The Curmudgeon

YOU'LL COME FOR THE CURSES. YOU'LL STAY FOR THE MUDGEONRY.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Akin to Poetry

Those of you who have the stamina to follow these mudgeonries on a long-term basis, or who are shifty-eyed enough to glance at the sidebar now and then, may possibly be aware of my occasional forays into literary criticism. Over the past few years, eight articles of mine on stories by the remarkable English author Robert Aickman have appeared in various venues, and all eight have now been collected in a chapbook to be published by Gary Crawford's Gothic Press in May. I have revised all the pieces, in some cases quite extensively, and hopefully they now contain fewer errors than before. Although some of the publications in which the originals appeared had ISBNs, this will be the first book of mine to have an ISBN of its own, which is a somewhat thrilling prospect.

The chapbook's title, derived from Aickman's own expressed idea of what a weird tale ought to be, is Akin to Poetry: Observations on Some Strange Tales of Robert Aickman. Since it has not yet appeared, I have thus far managed to keep myself from googling it more than once every few minutes. Further news on the matter will be relayed promptly, and in all probability tiresomely, as it develops.

3 Comments:

  • At 7:54 pm , Anonymous Madame X said...

    There. I googled it again for you, the electronic version of pinching yourself to see if you're dreaming. Congrats!

     
  • At 8:47 pm , Blogger Philip said...

    Thanks, Madame. I know it's horribly reactionary in a denizen of the blogotubes, but I don't think I'll believe it myself until I've had a chance to admire, gloat over and possibly fondle the paper version for a week or two.

     
  • At 11:40 pm , Anonymous Madame X said...

    Last week I attended an antiquarian book fair full of wondrous things. It saddened me to think that books themselves will become rare, with no one left to enjoy the beauty of their bindings and illustrations, the musty smell, or the connection to past owners and authors who toiled over their contents. Fondle away!

     

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