Women and Men discussion
Trying to find a Copy?
s.penkevich wrote: "Heads up, Abe has one up for $41.54 right now! Someone buy now! Quick! Do it!http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc..."
Thanks, penki. Someone needs this. Tell me you are ordering it right now.
s.penkevich wrote: "Heads up, Abe has one up for $41.54 right now! Someone buy now! Quick! Do it!http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc..."
Someone got it. Here? I noticed also another $10 dust jacket. It's getting cold outside in this hemisphere; you might need one.
LOL! To be rich again. I had a $1200 Hiroshige sketch book. *sigh* I had no money, then tons, then none. When money (and very expensive books) comes and goes, you realize what remained constant is what counts. It's my jar of boogers.
Sean wrote: "oof, just had to share this here:http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookD..."
Wow, and it's just a paperback, but I see the unsigned paperback is pricey on its own in decent condition and there is only one other signed copy here. I guess to someone this will be a bargain.
Aloha wrote: "LOL! To be rich again. I had a $1200 Hiroshige sketch book. *sigh* I had no money, then tons, then none. When money (and very expensive books) comes and goes, you realize what remained constan..."I was thinking, when it comes to boogers, we are all equals, but it isn't true. Those who use lots of milk products rule the roost.
David wrote: "Aloha wrote: "LOL! To be rich again. I had a $1200 Hiroshige sketch book. *sigh* I had no money, then tons, then none. When money (and very expensive books) comes and goes, you realize what re..."Look how much they save on glue! BTW, I meant to say Hokusai, not Hiroshige. I often mix the two up. Hokusai made those pretty waves.
David wrote: "Sean wrote: "oof, just had to share this here:http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookD..."
Wow, and it'..."
The $1200 Hokusai sketchbook was a teeny paperback.
Aloha wrote: "David wrote: "Sean wrote: "oof, just had to share this here:http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookD..."..."
Yeah, size and durability definitely have nothing to do with price. It's all about scarcity, demand and what someone is willing to pay. I have Norman Partridge's first book, Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales put out by Roadkill Press. It was a short trade paperback with only 7 stories, most original to the collection and a black and white cover. It ended up winning the Stoker Award for best story collection and nominated for a World Fantasy Award. There were only 500 copies printed. It used to sell for about $400. Then 7 years ago Subterranean Press put out a longer version in hardcover with story notes. It's a gorgeous book but if they'd just called it something else, I suspect the collector market for the original might not have died quite as badly. You can have the Roadkill Press version for $30 on Abebooks now. There's still the scarce white logo version that's pricey but I don't have that one.
I'm not sure if anyone else here is as interested in printing histories and background on small presses, but when I was looking up the limitation on Mr. Fox (because I was too lazy to get up and look at the actual limitation page) I found this remembrance of Roadkill Press and Little Bookshop of Horrors in Arvada, CO written by Partridge and a thread of responses. I liked it enough I thought I'd share it:http://horrordrive-in.com/smf/index.p...
obfuscations wrote: "so i checked the 1st ed. i'm reading out from new york public library in july and have renewed it nine times since then - this morning attempting to renew once more (all it should take for me to fi..."If it's not one of us, you'll have it back by the end of the first check-out time period. If it's not one of us, it was someone likely taking up the "difficult" book challenge and isn't likely to succeed. I've seen a lot of folks add W&M from the PW article without having anything similar of difficulty on their reading list. One doesn't go from NYT bestsellers straight to W&M. It takes a special variety of genius (as found on goodreads, this corner) to get past page 40 of our book.
On the other hand, if its someone here, would they have the patience to allow obfuscations a bit more time to wrap things up first? As a readerly courtesy?
Just got a copy from Amazon; only 25 quid; seems to be something of a bargain!
Paul wrote: "Just got a copy from Amazon; only 25 quid; seems to be something of a bargain!"Nice catch! And welcome to the group. When do you think you'll be starting?
Nathan "N.R."One doesn't go from NYT bestsellers straight to W&M."
I was thinking this soon after I began. If Joyce and Pynchon hadn't already shattered my preconceptions of what a novel should be like then I would have given this one up a long time ago.
I was thinking this soon after I began. If Joyce and Pynchon hadn't already shattered my preconceptions of what a novel should be like then I would have given this one up a long time ago.
Also because unlike Pynchon and to a lesser extent Joyce, McElroy doesn't cater to his readers with outrageous humour and other entertainments. He's more like Gaddis in that he really wants his readers to do the work required.
I'm just finishing Mason and Dixon, so I might move on to something a little lighter for a while, but I have 12 days off over Christmas and so I think I may start then!
Sean wrote: "Also because unlike Pynchon and to a lesser extent Joyce, McElroy doesn't cater to his readers with outrageous humour and other entertainments. He's more like Gaddis in that he really wants his rea..."I'm enjoying W&M much more than I enjoyed The Recognitions. Maybe it's because I like history and mystery more than satire and commentary. I've always had a problem with authors making critical commentaries on society, because I usually see an open and connected point of view to things.
After the review and summaries for W&M, I am taking a vacation with only pictures and images! My brain needs a recharge before I tackle another tome that requires work to decipher.
Fair enough. I found The Recognitions vastly more readable and beautiful, but W&M certainly satisfies in its way.
But surely you don't think W&M is without its criticisms of western societies?
I think McElroy's tone is more of a laid back observer of history with an openness toward each event having a reason for leading to the next, unlike Gaddis' critical tone of New York society.
The difficulty of tracking down the events in McElroy's book lies in the major clues being embedded in long paragraphs of adroitly composed historical flow of consciousness, with one event flowing into another with no breather in between.
Those historical passages are brilliant. Confusing and lyrical at the same time, beyond most human cognition's ability to easily decipher but beautiful in detail and transition.
Price for W&M seems to be dropping. Maybe dropping further? But amazon's got five between US$57 and $81 + shipping.http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listin...
I got a library hardback in perfect condition for $40 last August on Amazon
Jack wrote: "I got a library hardback in perfect condition for $40 last August on Amazon"And never checked out I'll bet. Except maybe in 1987. Nice grab.
What are your reading plans? Sooner? Later?
Argh, just probably overpaid for this tome off of Abebooks, and got dinged by the new USPS Priority Mail International rates implemented this past weekend.I think it will all be worth it though when I unpack it and take in its sheer size. I've been lurking the group for several weeks, including the different pictures that people have posted of their Women and Men book porn. Such a beautiful volume, and I really want to take in the physicality of the book when I get around to diving into it.
Joel--Welcome to the group. I do hope that you decide that it was money well spent. There are not many copies available for reasonable prices. I look forward to hearing your first impressions. And perhaps you'll have some pics for us?
i just got a copy on loan from the library.
Matthew wrote: "i just got a copy on loan from the library."Most excellent. Most libraries are dumping their copies because they've gone unforgivably unread these many yeras. It's good to know that a few still keep W&M on their shelves. You are diving in directly, I assume?
as much as i can with school and stuff. I wish I could keep it.
Oh god! Someone grab this - $9(?!) on Abe in Very Good condition. Wishing I wouldn't've paid through the teeth for the book right now.I almost felt like purchasing it just out of how incredulous I felt at it being so low-priced.
![s.penkevich [mental health hiatus] (spenkevich) | 18 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1735525095p1/6431467.jpg)
Weird, I just grabbed a copy for $9 on Amazon.Ah, yeah, I grabbed it (same seller), thanks for the heads up. I hope it's not just Ship Rock: A Place From Women and Men being sold as just Women and Men. $9 is worth the gamble though.
Oh, haha. Okay, yeah. I've noticed that sometimes items are posted on both. Yes, definitely worth the gamble. I just noticed in looking that there's another for $20.50 on Amazon too if there are others still hunting.
s.penkevich wrote: "Weird, I just grabbed a copy for $9 on Amazon.Ah, yeah, I grabbed it (same seller), thanks for the heads up. I hope it's not just Ship Rock: A Place From Women and Men being sold as just Women and..."
The one for $9 from Full Paper Jacket on Amazon still showed. Maybe they're processing your payment, SP. Yep, that's a Women & Men hardback.
The Full Paper Jacket one is a different copy, that one just posted. I got mine through 'wilmonie' listed as Very Good.So someone needs to snatch the new $9 posting! Hopefully this is a trend.
Damn, I thought I had it but it showed it as available until I'd created an account and given them my information, at which point it told me the book was sold.
This will be interesting because I bought one of these on Abebooks tonight. I think it may be the same one.
Ha oh no, yeah I'm curious to see if I got it because it won't process until tomorrow. I've had that happen before where the next day I find out it had already been sold.
Yeah and I was pretty excited about it too! Now I'm just gonna cross my fingers. Good luck to you. Hopefully it will be one of us that gets it.
Yeah, as long as it ends up with a member of this group I'll be happy. There's another posted on amazon for $8.99+shipping, but in 'acceptable' condition, so if need be someone can still grab that.
I guess it will depend on which site alerts the seller first too. And which the seller prefers to sell through, I suppose. If you get notice you got it, let me know and I'll buy the other one.
Trying to keep tabs. Someone here has ordered from Full Paper Jacket for US$8.96? There's one there this morning also from quality7 for US$21. Don't risk losing one of these at these prices. If you've ordered one and think it might go to someone else, order the second as well. We've got lots of folks on this site that will take an accidentally purchased copy off of your hands. I don't think you'll find any copies that are in a disturbingly bad condition. And one can always upgrade at a later date.http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listin...
I ordered one for $9 from wilmonie and my package tracking shows it left the seller this morning. That $21 one was just posted this morning so it still should be good, Full paper Jacket seems to still be available but the book is in acceptable condition. There had been another posted last night for $20 that is down now, so hopefully sellers have realized there is a small market for this book and lower prices will trickle in more often! Nathan, bravo, you really got the ball rolling on this!
I'll come back and start posting in threads if people are wanting to chat about it while they're reading. Jonathan probably will do that, too. I'll drag him from the Proust group. :o)
From the hilltop of Quebec where my head currently is, I could say only with untruth that I'd be a ready source of assistance, except for the fact that discussions of W&M can't seem to happen without my intrusion. Therefore, let it be said, best scenario would be to see readers paired or trio'd; reading solo is thrilling, but rather than relying upon the mature vision of a Completor such as the articulate Jonathans and Alohas, would be beneficial to travel with another Innocent, rather as these veterans may find themselves easily distracted by other shiny objects. Shall I set another start date for a few of you who would like to commence communally in Near Future?
Nathan "N.R." wrote: "...as these veterans may find themselves easily distracted by other shiny objects."Moi? Oooh, more numbers....
Women and Men
Books mentioned in this topic
Lookout Cartridge (other topics)Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (other topics)
Parallel Stories (other topics)
The Recognitions (other topics)
The Beetle Leg (other topics)
More...
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc...