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Old 03-26-2017, 10:29 PM   #721
wktf
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Just finished "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," by Michael Chabon. My wife bought the first edition HC for me when this came out back in 2000 even before it was awarded The Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I read it back then and I've just read it now for the second time, seventeen years later. What a fabulous book. And the dedication at the very back to Jack Kirby was something I'd forgotten but filled me with joy to read after just finishing the story.
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Old 03-27-2017, 03:39 PM   #722
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My wife and I went to an estate sale on Saturday and boy was it one for the books, and I mean that literally as this estate sale had more books than I have ever seen before at an estate sale. The person was obviously a HUGE book collector. Honestly, I could probably have spent like $10,000 there just on books alone, but there was one book in partciular that really caught my eye, Norman Mailer's MoonFire by my favorite art book company Taschen. Its one of Taschen's limited editions and has been sold out for awhile. Of course, I never would have purchased it at retail anyways as Taschen's limited editions are just super CRAZY expensive. Moonfire was limited to 1,969 copies and cost $1800. It came with a signed limited edition Skia print of Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate the print, but I was able to use that to my advantage on pricing the book. I wound up getting it for $200 and the thing looks like its never even been read. Its in pristine mint condition.

And they said if they do find the print, which they are confident they will since supposedly the owner never sold anything and they still have a lot of rooms that haven't been gone through yet (it was a HUGE house), they said they would let me have it for an additional $100. So basically $200-$300 (depending on if they find the print). Not bad for an $1800 limited edition book.



I really hope they do find the print as Skia prints are extremely rare and absolutely breathtaking and its signed by Buzz Aldrin so its definitely worth a LOT more than $100. They said they are scheduling a 2nd estate sale next month for the rest of the stuff. I will definitely be back!

Anyways, I spent about an hour last night going through the book and it is a beauty! The middle of the book has a 4 page fold out that has 8 shots of the launching of a Saturn V rocket. Its amazing. I also picked up a bunch of regular, non limited edition, photography books including signed copies of "Places of Power" and "Listen to the Trees" by John Sexton. And my wife picked up a few antiques for her collection as well.

And that is why we both LOVE estate sales. Getting great deals at actual auctions can be very difficult, but estate sales are a whole different ballgame. Depending on how fast the family wants to liquidate the assests, how many people show up, and just what it is your trying to buy....well, you can get some amazing deals. Some of the best deals I have ever gotten were at estate sales and this book definitely gets added to that list. I can't wait to go back!!
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Old 04-16-2017, 04:18 PM   #723
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Will Murray's King Kong vs. Tarzan. I'd read his King Kong, Doc Savage book & really liked it. In that one, Murray begins w/ the logistics of the removal of Kong's body from beneath the Empire State bldg. by Doc & his crew. The book goes on to recall Doc Savage' 1st meeting w/ Kong on Skull Island years before. W/ vs. Tarzan, Murray once again, starts out w/ logistics. W/ this book, he really goes into the enormous task of moving the unconscious giant ape's body from the island to the ship & the huge problems of keeping him chained, fed, under control & managed on the 3 month trip back to NYC harbor. Well, the go around the horn of Africa on their way back, Kong escapes, & the book deals w/ Kong's time on a certain "lost plateau" & what happens before Carl Denham gets him re-caged & back to New York for his King Kong show in the Theater District. Kong meets Lord Greystoke. I'm 6 chapters in, & it's flowing along very well.

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Old 05-14-2017, 07:34 PM   #724
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Karl Wagner's The Dark Crusade.

Besides his Conan stuff, I've never read any Wagner Sword & Sorcery before. Everyone was telling me to read his Kane stories so I've started with this one. His books are hard to find & collections run between $50 - $70 on ebay & amazon. I'm loving this book & character. Wagner's a very detailed writer & his ancient battlefield descriptions are some of the best I've ever read, equal to REH in some cases. Looks like I'm gonna be tracking down a lot more of the cursed son of Adam's Kane stories. Hooked

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Old 05-17-2017, 02:46 PM   #725
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Quote:
Originally Posted by protector2814 View Post
Karl Wagner's The Dark Crusade.

Besides his Conan stuff, I've never read any Wagner Sword & Sorcery before. Everyone was telling me to read his Kane stories so I've started with this one. His books are hard to find & collections run between $50 - $70 on ebay & amazon. I'm loving this book & character. Wagner's a very detailed writer & his ancient battlefield descriptions are some of the best I've ever read, equal to REH in some cases. Looks like I'm gonna be tracking down a lot more of the cursed son of Adam's Kane stories. Hooked
Yes, you must read them all!

I love the Kane books. They were a nice diversion from the standard heroic fantasy S&S I was reading in the '80s (Kane, as well as Elric, is a great antihero). When I was heavily into collecting back in the day, one of my prized possessions was The Book of Kane, a limited hardcover edition of Wagner's shorter Kane stories published by Donald Grant. It was full of plates and spot illustrations by Jeff Jones, as well as signed and numbered - such a beautiful book.
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Old 05-17-2017, 03:08 PM   #726
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Quote:
Originally Posted by protector2814 View Post
Karl Wagner's The Dark Crusade.

Besides his Conan stuff, I've never read any Wagner Sword & Sorcery before. Everyone was telling me to read his Kane stories so I've started with this one. His books are hard to find & collections run between $50 - $70 on ebay & amazon. I'm loving this book & character. Wagner's a very detailed writer & his ancient battlefield descriptions are some of the best I've ever read, equal to REH in some cases. Looks like I'm gonna be tracking down a lot more of the cursed son of Adam's Kane stories. Hooked

Man it is a shame you are starting with that one. Kane is by far my favorite character ever created in fiction but to be honest that is the weakest of them all. Babytoxie is right the Book of Kane is really cool but Night Shade Books produced two hard cover books "God's in Darkness" which is a collection of the complete novels of Kane

Blood Stone
Dark Crusade
Darkness Weaves

and Midnight Sun which includes ALL of the short stories of Kane including several not in any of the paper backs but appeared places like "Weird Tales" and one where he interacts with Elric that he wrote for a collection of a bunch of guest artists writing Elric stories in "The White Wolf"

I actually love the Kane short stories better than the novels. When I recommend Kane to people I tell them to read "Nightwinds" first and then "Death Angel's Shaddow" and then the novels in order above.
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Old 05-17-2017, 05:37 PM   #727
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Thanks guys. Yeah, I had/have no clue as to where to start with Kane ... but, plan on diving in. Birthday's coming up, so I'm going to ask my wife for one of the more expensive, inclusive volumes. Very interesting for you both to bring up Elric. TNovac, I simply must read the meeting of these two.
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Old 05-17-2017, 06:00 PM   #728
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Thanks guys. Yeah, I had/have no clue as to where to start with Kane ... but, plan on diving in. Birthday's coming up, so I'm going to ask my wife for one of the more expensive, inclusive volumes. Very interesting for you both to bring up Elric. TNovac, I simply must read the meeting of these two.
Yeah the Kane/Elric story is called "A Gothic Touch" and it appears in a book that is a collection of short Elric stories called "Tales of the White Wolf". It is kind of a tribute book as none of the stories are written by Michael Moorecock but all are by guest writers, one of whom was Karl Edward Wagner and he included Kane in his. Pretty good actually.

I love "Gothic Touch" and ironically one of my favorite other Kane short stories isn't available in any of the paperbacks but I think you can find for free as a PDF maybe? It is called "Misirecorde". It is in that Midnight Sun collection though.
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Old 09-14-2017, 08:43 PM   #729
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Currently reading "Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos". Defintely one of the best all around astronomy books I have read to date. It really goes into a lot of depth about the scientfic method itself and how it was used throughout the years by varius scientists to aquire the knowledge we have today. Highly recommend it for people who enjoy astronomy/cosmology related books.



I also recieved my copy of Reynold Brown: A Life in Pictures yesterday.



If your a fan of old paperback book covers or movie posters back when they were actually beautiful pieces of art, then you should definitely give this book a look. Here are a few examples from the book,









Again, if your a big fan of this style of book covers and movie posters then you should really consider buying a copy of this book. Its definitely one of the best books on the market that focuses on this kind of artwork. He actually produced over 300 movie posters for the motion picture industry.
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Old 10-07-2017, 12:47 PM   #730
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Recieved 2 new art books earlier this week. I got The Family Album of Wild Africa & Arctica: The Vanishing North.





Both books are big and absolutely stunning. Family Album of Wild Africa (roughly 15" x 11") is all black and white and is one of the nicest animal related art books I have seen to date. Arctica (roughly 15" x 12") is depressing, but it has some of the nicest photography I have seen to date in regards to the arctic. Its extremely sad to think that one of the last pristine places on the planet is literally disappearing. Both are well worth the price tags!!
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