Lost books.

posted: 08 January, 2009

One of the 48 boxes that we shipped from Scotland to Finland disappeared back in August.  I counted 48 when the shipment arrived; perhaps I miscounted, or maybe the box never left Glasgow in the first place.  Due to slow unpacking, I didn't even realise it was gone until late October.  I'm not completely sure what was in there; I notice more missing books all the time.

Stanley Elkin - Mrs. Ted Bliss - this is Elkin's last novel and I haven't read it yet.

William Gaddis - JR - This was a lovely British paperback edition that I bought planning to re-read it.  Not now, I guess.

Fernando Pessoa - The Book of Disquiet - This is the kind of book worth owning, even though you can find it in most libraries, because it's the kind of book that you can pull out and open to randomly and read any page when you are looking for some inspiration

Alasdair Gray - 1982 Janine - My favorite Alasdair Gray book and one that I was also planning to re-read soon.

Joseph McElroy - Lookout Cartridge - One of my favorite books ever; McElroy is a writer who is rather hard to find in libraries (which is a real shame); thus I justify owning his books, and I will replace this soon.  I also had a 1992 issue of the Review of Contemporary Fiction dedicated to McElroy that will be harder to replace.

Ron Loewinsohn - Magnetic Field(s) - Another great and fairly obscure novel.

Julian Cope - Japrocksampler - Not sure how this got lost, as this box seems to be mostly fiction E-P, but it's gone.  Luckily I had actually read it.

Harry Mathews - The Sinking of the Odradek Stadium - Harry is probably my single favorite writer ever and I lost a couple, but luckily I had replacement copies in America.  Not this one, though.

Ben Marcus - Noteable American Women - I've actually bought this twice before and will buy it again.  This is one of the most inspiring of all recent books I have read and also something that I frequently pull out and read section of for inspiration.  The Age of Wire and String was also in that box.

 If anyone would like to buy me replacement copies of these, I would be very grateful!

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