STJ's complete HPL biography in 2010

Not only is the missing chunk of text restored, but the entire book has been carefully gone over, amended and updated. S. T. worked on this new edition strenuously and the results are going to be the definitive biography of H. P. Lovecraft for all time. If you can, buy two or three sets, because once it goes o. p. they will begin selling for anywhere from $500 to $1,000.
 
Cannot wait! June is very close now. Wonder why they haven't posted cover art yet.
 
I'll sound like a complete fool for asking this, but what exactly is so exciting about this book :confused:? What will it contain that other biographies of his doesn't? I like the fiction the man wrote, and only know of his life and work from what I read on the Net, but I can't seem to understand this excitement. Will it have some unreleased works of Lovecraft or something like that?
 
IIRC, the hardback of that went out of print BEFORE publication. But it was only 250 copies, on the other hand.

I think you are right on this... I had a vague memory of this being the case, but wasn't certain. At any rate, it was OP incredibly quickly, and almost immediately began demanding high prices on the market; I don't think this one will be any different....
 
I'll sound like a complete fool for asking this, but what exactly is so exciting about this book :confused:? What will it contain that other biographies of his doesn't? I like the fiction the man wrote, and only know of his life and work from what I read on the Net, but I can't seem to understand this excitement. Will it have some unreleased works of Lovecraft or something like that?

The book will be a two-volume study of H. P. Lovecraft's Life and Work, written by the world's leading H. P. Lovecraft scholar, a man who has a keen (an almost strange) affinity with H. P. Lovecraft. It investigates the story of Lovecraft's life, Lovecraft's mind, Lovecraft's writings. For those of us who are obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, this book is incredibly exciting. Part of that excitement comes from how absolutely magnificent the first version of this book is that was published by Necronomicon Press, a book that had praise from Harold Bloom and was reviewed in, I believe, The New York Times by Joyce Carol Oates (a review that is reprinted as introduction in her selection of Lovecraft's tales). I am especially addicted to reading of Lovecraft's life as a writer, the history of when he wrote the tales, under what circumstances, and the initial response from early readers. I became obsessed with learning about Lovecraft's life from reading the first three volumes of his Selected Letters from Arkham House -- the personality revealed in those letters utterly beguiled and intoxicated me; that personality made me into a writer of weird fiction. Lovecraft's life is as exciting as his fiction, and the story of that life is fascinating, because it involves the history of Weird Tales and its writers, the people that made up "the Lovecraft Circle," and a vital period in the history of fantastic fiction in America. This history is of immense importance and interest, and H. P. Lovecraft is at its center. This book will usher in a new generation of keen-minded people who will approach Lovecraft as a serious artist and thus it will sow the seeds for the future of Lovecraft scholarship as never before. It will be a magick set of books, of enormous interest and value. Ah! Oh! Ia!
 
Cannot wait! June is very close now. Wonder why they haven't posted cover art yet.

It may be that the image of young Lovecraft that they have will be the cover image. It was the image used on Ellen Datlow's Lovecraft Unbound. A photo of Lovecraft is the best cover image as far as I'm concerned, even for collections of his fiction.
 
Ah! I see. Interesting, I am tempted to order the book. This won't be hardcover would it?
 
Wilum has said a lot of it there. But there is also the fact that Lovecraft's work and his life are inextricably intertwined; to fully understand either, you need to have a good look at both. In many ways, he is the epitome of that approach that a writer isn't writing on book, or a story, or a poem, or even a line at a time, he (or she) is putting a life on paper -- metaphorically, in many cases, but nonetheless doing so -- telling people "this is where I am today, and this is what it looks like"... they are, if they are genuine artists rather than solely simply entertainers -- giving a view of the universe through another's eyes, and thereby enhancing our own experience of life. With Lovecraft, there is so much that informs his fiction, but is not necessarily easily discernible in a shallow reading of it, because to make such overt within the context of the tales themselves would be to distract attention from that "unity of effect" for which he strove in his art. Yet, through knowledge of his letters, the facts of his life, his verse, his essays, etc., all these other aspects come forth and the work itself becomes all the richer for it; one begins to see the incredible layers of complexity and how that fiction genuinely relates to life and an understanding of real human beings, real emotions, real experiences, rather than being only a weaving of a fantastic tale (skillful as it may be).

And, quite frankly, Lovecraft was a fascinating individual, a mind whose like is extremely rare. His life was itself, in many ways, a work of art, one which continued to develop, grow, and put forth strange and beautiful fruit until well after the man was gone. One may disagree with his views; some of them may even be repulsive or offensive... but it is almost impossible to be bored with Lovecraft the man; and a good biography (and this is almost certainly the best that can ever be written... I do not at all think T. E. D. Klein was mistaken when he likened Joshi's biography of Lovecraft to Boswell's Life of Johnson in either skill or importance) provides a rich, albeit somewhat condensed, look into that life, as seen by a truly erudite, informed, and sympathetic (in the original sense of that word) writer of no small skill himself. It is a journey not to be missed....
 
Ah! I see. Interesting, I am tempted to order the book. This won't be hardcover would it?

Indeed, it will... doing something like this in paperback would almost immediately doom it to disintegration. This is going to be a very sizable pair of volumes, and intended for much usage....
 
Thank you for that incredible answer, both of you :). The only thing that's keeping me back is the price of the volumes, I had planned on getting tons of other books to read over the summer, but I'm not sure what to do here. I will have to make up my mind soon though, 'cause from the looks of it, this book will sell out fast. Will it be printed in limited quantities?
 
Do not hesitate, and order this book. Yet it will be limited. Once it sells out, it will instantly command prices twice or thrice the current amount. But that's not as imprortant in the investment sense as what you're getting between the covers. And their other books, like my personal favorite Collected Essays in five volumes, are just as astoundingly amazing. Quality books. Things to be treasured and read with pleasure and excitement, because you're holding really special volumes.
 
If Derrick has any common sense he will keep the book in print in a two volume paperback edition. I am going to insist that he does. Concerning the covers, once more, I suspect that each volume will have its own distinctive cover, perhaps a photo of young Lovecraft in the first and a photo of Lovecraft late in life for Volume II.
 
I just started off on HP Lovecraft - A Life . Joshi is known as the authority on HPL and if anything he appears determined to prove that in this book. Almost every sentence here is qualified by quotes, sources and opinions/clarifications from the biographer. Not a breezy read and sometimes a wee bit irritating for how much Joshi intrudes into the proceedings (I hear his brisk and enthusiastic voice breaking in each time), but quite interesting so far and I expect it to get a lot more so. Some 80 pages in (of about 650 in all) and we see a Lovecraft on the cusp of adulthood and the things to come.

I hope this isn't hijacking the thread :) (Perhaps this could be a thread to discuss all the biographies instead of just people speculating on the price and availability of the upcoming one)
 
A little more in, and HPL - A Life is looking to be one of the most engrossing things I've read. Joshi with all his affection gives a very objective and humor-laced appraisal of Lovecraft's character. Given Lovecraft's enthusiasm for conducting flame wars in print, he would have probably loved the Internet, his horrors of ungrammatical language notwithstanding.
 
[...]his horrors of ungrammatical language notwithstanding.

Ummm... you should see the original version of the William Lumley tale "The Diary of Alonzo Typer", before HPL got hold of it....:rolleyes:

Wilum: I must admit that at the moment, I'm drawing a blank (probably due to lack of sleep). But I'll try to come up with something... assuming that he won't be coming by in the next day or so.....
 

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