Town of Books: A Bookseller's Hay On Wye Vlog 2024 Part 1: (Mostly) Science Fiction
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- Опубліковано 28 січ 2024
- Details of the holiday let in this video are here: www.holidaycottages.co.uk/cot...
#booktube #sciencefictionbooks #bookrecommendations #sf #literaryfiction #crimefiction
Steve is joined by his veteran former bookselling colleagues Mark and Trevor as they return to Hay, the 'World's First Book Town' for three nights and two days of book hauling, convivial company and pub meals. Is Steve really right to be jaded with Hay? Has the Festival really commercialised and gentrified the town so much it has lost its ability to surprise and delight the hardcore bibliomaniac and pro bookseller?
Music: Steve Holmes (c)
Really enjoy the combination of travel video with book shopping. Thank you for the shots of train stations, lodging, pub and book shops. Appreciate the effort to include us, the viewer in the trip.
What Richard said!
What Richard said!
Thanks Richard. I love shooting outdoors and although this is now becoming a thing on SF booktube, I started doing it in Spring 2022, so I may have been one of the first. I think the journey is all part of the bookbuying experience, I liked your roadtrip shoots too.
I've only been to Hay once. We went into Murder & Mayhem, and the lady behind the counter told Jilly that she had a really kind face, and she couldn't believe she wrote science fiction! 😂
Nice one, Dave! Good to hear from ya!
Withnail and I is a very special film, at least for me. It's one of those films that transcends itself. I don't even feel like I'm watching a movie; it bypasses all my usual filters. I think Bowie's death was hard b/c the thought that one day he' wouldn't be around never crossed anyone's mind. In a way, he seemed eternal, always re-inventing his persona. He was always exploring, and when it was his time, he absorbed it, dealt with through his art, as a true artist. I've only seen Blackstar and Lazarus a few times (the videos). It's too painful for me to watch. I pray that he's at peace. I was just listening to him yesterday. It was like a drug; I stopped working just to zone out and listen. He's one of my all-time favorites, but the nostalgia--the memories--associated with his music can be a little too overwhelming, and I just have to listen to it in doses. I wonder if this kind of thing gets worse the older a man gets. Anyway, sorry for the Bowie tangent. Thanks for letting us tag along, Outlaw.
NEVER be sorry for a Bowie tangent, my friend. I feel the same. And the same about 'Withnail'.
Nice edition of Last and First Men. I had my hands on it a few weeks before but resisted in getting another copy; so glad you got it!
Thanks!
Love the Patrick Keiller viewing matter. Haven't rewatched the Robinson films for ages, must do that soon.
They belong to my friend Mark, but he has run them for me. Strange but fascinating if like me you enjoy the psychogeography.
Crikey! What a great jaunt, OB. Got a kick out of your dissertation on the accommodations. Really like the music at approx 5:40 timestamp. Looks like you had great weather. Felt as though I were there with you in that (arguably declining) Mecca for "bibliomaniacs and pro booksellers". I can imagine the gloss is gone from the magical 1980's there in Hay-On-Wye. Pity that. But you trudge on with true reverence despite. That's admirable. Glad to see you enjoyed a good life moment. I share your lament regarding the passing of a great artist, David Bowie. 'Twas a bad jolt to me. Regardless, another superb episode from The Outlaw Bookseller. Cheers and, Godspeed!
Cheers, Dean of Men! The weather wasn't too bad, apart from a little rain. It was a good trip, with part two coming up later this week. Bowie? I'll never get over that....
On Audiobooks - I listened to some SF recently (Silverberg's 'Man in the Maze', 'Downward to the Earth' and PKD 'Androids' (which I have read several times)) and found it hard going - I switched to the hard copy eventually. But, I find the audiobook format really suitable to certain types of book - folk tales, non-fiction (if it's not too theoretical/complex), music/cinema books and memoir. The Viv Albertine one, 'clothes, music, boys etc' is amazing as an audiobook. Great work as always.
Yeah, I'm not opposed to them- I just think it's a different way of experiencing the book- of course, once upon a time, there was only oral tradition and storytellers, so it's quite ancient and relevant in that way. Good to hear from you as ever, Michael.
Great, Steve. Interesting to hear your views on Hay -on-Wye and observe your trip
Thanks Jane. Part two on saturday!
Thank you very much.
I fear I won't have money left for my return fare, if I went there.
Night Shade books in America did a hardcover set of Hope Hodgson's work. Long OOP now with eye-watering prices for several of them but they are lovely definitive editions with foil-stamping on faux-leather boards. Cheap as chips when they were originally published!
I like that you cover all aspects of your visit - Give viewers a rounded sense of the place instead of just being the inside of bookshops.
"Gay-on-Wye" - Very Little Britain!! Walliams would approve.
The Night Shade edition paperbacks are still available new.
Weirdly, the HCs all have the same exact covers.
The hardbacks (5) were $40 ea when new and can still be found between $25 - $60 - if you hunt. Otherwise, it's speculators hawking the same 4 or 5 copies for $200 and never selling & other folks wondering why their "underpriced" $150 copies aren't selling. I'd send you some but shopping to the UK is quite pricy.
Good luck!;Happy hunting!
Thanks Anthony. Yeah, I'm not certain that Gay-On-Wye will survive, although as I say I'm pro any specialist bookshop these days. Although I could't get inside, it looked to me as if it was all new books and quite surface skimming: given that in print books of all kinds are easily accessible online anywhere now, the shop has a problem as a destination store- it's in the middle of nowhere, there are only 3 weeks of the year when Hay is REALLY busy and despite that fact that the 'narrative' is driving interest in LGBTQ+ issues and writing currently, this will not last as a mass thing- the reality is that the majority of people are heterosexual and once they've read a certain amount of books in this area, they will move on, so GOW will have to continue appealing to a small audience: hence my comment that I was hoping to see if they had books by cultier and more literary gay writers.
This happened with many of the black culture books published in the UK in the wake of Eddo-Lodge's 'Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race' (which had two stints in the bestseller charts, the second during lockdown in 2020). 'The Bookseller' magazine has since published articles indicating that the slew of books published afterwards has not done so well, some commentators putting this down to racism in the industry, which is nonsense, as booksellers as a rule are liberal in the extreme in terms of wishing to disseminate all kinds of writing, seeing this as a cardinal freedom that must be defended. The reality, of course, is that less than 4% of people living in Britain are black and that the market is in the mid term limited. There are certainly plenty of books on black culture, history and literature still being stocked in British bookshops.
These points lead me on to the very nature of Hay: it made its name on second-hand books from the mid 1960s until 1993, when the Festival started. The latter attracted the interest of the chattering classes- who love to be told what to read- and celeb authors (i.e. people working in the mass media who instantly get book contracts as their publicity is guaranteed) started attending. The middle classes discover the town, the houses get sold off, bookshops close down (there used to be 25 actual bookshops in Hay, there are now 14), cafes and boutiques and gift shops open up and the same classes with a bit of money to spend who fancy running a bookshop open one, but focus on the obvious new titles. The bibliophile and collector are catered for less as gentrification sets in.
I think Hay has ten more years as a centre for second hand books, then it will be finished. Ironically, because of the second homes and rentals which now make up over 25% of the houses in the town, it is now more pleasant to spend holiday time in than it was- but where one could once spend a week bookshopping there, three days is now the maximum time needed,
Thanks Steve, looks like it was far better then anticipated. Some fine finds my friend 👍
It was better, yes- as you'll see more of in part two. I had and took the time to look beyond SF and was well pleased- this also reflects where my reading is currently, though, as I'm finding genre fiction frustrating at the moment. We will do it again together and at length next time!
Thanks Dad! Was waiting for this all weak!
Gratefully received! Part two in around 5 days! Thanks!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal 5 Days 💔
I absolutely love seeing American Library editions make there way across the pond. The Le Guin and PKD omnibuses are fantastic and their edition of Le Guin's Always Coming Home is definitive in my humble opinion. I also love seeing you pull all of the lovely vintage British editions of Moorcock and company off the shelf for a look. Wonderful stuff.
Much more Moorcock coming up here soon. There is already a MM playlist here, including a couple of videos where I go through some of my collection of MM hardcover firsts, which is quite large.
Funny you should be showing off those Brian Stableford titles: I've just finished the second _Hooded Swan_ book. Good, gritty fun! I have all six and plan to read them one a month in between other books. I have quite a few Picador white spine omnibus collections of American crime/noir (Cain, Thompson, Hammett etc) but unlike yourself I'm a HUGE film noir fan! 🤗 I have that Spinrad collection too, picked it up in the wild last year, pretty good condition no remainder cut. Anyway, as always, thanks for the great video! 👍😁
I showed the Stablefords as (1) they're great (2) they are Pan Lozenge (3) I know Jon at Sci-F Scavenger is just about to start reading them. I'm very, very rarely keen on Space Opera, but these cut to the chase and rub the sandpaper into the poetry. Glad you're digging them. Those Picador crime omnibuses were superb, I have some myself, bought new back in the day, VERY handsome.
Im heading over to the UK in April! Definitely might have to hop the border and check all these bookshops!
Do. You'll need to drive- but hire a car with a Satnav!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal legend 🙌
Living on the other side of the world what a great little vlog getting a feel for your travels and finds - what a lovely spot. Thanks for sharing
Thanks. Do watch part two, up on the channel now!
A good video, Steve.
Hay looks as depressing as I remember it. Notwithstanding that you got a few decent things. The highlight for me being the Kaeti, which amazingly still had its Apocalylse... most of the copies of the limited edition I see offered for sale have lost it. I hope the numbers match! I would have picked up the Library of America set had I seen it. I know you have a thing about the paper, remember that it's popularly referred to as Bible paper, so each time you touch it you will feel closer to God.
Yeah, I usually mention the 'Bible Paper' thing with LOA, that's probably the only time I've not said it- maybe I'm becoming resigned to it....yes, the chapbook has the same number, amazing!
Finding that Kaeti complete with its Apocalypse for that price is like finding the Holy Grail for £20 in a junk shop in Newport.
What a gorgeous pub. Not at all like Wetherspoons
The Three Tuns rocks. But you can't get a decent pint of lager anywhere in Hay currently, sadly.
I always enjoy your travelogue book quests. Fascinating.
Always enjoy seeing your presence here too, my friend. Hope all is well.
Nice video Steve! Picking up on the Bowie comments and I Can't Give Everything Away, like you I found this the deepest part, a simple tune in a way but it's the tonality of the voice that's says the most (aolng with the feel of LOW). And for me, whatever we achieve we are on our own in the end. I remember saying to Grace when I heard 'Where Are We Now' that only somebody who knew of the end could have writtten such a song.
Yes. I just cannot listen to 'Blackstar'- I played it a few times when it was new, it seemed the only way to cope with the news, he was so significant for our generation- I remember getting up the monday after the friday it was released, I was going over to Cardiff to meet Dickie Owen. I put on the BBC news, as is my habit, just to look at the red button headlines and that was it. Posted on FB, started texting people. Dickie and I spoke of what a landmark moment it was, the greatest populariser of the avant-garde into the artistic appreciation of ordinary people. I can still play "Where Are we Now?" as when released and now after his passing, it seems the most germane question as we face the reality of ageing.
Great show! I would love to go there!
Wales in general is a lovely country, I love going there. Hay-on-Wye is a lovely village/town, but it gets super busy in the summer and if you ever do manage to go, reign in your expectations as far as vintage books go, and you'll probably have a nice time.
As Jason says, avoid school holidays, thursdays (market day, traffic terrible) and festival times. Weekdays are best.
I've owned for many years and read many times, the Granada Carnacki. While I love it, the framing device gets a bit tiresome if you read them all at once. My advice would be to dip in occasionally.
First and Last Men is, IMO, a masterpeice. I'm not aware of another book with that kind of scope that has basically no characters. If you think the process through, it is extremely difficult to achieve.
I've read almost all of the stories in the Library of America noir volume you picked up, but I'm still envious. I'd pay AU$40 for that set in a heartbeat. You just don't see them in my part of the world.
I think that's often the way with crime -structure shorts, they were published episodically originally and are best read that way, as you say.
The non-character nature of 'Last' is uncommon, agreed, but it's Stapledon's writing I tend to struggle with- he's not a great stylist to my way of thinking.
LOA are uncommon here too. I looked it up on Amazon Uk and it is £90. There is a later 1960s volume- again, I've read a lot of them, but am very tempted....
Great video and comment. Most enlightening.!
Cheers Paul!
I'm still sickened that Foxx was replaced by Ure in Ultravox.. A sad day.
Well, it didn't actually happen that way. Foxx left Ultravox! as he found the format constricting and wanted to go solo and more electronic. Robin Simon jumped ship too at that point. The others decided to call it a day, but soon after Midge Ure heard about it, got in touch with Cann, Cross and Currie and said 'You guys are too good to splt,' and the third incarnation of the band was born. I'll admit that lineup doesn't hold a candle to the first two, but I do like much of 'Vienna' in its own right- but after that.....
What a gorgeous bookshop. Not at all like Waterstones
Not sure which bookshop you are referring too. But any bookshop that stocks new books in the UK these days is to a large degree like Waterstones- if you do new books and are a non-specialist (and especially if your shop is small) you stock bestsellers. The 'indie bookshop chart' in 'The Bookseller' magazine is always stuffed with the same titles all sellers of new books put a front of store focus on. That's the fact of it. It's business after all.
Congrats on a nice haul from Hay, Steve. I find Hay hit and miss to be honest, sometimes I come away stoked with my treasure, and other times crushed with disappointment. When I first started going a couple of years ago I was like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. Now I can barely be bothered to drag myself out of bed. Richard Booth has become a huge let-down, their vintage SF department is really fit for the recycling bin (and I suspect they're ok with that), but luckily there are still some good shops there that makes going there worth it. Cheers for the vid, Jason.
It is hit and miss for SF now, mostly miss I'd say. It's nothing compared to the 80s and 90s, when it was absurdly good. Richard Booth is now pretty much a waste of time for secondhand, despite looking better than it ever has done. Cheers Jason.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal 😢
I laugh when i hear a reader/ collector / (righteous) hoader says its not a haul . I speak of and about myselfy, from personal experience 😂 . Steve...artist or not no one wants to go " gently into the night ".. How much S F ....( not fantasy ) is teamed around death i wonder . Farmer , Watson.....Spot on , on physical vs audio book . Besids ,....try tossing a kindle away in vextation when you dont like the story😂. Moorcock books , love the cover art . Thanks for the take along .b
Pleasure as always, Sylvan, great to hear from you.
Absorbing as usual. I cheered when Guilmero Del Toro copped some shade as NIGHTMARE ALLEY got mentioned. Nobody I know thinks he is overrated, though like Rob Zombie, a very a nice bloke with good taste. Goldfrap: amazing musician, great anecdote.
Yes, he's clearly a good guy- as is Zombie, who I'd love to see live for the show (quite like some of the songs too)- but DT just overcooks things with his sugary cod-Gothic style.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Tim Burton also guilty on that front
@@michaeldaly1495 ...and then some!
Wonderful Vlog good Sir!!
Cheers. Part two later this week- and check out the Hay-on-Wye playlist here, multiple visits, book hauls, commentary etc.
The Aleister Crowley of lager. Say no more about it.
Right on. I do wish I could find a decent pint there- it's all Madri and Prahva, neither ideal.
when I was in Hay last Summer it was rammed, couldn’t get in the Three Tuns alas.
Loved this video.
From philosophical musings to the satisfaction of the scopaphilic drive; A Cymric tour de force!
( Too much? Probably should have saved this for after the second video. . .
Still. . .)
Hey, you're on (a bus-man's) holiday,
I was NOT going to hassle you about your beer! Promise.
Still, you've got to admit it's kinda neat that one of your real ale fans is in the States. . .
Thank you for showing off the cool Moorcock covers! I especiall Love the great earthy/psychadelic Corum covers! I can't believe that there are Moorcock covers that I still haven't seen!
LOVE that Noir recommendation story!
Epilogue/coda: priceless!
Thanks Walter. Part two later this week- I'm assuming you've watched the rest of my Hay-On-Wye playlist?
@@outlawbookselleroriginal To my knowledge. I saw one or two that lacked "likes" & watched & said "I've seen this" - I think UA-cam pulls likes sometimes (unpopular conspiracy theory, I know, but. . . ) or perhaps it's a browser thing,
I doublechecked the Hay out & about you mentioned in part 2 & yes, I remember it , even commented.
But as you gather strength, YT has been obsessed w/ suggesting back catalogue episodes, so I've been assisting the algorythm and rewatching where I can. It reminds me of so many good suggestions: I wish there was a "Master List".
@@waltera13 Well, if you watch on a PC or smart TV, you can just sort by oldest date on the 'Videos' section and start from the beginning...!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Hahaha, I'm sorry.
I was unclear.
" I wish there was a master list of *book titles* discussed."
@@waltera13 If I do that, the trouble is, people don't watch the videos- that's why I ban anyone who posts lists of what I've covered in the comments. Self-preservation of channel, I'm afraid!
Mr. O
I am subscribed to your videos but never get notification of new stuff.
I stumble across it by accident.
Why is that?
(I stumble across lots of things by accident on my way home from the pub).
I have no idea why you're not getting notifications. Have you hit the notification bell? I upload 2-3 times a week and have done for 28 months- only this January have I cut output to 1-2 vids a week. I normally upload tuesday, thursday and saturday when on three a week. The channel will stabilise in Febuary and go to a schedule of tuesday and saturdy. Just check it regularly and all the backlist (400+ videos) is all there to watch. Cheers!
It's not a real bookshop if the floors don't creak.. Thank you, for another stimulating video, I especially appreciated the Withnail line. "Don't threaten me with a dead fish" haha, cheers
If you want creaky floors, the Cinema bookshop is the place to go 🤣
@@KiwiExpressCream , the second floor at least 😉
@@EventHorizonModels The second floor is the only one worth going to 😄
Yes, you can't creep around Hay....
First floor in the UK, of course. Another 'divided by a common language' example!
I sent you some emails, did you get them?
Yes, tied up with earlier correspondence currently, will get back to you over weekend.
Ditch all this SF nonsense Stephen and concentrate on travelogues and musings. Much more interesting. Seriously though, I'm trying to work out if I travelled from Newcastle to Hay by public transport whether or not I would be disappointed. The apparent shrinkage of bookshops there is a bit of a downer to be sure. Do you think that is generally symptomatic of reading trends these days ? I only know of three dedicated bookshops within a 10 mile radius of me and two of those are charity shops. Anyway, enough of that - it's depressing. I'm not a crime fiction fan myself but I do appreciate a nice slipcased edition so I understand your joy at bagging that one. Excellent price too. I'm guessing the Roberts signed and limited was worth the trip alone. When we have site to site teleportation I might give it a go. Anyway, nice video.
Great to hear from you, Kenny. Don't tempt me, I love filming outdoors and at different locations but a lot of my more conservative 'I'm here for SF' viewers don't go near any of my videos that don't look like bog standard 'sci-fi' stuff- their loss, of course, as the genre always gets a mention in some way.
Re the bookshops thing, I think it's two factors: (1) the ease of the internet and (2) shops losing their bottle and not stocking anything other than the crowdpleasing stuff as they think 'those people who might want this go online anyway' - they forget the power of the impulse buy, serendipity and the 'I want it now' factor. I blame the music industry, the only Cultural Production stream that is like books- instead of closing down the illegal filesharers overnight with legal writs, instead they dropped range from their shops. So they stop selling stuff because it forces people online for range and end of closing down...sad!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, I hear you. I wish I could travel back in time - a time when you could buy all the great SF from the US with no bother at all. I was in one of those charity shops I mentioned just today and I would estimate that 90-odd percent of a decentish sf section was populated by the sub-Tolkein fantasy tripe that offends my eyes and sensibilities. Apologies to anybody who reads that stuff but I can only speak as I find. But I guess that's where we're at so if shops don't stock it then it's bye bye. Then there's the (ghost)"written" epics by all the celebrities. As a bookseller that must depress the heck out of you as well. Happy days . . . .
@@kennyrh9269 Yes, 'Product Pubolishing' has always been with us, but it seems to get worse, not better....