Valedictory purchase?

A few days ago, I took what might be my last number of NYRB for a while, having stopped my subscription a few weeks ago. An average number, with some stuff of interest to me, but with a lot which was not.

But I did light upon a review of a new book by one Katie Kitamura, a lady from the US of whom I had not previously heard, but who had written a number of novels and who is to be found at reference 2. I thought that she might be someone with whom BH might get on.

So over the hill to Waterstones to see what they could do. Pausing only to take in the fine, unattended, gas hole on the way. A good, deep hole complete with timber boarding, steel sheet piles and a ladder. With plenty going on on the other side of the road, on Clay Hill Green proper. Good for days and days!

I was impressed to find that Waterstones could do the new novel in hardback and and old novel in paperback. New hardback (right) costing roughly twice as much as old paperback (left). We shall see how BH gets on. And, indeed, whether or how I get on when my turn comes around.

And I was surprised to find that Penguin Books have moved into heritage hardbacks, with this branch of Waterstones offering a good number of them. I did not think to take one down for a proper look, but they had something of the appearance of the Folio range which I do not much care for. Top of the range black-and-white Everyman much better. And I don't suppose Penguin use properly thin paper which lies flat - in which matter the expensive Bibliothèque de la Pléiade sets a good standard. But I shall take another look next time I am in the shop.

Back home with reference 2, I thought to turn up the impressively titled reference 3, but it seems that that the Birkbeck digitisation programme does not go all the way back to 2005 and although various catalogues know about it, I failed to turn up an online copy. So that one will have to rest - not that I suppose I would have done much more than flip through the first few pages, Lit-Crit not being one of my strong points. Biographies of authors yes, literary criticism no.

PS: not so impressed with yesterday's Craster kippers from Waitrose. They looked a bit brown and flat on the counter and they turned out to be a bit dry on the plate. BH thought that maybe there was a kipper season.

Reference 4 not much help, but I did turn up the chart above, suggesting late summer as being a good time for herrings. This is confirmed at reference 5 which talks of autumn and spring spawning.

References 

Reference 1: https://www.nyrb.com/.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Kitamura. '... an American novelist, journalist, and art critic. As of April 2025, she was teaching creative writing at New York University...'.

Reference 3: The aesthetics of vulgarity and the modern American novel - Kitamura, Katie - 2005. PhD dissertation from Birkbeck College.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipper.

Reference 5: https://turnerstackle.co.uk/herring/.