The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History

Edward Brooke-Hitching

There are some really weird books in the world. Some, like the Voynich Manuscript and the Egyptian Book of the Dead are somewhat familiar. But these are only the tip of the iceberg. Brooke-Hitching examines categories of unique …

Mary Roberts Rinehart

The average writer, especially if he is experienced, is a humble creature, ready to wag his tail at a kind word. It is usually the dilettante who has the superiority complex.

A contemporary of Agatha Christie, Rinehart was as prolific and well-known in her day as “the …

Bizarre BooksRussell Ash and Brian Lake

Ash and Lake have collected a mass of truly awful, useless and poorly titled books. Many owe their amusement factor to terms that have changed through time: Girls of the Pansy Patrol and  The Gay Boys of Old Yale. Others are bizarre simply for …

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub and Gary Wolfe speak at the Wisconsin Book Festival last weekend. Hot damn, Neil Gaiman rocks in so many ways. The official title of the talk was something on the lines of “The Evolution of Horror and Fantasy: Genre …