At Kasey Mohammad's urging, here's the list of the Spicer detective and sci fi novels. This list is arranged a bit differently than the version I emailed to some of you—it's been alphabetized and slightly annotated. This will be helpful for those of you who want to replicate the entire box—and more than one person has suggested to me they in fact plan to do that. Kevin already bought me the exact same edition of the Perry Mason novel The Case of the Mythical Monkeys. We are a bunch of geeks, aren't we.Thanks to Tony Power, of the Special Collections Department of Simon Fraser University, for giving us permission to catalogue these titles.
Asterisks in the list below, prepared by me and Kevin in August 2008, denote books we’re suspicious about. The list is supposed to be of books in Jack Spicer’s possession when he died in August 1965, but the books we’ve starred have publication dates of later years. (Seven of these, as you’ll see, and one more that we're sort of suspicious about, Sontag’s The Benefactor, which though it does show a publication date of 1963, has the look of a paperback from the post-1965 era—and in any case sticks out like a sore thumb from the majority of books on the list, largely private eye novels, classical Golden Age detection, sci-fi, and a couple of beefcake pulp titles with a strong gay interest like Viereck’s Men into Beasts.)
1. Analog, September 1960
2. Isaac Asimov, The End of Eternity
Lancer 74-818 (1963)
3. E.C. Bentley, Trent’s Last Case
Ballantine Books F690 (1958)
4. R. Vernon Beste, The Moonbeams
Lancer 72-733 (1964)
5. Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man
Signet S1593 (1959)
6. James Blish, A Case of Conscience
Ballantine Books 256 (1958)
7. *****Pierre Boulle, Monkey Planet
Penguin 2401 (1966)
8. Fredric Brown, The Dead Ringer
Bantam 1216 (1954)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
9. Fredric Brown, The Fabulous Clipjoint
Bantam 1566 (1957)
10. Fredric Brown, The Late Lamented
Bantam Mysery 2030 (1960)
11. Fredric Brown, The Screaming Mimi
Bantam Mystery 1312 (1955)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
12. John Brunner, The Whole Man
Ballantine Books U2219 (1964)
13. Eugene Burdick, The 480
Dell 2684 (March 1965)
14. Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Moon Maid
Ace F-157 (n.d.)
15. James M. Cain, Love’s Lovely Counterfeit
Signet 1445 (1957)
16. Bruce Cameron, The Case Against Colonel Sutton "A nerve shattering novel of a man fighting a slur against his manhood—so vile—it could only be discussed in whispers."
Paperback Library 54-266 (1961)
17. John Dickson Carr, Death Turns the Tables
Berkley Medallion F929 (1964)
18. Raymond Chandler, The High Window
Pocket Books 50118 (March, 1965)
19. Raymond Chandler, Trouble is My Business
Pocket Books 50127 (May, 1965)
20. Leslie Charteris, Alias The Saint
Fiction Publishing Company K110 (1931)
21. Leslie Charteris, Enter the Saint
Fiction Publishing Company, K107 (1931)
22. Leslie Charteris, The Saint Sees It Through
Fiction Publishing Company K102 (1946)
23. Leslie Charteris, The Saint Steps In
Fiction Publishing Company K101 (1943)
24. Gordon Childe, What Happened in History
Pelican P6 (1946)
25. Agatha Christie, After the Funeral
Fontana Books 110 (1961)
26. Agatha Christie, Murder After Hours
Dell D390 (1960)
27. Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Pocket Books 45009 (1964)
28. Manning Coles, A Toast to Tomorrow
Berkley Medallion F873 (1964)
29. Carter Dickson, The Unicorn Murders
Berkley Medallion F948 (1964)
30. *****Gordon R. Dickson, Soldier, Ask Not
Dell 8090 (1967)
31. Stanley Ellin, The Eighth Circle
Dell 2228 (1964)
32. *****Ralph Ellison, Shadow and Act
Signet Q 3022 (1966)
33. A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner), Pass the Gravy
Pocket Book 45001 (1964)
34. Fate Magazine, September 1962
35. Ruth Fenisong, But Not Forgotten/The Schemers (double novel book)
Ace G508 (1960)
36. Constantine Fitzgibbon, When the Kissing Had to Stop
Bantam F2255 (1961)
37. Ian Fleming, Goldfinger
Signet D2052 (1962)
38. Lucy Freeman, Catch Me Before I Kill More
Pocket Books C221 (1956)
39. Galaxy, June 1963
40. Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Mythical Monkeys
Pocket Books 45011 (5th printing, 1964)
41. William Campbell Gault, Vein of Violence
Award Books K A125F (February, 1965)
42. Donald Hamilton, The Shadowers
Gold Medal K1386 (1964)
43. Harry Harrison, Bill the Galactic Hero
Berkley Medallion F1186 (1965)
44. Matthew Head, The Smell of Money
Avon G1229 (1943)
45. Matthew Head, The Accomplice
Avon G1252 (1947)
46. ****Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
Avon V2191 (1967)
47. Chester Himes, The Crazy Kill
Avon T-357 (1959)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
48. Fred Hoyle, The Black Cloud
Signet, D2202 (1962)
49. Alan Hunter, Gently Floating
Berkley Medallion F1001 (1964)
50. *****Harry Kemelman, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late
Fawcett D863 (Nov. 1965)
51. Samuel A. Krasney, Homicide West
Pocket Books 6140 (1962)
52. Henry Kuttner, Ahead of Time
Ballantine Books 30 (1953)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
Note: Spicer owned two editions, listed separately.
53. Henry Kuttner, Ahead of Time
Four Square 371 (1964)
Note: Spicer owned two editions, listed separately.
54. Henry Kuttner, Murder of a Mistress
Permabooks M 4082 (1958)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
55. Henry Kuttner, Mutant
Ballantine Books F724 (1953)
56. Ed Lacy, The Men From the Bus
Pocket Books 1152 (1957)
57. Fritz Leiber, The Mind Spider and Other Stories/
The Big Time (double novel book)
Ace D-491 (1961)
58. Fritz Leiber, Jr., Night’s Black Agents
Ballantine 508K (1961)
59. Robert Lowry, This is My Night
Popular Library 676 (1955)
60. H.P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Belmont 92-617 (February 1965)
61. Ross Macdonald, The Chill
Bantam F2913 (March, 1965)
62. Ross Macdonald, The Doomsters
Bantam A2024 (1958)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
63. Ross Macdonald, Find a Victim
Bantam A2388 (1962)
64. John Ross Macdonald, Marked for Murder [The Ivory Grin]
Pocket Book 6030 (1960)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
65. John Ross Macdonald, Meet Me at the Morgue
Pocket Book 1020 (1954)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
66. John Macdonald, The Moving Target
Pocket Book 680 (1950)
From Ted Fraser’s Book Bin, Vancouver
67. Ross Macdonald, The Three Roads
Bantam A2069 (1960)
68. Ngaio Marsh, Death of a Fool
Avon T254 (1956)
69. Ed McBain, Death of a Nurse
Pocket Books M 4306 (1964)
70. Ed McBain, Killer’s Choice
Pocket Book M4267 (1962)
71. Judith Merril, ed., 9th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F
Dell 9775 (May, 1965)
72. *****Miller & Rhodes, Only You, Dick Daring
Bantam S3045 (Oct. 1965)
73. Burgo Partridge, A History of Orgies
Avon G1062 (1960)
74. Frederick Pohl, ed., The Best Science Fiction from If Magazine, No. 1
75. Margaret Scherf, Never Turn Your Back
Popular Library SP316 (1959)
76. *****Stephen Schneck, The Nightclerk
Grove 6376 (1966)
77. Clifford D. Simak, Time and Again
Ace Book F-239 (1951)
78. Susan Sontag, The Benefactor
Avon V2114 (1963)
79. Rex Stout, The Mother Hunt
Bantam F2828 (1964)
80. Rex Stout, Three Men Out
Bantam F2801 (1964)
81. Veeck—As in Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck with Ed Linn
Bantam S2537 (1963)
82. George Sylvester Viereck, Men into Beasts
Gold Medal Book 552 (1956)
Plus one pack of playing cards (Mohawk)
18 comments:
This is sooo cool.
Kasey told me Spicer actually wrote a mystery novel.
Do you know what that book is?
Hi Alex, Spicer began a detective novel laid in the North Beach poetry scene of the Beat era, and got about halfway through when he abandoned it. Kevin and Lew Ellingham edited what remains of the manuscript and Talisman House published it a few years ago under the title "The Tower of Babel." It's still in print as far as I know, and you may like it: I couldn't put it down and it's really funny, too.
Alex,
The Tower of Babel is fantastic... and I know that both of us are Spicer freaks so we should know it verbatim.
Dodie,
I wonder to what extent the Spicer collection was tampered with. I know there are books that are obviously suspicious but even those that are not so apparently suspect could in fact be implants.
This is a detective story: famous poet dies, leaves behind books, some books are faulty, some are questionable, are these his books? which ones are his books? and so on.
Jack would have loved this and I bet Robin would too.
xoxoLMRivera
Readers might want to note that Ross Macdonald, John Ross Macdonald, and John Macdonald are all the same person in this list, and that all the titles in question were at some point republished under just "Ross Macdonald" once he became famous for the Lew Archer novels. This can be confusing, as there is another popular mystery writer named John Macdonald (author of the Travis McGee series), but none of the listed books are by him.
Good point Kasey. Kevin explained a lot of that to me when we were making out the list; he said in fact it was a restraining order from the real John D. McDonald (the Travis McGee author) that forced Ross Macdonald to use the "Ross" name and drop the "John." But we wanted to show the exact editions so that readers could replicate the collection.
Dear Lucas, I wouldn't say this box of books had been "tampered with," but I imagine that a few books lying around the house might have been tossed by Blaser or others into the box when they were just cleaning up, especially the ones that might very well have been to Spicer's taste, the Kemelman novel for example, or the UK version of Planet of the Apes.
Dear Kasey, I have pondered long and hard about Spicer's attraction to Ross Macdonald's Archer novels. In some ways the two writers (who never met) enjoyed parallel trajectories and one might have been the other, slightly shaken up. Ross Macdonald of course was born in Canada, spent some pivotal time in the Bay Area, but is identified with LA and Santa Monica, etc almost totally--like a funhouse image of Spicer's career. I imagine Spicer also knew that Ross Macdonald and Margaret Millar had been among Auden's prize students at Michigan.
Going to the library to view these books I was all but convinced ahead of time that THE CHILL would be among these paperback novels, and I was pleased as punch to see that my hunch paid off! The late Warren Tallman, whose memory was astounding, told us that Spicer had picked up a copy of THE CHILL to read on the bus up to his trip to Vancouver and he'd insisted that Warren and Ellen take him to a downtown used mystery emporium in Vancouver to get more books by Macdonald. It was great to see all the Macdonald novels there, each with its little label saying it was from "Ted Fraser's Book Bin, Vancouver," as Dodie noted. I have gone so far as to imagine that Spicer's famous poem in BOOK OF MAGAZINE VERSE about You are going south looking for a drinking fountain/ I am going north looking for the source of the chill in my bones," is about this particular bus ride reading Ross Macdonald and wanting more of him. I know, that's a stretch!
hey guys,
we have currently have 17 copies of The Tower Of Babel available at SPD...
you can order it here
http://spdbooks.org/details.asp?BookID=188368904X
cheers,
j
I'm sorry if I'm overlooking something, but what's the source of the the list -- how do you know these are the books that Spicer had in his possession at death. I don't doubt these are the books (as qualified by your caveats) but am curious as to the exact how you know.
Also, what information is known, if any, about Spicer's book-buying and book discarding practices?
Finally, and again I'm sorry if I'm missing something, are we to conclude from this that Spicer didn't read any poetry, or have any poem books?
Kevin, I just read The Chill myself a couple of months ago--it's an intense, dark story, maybe the best Lew Archer novel I've read so far, though I haven't read one yet that wasn't great.
Hi Steven,
Sorry it's not clear in the post. The source of this box of books is the poet Robin Blaser, who packed up the contents of Spicer's apartment when JS died, and who became Spicer's literary executor. You can find details of this collection on the website for special collections at Simon Fraser University.
Spicer's book buying and discarding practices are outlined in the biography Lew Ellingham and I wrote of the man, POET BE LIKE GOD.
In that book you will also find lots of evidence that Spicer read widely in poetry. But he didn't own many poetry books. Luckily for him two of his great friends worked for Bay Area libraries with poetry collections and he could lean on them to order anything he wanted to read. In addition, much poetry circulated in manuscript, and you can take a look at the giant bequest Blaser made to the Bancroft Library in 2004, of all of the Spicer papers, if you are curious about the kinds of poetry he read. A finding aid is available online.
Steven--read my previous post "Dialoguing with the Dead" for more on the source of the list. I do not believe "we" are to conclude any of the things you suggest.
Thanks Dodie and Kevin the additional info. It helps.
I'm detail-oriented like few others, especially when the past is being re-created. So forgive me, does R. Blaser say or write anywhere that these books were the only books in the Jack Spicer's place or room? Just curious as to whether these sci-fi etc. books are part of a bigger gathering.
And let me apologize for my last question above, about whethter we are to assume that Spicer didn't read poetry. It was a rhetorical question. I've read Kevin's and Lew E.'s bio many a time, and of course Spicer read poetry.
A better way maybe of raising the thought behind my rhetorical question is to ask, what significance is there to the fact that these books were in the home?
The sci-fi makes me think of the Martian language Spicer and I think it was John A. Ryan and others used.
There is no disputing Jack Spicer's love of the detective novel and noir but are we really to trust Kevin Killian (master of Amazon trickery) and Dodie Bellamy (super hero with super hero powers that are capable of manipulating physical laws)?
There are pictures but that could be easily explained. And there is an actual archive but Kevin and Dodie have already conspired (in a general way) with the archivists... so what are we to believe?
If Kevin and Dodie manufactured this (with a little help from Robin (please don't tell Robin I said any of this)) than what we have is a new narrative, artificially orchestrated, and inserted into the life of Jack Spicer.
Who's with me?
Yes, Lucas, you got us. This is the new Yasusada. We took the pictures of the books in our apartment (they're all from the Goodwill).
xodb
Dodie and Kevin are the new Kent Johnson's. It is a beautiful world sometimes...
Pierre Boulle, Monkey Planet: Is this the book that later became Planet of the Apes?
This is a fascinating list.
I can imagine a wiki page composed solely of excerpts from these books, posted by those who are now searching them out and reading them in an attempt to commune with Spicer in his last days and months.
Regarding publication dates:
Books are routinely given copyright and publication dates that correspond to their anticipated release. (The CIP info and copyright page are typeset, of course, far in advance of the book's hitting the shelves.) Typically that means that many books dated in a given year have actually been released late in the previous year (and some are delayed, and don't appear until the following year). Given that Spicer died in August, it might be less likely, but books with 1966 pub dates at least hypothetically could have been available. Dates later than that, I think not.
. . . in "The Chill," MacDonald presents a verse translation from Verlaine, attributing it to one of the novel's characters——presumably it's by Macdonald himself:
[Untitled]
When the violins
Of the autumn winds
Begin to sigh
My heart is torn
With their forlorn
Monotony.
And when the hour
Sounds from the tower
I weep tears
For I recall
The loss of all
My perished years.
And then I go
With the winds that blow
And carry me
There and here
Like a withered and sere
Leaf from a tree.
—"Helen Haggerty"
Note:
Helen Haggerty is a character in The Chill (1964), a novel by Ross MacDonald.
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