People who have been waiting for this limited edition should be delighted that it has shipped. Mine arrived yesterday. For those of you that did not get a copy there is good news from Subterranean Press. They are doing a second print run but it is not exactly a second printing since the cover will be truly golden apple yellow instead of Pippin apple green, and printer on a lighter weight paper stock. My limited collectors knowledge would call the second printing a First Thus.

http://www.subterraneanpress.com/

If you are looking for copies of the true first edition the bookshop that put on the Three Legends event a few weeks back received fifty copies. Since they arrived after the event they may have the largest inventory in-stock by a retailer.
www.mysteryandimagination.com

I received my copy of Golden Apples yesterday. At the recent dollar/sterling exchange rate, it was quite cheap for me to buy (as limited editions go).

I was disappointed to learn that Mugnaini's original art is limited to the cover, and isn't used inside the book. His line drawings have always been synonymous with Golden Apples of the Sun, and I was hoping to see them in this edition.

The main reason I was persuaded to buy this edition is the inclusion of a couple of bonuses: two plays by Ray, based on stories in the book. And while these are good, I would have liked some contextual information.

For example, when were they written. Were they ever performed, in this form or any other. Is "The Fog Horn" a RADIO treatment (because it certainly reads like one)? And why is the play of En La Noche so excessive in stage/actor directions? Had Ray never seen a play written down?

At the very least, they should have given an explanation of why "The Fog Horn" is incomplete. (The dust jacket says the book includes two plays, not one play and one fragment of a play.)

So, while it's a handsome enough volume in its own right, it could have been so much better if they had thought it through!

Okay, Phil. You get the next "EDITOR" job.
~ oh, well...while I'm here, mind as well give you chaps in England the weather forecast today for Los Angeles (Ray Bradbury country). Clear, sunny, upper 70's to low 80's. Some fog tomorrow morning near the coast, and a tad cooler."

Tad is a good word.

btw, did anyone buy a Lettered Edition of any of the other Subterranean Press books? I was wondering if they were worth it. The price tag is high and there are no pictures, so it's hard to judge if they are worth it. I know Golden Apples Lettered hasn't been released, but I was wondering about the previous books. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
Okay, Phil. You get the next "EDITOR" job.
~ oh, well...while I'm here, mind as well give you chaps in England the weather forecast today for Los Angeles (Ray Bradbury country). Clear, sunny, upper 70's to low 80's. Some fog tomorrow morning near the coast, and a tad cooler."

I'll take that job!

LA is to good to be true. We can barely scrape 9 degrees celsius over here at the moment (about 48 F), and it is currently (as we sometimes say) blowing a hooligan out there.

Whilst in college, I often travelled into our Adirondack Mts. to snowshoe. One stretch of open valley between several high peaks was a well-known farm owned by a several generation family that still worked the land when the warmer months arrived.

Once on my way to meet with friends at their cabin for a weekend of backwoods shoeing, I was stopped by local authorities and farmers on tractors just before entering into the open stretch of highway that crossed this area. (The weather was probably "blowing a hooligan.")

When I was informed about not being able to proceed any further because of drifting and white-outs, an old timer leaned into the car and summed up the conditions. "You had better turn around and take the other route, son. It's bad. Really bad! It's blowing like a pup across the potato fields and no one has been able to get through most of the day now."

I even found an aerial of the locale mentioned:
http://www.tuckertaters.com/

BTW: Here tonight, -10F.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

Subterrean Press is now shipping the second printing of Golden Apples of the Sun. This is a unique second printing because the dust jacket is different than was on the first printing. The second printing's dust jacket is a true golden-yellow, which was changed to this color at Mr. B's request.

http://www.subterraneanpress.com/

Yes...I think they would have sold even MORE of these if they would have changed the interior color from green to yellow also, to match the DJ.

I would have bought another copy myself, although I suspect they won't need my help selling this run out...its a beautiful book, even without the Mugnaini illos...

quote:

Originally posted by fjp451:
BTW: Here tonight, -10F.

Remind me, fjp, where is "here"? The UK has just had a weather flip - after a couple of weeks of slowly increasing temperatures and spring-like weather (blossom and dandelions starting to appear everywhere) we've suddenly dropped back to freezing temperatures and snowfall.

Phil, Here today -- a beautiful 55F, with blue skies and the very first hints of crocus, http://hflp.sdstate.edu/ho311/outdoor_images/Crocus%20mixed.jpg
tulips, http://rarepattern.com/system/files/tulips.jpg
but not yet the ubiquitous dandelion, http://www.canadaphotoseries.com/files/canada/images/No...ndelions.preview.jpg

Just 25 days ago, that is a 65 degree temp swing! Nice.
We are 15 minutes east of the St. Lawrence R. and 15 minutes west of the Adirondack Mts.
RE: http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/mapcom/images/ny_h.gif

Here in the Santa Cruz mountains, it's in the 30s at night and in the high 60s during the day.
It just snowed in Manchester, UK!

Thanks, fjp. Sounds a great place to be - but not in winter!

BII, it must be particularly warm in that box in BI's cellar!

There is a bit of regional humor in these parts that goes something like the theme of All Summer in a Day. Only rather than a few hours of the glow of the sun, we all make sure we get into the river for the few hours it actually warms to swimming temp. Typically, the third week in August between 12/noon and 4pm. Then, it's just plane c~h~i~l~l~y again for another year!

The mountain lakes are great for summer swimming, as are the smaller rivers, but the mighty St. Lawrence has a way of its own. In high school, we would make it a point to jump off from some well-known docks during April (spring) break. There were always still good sized pieces of ice floating north (nearly 1000 miles to the Bay of StL. and out to the Atlantic Ocean). The air may have been nearly 70F, but the water was still mid-30's. By the end of summer it would still be "refreshingly crisp."

My area has many small Podunks. "Rt 66", but no one driving through!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Thanks, fjp. Sounds a great place to be - but not in winter!

BII, it must be particularly warm in that box in BI's cellar!

Yes it is. Rather close as well, or "stuffy" as they say here.