Jonathan Vos Post -- Were you aware of the limited-edition copies of _Farenheit 451_ bound in asbestos?
They're mentioned in passing in this article:
As [book-collector John] Baxter explains in the second appendix to his new book-collecting memoir, A Pound of Paper, wherein he asks several people which book they would save, "When it published the first edition in 1953, Ballantine also produced 200 signed and numbered copies bound in Johns-Manville Quintera, a form of asbestos. It is therefore one of the few books likely to survive a fire - as well as being a rare example of a book dangerous to one's health. A first hardcover edition of Farenheit 451 signed by Bradbury is worth $5,500. For a copy of the asbestos cover (none of which has come on the market in years) multiply by 10."
The library at which I worked for a time suffered a severe fire, and I can verify that books are remarkably resistant to fire. Walking through afterwards, I noticed a stack of books sitting by the telephone waiting for a bored staffperson to call the next person on the reserve list. The phone was badly damaged, melted from the heat and burnt. The books, however, though they were blackened from the smoke, were all right. The top book had suffered the most -- its pages had gotten warped from the heat and the water, but even then it hadn't caught on fire. The other books, presumably compressed by the weight of the stack and protected from the water, were in much better condition.
Even though the bulk of the collection was saved, I still wince at the memory -- there's nothing sadder than a burnt-out library.
I'm happy to report that this went over quite well with the family, even considering that we're not at all green-pepper people. It didn't hurt that between the green peppers, the red tomatoes, the yellow nectarines, and the purple "red" onion, the salad *looked* great -- and tasted even better. Definitely a recipie to keep!
Hmm... hazelnut oil. I suspect that that's too unusual for my grocery store. What oils could I substitute -- a really light sesame, maybe?
A TNH cookbook would be very interesting to see (call it Making Food, perhaps? *g*)
Hmm... about Podkayne: now that you folks mention it (and Gardener Dozois said something about it in an anthology I just started), that seems to be kind of a pattern with a *lot* of Heinlein's books -- Friday for sure, and there's some of it in Stranger and Job, too. The Heroine is a strong, tough woman, but her primary aim is still to settle down with the man of her dreams and have lots of kids. I'd vaguely noticed it, but hadn't really connected it up as a trope of Heinlein's, maybe because I had always heard Heinlein associated with strong female characters and never looked closely at exactly what that association was. Can anyone with more exposure to Heinlein's works than I shed some light on this? (ie. was this really his view, or was is something his editors forced on him, or what?)
For that matter, are there any Heinlein works that *don't* fall into this trap?
/me reminds himself to beg, borrow, or otherwise acquire a copy of Podkayne with the alternate ending for comparison purposes.
Ashni: I'm curious, having just recently read the book -- what was your objection to Podkayne?
In re the whole stocking a SF/Fantasy section -- Ray Bradbury's books Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles are definitely must-haves for any High School library. Ditto Madeline l'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels. Both are quite clean, though Bradbury's books are very definitely best for older readers, dealing, for example, with the destruction of several human expeditions to Mars and then the entire Martian race. They're thought-provoking reading, not "feel-good" reading.
Delurking for a moment to suggest that people interested in the RASFF thread might check it out through the new Google Groups beta. Already I like it a lot better than the old version.
All right, back into the shadows I go...
Mr. Henry: Seeing as I have no publishing credentials of my own, and am not likely to acquire any in the near future, I'm forced to rely on the publishing credentials of others. Therefore:
John Scalzi's Utterly Useless Writing Advice (utterly useless -- at least to Mr. Scalzi, seeing as he's already published and all :)
John Scalzi's Even More Long-Winded (But Practical) Writing Advice
Were I ever to a) write something even vaguely publishable, and b) care to submit my ego to the bruising it would no doubt receive, I suspect that Mr. Scalzi's advice would be most useful. (I'm aware that Mr. Scalzi posts here, so he might well have been prepared to post these links. However, I suspect he has better things to do than troll Google for his own writing advice, and, well, I don't. :)
Mr. Goldfarb -
As applicable as Aquaman may be to the role of Peter, the apostle Peter in Da Vinci's painting actually does carry a knife (remember Peter cutting off the Roman soldier's ear?) Thus, Lex is more than likely cast in the role of Peter, though how much thought the artist put into that decision is up for debate.
- Kevin
...who's sat through one too many Sunday School lessons...
Hmm... It's interesting that someone mentioned Opus Dei. They play heavily in _The Da Vinci Code_, which is a techno-thriller with a plot that would make most Christian conservatives want to hold a big 'ol bonfire, since it portrays the Church as covering up the "truth" that Jesus was mortal and married. Actually, it's almost a Wiccan Left Behind, though I'm a (left-wing) Christian and I still find it an enjoyable read.
I don't think thrillers *have* to be conservative, though even _Da Vinci Code_ is conservative if you view it as returning to a millenia old status quo... Hmmm... methinks I'm over-thinking this, nay?
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