MATCH TO FLAME by Ray Bradbury
(Gauntlet Press)
This may well be the most valuable collector's editor of Bradbury's work ever published. Here we have the collection of stories, letters, notes that all combined to create the final version of FARNEHEIT 451. The most imposing of the stories is "The Fireman" (1951 which later was expanded into the now famous novel. Bradbury cuts across all forms of fiction, from the most cerebral to the most popular. His work--his very being--has now inspired three generations of readers and writers alike. Even though he admits that a few of the earlier stories here are fledgling pieces, I found the whole book fascinating in the way it demonstrates the creative process behind his masterpiece.
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Please for God's Sake--DON'T BE CYNICAL
$600,000 Advance For First Novel By John Le Carre's Son
Written in his stars: son of Le Carré gets £300,000 for first novel
By Ian Herbert
Published: 06 June 2007
When the mere mention of your father's name is guaranteed to generate a stampede in a bookshop, the temptation to follow him into writing is understandable. Nicholas Cornwell, son of John le Carré, could congratulate himself for yielding to it yesterday as it emerged that he has signed a reported £300,000 deal with Random House for a first novel which depicts life on earth restricted to a 40-mile band circling the globe after a nuclear disaster.
Cornwell - whose father's real name is David Cornwell - was determined to avoid comparisons with him and has adopted the pen name Nick Harkaway in a deliberate attempt to create an independent identity. But the connection ensured that the work, entitled The Wages Of Gonzo Lubitsch created a frisson of interest this week at Book Expo America - the US publishing industry's biggest domestic convention - and six out of seven publishers alerted to the novel by Cornwell's agent, Patrick Walsh of Conville & Walsh, responded within 24 hours.
The Random House imprint William Heinemann eventually snapped up the book, which will be published next May in Britain and in the US, by Knopf.
Ed here: There's more but it's mostly gabble about how the guy is talented (and maybe he really is) and how the book sort of resembles Terry Prachett (I think that was one of the names) and how it "created a frisson of interest" at BEA.
I'm not sure what "frisson" means. But on a day when Paris Hilton walked free after serving three days I don't like the sound of it.
I'll never forget reading "The Fireman" for the first time in an early issue of Galaxy. After all these years it remains one of my very favorites.
ReplyDeleteOkay, first Stephen King's son and now LeCarre's son. So six figure advances are out there for first novels by sons of famous writers. Why would I be cynical????
ReplyDeleteRJR
Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein...
ReplyDeleteRead them all as a young 'un, and then read them again...
And still have them on my bookshelf.
And though I write mystery and suspense, there's still a 12-year-old boy inside of me who would desperately love to make a sale to Analog (the old Astounding...)
Brendan
Bob--I'm proud of you for not being cynical. I'm afraid I wasn't able to resist. But then maybe $600,000 isn't that much money in places outside Iowa. (I'll have a cheeseburger please; yes, the $$,200 one. (Isn't that how they talk in NYC?))
ReplyDeleteBrendan--I hear you. One of my biggest thrills was selling two stories to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. And one of them appeared with my name on the cover. Like Bill Pronzini, one of my most devout wishes was to share half of an Ace Double. The old Aastounding/Analog would have been v ery cool, too. Uf you're ever of a mind, why don't you write a post about current sf and your evaluation of it.I