Came away this weekend with a Holy Grail 
and am excited to share my good news.
I've been a Cormac McCarthy fan for quite some time. In general, I'm a genre hound, and have only half a dozen or so Literary authors whose work I follow faithfully and read. McCarthy is one of them, and, in fact, THE ROAD is my favorite book of all time, bar none...to my mind, it is one of those rare novels wherein the words on the page come together to fashion a work of art.
Now, McCarthy has never authorized a signed/limited of THE ROAD, as he has with some of his other books, and in fact refuses to sign copies. There was a UK 1st HC that that had a very limited number of publisher's bookplate tipped in, but those are the only legitimate signed copies out there. McCarthy has signed (and, I think I recall, numbered) 1,250 1st U.S. HCs, but those copies are being held at his residence for his son (for whom he wrote the book) to sell when the boy turns 18 (I think he's in his mid teens now...?) or whenever the son chooses beyond that point. McCarthy's deliberate refusal to sign other copies of his Pulitzer-Prize winning book guarantees this stash will create a nice nest-egg for his son when that time comes.
But enough of THE ROAD. On to my weekend's Grail.
McCarthy has created a number of other fine novels that I think most dark fiction fans would enjoy, perhaps most especially BLOOD MERIDIAN and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. McCarthy was a little more liberal in signing copies 1st HCs of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN that some of his other works, so they are out there, but of course they still go for a pretty penny, due to the relative scarcity and McCarthy's popularity (which only seems to grow). There was also a slipcased S/L of NO COUNTRY, but signed trade HCs continue to be offered and sold at $500 to $800.
A local bookstore was having a 40% off sale, and I knew they had the following book...I'd watched it for a few years now, lusting after it like no other book in my area but knowing its champagne pricing was way beyond my beer budget. I did note that they had lowered the price about a year ago from the high end of the spectrum to the lower end, though that still failed to sell it to the local audience, and it was still beyond my budget. However, when this 40% off sale was announced, the last vestiage of restraint that I had crumbled, and though I wandered the store for a couple hours and mulled it over while I was looking at the rest of the stock, I knew deep down the dye was cast.
And so, I came away with this:
Here is the signed page:
One of the things that finally pushed me over the edge -- something I didn't even know the book had until I asked the personnel this weekend to examine the book (rather than lust after it through glass as I'd done for years) was a previous owner's postcard from 2005 that established authenticity and provenance; it was a surprise and delight to find this within. Stephen King isn't the only author whose sig is forged to defraud, so one has to be careful...this card laid to rest any such concerns I may have had. I tell you, though, I sure wish I'd been able to get it for the $24.95 that the previous owner did.
So, in short, I've very pleased and excited to finally have a signed copy of a book from one of my favorite authors, and while it is not THE ROAD, it is probably my second favorite book by him. If you've only seen the movie and not read the book, I'd recommend reading the source novel. The film is a fine and well-done adaption, but as is often the case, the book is even better.
and am excited to share my good news.I've been a Cormac McCarthy fan for quite some time. In general, I'm a genre hound, and have only half a dozen or so Literary authors whose work I follow faithfully and read. McCarthy is one of them, and, in fact, THE ROAD is my favorite book of all time, bar none...to my mind, it is one of those rare novels wherein the words on the page come together to fashion a work of art.
Now, McCarthy has never authorized a signed/limited of THE ROAD, as he has with some of his other books, and in fact refuses to sign copies. There was a UK 1st HC that that had a very limited number of publisher's bookplate tipped in, but those are the only legitimate signed copies out there. McCarthy has signed (and, I think I recall, numbered) 1,250 1st U.S. HCs, but those copies are being held at his residence for his son (for whom he wrote the book) to sell when the boy turns 18 (I think he's in his mid teens now...?) or whenever the son chooses beyond that point. McCarthy's deliberate refusal to sign other copies of his Pulitzer-Prize winning book guarantees this stash will create a nice nest-egg for his son when that time comes.
But enough of THE ROAD. On to my weekend's Grail.
McCarthy has created a number of other fine novels that I think most dark fiction fans would enjoy, perhaps most especially BLOOD MERIDIAN and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. McCarthy was a little more liberal in signing copies 1st HCs of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN that some of his other works, so they are out there, but of course they still go for a pretty penny, due to the relative scarcity and McCarthy's popularity (which only seems to grow). There was also a slipcased S/L of NO COUNTRY, but signed trade HCs continue to be offered and sold at $500 to $800.
A local bookstore was having a 40% off sale, and I knew they had the following book...I'd watched it for a few years now, lusting after it like no other book in my area but knowing its champagne pricing was way beyond my beer budget. I did note that they had lowered the price about a year ago from the high end of the spectrum to the lower end, though that still failed to sell it to the local audience, and it was still beyond my budget. However, when this 40% off sale was announced, the last vestiage of restraint that I had crumbled, and though I wandered the store for a couple hours and mulled it over while I was looking at the rest of the stock, I knew deep down the dye was cast.
And so, I came away with this:
Here is the signed page:
One of the things that finally pushed me over the edge -- something I didn't even know the book had until I asked the personnel this weekend to examine the book (rather than lust after it through glass as I'd done for years) was a previous owner's postcard from 2005 that established authenticity and provenance; it was a surprise and delight to find this within. Stephen King isn't the only author whose sig is forged to defraud, so one has to be careful...this card laid to rest any such concerns I may have had. I tell you, though, I sure wish I'd been able to get it for the $24.95 that the previous owner did.
So, in short, I've very pleased and excited to finally have a signed copy of a book from one of my favorite authors, and while it is not THE ROAD, it is probably my second favorite book by him. If you've only seen the movie and not read the book, I'd recommend reading the source novel. The film is a fine and well-done adaption, but as is often the case, the book is even better.
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