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Mike, how much involvement did you have in the Compact Books SF line? I know you were instrumental in getting The Rose by Charles Harness published by them. What about the Disch collection 102 H Bombs? Some of the other books published seem like more standard science fiction (the Symmetrians by Kenneth Harker, for example). They published some Sprague De Camp titles as well. Were there any titles you wanted them to publish that they couldn't or wouldn't? The Final Programme was originally supposed to be published by Compact I think?
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'You know, I can't keep up with you. If I hadn't met you in person, I quite honestly would NOT believe you really existed. I just COULDN'T. You do so MUCH... if half of what goes into your zines is to be believed, you've read more at the age of 17 than I have at the age of 32 - LOTS more'
Archie Mercer to Mike (Burroughsania letters page, 1957) -
For many years I've had a copy of Memoirs of a Coxcomb by John Cleland and published by Compact in a very elegant orange cover, not like the usual Compact effort. Presumably they were trying to get some money out of the readers of Fanny Hill and look very respectable at the same time. :?'You know, I can't keep up with you. If I hadn't met you in person, I quite honestly would NOT believe you really existed. I just COULDN'T. You do so MUCH... if half of what goes into your zines is to be believed, you've read more at the age of 17 than I have at the age of 32 - LOTS more'
Archie Mercer to Mike (Burroughsania letters page, 1957) -
Exactly right. That could be the edition with the introduction by Kyril Bonfiglioli under a rather obvious pseudonym derived from the Karma
Sutra! I remember one of the Gold brothers asking me to do a similar job which, he leered, was really an opportunity to see 'young ladies in prerogative poses'. He was famous for his Mallapropisms. I never supplied the text he asked for!Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds
Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and RosesComment
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I had another question which I forgot to ask. Sorry, but I'm fascinated by all this stuff - who used to do those biographies on the back of your Bradbury and Colvin and Barclay books? They're very tongue in cheek, which makes me think you had a hand in them, sir.
And talking of Barclay, did anyone ever get Bill Barclay confused with William Barclay the religious writer who was publishing at the same time? I often wonder if someone thought that the author who wrote The Plain Man Looks At The Beatitudes and other works also wrote Somewhere In The Night and Printer's Devil... :?'You know, I can't keep up with you. If I hadn't met you in person, I quite honestly would NOT believe you really existed. I just COULDN'T. You do so MUCH... if half of what goes into your zines is to be believed, you've read more at the age of 17 than I have at the age of 32 - LOTS more'
Archie Mercer to Mike (Burroughsania letters page, 1957)Comment
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I wrote them all myself. And the hint about Bill and William Barclay was indeed deliberate. You'll notice Bill had a religious background!Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds
Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and RosesComment
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Indeed, the son of a famous missionary! :)'You know, I can't keep up with you. If I hadn't met you in person, I quite honestly would NOT believe you really existed. I just COULDN'T. You do so MUCH... if half of what goes into your zines is to be believed, you've read more at the age of 17 than I have at the age of 32 - LOTS more'
Archie Mercer to Mike (Burroughsania letters page, 1957)Comment
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That was probably just a position he found himself in.Comment
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