tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post6399853834148533358..comments2024-03-22T19:13:05.266-04:00Comments on The Dusty Bookcase: Remembering John Buell: A Lot to Make Up ForBrian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-326318284999388912014-12-18T23:12:26.177-05:002014-12-18T23:12:26.177-05:00Milton? How could I have made that mistake? Thank ...Milton? How could I have made that mistake? Thank you, Dawn. I'll change it.<br /><br />I'm pleased to learn of your admiration <i>A Lot to Make Up For</i>. I sometimes think it is his weakest novel. Could be… but John Buell was so good a writer that his weakest verges on greatness. If you haven't already, I recommend his <i>Four Days</i>. That it's no longer in print is a disgrace.Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-73845683458795334502014-12-18T22:59:26.005-05:002014-12-18T22:59:26.005-05:00Thanks so much for writing about Buell. Your posts...Thanks so much for writing about Buell. Your posts helped inspire me to read "A Lot to Make Up For." Great novel! BTW, the character is Martin, not Milton, but the rest of your post is well said.Dawn Eden Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12940490469208963411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-64418759171653713402014-06-18T20:29:09.151-04:002014-06-18T20:29:09.151-04:00I met John Buell in person in December 2001. He wa...I met John Buell in person in December 2001. He was as polite and pleasant a fellow as you could hope to meet, and quite modest, which cannot be said for writers with half Buell's talent. Since watching Harvey Hart's film adaptation of The Pyx, I had been intrigued with Buell and intent on tracking down and reading all his novels, none of which were in print in the U.S. I found The Pyx, A Lot to Make Up For, and Playground in Montreal Bookstores, Four Days in a used bookstore in Philadelphia, and Buell was kind enough to send me an OP paperback copy of The Shrewsdale Exit after we met. His novels are the product of a rare and immense literary talent. It is our task to help keep his distinguished body of work alive in whatever ways we can. Michael Washburnhttp://washburnmedia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-9747462300695940842014-02-01T10:54:53.011-05:002014-02-01T10:54:53.011-05:00Good luck at that hospital book sale, Kent. I reme...Good luck at that hospital book sale, Kent. I remember buying old pre-romance Harlequins, Collins White Circle and News Stand Library books at 25¢ or 5 for $1 as a teenager. Can't say I cared about the contents; it was the covers that appealed. I sold everything for a fairly handsome prophet in my first move from Montreal to Vancouver and now find myself paying a premium to get some of the very same titles back.<br /> Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-36662997891485368022014-02-01T10:44:46.153-05:002014-02-01T10:44:46.153-05:00I like to think that they're still there, Ralp...I like to think that they're still there, Ralph, but then I too have seen the effects wrought by automation. Still, one would think that Concordia would do better - its Vanier Library holds the John Buell fonds, for goodness sake.<br /><br />Clearly, I'm recommending Buell. I suggest beginning with <i>Four Days</i>. Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-1232302953105502652014-01-30T12:35:08.122-05:002014-01-30T12:35:08.122-05:00I'm not sure if I still have this book and at ...I'm not sure if I still have this book and at least one more of Buell's or may have donated them in a purge. Reading your site has got me paying more attention to my older Canadian books, many of which are in boxes, and now at sales I watch for the type of older paperbacks you have mentioned. Yesterday in a thrift shop, I even took a look at the Harlequin section on the chance I might spot one of the old mysteries they published. No luck. But next week is one of our Chlidren's Hospital Book Market sales where you can often find interesting stuff in the Canadian section. Kent Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09834261948994921554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-26288483284432858342014-01-29T10:51:49.125-05:002014-01-29T10:51:49.125-05:00When I worked at the Atwater Library in the 1990s,...When I worked at the Atwater Library in the 1990s, we had multiple copies of The Pyx, and a few of his other novels, and when weeding, I would always keep them even though they hadn't been read in years and years. With automation and rigorous weeding, they've unlikely kept their shelf space. <br /><br />Interesting case of an author slipping silently into the unswept and unlit back room of obscurity. It is good we have someone like you who can shine a light into the dusty shadows. <br /><br />Though a born and bred Montrealer like yourself, I have to admit I've never read Buell. ralph mackayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15758060032139481984noreply@blogger.com