Fifty Forgotten Books - by R B Russell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Fifty Forgotten Books is a very special sort of book about books, by a great bookman and for book-people of all ages and levels of experience. Not quite literary criticism, not quite an autobiography, it is at once a guided tour through the dusty backrooms of long vanished used bookstores, a love letter to bookshops and bookselling, and a browser's dream wish list of often overlooked and unloved novels, short story collections, poetry collections and works of nonfiction.

In these pages, R. B. Russell, publisher of Tartarus Press, doesn't only discuss the books of his life, but explains what they have meant to him over time, charting his progress as a writer and publisher for over thirty years . . . and a bibliophile for many more. Here is living proof of how literature, books, and book collecting can be an intrinsic part of one's personal, professional and imaginative life, and as not only a solitary act, but a social one, resulting in treasured friendships, experiences, and loves one might never, otherwise, have enjoyed.

Filled with a lively nostalgia for the era when finding strange new books meant pounding the pavement and not just filling in search engines, Fifty Forgotten Books is for anyone who wishes they could still browse the dusty bookshelves of their youth, and who can't wait to get back out into the world in quest of the next text liable to change their life.

Review Quotes

"A groovy and delicious and intimate jigsaw of memories and
passions and books, and schisms and oddities and books--Ray Russell is a
bibliomaniac that it is a delight to spend time with. Falling in love with
books voraciously, whilst growing up ferociously, has never been so beautifully
described--a memoir that is as accurate and enthralling as it is dreamlike--just
like the books about which he writes with such love!" --David Tibet

"R. B. Russell's beautifully told part-memoir gives us the
story of a life lived alongside books, and the joyous way in which those dusty
first editions often reverberate throughout our lives." --Ed Parnell

"A
compelling celebration of reading, writing, publishing and the unexpected
treasures to be found in second hand bookshops. Ray Russell writes so
eloquently about his deep love of books as things in themselves but also his
joy of discovering the new, the strange--those books that act as life's
waymarkers." --Andrew Michael Hurley

"Absolutely wonderful. A unique and enchanting memoir
like no other. A book lover's paean to the volumes that made him, which also
opens a window on his soul. Charming, vivid, and singularly evocative."
--Jeremy Dyson

"Decadents, bohemians, cult musicians,
the odd (very odd) spy, shady publishers, backstreet booksellers, writers of
the weird and wayward, they're all here. R. B. Russell's memoir gives us
literature on the edge, in all its wonderful strangeness." --Mark Valentine

"This is a book to send you scurrying to the dusty
mote-filled light of the secondhand book shop, to the chilliness of the jumble
sale, to late nights at the blue screen of the laptop, seeking out the books
you don't know and can't wait to know, and to renew old acquaintances. A memoir
and commonplace book as delicate, suggestive and enchanting as the books
themselves." --Stuart Maconie

"Whether Russell is remembering his discovery of Arthur Machen,
chronicling his sometimes comic negotiations with the crafty bookdealer George
Locke, or reflecting on his own personal library of tatty paperbacks, signed
firsts and rare association copies, he makes clear that a bookish life can be
an enviably rewarding one, replete with the quiet satisfactions of the study,
the rowdy pleasures of the literary conference, and warm friendships with the
learned, the widely read and, not least, the winningly eccentric." --Michael
Dirda

Praise for R. B. Russell

"Highly engaging. . . . Among the leading practitioners of classic supernatural fiction." --Michael Dirda

"Lovers of obscure authors and literature will welcome this eclectic collection . . . from British editor Russell. His easy, accessible style is a delight to read." --Publishers Weekly

"Ray Russell's stories . . . are captivating for their depth of mystery and haunting melancholy. These qualities place Russell in a tradition of authors that includes Sheridan Le Fanu and Ramsey Campbell, storytellers whose works proceed with a creeping uneasiness that leaves a lasting impression on the reader." --Thomas Ligotti

About the Author

R. B. Russell is an author, composer, and publisher, co-running Tartarus Press with Rosalie Parker. As a fiction writer, he has published four collections of short fiction, three novellas, and one novel to date.