It’s late September, and preparations are afoot for the Empire State book fair (Friday to Sunday (26-28 September) at Vanderbilt Hall near Grand Central Terminal. I continue to read my way through the box of Michael Innes, always with pleasure. If you come to the fair, come say hello, I’ll be there (at the Cummins booth). Copies of The Critical Mess by Michael Zinman will be available, as well as copies of my own books.
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recent reading :
— Michael Innes. Christmas at Candleshoe [1953]. Penguin Books, [1961].
— —. A Connoisseur’s Case [1962]. Penguin Books, [1966].
— —. A Family Affair [1969]. Penguin Books, [1972].
— —. Death at the Chase [1970]. Penguin Books, [1971].
— —. An Awkward Lie [1971]. Penguin Books, [1974].
— —. Appleby’s Answer [1973]. Penguin Books, [1978].
— —. Appleby’s Other Story [1974]. Penguin Books, [1978].
— —. Appleby and Honeybath [1983]. Penguin Books, [1984].
And with two additions to the titles in the box :
— Michael Innes. Appleby’s End. Gollancz, 1945. File copy in the (slightly faded) yellow dust jacket.
This is the best of them all, (though The Secret Vanguard runs a close second).
— Michael Innes. From London Far. Gollancz, 1946. File copy in the (slightly faded) yellow dust jacket.
Hilarious, madcap conspiracy of international art smuggling in a background of the end of the second world war, impeccably choreographed (with knowing aside to John Buchan), and a crazed mastermind whose secret lair is the wildest ever, and with a suitable catastrophe ending.
/ file under : Fleming (or : Bond) and his precursors
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how I spent my summer vacation, part ii
the first part in Copenhagen (see : here) and the second bit near the seashore :
(this is the etc. in the title)
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end of summer mailbag :
— Michael Swanwick. Life : a User’s Manual. [Dragonstairs Press, 2025]. Edition of 40.
Seven miniature essays, including The Abyss, which begins : “This is a test.”
— Michael Swanwick, with Marianne Porter. Under a Harvest Moon [2023]. [Dragonstairs Press, 2025]. Edition of 80.
Printed record of a work of landscape art, “written on leaves in and near cemeteries in Philadelphia” in the autumn of 2023.
