wonder if this book was in a subscription library of some kind with the contemporary numbered label in the upper corner. Now, where did I put that list?
The Loeb Classical Library celebrates 100 years this year. You can read all about the history of this monumental series over at Wikipedia. But even better, you can start reading the classics themselves thanks to a cool site that has streamlined digital access to these wonderful books.
Also, you can share your love of Loebs in a new-ish Flickr group for folks who love the series.
There is lots of amazing work going on all the time to preserve and share these ancient texts– and more discoveries to be made! Here is William Noel from the Walters Museum of Art in a recent TED Talk about revealing Archimedes. PS, thanks TED people for getting a recording out shortly after it was actually made!
So, you understand I wasn’t just sitting around all winter waiting for the blog to unfreeze, I was up to a few things, and now I can finally share.
I started using Tumblr for things that don’t quite fit the format here. The first is like the Exile Bibliophile blog but on tumblr, just like the blog only less wordy: http://exilebibliophile.tumblr.com/. Also, I should note completely different content than the blog. Tumblr also makes it easy to run audio content, which is something I’ve wanted to do with Exile Bibliophile for a while — a podcast. I know it’s very 2007 of me, but I can’t help it. If I ever get one “in the can” as they say in the “biz”, I’ll be the first to tell you so.
I also started a Tumblr dedicated to library ink stamps — http://libraryinkstamps.tumblr.com/, which has been surprisingly popular and features daily posts. I’ve also started another dedicated entirely to errata slips http://fixedinprint.tumblr.com/ — this one is a little slower going, but is picking up steam. The errata slip tumblr was created in response to a conversation on twitter and then it got out of hand. You know how it is.
After battling Google over a snafu with 2-step verification, I’m back! Egads. I’ll have a few old posts that never went up because of the lock-out, and updates too.
I have several updates in the hopper, but I’m hitting the road tomorrow for what will be a great time in Great Falls, Montana to be one of the speakers for their Festival of the Book series. So, briefly, if you can catch me, please do at the Great Falls Public Library this Saturday at 2 pm. They’ve also got some other good stuff lined up on other Saturdays, so check it all out. More to follow.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on book trade labels, but believe me, they are never far from my heart. Over Thanksgiving, the Mrs. and I took a pleasant trip to visit friends and our old stomping grounds in Oklahoma. Luckily for me I was able to include nearly all the surviving used and indie bookshops in Oklahoma City– and a new one!
I made quite a haul home in my suitcase, and had to ship a goodly sized box back to Montana as well.
One of the books I bought on an impulse was Barbara Hodgson‘s The Tattooed Map. What initially caught my eye on the Clearance shelf at the new Half-Price Books in Edmond, Oklahoma was the Chronicle Books colophon on the spine– these folks put out wonderful books. Always worth a flip through at the very least. What a surprise when I did. It was a constant flow of beautiful ephemera reproduced throughout. Then, closer to the back, bookseller labels started popping up. I include here only three of the six. They came out a little blurry. I think my scanner is just too much for my rickety desk and that’s what’s causing that. They really are beautifully reproduced in the book. I found myself running my fingers over things and surprised it wasn’t pasted in.
Maps, books, and ephemera play an important role throughout the story, although it really isn’t about that. Newspaper clippings, receipts, business cards, fold-out maps, are complimented with exact details (like library stamps on the backs of maps) and handwritten lists and notes throughout.
As a story, it didn’t blow me away, but it’s gotten better in my mind with a few days of perspective. Hodgson has produced a few other books described as Illustrated Novels along similar principles, but this was my first. Hodgson’s more recent book, Trading In Memories, about being an ephemera hunter sounds great!
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.
