John K. King Books

[osprey_archer]

With a flying update I burst across the internet like a meteor! A small, sniffly meteor, laid low by a head cold, but nonetheless hopeful that the cold will subside in time for the next leg of my journey.

In the days since I have posted, I have been camping at the Indiana Dunes, with a side jaunt to the Art Institute of Chicago on the South Shore Railway (the last of the interurban railways that once laced Indiana, insert rant here about how I could have been taking the railway between Indianapolis and West Lafayette for years if the car companies hadn't bought the railways up in order to run them into the ground decades ago). Delightful! One of my favorite things is the Tiffany window as you go up the main stairs, which will land you right at the Impressionist exhibit, where you will be greeted by Caillebotte's Rainy Day, Paris Street, one of those paintings that it looks like you can walk right into.

Then it was up to Michigan to visit my old friend Micky (I've known her since fifth grade! How long ago that seems now), with a side jaunt to John K. King Books in Detroit.

My friends, this bookstore is perfection. It is an old warehouse, four stories high, a maze of books so vast that there are maps by the entryway, and as you explore the breezes drift through the open windows, for the place still has no air conditioner, so stepping inside feels like slipping through the cracks into the past. (I concede that this is a more pleasant thing to do on a cool September day than it might be in, say, July.)

I spent four hours there, and could have stayed more, but (1) I needed to be back in time for dinner (Detroit style pizza! Which appears identical to what the pizza parlor of my youth called a deep-dish Sicilian, which was my favorite, so I was glad to be reunited with it), and (2) I was struggling to carry all my books, so it was time to call it quits. Until next time, sweet John K. King...

My finds! My hoard! My precious treasure!

1. Doris Gates' Little Vic, another horse book, illustrated by Kate Seredy! Apparently I've decided to try to ferret out all her books if I can.

2. TWO Mary Stolzes: Bartholomew Fair (historical fiction) and Good-bye My Shadow (no idea what that ones about, but hey, the title is promising). Hopefully I'm not trying to find all of her books, as she wrote SO MANY, but all signs point in that direction.

(Also checked for books by Vivien Alcock, Penelope Farmer, and Anne Lindbergh, but no love on those quests. And forgot to see if they had any Naomi Mitchison! A fool, a fool...)

3. Mary Renault's Return to Night, which I never thought to see in the wild! Also The Praise Singer, which I definitely have seen in the wild before, but they had a nice copy and that you don't always see; used Renault books often look like they've been read to bits.

4. MANY books by Audrey Erskine Lindop! This is a quest I have undertaken on behalf of skygiants, who has been seeking Lindop books for many a year... and apparently in those years, Lindop's works have been quietly congregating in John K. King Books! I found Journey into Stone, The Self-Appointed Saint, The Singer Not the Song (the extremely gay bandit & priest book), and the ACTUALLY gay Details of Jeremy Stretton, published in 1955, and possessed of a forward written by "a Consultant of Psychiatry," who assures us that "it is written with understanding and compassion, yet without any false sentimentality; and, from a lifetime of experience in medico-psychological work, I can add that it is written with sincerity and truth."

Naturally I've started with that one. Will report back!

5. LAST BUT NOT LEAST. I found not one, but TWO D. K. Brosters! The Yellow Poppy - and The Flight of the Heron!

All in all most successful, a fine and excellent day. Someday I shall have to go back! For now, however, it is enough to gloat over my spoils.

Comments

[katherine]

That seems a delightful day and a very good haul!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, it was a wonderful day! An excellent haul.

[asakiyume]

Hahaha, I saw some post somewhere where skygiants talked about expecting a visit later from a friend who had managed to find a WHOLE BUNCH of some books that she, Skygiants, had been wanting, and I thought, I wonder....

Very nice!

[osprey_archer]

Hahaha yes, that's me! I had almost forgotten to check, too, but right when I started thinking that maybe I ought to go I remembered, Oh, right, better see if there's any Audrey Erskine Lindop. And then there was half a shelf full!

[skygiants]

HAPPY AUDREY ERSKINE LINDOPTOBER TO ME

[rachelmanija]

I like Bartholomew Fair. I've never heard of Good-bye, My Shadow.

[osprey_archer]

She wrote SO many books! So many! I'm unlikely to manage to track them all down, but I will do my best.

[rachelmanija]

Same. BTW, I'm nominating Cat in the Mirror for Yuletide.

[grrlpup]

I read Good-bye My Shadow five years ago and it was so very 1950s-- worries about nuclear arms, psychoanalytic musings, parents curiously invested in their daughter's dating life. I'll be interested to hear what you think!

[osprey_archer]

I will post about it when I get to it! The one problem with having such a rich haul is that it takes a while to read it all.

[ethelmay]

Apparently Lindop wrote at least one children's book. Kirkus more or less pans it ("A slow circuit from minor potential to nowhere much"). Of course Kirkus reviews generally do say scathing things like that, but it sounds as though they might be right. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/audrey-erskine-lindop-6/the-adventures-of-the-wuffle/

[osprey_archer]

It seems somewhat unlikely that I'll ever track it down, but if I do I will report back.

[philomytha]

What an amazing bookshop! Also thank you to the link about the very gay priest & bandit book, that is incredible and I must read that immediately.

And I hope your cold goes away soon.

[osprey_archer]

Apparently there was also a movie based on the very gay priest & bandit book! Amazing.

[skygiants]

YES I am singlehandedly determined to revive this book as a cult classic. The world has got to know!

[anna_wing]

I found "The Yellow Poppy" in an op-shop the last time that I was in Australia! Just after you wrote about it!

[osprey_archer]

Oh, hooray! What excellent timing!

[luzula]

Oh, how lovely, and yay for the Brosters! I wish I could have trawled more second-hand bookstores when I was in the UK, but alas, with my long train journeys, my baggage would have become too heavy. Also, curse Brexit for making it more expensive and convoluted to order second-hand books from the UK to Sweden.

[osprey_archer]

That's SUCH a problem with long-distance travel. When I studied abroad in England years ago, each trip to a bookstore was a battle between MORE BOOKS MORE BOOKS and "will this put my suitcase over the weight allowance?" Hence the fact that I didn't buy a complete set of Jane Austen in Bath, which now I regret.

[lokifan]

Such a great haul!!! I'm picturing you like a dragon perched over your hoard, gleaming gold eyes and claws rubbing together in anticipation.

[osprey_archer]

Yessss pretty much. Book hoard! Shiny!

[littlerhymes]

This book store sounds amazing and HA! I saw Becca's post about someone casually finding all these books she's been hunting for years - IT WAS YOU!!!

[osprey_archer]

IT WAS ME! Sometimes the book gods simply smile upon you and lay a treasure trove at your feet.

[ethelmay]

Now why have I not seen this post? Is it protected, or is it a comment somewhere else? Not that it matters at all, just wondering.

[littlerhymes]

I think it was on bluesky or twitter or some such! Not on DW.

[ethelmay]

Ah, okay! Makes sense.

[regshoe]

Yay, two Brosters :D (and Return to Night, ooh). I still haven't got a physical copy of The Yellow Poppy—perhaps I should have a look for one...

[osprey_archer]

Would you like my Yellow Poppy? I bought it partly because I figured someone in the Extended Broster Fandom might need one. Free to a good home!

[regshoe]

Wow, thank you, that's very generous! Well, if you're sure you don't want to keep it yourself then yes, I'd love to have it. Shall I PM/email you with an address?

[osprey_archer]

Yes, do! Send me a PM and I'll see if I can't get it in the mail tomorrow.

[konstantya]

So glad your visit to John K. King was both enjoyable and successful! Having been there in the heat of the summer, can confirm that it's stiflingly hot (especially on the upper floors), but even that is still charming in its own way. (Fun fact: The building was originally a glove factory, hence the big hand that's painted on the side.)

[osprey_archer]

Yes, it was a fantastic visit. I may make this visit to Micky + John K. King Books an annual thing... preferably in the cool months, ha!

Have you had any luck with your romance pulps there? I didn't see any, but there's so much store I could have easily missed all kinds of things.

[konstantya]

Have you had any luck with your romance pulps there?

The last time I was there was before I got into the pulps, so I don't actually know! My gut wants to say they probably don't have any, but it would never hurt to check.

[osprey_archer]

And if they don't have any, it's always possible the staff might know where to find some. I got the impression that they are people who Know Things.

[oracne]

Wow, I think I read LITTLE VIC from the library when I was a kid.

[osprey_archer]

I'll post about it once I've read it, and you'll have to let me know if the story rings any bells.

[silverusagi]

The bookstore sounds AMAZING.

[osprey_archer]

TRULY a fantastic bookstore. If you ever find yourself in Detroit, I highly recommend a visit.