Friday Four?

azarsuerte's media meme.

1. Out-of-print books that shouldn't be out of print?

I don't know if it's out of print, but I can never seem to find a copy of The First Two Lives of Lucas-Kasha, by Lloyd Alexander. Every other book by him, but not that. And I don't know if it's in print in the US, but if not it ought to be: Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer. And while we're on the subject, I never saw the point of making a third edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage, and if this means that the second edition is now out of print I shall be Very Cross Indeed.

Otherwise, I'm pleased to see that many of the books I want have recently been reissued. I find that the problem isn't so much "is this book in print?" but "is there a copy available to me". There are a lot of books which are technically in print but which one can never seem to find copies of them or even get a bookstore to order them; or they're only in print in ridiculously expensive hardcover editions from OUP.

2. Underappreciated authors?

Say it with me, everyone: ALAN FURST. Amazing thrillers set in Europe in the 1930s. So much better than everything else in the genre. And now they're back in print, so you all have no excuse for not running out to buy a copy of Night Soldiers or Dark Star.

And in the US, Reginald Hill, who not only writes a damned fine police procedural, but also turns the police procedural into something deep and literary, without being pretentious. Or not too pretentious, anyway. It's hard to describe: the books just get better and better and more and more complicated. Also Iain Pears, who really should have won a Booker for Instance of the Fingerpost or The Dream of Scipio.

3. Great TV shows cut off in their prime/infancy?

American Gothic. Still the scariest thing I've ever seen on TV, and so excellent in every respect. And cut off while yet in its infancy. Sniff. How I miss that show, even though it was getting weirder than XFiles mytharc by the end.

Arguably, it was the fear of being cut off which led to the downward spiral of Babylon 5, but that's not quite the same.

4. Great movies that flopped?

Oddly enough, I can't think of one. Obviously, I don't go see enough movies. Or else my brain is just fried.

Have a nice weekend, everybody!