Book Spiel

James Sallis' Sarah Jane Pullman

Opinions are like assholes and the puckered outliers who post their brief reviews of books on Goodreads are high comedy.  And so wrong, I have no qualms about holding them up...

the first 66 Hard Case Crime titles

In September of 2004, the first of what would be sixty-six mass market paperbacks were published by Hard Case Crime. Lawrence Block’s Grifter’s Game was originally published as Mona by...

what would Archie do?

Archibald MacLeish, Poet Laureate of America, penned two short essays “The American Mobilization” and “The American Cause” published as a slim volume bearing the name of the latter essay.  The...

knowledge for knowledge's sake

I am cataloging a stack of books today, an effort that seems Sisyphean in a popular culture that seems poised to forget what came before.  I ran across this quote...

John A. Williams, Syracuse, NY native

John A. Williams grew up in Syracuse, New York, “apple-knocker country, where summers are splendid and winters war against the psyche.  Black people seem to have entered Syracuse history around...

grading used books

I aim to describe each book accurately.  I use a light box to photograph the exact book that I am selling.  When I have multiple copies in different conditions, I...