Tuesday 1 May 2012

Coming Soon on Existential Ennui...


I'm back. Hang out the bunting, begin the ticker tape parade, etc. etc. – but don't go getting too excited just yet, because blogging will, for the moment, remain intermittent on Existential Ennui: there are still a fair number of matters to deal with at the new house, the most pertinent of which being the internet connection – or lack thereof. As a consequence, my posting on this 'ere blog – and on The Violent World of Parker blog for that matter – will likely remain sporadic for the foreseeable future, which in turn means that it's unlikely I'll be getting stuck into any series of posts – of which there are a number in the works – any time soon, lest they, out of necessity, tail off partway through.


That said, I may yet throw caution to the wind and dive into a series anyway, not least because some of the runs of posts I have planned promise to be pretty bloody special indeed, and may even, if I do say so myself, having the makings of greatness about them. So to get us back into the swing of things, I thought I'd preview some of those forthcoming delights, accompanied, as is traditional, by a selection of teaser images, which you can see scattered about this post. Some of these topics and authors, I realise, I almost certainly teased in my last "coming soon" post – and indeed the one before that – which only goes to demonstrate how long these things gestate in my fevered brain; but the majority I'm unveiling here for the first time.


In no particular order, then – other than the order in which they'll probably appear, that is – coming soon on Existential Ennui... there'll be a series of posts on journalism and media-related books – both fiction and non-fiction, and featuring Donald E. Westlake, Jeffrey Bernard, Tom Wolfe and Michael Frayn; a series on books which begat perhaps more famous films; a run of posts on what the aforementioned Donald Westlake made of cult crime fiction author Peter Rabe's work; yet more signed editions (some absolute stonkers there); a handful of intriguing omnibus editions; and of course further additions to my Beautiful British Book Jacket Design of the 1950s and 1960s gallery.


On top of that, there'll be posts on Patricia Highsmith, Kingsley Amis, P. M. Hubbard, Desmond Cory, Peter Cheyney, Dennis Wheatley, Jeff Lindsay, Michael Dibdin, Michael Gilbert, Brian Cleeve, Charles Willeford, Victor Canning, Eric Ambler, Edward S. Aarons, Francis Clifford, Mike Ripley, Peter O'Donnell, Nevil Shute, Sapper, and, no doubt, many more besides.


But before all that, next I'll have a review of a brand new graphic novel, one which is due to be published this very month, and was written and drawn by a very good friend of mine...

10 comments:

  1. I'll look forward to the Rabe and Willeford postings in particular,

    I've got THE BOX somewhere as yet unread, but generally lauded as one of his best books.
    Willeford - I think his Hoke Moseley books are some of the best crime fiction I've read. I'll need to re-read them again soon.
    Col

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  2. Col: Hoke Moseley is where I'm going with Willeford. As for Peter Rabe, those posts should prove illuminating as to what Westlake thought of Rabe, especially which were his favourite Rabe novels.

    Olman: is that sarcasm, young man? See me after.

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  3. Looking forward to the Rabe posts. I think the late fifties/early sixties pulpsters (like Rabe, Westlake’s pre-Stark ‘Hardboiled’ period) is amongst my favourites in twentieth century literature.

    Those cats could write.

    I assume that you’ve read the afterword in the recent Stark House re-issue of ‘The Box’?

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  4. Have you read the boot-legged Hoke - GRIMHAVEN?
    Col

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  5. Gordon: I haven't read that afterword, but it looks as though it might be the same as the Westlake/Rabe article I'll be blogging about, or at least excerpt from it. How long is the afterword? The original piece is pretty long.

    Col: That's the unpublished Hoke novel, right? Nope, haven't read it. Looks interesting though.

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  6. Apparently Willeford didn't want to write a series so the 2nd Hoke book was written under duress - Grimhaven - but his agent told him it was unpublishable. After some arm-twisting by his wife and aforementioned agent he re-wrote some of it, with a more palatable outcome.

    Large chunks of Grimhaven are similar to one of the subsequent published Hoke's..though I can't remember whether it's the 2nd or the 3rd,

    I didn't enjoy it as much as the others personally.

    Col

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  7. Looking forward to all of it!

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  8. Col, ta for that – and for the email, which I'll reply to soon as I can. Chris, apologies for not replying to your Killy comment, but I've only got a certain amount of time to spare for the blog at the moment. Interesting stuff, though, and I'll try and respond when I have more time.

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  9. Understood, and I wasn't holding my breath or anything. ;)

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