Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore

Rating:
Summary: Strike Two
Review: "Slightly Chipped", by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone is the second offering on what is supposed to be their continuing exploration of the world of book collecting. However, just as in their first book, "Used And Rare", the topic of books serves to provide these people with a continuous stream of targets for abuse. Please do not take to heart their description of what it is like to collect books nor of what type of people you will likely encounter while doing so.

To give you an idea of how far this book routinely strays from the alleged topic, what follows are direct quotes. The first takes place at a gathering at a library amongst a small group who are present to learn about very rare books. Any one of the volumes could be the subject of an entire book, but books are just a tangent in this brief and shallow memoir. While they do not hesitate to name the person they describe, and also list his occupation, I offer just a fragment out of the respect for privacy they show no concern for. "He was the kind of person whom Hollywood casts as the computer junkie who uses the Internet to lure young women to his apartment for.................." This is what they choose to describe as books from nearly a millennia ago are passed around the table. A book by William Morris is part of the evening's discussion. Mr. Morris produced some of the most prized limited editions of the late 19th Century. Here, that is almost a footnote when compared to his personal life, which rambles on for pages.

These people cannot even visit a bookstore that I know well, without adding this bit of irrelevant mean-spirited commentary on Torrington CT. ".thus providing the grimness and depressedness of Torrington for that much longer". Canton is described as, "hardly a town at all", and they quiz the owner on why he is located in such a difficult location. Our authors have moved to Fairfield CT. since their last book, an area that allows them to name drop the famous and wealthy, one of whom had to change homes because the light at The Yacht Club shone into his bedroom. What any of this has to do with books is beyond me.

Collecting books is a wonderful hobby. Shop owners generally will spend vast amounts of time, sharing their knowledge and love of books. I have been present when booksellers have taken a personal check for several thousand dollars on the final day of a show, from a person they never met, hours before they were to fly across the Atlantic to their shop in England. As a group, book collectors and dealers are wonderful people who share what Author Nicholas Basbanes has called, "A Gentle Madness". The authors do not enjoy this state of mind, rather, like the title of this book what rests upon their shoulders may be slightly chipped, however a large portion remains firmly in place.

Rating:
Summary: Slightly Chipped
Review: Having first read Used and Rare I was disappointed in the quality of this work. This collection of essays is too disjointed, never really focusing on anything for long enough or maintaining a single theme. While the stories themselves are entertaining it just isn't on par with the rest of the Goldstones work. Having later read Out of the Flames I must say that the Goldstones need to stick to one topic per book and not to try another collection of essays without a common thread between them.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite as good as the previous one....
Review: I was so excited to see a new Goldstone book about book collecting out. I loved "Used and Rare" and reread it several times (and I'm not a rereader). While "Slightly Chipped" is quite good, and I would recommend it to book lovers, it doesn't quite have the excitement and thrill of discovery conveyed in "Used and Rare". There are some long digressions (one about Bloomsbury, one about mystery novels, one about the Southeby's auction of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's stuff) and less on the thrill of hunting down books and the excitement of discovering something new. There are also fewer descriptions of the eccentric book dealers (maybe the Goldstones have become wary of offending their booksellers?). It's a good book, an enjoyable book, but I just don't think it's quite as good or enjoyable as "Used and Rare".

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious and distasteful
Review: If you like name-dropping and looking down your nose at honest helpful people, you might like this book. The Goldstones seem pretentious and obnoxious. Too much of the book is filled with discusions of fashion and restaurants. I was hoping they'd talk more about books.

The book is a disservice to book lovers. I wish someone would write a book about book collecting that was infused with a love of books, rather than this blather. Save your money. Buy books by Nicholas Basbanes and John Dunning and John Baxter and Robert Wilson and Paul Collins instead.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, Slightly Chipped but a fun read.
Review: Many of the Amazon reviews are, in my opinion, accurate relative to a degradation from USED AND RARE, the Goldstone's first book extolling their rare book exploits. However, SLIGHTLY CHIPPED is nevertheless a fun and enticing read.

In USED AND RARE, the Goldstone's are introduced to the world of used and rare (appropo title) books via a bet to purchase a substantive yet cheap birthday present. USED AND RARE throws the reader into the incredibly obscure but fascinating "cult" of rare book collecting. For the bibliophile, this is analogous to an "edge of your seat" mystery. For the unafflicted, perhaps just a different albeit fun ride. SLIGHTLY CHIPPED is the sequel (Book 2 of 3 in the series) to USED AND RARE and continues the Goldstone's journey toward "BiblioNhirvana." By the way, Book 3 in this series is WARMLY INSCRIBED (if interested).

SLIGHTLY CHIPPED finds the Goldstones as now seasoned collectors of rare books and dives into a variety of peripheral side stories which detracts from the "romance" of the original storyline. Perhaps the most interesting tangental story in this offering was the Goldstones venture to the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia. This foray was specifically to view the manuscript to Bram Stoker's DRACULA. They go into great detail in describing the Museum, Stoker's biohistory, and the manuscript itself. This is truly a fascinating story.

On the other side of the coin, we are subjected to the same level of detail regarding Bloomsbury. I'll not bore you with the detail of this equally obscure mini-series of books except to say that while potentially entertaining, it was out of place in this book. This type of off-tangent minutae is the only reason this book is "slightly chipped."

Another side story is the auction of the contents of the Duke and Duchess of Windor by Sothebys. This auction ultimately brought approximately $24 million and included a number of collectible books. The Goldstones go into great detail as to how they obtained admittance to the auction (as contract writers for "Biblio" magazine) to the procedural aspects of the auction itself. This discussion is interesting, if for no other reason than to glean the details of an auction of this size and notoriety.

One of the more poignant issues raised by the Goldstones is their discussion of the internet's dramatic and unexpected (at least to them) impact on rare book collecting. This reader picked up numerous resources to locate and secure first editions and other rare tomes. Its quite obvious that the internet is becoming the leader in used and rare book offerings.

This should be considered a solid followup to USED AND RARE albeit less entertaining. Still, if collectibles or general book knowledge is your cup of tea, you will absolutely enjoy this book. A word of caution: read these books in order 1) USED AND RATE and then 2) SLIGHTLY CHIPPED.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, it is slightly chipped, but still good
Review: Slightly Chipped is the second of three books on books and book collecting by the Goldstones (the first and third are Used and Rare, and Warmly Inscribed, respectively). It takes a slightly different tack than the first book, which was primarily about the Goldstones learning about the world of used and rare books and dealers.

This book delves deeper into some of the stories behind books and authors. Though both books are didactic, the pleasure aspect of the learning is slightly diminished in this sequel. The author and book stories feel a little more shoehorned in than in Used and Rare. Also, the Goldstones have lost their innocence in the world of book collecting, as it were. This is natural enough, but one of the great pleasures of Used and Rare was feeling like you were learning right along with the Goldstones. This book feels more like they're trying to teach you.

Don't get me wrong, this book is good as well as entertaining. It's just not up to the level of the first book in the series. If you liked the first book, you will probably like this as well. If you have not read the first book, read it first; you will be happy you did.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Disappointed in 'Slightly Chipped'
Review: This book was a disappointment. I expected to read more about interesting bookstores, their owners, and quests for elusive books. Instead, the Goldstones digressed. Only a handfull of bookstores were explored. Large parts of the book were occupied by the Bloomsbury crowd, the Edgar awards, the Cudjo story, and the Sotheby auction at which the Goldstones bought no books. I will carefully read reviews of future Goldstone books in this series before purchasing.

Rating:
Summary: very disappointing
Review: This is the sequel to the Goldstone's first effort on book collecting, Used and Rare. The book goes back and forth between fascinating and boring as they veer away from their intended topic at times.

The opening chapter entails the Goldstone's first visit to Boston after the publication of Used and Rare. Besides going to the Spring Antiquarian Book Fair that they were there for, and some of their usual used book haunts, they also went to many new book stores in attempts to see how they were selling. As the book was being reviewed nicely, they hoped to even find some copies on display. To their dismay, the only store they found a copy at, had the book in the Literary Criticism section, what the clerk referred to as the garbage collection of the book store, where they put the books they didn't know how else to classify.

At the Fair itself, the couple meets a couple of Book Dealers from their area and make a decent sized purchase of UK First Edition Moderns (both Mrs. Bridge and Anatomy Lessons and Other Stories by Evan Connell, and Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night). They were especially intrigued by the more interesting and colorful dust jackets the UK versions had in comparison to the comparable US versions. Where this particular section slowed was in the lengthy quotation from Mrs. Bridge which seemed to serve as filler to inflate the book to it's just over 200 page length.

That is where the book falls to the level of an average read. When they discuss book collecting, used book stores, library sales, book fairs, auctions, and internet usage for this profession, the book flies by with beautiful descriptions. It is interesting, enlightening, and entertaining. When the book slides into history lessons on some of the specifics: Evan Connell, Bloomsbury, Churchill and the Windsors, it gets away from the topic and is very distracting. These sections are slow, and in all honesty, not very interesting. They are not the reason the reader has picked up this book. Personally, I only was able to read two of these such sections with any interest, one on the Edgar Awards, and one on Bram Stoker's notes for writing Dracula. I believe these were not boring to me because of my previous interest in these topics.

A particularly interesting topic they discover is that of Hypermoderns. That is, authors who are very recent who start off with low print runs, explode in popularity and see their early works elevate into low four figure collector's items while they are less than 20 years old. Examples were mainly those of mystery writers like John Le Carre or Sue Grafton's A is for Alibi. Mystery writers typically start off with print runs of less than 5000 copies in their first works. When a particularly successful series moves on, first press runs are up near the 100,000 mark. Quite a large group of people looking for that first work all of the sudden.

I am surprised at some of the comments the couple makes in regards to dealers, or other people they encounter; they are not hypocritical. If they have negative thoughts, they put them in writing. They don't appear to have any fear about possible future meetings or dealings with them.

If you are a fellow bibliophile, you will enjoy the book. There are several tips on finding books you're looking for, many descriptions of the different types of collecting, the various places and types of sales. You can tell from their descriptions of the books that they purchase that the Goldstones love books. Their comments are filled with adoration towards the authors, publishers, etc. They are also very kind towards certain dealers and stores that they admire.

When the book stays it's course (which I understand they did with Used and Rare), it is worthy of four stars. Unfortunately, it strays into the less interesting two star categories just as often. It is this combination that makes this an average 3 star effort.