The Long Set-Up

One thing I didn't buy at B'Con, but very much wanted to: a fine first edition of Joseph Moncure March's hardboiled boxing poem, The Set-Up (which was turned into a 1949 film noir starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter). It was the original 1928 Covici hardcover, complete with ultra-rare dust jacket. Alas, at $1250, I would have returned home to Philadelphia a divorced man.

So I did the next best thing: found a beat-up used copy, third printing, at Amazon.com. No dustjacket, but then again, it was only $25 (about a fiftieth of the price). It arrived yesterday, and inside were two details that made it so much cooler than the $1250 edition.

First: the book was clearly a gift, because inside it was inscribed:

To Hal, my friend
Xmas '28

Frank

Second: there was a little stamp on the inside back cover, indicating that Frank bought this copy at the Hollywood Book Store (see above). I know exactly where this store used to be. The Hollywood Hotel was on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Highland*, now a huge entertainment/shopping/tourist complex. Across the street (according to the stamp) is a collection of tourist shop, just down the block from the El Capitan movie theater.

So back in 1928, some guy named Frank wandered into this shop in the heart of Hollywood and picked up The Set-Up for his friend Hal. God knows what happened to Hal. But his copy somehow ended up in a used bookstore, and offered for online sale. Now it's going to be in my collection until I die, and maybe someday somebody else will pick it up, and wonder about Hal and Frank.

I love stuff like this.

(* In last month's Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California, much of the early action takes right around Hollywood and Highland... in 1928.)

Cool Indie Bookstore Alert

We had a few hours to kill before flying out of L.A., so we spent some time in Venice. As the Bride will tell you, I have an almost sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out bookstores, and boy, did I find a gem right off Ocean Front Walk. It's called Small World Books, and it's kinda sorta tucked behind a restaurant, although the signs for the shop are very clear. (So, okay, maybe it wasn't my sixth sense as much as it was my ability to read very large signs.) Anyway, the shop has a kick-ass mystery/crime section, with a nice mix of indie and mainstream stuff, as well as a whole shelf full o' Bukowski. I picked up two books: a Barry Miles bio of Buk, and Stephen Cooper's Full of Life, a bio of John Fante. (Small bit of trivia: Fante spent some time writing in Venice, just a few blocks away on Westminster Ave.) Secret Dead Blog highly recommends. (1407 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291, 301-399-2360.)

In Praise of Art

In Thursday's City Paper, I paid homage to a man I've talked about in this blog every now and then: Art Bourgeau, co-owner of Philly's Whodunit mystery bookstore. But I'm not alone. Local writer Jack Curtin read my piece, then posted his own tribute to Art... as well as the day Stephen King stopped in to scoop up a bunch of paperbacks at Whodunit back in the day. Check it out right here.