Now Available
mr mike, who kindly agreed to be a beta tester, said:
"Ishmael’s Blues
was a great read and brought back memories of happier times, when we could
laugh at stuff as if it wasn’t really important – although I can now see it was
leading us to where we are today, in a much darker place. It is an excellent
anthology."
Ishmael’s Blues is now
published, in both paperback and hardback editions; readers who have copies of Honest, Not Invent or Vent Stack will
know that our chosen POD firm is pretty reliable when it comes to production
quality. 356 pages, each essay dated in the list of contents. The
vast majority of material in this book is in the voice of ishmael smith – we hope
to return to stanislav in a companion volume to Vent Stack, possibly
later this year.
Both editions are
immediately available from lulu.com. No
one’s billing or delivery address, nor any payment info, will be disclosed to
the creator of the book; all this is securely handled by the publishing
platform (and Paypal, if used). The paperback is listed on amazon. (HB may
follow – for some reason the HB of Honest, Not Invent never
appeared on amazon, so maybe the same will happen with Ishmael’s Blues.)
Ishmaelites wishing to buy a copy from lulu should
follow these steps :
Unless you’ve done this
already, please register an account first, at lulu.com. This is advisable
because otherwise paypal seems to think it's ok to charge in dollars, and they
then apply their own conversion rate, which might put the price up slightly for
a UK buyer. Once the new account is set up, follow one of the links below (to
either paperback or hardback) or type "Ishmael’s Blues" into the Lulu
Bookstore search box. Click on the “show explicit content” tab, give the
age verification box a date of birth such as 1 January 1960, and proceed.
The book’s full title is
"Ishmael’s Blues – further Chronicles of Ruin", and the cover you'll
see is red with white titles and a picture of blogdog Buster retiring from the
fray, cat gloating from a safe distance. The cover is the same for both
editions.
Link for Hardcover :
https://tinyurl.com/je7nddfr
Link for Paperback :
https://tinyurl.com/3jurrzux
At checkout, try WELCOME15 in the coupon box, which
(for the moment) takes 15% off the price before postage. If this code has
expired by the time you reach this point, try a google search for
"Lulu.com voucher code" and see what comes up.
With the 15% voucher, PB (including delivery to a UK
address) should be £16.84; HB £27.04.
5 comments:
Well done, everyone. Sorry that I have been absent - busy buying body armour for US trip.
Echo your first sentence, Mr mongoose. I'm looking forward to your report on Boston.
Brilliant news, a little more light to illuminate the present gloom. Well done mrs I and editor mr Verge.
Thanks, chaps - I know you will enjoy the anthology - editor mr verge has surpassed himself in collecting and curating a fine selection of essays by my late husband, spanning the years 2009 to 2019, none having previously appeared in book form. Goes without saying that this stuff is funny, scurrilous, witty, satirical and controversial: but it is also poignant, thoughtful, philosophical and autobiographical. The author didn't have his sorrows to seek - he lived with complex, painful and debilitating medical conditions, of which ishmaelites will have some awareness; but there was no self pity and he describes his encounters with medical professionals with clear-eyed robust cynicism - even when the clear eyes were arrived at after painful and prolonged laser surgery. Indeed, he survived so much and for so long that it was deeply, dreadfully shocking and surprising when he succumbed to his final illness. His legacy is contained in the series of anthologies that his friend, editor mr verge, has provided for us.
In "Normal Service Will Be Resumed", mr ishmael said, "all I do is write this stuff. There is a book's worth, here and at other places; maybe several books' worth....."
Not 'arf. editor mr verge tells me he has started collating material for the fourth anthology.
Ishmael's Blues is a tribute to ishmael smith - a great writer and fine mind, and we are all beholden to editor mr verge for carving and sculpting these books from the huge body of work that ishmael left to us when it was time for him to leave us.
Powerful, Mrs I, on every point.
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