Shelf of Shame #6

HEY KRESKIN !!
WANNA GUESS AGAIN...??

HOW AND WHEN THE WORLD WILL END
Rev. Joseph Wild. Toronto: George Virtue: 1886. 12mo. xiii + 420 + (12). frontis portrait of the author. Green cloth, with gilt lettering to spine.

I guess it wasn't a case of "fourth time lucky" either.



For Further Research:
Note on Jospeh Wild, D.D.
For info on the Ten Lost Tribes, just google that phrase and take your pick.

Shelf of Shame #5a

(C)ANAL BOY: the sequel

I must confess that I was so eager to post this book I didn't actually bother to read any of it, and without a doubt I should have. Given the accidental re-titling, some of the text from the first page reads, I feel certain, a little differently than its author intended:

"Sixteen, Sean was, old enough to know it was folly to touch or even eye too closely what was not his... the butts were of ivory... each demanded that Sean reach out... that he feel the fitted curve of the butt in his grip, that he delight in its singular beauty..."

Or, two pages later: "The desire stole over him to touch one... to know the feel of it, so that when he was old he might remember and think to himself: I once held in my hand a pistol - such a rare, lovely pistol..."

Or two pages beyond that: "My own son, I am positive, could not have resisted the opportunity to examine such a beautiful pair."

Many thanks to the always hilarious Punky for noticing this unintentional lewdness, and pointing it out to me straight away.

Shelf of Shame #5

WHEN LIBRARIES GO WRONG !!

(C)ANAL BOY
Marion Greene. 1959: Macmillan: Toronto. 8vo. pp.152. Illustrations by Vernon Mould. Blue boards w. red titles to spine. Dj.

You'd like to think that a high-school library would pay some attention to the placement of their bar-code stickers. Whether or not it was simply "one of those days" or an all-out freudian manifestation we shall never know - but be it careless or deliberate, my gratitude goes out to this long-lost libertine-longing librarian.

I realize I haven't posted anything in a long, long time - but this little gem absolutely made my day, and I hope it is the catalyst to get me back on track again.

Shelf of Shame #4

THE SHERIFF OF DYKE HOLE
Ridgwell Cullum
Toronto: Copp Clark Co. Ltd: 1909. 1st Candian edition. small 8vo. viii + 338pp. Grey-blue boards, w. gilt titles to front cover and spine.

I have three questions:
1) What's the salary?
2) What are the benefits? (other than the obvious)
3) When can I start?



I have to admit the title sold me right away - yet another fine example of verbiage that was once innocent and unremarkable, made hilarious by the innate vulgarity of the modern era, where everything is at least vaguely lewd. And before you accuse me of being the only one who makes such connections, the lady from whom I bought it today at a garage sale looked at it and said "The Sheriff of, um, uh..." trailing off awkwardly, unable to complete the title, before hastily adding "Well, I certainly don't remember that one..."

With that in mind, some of the more notable Chapter headings are:
VI. Dyke Hole Prepares
XII. Circus Day in Dyke Hole
XVI. Domestic Affairs in Dyke Hole
XVII. Scandal in Dyke Hole
XIX. Dick Roydon Takes the Plunge


For Further Research:

By all accounts, Ridgwell Cullum (whose real name was Sydney Groves Burghard) led a full and interesting life. A brief biography & bibliography can be found here.

In tone and content, his oeuvre is somewhat smiliar to that of Zane Grey, although the latter seems to have enjoyed a lasting popularity. Sad, since the only Z.G. titles that even come close to matching "Sheriff of Dyke Hole" for unitentional perversity are: "Under The Tonto Rim" (1926) and "Raiders of the Spanish Peaks" (1938) - though one could make a case for posthumously published "Shower of Gold" (2007) which, however, is merely an unabridged version of 1915's "Desert Gold".

Sound of Shame #2

JESSE CRAWFORD:
Organ Fantasies
Spin-O-Rama Records, n.d.


Well, if you're going to think about such things, the Poet of the Organ is as good a candidate as anyone, I suppose. But it doesn't make you a bad person if you do fantasize about someone else's organ once in a while...


Acquired recently while garage sailing. To learn more about the Poetic man who wants you to fantasize about his organ, click here.