For used books, you can also check out check out the Advanced
Book
Exchange, a search engine that allows you to wander through
the catalogues
of used book stores all over the world. I finally caved in
and used it
(generally, I prefer the hands-on quest of visiting used book
stores,
garage sales, church bazaars, etc. in search of treasure )
and found two
books I've been looking for for over fifteen years. And not
too expensive
either (although that would depend on the individual store,
and what one
calls expensive). Check 'em out at http://WWW.abebooks.com/
As for if there are any "really" good or bad books, I'm
sorry, but just
because someone likes a book (or a play or a song or a
hamburger) doesn't
immediately bestow an aura of quality on it. Some kind of
objective quality
must exist, or there ceases to be any reason to seek it, or
attempt to
create it, and if that happens, we might as well roll over
and die. If mere
popularity is a sign of quality, Danielle Steele is a better
writer than
Daly, Hammett and Chandler combined. Democracy is good in
politics, lousy
in art (imagine if Ringo wrote one quarter of the Beatles
songs).
Having gone this far out on the limb, I might as well swing a
bit. There's
also nothing wrong with liking "bad" books. Bill Pronzini
calls them
alternative classics in his Gun in Cheek and Son of Gun in
Cheek, I call
them Cheese. In fact, July is Cheese Month around here. I put
away the
"good" books, grab a few cold ones, hit the hammock, shove a
tape in the
machine, and plow through some so-bad-they're-good no-brain,
no-gain Cheese
Classics. Some of my favorite cheese classics include the
Honey West
series, the Rocky Steele books, Dan Turner stories, some
later Mike
Shaynes, and a whole bunch of one-shot wonders, mostly old
bargain bin
paperbacks with the standard babe and gun on the cover.
So, mavens of the reading list, what say we proclaim July
Cheese Month
here, too? And remember, today's cream is tomorrow's
cheese.
Kevin Smith
Web Guy for The Thrilling Detective Web Site
For info, mailto:kvnsmith@total.net
"Well, I'll have some rotten nights after I've sent you
over/But that'll
pass..."
- Seeing the Real You at Last (Bob Dylan, via Dashiell
Hammett)
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