Future volumes? Part 2

The original thread was getting massively long. This seems a good place to continue.

Agreed, and definitely a thread worth continuing.

DCLOYCE SMITH!
:)
While it will seem ungrateful for me to ask -- especially with the bundles of riches on the way (Carson, Mailer, L'Engle, Leonard, etc.) -- but..can you give any updates on the following?
1) publication date for the O'Hara novels
2) publication date for the Booth Tarkington
3) Finally, any news on the next possible collection of Science Fiction novels?

Thanks, ahead of time, for any info you can impart.

>4 Truett:

All three are currently in production:

1) O'Hara: Novels of the 1930s -- January 2019 (it's on the title list recently mailed to subscribers)
2) Tarkington -- Summer 2019
3) Science Fiction of the 1960s, two volumes -- Fall 2019 (this is now firm)

--David

David, can the contents of the SF volumes be revealed yet?

>6 Podras.: Shew, I didn't want to ask, but I was hoping someone would.

>6 Podras.: & >7 Dr_Flanders::

We contents have been finalized, and we have agreements or commitments (but not signed contracts) for all the novels. We will be revealing the contents later this year, but I'm not sure when just yet.

--David

DCloyceSmith: Heartfelt thanks -- something others have rightly expressed as well, over the years -- for your considerate and courteous efforts on behalf of the LOA mavens that haunt this site.

And while we (Podras, Dr. Flanders, myself, and others) wait for things to be finalized and commitments made, we can all start speculating on which science fiction authors -- Silverberg? More Heinlein? Disch? -- will be included. Not to mention which books.

Thanks again, David!

>9 Truett: I second your words of thanks for Mr. Smith.

Lets figure that P. K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin and Kurt Vonnegut are out for the obvious reasons. The you have all the authors included in the 1950s volumes. I would think they probably wouldn't double dip and take another novel by an author in the 1950s collection...but I could very well be wrong about that. It might be quite tempting to take another novel by Theodore Sturgeon or Robert Heinlein.

I'm not enough of a student of the sci-fi genre to really make an educated guess about who else. The only person off the top of my head that comes to mind is maybe Samuel R. Delany. And I haven't read any of his stuff yet, so I have no idea.

Maybe I need to think about it more. I look forward to reading the ideas the rest of you throw out there.

>10 Dr_Flanders: There were some proposals for '60s candidate SF novels in another thread a few years ago here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/195414#.

>11 Podras.: Thanks. It looks like you guys have worked a lot of this over already. And I am always pleasantly surprised to see how often people in this forum correctly anticipate future volumes. It looks like the prospect of future Le Guin volumes was mentioned in that thread, as well as mention of A Wrinkle in Time as a worthy work.

Has anyone every considered the writings of Richard Rhodes?
I've only enjoyed the heck out of THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB (a Pulitzer prize winner),WHY THEY KILL (it actually enlightened me on how close _I_ came to being
one of "those"), DEADLY FEASTS, MASTERS OF DEATH, JOHN JAMES AUDOBON:THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN, and HEDY'S FOLLY.

Either a varied selection -- like the one above -- or one concentrating on, say, his Nuclear weapons books (MAKING OF...; DARK SUN:THE MAKING OF THE HYDROGEN BOMB; ARSENALS OF FOLLY;TWILIGHT OF THE BOMBS) would make for a good one volume collection.

DCLOYCE SMITH(!): I know LOA won't be able to impart the info until later this year -- via the subscriber newsletter -- but will you be able to share the news of the contents of the next collection of Science Fiction novels (1960s), and any other news about next year's releases right here on the bulletin board for some of us lower rent (but regular) readers? :)

>13 Truett:

Richard Rhodes is a new author to me, I'm curious what others have to say. Certainly a writer with a varied output with a preoccupation of what brings death!

>14 elenchus:

For my taste, The Making of the Atomic Bomb is one of the great histories I’ve read.

Dark Sun tells a darker story, detailing our plunge into developing weaponry orders of magnitude more destructive and also showing how the Soviet Union carried on its efforts to keep pace. Richard Rhodes had access to a remarkable amount of detail concerning the Soviet technical efforts and even more impressively about how they accelerated their program through espionage.

Of the two, I enjoyed reading Making more. But if your interest also includes development of the hydrogen bomb, I certainly recommend Dark Sun too.

Reviewing Richard Rhodes's bibliography here on LT, I see that my first impression --his book on Audobon seemingly was out of place among so many history books concerning modern weaponry and state-based policy on same-- is actually mistaken. He's got quite a bit of writing on ecology and as a naturalist, it would seem: The Inland Ground, The Ozarks, and even Farm: A Year In the Life of an American Farmer.

Definitely curious about Rhodes now.

>13 Truett:

We are still finalizing the Spring 2019 list and will announce those titles in early June on the website. I'll post the link here when it's up.

As for the 1960s SciFi set, we won't be able to announce the contents later this year.

--David

Amazon appears to have the next LOA Le Guin volume listed though I guess this isn't quite official because Amazon listings change sometimes. According to the Amazon page however, the volume is Ursula K. Le Guin: Always Coming Home: Author's Expanded Edition (LOA 315). Apparently it includes the expanded novel and related essays by Le Guin. Amazon has the release date as February, 2019. The item description is up for anyone who wants to read it. I haven't read the novel, but it certainly sounds interesting. I hope this isn't letting the cat out of the bag too early, but it was only a matter of time before someone noticed it, I suppose.

DCYLOCESMITH: Thanks for the info. Oddly (actually, NOT so oddly) the fact that the contents of the next
Science Fiction Novel set (1960s), set for Fall of 2019, CAN'T be revealed later this year, all the more makes me want to be one of the first "in line" to buy it. (I'm getting ready to finally become an official member and get my LOA books via the "Library" itself, rather than through "interlocuters" and middle men on the internet. I feel like an Alaskan hermit getting ready to "go legit" and lay hands on his mail-order bride. Mazel tov!)

DOC FLANDERS: Before the first of nearly a dozen moves, which took me below the equator for the first time in my life, I used to own a (Book club) edition of ALWAYS COMING HOME (got it after reading a review in "Time" or "Newsweek"). It came with a cassette tape (!) of the music of "the Kesh". Le Guin (influenced, most likely, by her anthropologist father) was incredibly adept at creating whole societies.

>19 Truett: I did some research about Always Coming Home last night. I'm relatively new to Le Guin (still working my way through the 2nd Hainish volume), but according to the all seeing, all knowing Wikipedia, apparently the music and poetry contained on the cassette tape you mentioned was reissued as a vinyl record & digital album. The wikipedia entry says that the record is sold out, but the digital album is still available, and the vinyl record is going to have a 2nd pressing this month.

I don't know if you still have your cassette tape copy, but if not, I thought you might be interested, in case you would like to revisit the songs and poetry of the Kesh.

I'll hopefully be caught up with the LOA Le Guin by the time Always Coming Home is released. I am wanting to read the Hainish material, the Orsinia volume, and probably the Earthsea cycle this year. I'm prone to bounce back and forth between authors though, so it will probably take me a while. Regardless, Always Coming Home sounds interesting to me, so I am looking forward to it.

Truett, do you remember your impressions of reading it before you began globetrotting?

DOCFLANDERS: Can't reference the novel directly, because -- sadly (for me) -- it and many other books was accidentally carted off to a used book store when I was going through the VERY tough task of paring down my North American library (roughly 10, 000 books, mostly hardcover) before moving "south" in 2007.

In any case, I hadn't dug it out in a while, and that book travelled with me all around the USA, and even to Europe for a while. So my memories of it are spotty, at best.

I DO remember that my book club edition was published in trade paper format (not sure if that was so of the regular book) and that along with the cassette containing music, there were poetry readings as well. And the book had lots of drawings, which was pretty cool. It was marketed as a "multi-media" publication: something to engage ALL of your senses. And I DO remember that along with the stories of the Kesh -- a society that "will" exist in a far future; a utopian future, after semi-apocalyptic events -- there were also examples of fiction by members of that society (excerpts of novels, and stories).

Although I wouldn't classify it as my favourite Le Guin novel, it truly IS (and was) a unique experience. And since Le Guin updated the whole shebang (knowing it was on the LOA list for publication), I plan to add it to my collection again.

For the record, after the Earthsea books -- favorites, I suspect, of a great many people -- and after all of her collected stories and novellas (full of brilliant tales), I have to say THE LATHE OF HEAVEN is my favourite Le Guin.

James Gleick actually devotes most of a chapter to that book in HIS fine piece of nonfiction writing (cum-literary reviews) on time travel, entitled TIME TRAVEL: A HISTORY.

HISTORY is a fun read: lots of philosophy, with a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure. And Gleick points out the homage to Orwell in Le Guin's "Lathe" -- her protagonist is George Orr -- and that Le Guin's fabrication involving a man who "reinvents" the world every time he dreams addresses the same ground as Orwell trode (with his book featuring men who rewrite history): just in a more poetic and philosophical way.

In any case, looking forward to ALWAYS COMING HOME early next year!

DONALD BARTHLEME TO BE PUBLISHED BY LOA!

Not to steal anyone's (DCloyceSmith) or anything's (LOA newsletter) thunder, but...like DocFlanders when he reported on the discovery that ALWAYS COMING HOME will be published next year, just wanted to share this news:

The byline for a NYTimes book review by Charles McGrath (a review of THE MARS ROOM, which sounds rather interesting) states that McGrath is currently
"working on an edition of Donald Barthleme's work for the Library of America."

VERY cool!

Nice sleuthing!

Elenchus: no sweat, since it just involved reading NYTimes Book Review (always a pleasure -- even when the notoriously Harold Bloom-minded Michiko Kakutani ruled the front pages) :)

By the way: thanks for leaving a reply. It gave me the chance to catch an error in my post (I imagine some regular readers were wondering who the hell "Bathleme" was/is).

With a Le Guin volume set to help lead the way alongside a collection of John O' Hara novels sometime in January, a collection of Booth Tarkington novels lined up for Summer, and the novels of the 1960s two-volume Science Fiction scheduled for the Fall (plus news of a Donald Barthleme volume in the works!), 2019 is shaping up to be yet another year in which I will happily gripe about not having enough time to read.

Works of Margaret Fuller.

Anthology of feminist writing.

Podras: Duuude. Your comments need clarification.
Typing two lines like, "Works of Margaret Fuller", and "Anthology of feminist writing", without any further exposition (even in a thread about forthcoming works) is like me writing:

"The study of anthropometry."

And then leaving the building.

>25 Podras.:

Yes!

>27 LolaWalser:

mic drop

:)

Check out southernbooklady's post on Megan Marshall's biography of Fuller:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/163137#4748806

>25 Podras.: Podras:

The LOA website page on Project Support lists a collection of the works of Margaret Fuller as a project for which support is sought. So that already seems to be in the works.

>30 euphorb: Thanks. I haven't checked that page out recently. It looks like it's time to mosey over that way again.

>29 LolaWalser: Thanks. That's a good write-up.

>26 Truett: Yah, it was kind of terse. Economy of language and all that. Does adding this help?

>30 euphorb: It looks like the Project Support page will need updating soon. One of the projects listed is supposed to be coming out this coming spring, a volume of Melville's poetry.

>31Podras:
You say to-may-toe, I say...obtuse.
:)

DCLYOCE SMITH! (bringing things back to topic):

Although I revel in the (accidentally) uncovered knowledge that a Donald Barthleme volume (or two) is in the works...any chance you can reveal for which year that LOA volume is being prepared (or, heh-heh, the possible contents)?
Never hurts to ask -- or grovel.

>34 Truett:

The Barthelme edition has not yet been scheduled and is in the earliest stages. McGrath, with the help of our editors and advisors, is still working on finalizing the contents; from there we go to finalizing the rights. It will be at least a couple of years.

-- David

*one more bump (cause this subject always bears updating)*

I wonder how many volumes we know of, as in actually have some type of confirmation that they are on the horizon, or at least are definitely planned?

We know that there are at least tentative plans for a second Shirley Jackson volume at some point.
We know that a two volume Science Fiction of the 1960s volume is coming.
There is at least another volume of Wendell Berry's Port William fiction.
Melville's poetry.
There is confirmation above about the beginning of work on a Donald Barthelme volume, though that one might be down the road a ways.

Are their any other volumes that we have some information or confirmation about?

Also, we can probably assume that there are more John Updike volumes to come, right?
Can we assume the same of John O'Hara and Norman Mailer?
I wonder if there are plans to publish more Ursula K. Le Guin volumes (I hope so!)?

>37 Dr_Flanders: Dr_Flanders

The Project Support page (https://www.loa.org/support/project-support) on the LOA website lists the following projects for which support is sought:

Journals of Henry David Thoreau
A volume (or more?) of African-American poetry
The writings of Margaret Fuller
Essays and speeches of Frederick Douglass
Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim

This list has not changed since the new website was launched a few years ago. Presumably others could be added (David?)

Others under consideration that have been mentioned somewhere or other from official or semi-official sources (I write them down when I run across them) include:

Bradbury, Ray
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
More William Dean Howells
Hughes, Langston
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Lowell, Robert
Moore, Marianne
Odets, Clifford
Parker, Dorothy
Prescott, Orville
Styron, William
20th Century Poetry (2 more volumes)
Warren, Robert Penn
White, E.B.

Many of these I have not heard any mention of for a long time, so it's not clear whether all of these are still under active consideration.

euphorb: Don't forget, SOME of the names from your list are not so much "under consideration" as in the process of (a likely long and drawn-out) negotiation. For rights.

I believe DCloyce Smith mentioned that was the case with Styron.
And I wouldn't be surprised to learn the same about Ray Bradbury, since
at least ONE volume of his collected short stories was issued by EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY not long after his death, and since his books continue to sell (and are therefore valuable to the publishers who issue paperbacks, etc.) His popularity might not wane sufficiently for a while ("Fahrenheit 451" was just made into TV film or sereies, I believe).

Likewise, E.B. White is probably a tough negotiation, since CHARLOTTE'S WEB will always be a perennial fav with the "younger set".

Besides those mentioned above:

Emily Dickenson has been on LOA's want list from the beginning if they can ever get the rights.

Rachel Carson's books about the oceans (from the text notes in the Silent Spring volume--we probably won't have to wait long)

My notes of other future plans from comments that have been made include:
William Faulkner's short fiction
Frederick Douglas: Essays and Speeches
Edmund Wilson: Political & Other Writings
More Bernard Malamud

LOA's sole F. Scott Fitzgerald volume covers his work up to 1922 which was all that was in the public domain at the time (I think). I take that as a strong sign of the intention to eventually do more when they can.

>38 euphorb:
>39 Truett:

I'd love to see Bradbury included, whether it is a selection of his short stories (of which there are hundreds), or his novels. I think you are right that his continuing popularity is probably a difficult challenge to negotiations... though Philip K. Dick is also still pretty popular as far as paperback reissues and adaptations go, so maybe it is still doable. You could put an awfully nice volume together that included The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. There would certainly be plenty material there by which to do a multi-volume treatment too. I hope they can work it out someday, because Bradbury was one of my early favorites when I began to read for pleasure as a boy.

I'd also love to see a Robert Penn Warren volume someday. With the exception of All the King's Men, I don't know that much of his work is being reissued or widely read. He seems like a more natural fit in that way, I guess.

>40 Podras.: I'd imagine that the LOA might be game to publish all of Fitzgerald's output (at least that which was published in his lifetime) if they could secure the rights. You could probably fit the rest of the fiction into two volumes.

There are several authors already in the main series who, it seems to me, have additional material that could go into future volumes. I'll list the ones that come to mind here. Some have already been announced; many have not (to the best of my knowledge). Some have already been mentioned in Posts 37-41, above (and in those cases, I won't put anything in parentheses).

Adams, John Quincy (letters, papers)
Bellow, Saul (stories, nonfiction)
Berry, Wendell (second volume of Port William novels and stories)
Carson, Rachel
Douglass, Frederick
DuBois, W.E.B. (Black Reconstruction)
Dreiser, Theodore (other novels)
Eiseley, Loren (several additional works)
Faulkner, William
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Galbraith, J. K. (several additional works)
Howells, W. D.
Jackson, Shirley
Le Guin, Ursula
Lewis, Sinclair (additional novels)
Mailer, Norman (other works)
Malamud, Malamud
McCarthy, Mary (nonfiction)
Mencken, H. L. (additional works)
Porter, Katherine Anne (at least Ship of Fools)
Pound, Ezra (The Cantos)
Roosevelt, Theodore (numerous additional works)
Singer, Isaac Bashevis (novels)
Taylor, Peter (novels)
Thoreau, H. D.
Tuchman, Barbara (additional histories and essays)
Updike, John
Wilson, Edmund

I'm sure I've overlooked some other authors who could fill one or more additional volumes.

euphorb: the singularity of your "mission" -- or thoughts -- regarding calling attention to authors and works, might be occluding some of the previous (past) threads, which have covered some of the items on your lists, from your view.

Forest for the trees, in other words.

I know more Shirley Jackson is in the offing, but, as DCloyce Smith already pointed out, her family wants to make a bit more from paperback sales, etc., during a time when she has come back into vogue (so to speak). As for Fitzgerald, there are apparently some complicated rights issues, which is why LOA hasn't published many more of his novels, etc. (I actually purchased a beautiful UK tome -- with well-made binding, go figure -- containing all, or a majority of, his novels).

And I believe the forthcoming Updike novel collection is just the first of many.
Check out some of the past threads devoted to the various authors, there are discussions covering most of the ground. And a previous "future volumes" thread (retired, because it got unwieldy in length) has a lot of info as well.

>43 Truett:

My last 3 posts in this have been merely to respond to and expand on Dr_Flanders' musings in post 37 above about what we might expect to see among the offerings of LOA in the future. How my few words here (or "forest" as you call them) might "occlude" previous or past threads utterly escapes me. And I'm well aware of the previous "future volumes" thread -- I started it; and I've been very pleased with the wealth of very interesting, diverse, and eye-opening responses it has engendered, including mentions of many potential authors and works that I had never heard of.

>43 Truett:
>44 euphorb:

My original intent with post 37 anyway was mostly to try to summarize which volumes we actually had some concrete evidence or confirmation that they are imminent or that they might be in the final stages of negotiations, like the science fiction volumes for example. Though I drifted from that by the end of the post a bit, I'll admit.

I have been following this thread and the previous one for a long time though, and I do think sometimes it is worth bringing a writer or volume up that we talked about in the past, in an effort to see if anyone has heard anything new in the last 6 months or year. But that's just my two cents, anyway.

>42 euphorb: Thanks for reminding me about Ezra Pound's Cantos. It has been a long time, but I recall that LOA once said that they would be publishing it some day ... unless things have changed. Doubt that they have.

euphorb: My typos and your umbrage aside, I was under the impression this is a public forum, thus I joined in _mainly_ because you wrote, "Many of these I have not heard any mention of for a long time, so it's not clear whether all of these are still under active consideration." Then you followed up with another list of authors, in which you wrote" (in part), "There are several authors already in the main series who, it seems to me, have additional material that could go into future volumes. I'll list the ones that come to mind here. Some have already been announced; many have not..."

I was merely calling attention to the authors who HAVE been mentioned recently -- since you didn't discern -- in case you hadn't noticed (you didn't clarify) or in case others may not have noticed. Since it was the thoughtful work of DCloyce Smith who provided information on the authors mentioned (by myself, above) -- the authors about whose work, and the inclusion thereof in the LOA, was written of quite recently) -- I saw no need for the work to go unnoticed.

Thus, my attempt at being politely helpful, whilst doing so with a humorous air.
After all, with as many postings as have been made regarding "Future Volumes" (two threads worth now), one would think it possible for ANY-one to miss the forest for the trees.

You have a nice day now.

>47 Truett:
I reread your your post number 43 and realized that I misread it the first time. In particular, I missed your phrase "from your view" at the end of your first paragraph. So I read this as a criticism of me, saying that my comments somehow prevented (or occluded) others from seeing previous posts, which didn't make any sense to me. Thus my sharp language in response. Now I realize you meant no such thing and were not criticizing me, but merely being helpful. So, thanks, and I stand corrected.

I'd love to see Walker Percy in an LOA jacket.

>49 LesMiserables:

Ohhhh, yes. The essays as well as the novels.

Count me in as another vote for a Walker Percy volume or two.
THE MOVIEGOER, THE LAST GENTLEMAN, LOVE IN THE RUINS, LANCELOT, THE SECOND COMING and THE THANATOS SYNDROME. His novels could fit into one oversized volume, which would be groovy. And some of his nonfiction, LOST IN THE COSMOS, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, etc., would make a good companion volume.

All that aside, the man "discovered" John Kennedy Toole. Also -- true story -- he was such a respected writer that John Irving once recounted how he retitled, and replotted, his second novel because LOVE IN THE RUINS was published to wide acclaim (at the time, Irving had gone off on a side track in his second novel -- THE WATER-METHOD MAN -- and was going to call it LOVE AMONG THE GRETHS. The similarity in titles with that of Percy's novel brought him 'round, back to a non-fantasy plot, mainstream story).

For those of you who are not on LOA’s email list, I received this one this morning:

“One of the most frequently asked questions from our members is “Where’s Hemingway?” For years our attempts to negotiate the rights for the modern master’s body of work have failed—until now. In September 2020 LOA will inaugurate its long-anticipated multivolume Hemingway edition with a volume of the early works, including the story collection In Our Time, the novella The Torrents of Spring, and his first great novel, The Sun Also Rises. This landmark volume also gathers rare journalism from Hemingway’s stint as a reporter for The Toronto Star and Hearst International News Service (some of which has not been seen in almost a century), the 1924 letterpress edition of the modernist classic in our time, the unusual parody “A Divine Gesture” (never before collected in a book), and other works—all presented in newly corrected and authoritative texts. Taken together, the writings in this volume offer an unparalleled look at Hemingway’s breakthrough years.


“The Hemingway edition is just one of dozens now in development. Future collections will recognize and celebrate the lasting contributions of Donald Barthelme, William Bradford and Mary Rowlandson, Joan Didion, O. Henry, Richard Hofstadter, S. J. Perelman, Jonathan Schell, Jean Stafford, Robert Stone, John Williams, and Constance Fenimore Woolson—and several other authors will soon be added to this list.

“Among the LOA’s future anthologies are the groundbreaking African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song; a collection of more than ninety memoirs, speeches, and other firsthand pieces chronicling the women’s suffrage movement; a volume gathering four classic midcentury Westerns; and a two-volume edition of crime novels from the 1960s.”

Several boxes from prior threads and conversations would seem to be ticked:
-- Westerns
-- Barthelme
-- O. Henry

Like Faulkner, I acknowledge Hemingway is a big addition, though I am not personally as excited as by other names.

I'm not excited so much as intrigued by the Perelman collections. Hmmn.

We need a James Branch Cabell volume.
- Jurgen
- Figures of Earth
- The Silver Stallion

I have submitted that idea to LOA, along with Walker Percy and I think a few others I've forgotten.

A volume of William Faulkner's short works is sorely needed. That aside, the announcement contains a lot of interesting stuff.

I'm intrigued by this statement because of its ambiguity: "The Hemingway edition is just one of dozens now in development." It could mean that there will eventually be dozens of Hemingway volumes, making him LOA's most represented author, exceeding even Henry James' 16 volumes. The most likely meaning, though, is that there are dozens of volumes by various authors in preparation including this one by Hemingway. The contents of the thus-far sole Hemingway volume is significantly greater than I would have expected, however, suggesting that the final Hemingway collection will definitely be substantial. :-)

>56 Podras.:

I don't see any ambiguity in the statement" "The Hemingway edition is just one of dozens now in development." The key is the word "edition." If it had said "The Hemingway VOLUME . . .," that would have been an ambiguity. But LOA has always used the word "edition" to refer to the totality of the LOA volumes devoted to a given author. Since that statement is followed by a list of only 12 additional authors, I read the whole paragraph as indicating that those are a mere fraction of the authors for whom editions that are currently in development. That is an exciting idea, though I'm dying to know who those "dozens" of other authors are.

That said, I too was surprised by the breadth of the initial Hemingway volume. However, I fear that remaining volumes in the Hemingway edition will be a long time coming, since copyrights will expire one year at a time. His works through 1924 have just recently come out of copyright. The last major work published in his lifetime was The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 -- does that mean we need to wait another 28 years for that. And I don't know what the copyright status of the many posthumous works is.

>57 euphorb:
The second sentence of the email says LOA has at long last obtained the rights to Heminway’s “body of work.” Presumably, then, it won’t be necessary to wait for the copyrights to expire.

>57 euphorb: The distinction between "edition" and "volume" sometimes eludes me. Whatever is meant by the wording, it is clear that lots of new LOA publications are underway including more of Hemingway than can be found in a typical bibliography. One of them will contain Rachel Carson's Ocean books based on a statement in the text notes in her Silent Spring volume.

>58 jroger1: That is the way I originally read the statement, too, and I hope that it is true. A nagging doubt has me uncertain because by 2020, all of the content announced for this first volume will be in the public domain.

Based on the text of the email, I took it to mean that there was a multi-volume plan in place for Hemingway's work and dozens of non-Hemingway volumes also in development. That's how I read it. I first had the impression that maybe the rights for Hemingway's work that is still outside the public domain had been secured, but I guess it doesn't actually say that much. You could inaugurate a multi-volume Hemingway edition in 2020, and still wait for enough material to enter the public domain over the coming years and decades... kind of like the situation with F. Scott Fitzgerald, where we can assume that there will be more volumes someday, but not particularly soon. I hope that's not the case, but on a closer reading of the email, it doesn't outright say one way or the other so far as I can tell.

I'd welcome a volume of Hemingway's early work, whether it is closely followed by more Hemingway or not. But it would be nice if more were to come soon.

This is the first I've heard of plans to do an O. Henry volume or a 1960's crime collection. I've seen a few people suggesting a volume of classic westerns, too. It seems like there is a lot to be excited about in that email.

>52 jroger1: Thanks for sharing that!

Sorry for the radio silence in recent months. The situation with printers and paper continues to be nightmarish for virtually everyone in the industry, but especially for specialty presses like the LOA.

A couple of items:

"Edition" is used in the more comprehensive sense (e.g., the LOA's 16-volume Henry James edition).

A small point: When LOA's first Hemingway volume is published, most of the works in the volume will still be in copyright (1926 works will enter the public domain in 2022), along with a number of pieces that were published later, either posthumously or in corrected texts. A schedule for subsequent volumes has yet to be determined, and contracts have yet to be finalized, but all parties involved seem to be humming a different tune.

We'll be announcing the full Spring-Summer 2020 list on the site within the next week. And I hope to have news relatively soon on one or two other authors/volumes you all have mentioned in these latest posts . . .

David

Mr. SMITH!
In case you missed my entreaty in another thread, and since you'll be coming back here to tend to just a
lot of questions by others, I'm replanting mine in this thread as well.

Any word, yet, on:
1) another volume of O'Hara novels (perhaps A RAGE TO LIVE, TEN NORTH FEDERICK and FROM THE TERRACE)?
2) The next Shirley Jackson volume?
3) The Donald Bartheleme volume or volumes?

Thanks!

>61 DCloyceSmith:

These repeated press challenges has me wondering whether this is an industry "correction" or the signs of a calamity. I hope not the latter, for LOA and the health of book culture generally.

>61 DCloyceSmith: Thanks for the clarification. “The Hemingway edition is just one of dozens \of editions by various authors\ now in development." So volumes in the Hemingway edition may or may not outnumber James' volumes in his edition. Regardless, there's lots of good reading ahead.

On pins and needles waiting for the Spring-Summer 2020 list next week.

>62 Truett:

1) We have not scheduled another John O'Hara volume.
2) The second Shirley Jackson volume is **tentatively** scheduled for Fall 2021.
3) The contents for the Barthelme edition are still not finalized, but will include both novels and stories. We hope to publish it sometime in 2021.

David

DCLOYCESMITH: Thanks, as always, for the information provided -- to me, and others (because they often ask questions I wish had asked). At least O'Hara got two volumes! And, definitely looking forward to the Jackson and Barthelme books in a couple years. Also, thanks for the update on the printing and paper situation as it affects us customers (eventually) too.

Elenchus: I don't usually recommend them (or read them, online or otherwise -- because they are Murdoch-owned) but "Forbes" just ran a June article about paper shortages and publishing. It's fairly comprehensive.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2019/06/10/how-the-paper-shortag...

Hemingway will be a fine edition to my LOA volumes. Looking forward to them appearing.

DCLOYCE SMITH: Any news on the Donald Barthelme volume? (NOT that there aren't PLENTY of treasures on the way! The new Shirley Jackson volume, the westerns, Robert Stone, another Le Guin volume, etc.) Just curious.

Also: since D'JPancake seemed to drop in out of the blue, do you know if the name of Richard Brautigan has ever been bandied about when discussing future volumes? I'd never run across his name or writings; but, after stumbling across an article on the internet, I've decided to check out a few in paperback (TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA, and THE HAWKLINE MONSTER: A GOTHIC WESTERN, are a couple of the books included in the omnibus titles I ordered). Think I read about a movie finally being made of that latter title,and that led me to looking up his name and works.

Just curious if his name still holds any cache in the halls of academia.
And if anyone else frequenting the board is familiar with his works, please do enlighten!

Whoops!

>68 Truett:

I read Brautigan's Trout Fishing In America and was impressed, but haven't tracked down any more titles as yet. I found he informed my understanding of other counterculture writers and their context: Tom Robbins, Tom Wolfe, even Pynchon. I'm not saying they're a clique or anything, but reading Brautigan broadened my sense of the cultural tides, so to speak.

>70 elenchus:

And I see now that Brautigan was included in the non-main series title, The Cool School, edited by Glenn O'Brian.

https://loa.org/books/394-the-cool-school-writing-from-americas-hip-underground?...

>68 Truett: I’ve read A Confederate General from Big Sur and found it a light, quick reading experience, humorous and more often enjoyable than not. The title caused me to pick it up.
Glancing at the reviews, I see opinion varies from “an absolute delight” to not “good enough to recommend to a general audience.”

Elenchus: Funny (strange, not ha-ha), but I was thinking of describing Brautigan -- after seeing his photos -- as a hybrid of Robbins and Wallace, with a little of Barthelme (looks alone). Didn't know -- but I should've suspected, given his dabbling in poetry -- about his inclusion in LOA 394. Thanks.

And thanks also for the insight -- same to you, dypaloh! -- it's made me rethink grabbing too much of his work right away.

I AM still purchasing the omnibus which includes THE HAWKLINE MONSTER. Nevermind that so many talented filmmakers were attracted to the novel over the past few decades, the wiki summary alone makes it sound like a fascinating read.

I really enjoyed The Cool School & highly recommend it.

For anyone still uncertain about purchasing the forthcoming Rober Stone LOA volume, or for anyone still unfamiliar with his work -- I'M not -- here is an article from "The New Yorker" that does a great job of giving an overview of his creative life.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/robert-stone-sixties

Also: regarding Richard Brautigan (whom I mention might deserve more than a published poem in an LOA anthology -- maybe a one-time, non-series collection): got one of two omnibus paperback volumes I ordered: the first volume is REVENGE OF THE LAWN; THE ABORTION (which involves a library of unpublished books -- shades of Borges!); and SO THE WIND WON'T BLOW IT ALL AWAY. The second omnibus volume will be, A CONFEDERATE GENERAL FROM BIG SUR, DREAMING OF BABYLON, and THE HAWKLINE MONSTER. I peeked at one of the pages in the first volume, before eventually sitting down to read them front to back, and this is what I read.

-------------
"...It looked like a fairy tale functioning happily in the post-World War II gothic of America before television crippled the imagination of America and turned people indoors and away from living out their own fantasies with dignity.
In those days people made their own imagination, like homecooking. Now our dreams are just any street in America lined with franchise restaurants." -- from, SO THE WIND WON'T BLOW IT ALL AWAY by Richard Brautigan
-------------

Not bad. Not Robert Stone-caliber prose (not quite as artful), but not bad at all. And definitely timely, especially given that the Glass Teat -- TV -- has helped give birth to the PC/mobile phone/i-pad/ipod/game station generation.

>68 Truett:: I can now report that the Bartheleme volume is scheduled to be published in May 2021 and will contain 145 stories--a virtually complete edition of his stories.

--David

That's a hefty volume, though I'm not familiar with Barthelme so perhaps his short stories are truly short and won't require an unusual page count to include all those pieces. He's another author I hear about but haven't read, the fact he's received LOA treatment suggests I should remedy that.

>77 elenchus:

I'm also not familiar with Barthelme, but I took a look on Amazon for collections of stories to get a feeling for their length. There are two collections in Penguin Classics, one called "Sixty Stories" that has 480 pages, and another called "Forty Stories" that has 272 pages. The "Look inside feature reveals that they are indeed short, virtually all less than 10 pages each.

DCLOYCESMITH: Fantastic! (In more ways than one). Thanks for the heads up!

Euphorb: Short-shorts were definitely a big part of Barthelme's oeuvre. I like to think of it as Borgesian. (One of the things I love about Harlan Ellison's fiction is his obvious -- and successful -- move into the short-short, "Borgesian" realm of short fiction; he started it in the late 70's and perfected it by the 1990s, with a book entitled MIND FIELDS).

Another author I'd love to receive the LOA treatment is Theodore Roszak. I wasn't able to find a mention in prior Future Volume posts, nor anywhere in the LOA group, despite vaguely thinking we'd mentioned him.

I've recently re-read both The Making of a Counter Culture and Where the Wasteland Ends, each easily standing up to a second reading. I've not read any other of his titles, though many are of interest based on brief descriptions.

Anyone else here read Roszak or have thoughts on his inclusion in the Main Series?

>80 elenchus: Thank you for this suggestion. I read both of those transformative books many years ago, and I certainly second your proposal to include Theodore Roszak in the Main Series.

I would like to know if LOA considers their edition of Washington Irving's works to be complete. I'm aware of a number of short stories, sketches, etc. of his that LOA hasn't published, and I think (not totally sure) that most of them were written after the last ones in LOA's current edition. He has many longer works, too, that LOA hasn't published.

>82 Podras.:

I don't have any of the Irving titles, and he's not an author I'm passionate about reading. Still, curious why the longer works you mention weren't in the published volume(s). Were they, like the shorts you mention, published after the works already included in the prior LOA volume(s)? Were any of these works discovered posthumously?

>82 Podras.:
Perhaps Irving wrote too much to be included in the series. For example, his 5-volume biography of George Washington. Many other authors have been edited for similar reasons, such as Abraham Lincoln’s 2 volumes that were culled from his 10-volume complete works.

>83 elenchus: >84 jroger1: I'm not so familiar with Irving's bibliography that I can answer the questions, and I'm aware that there are few authors whose total output will make it into LOA editions. I'm just asking about LOA's intentions for the future. Is Irving finished or can we expect to see more sometime in the future.

Any plans for collected fiction by Sontag?
Volume 1 could be Novels & Stories 1960s & 70s and Volume 2 Novels & Plays 1990s
Volume 1 could include The Benefactors, Death Kit, I Etcetera
Volume 2 coud include The Way We Live Now (short story), selected plays, novels The Volcano Lover and In America

Any plans for a volume collecting early work by Kerouac? Stories and his novel The Town and the City?

How about Hollywood writer Budd Schulberg? A volume of his novels and screenplays include On the Waterfront?

How about a volume on Hollywood? Stories, poems, plays, essays.

What about a volume of stories, letters, and other writings by Yankton Dakota Sioux writer Zitkala-Sa?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zitkala-Sa

What about a volume collecting the novels, poems and plays by Asian-American writer H.T. Tisang?
He was part of the Greenwich Village scene.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/ht-tsiang-hanging-on-union-square-revi...

What a volume for early Arab-American writer Ameen Rihani?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameen_Rihani
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameen_Rihani_bibliography

I haven't read these whole threads, so I don't know if these have already been suggested. These are some authors I'd like to see in the Library of America series:

Rod Serling - his Twilight Zone Scripts.

Gordon Dickson's Dorsai novels and stories would make a nice science fiction volume.

James Duncan Phillips - the historian of Salem, Massachussetts. He wrote several books about Salem, including The Life of Richard Derby, Merchant of Salem 1712-1783; Salem and the Indies; Salem in the Seventeenth Century; Salem in the Eighteenth Century; East India Voyages of Salem Vessels Before 1800; and Pepper and Pirates: Adventures in the Sumatra Pepper Trade of Salem. Too often the only Salem history people know is the witch trials. Salem had a magnificent merchant marine in the colonial days, and in the early days of the Republic. Phillips is the writer who chronicled that history.

In addition to Phillips' histories of Salem, and to complement the Richard Henry Dana volume, there are many memoirs by merchant ship captains of Salem and other Eastern ports that would make a great multi-volume series of The Writings of America's Early Merchant Mariners, or some such title. In the Forecastle, Or, Twenty-Five Years a Sailor, by Richard J. Cleveland, is by one of Salem's own merchant captains, who commanded his first vessel at nineteen years of age; A Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, by Amasa Delano of Boston, is another, in which this bit of information is related:
"Among the numerous stories embedded in the narrative, none are more fascinating than the
account of an adventure that befell Delano in an obscure Chilean harbor. Delano's book was read by
Herman Melville, who immediately recognized the literary potential of the Chilean episode. With some
strokes of his pen - and not so many at that - Melville transformed the event into one of his most
effective short stories, 'Benito Cereno.' "
Another is Coggeshall's Voyages, the Recollections of an American Schooner Captain, by George Coggeshall. One incident I remember from that volume was the story of a fake execution of an American prisoner in (if I remember correctly) New Orleans. The man was a deserter from the Army, twice, which evidently landed him on death row. At the last second, with the guns aimed at him, he was reprieved - just like Dostoevsky. Still another volume of memoirs is Letters from China, The Canton-Boston Correspondence of Robert Bennet Forbes, 1838-1840, compiled and edited by Phyllis Forbes Kerr.

What about a couple of volumes of Horatio Alger, Jr. novels?

@DCloyceSmith I've recently read and enjoyed the collected short stories of Caroline Gordon. Do you by any chance know whether she has ever been considered for the LoA?

She has been considered--and is still being considered. The last time her name came up at an editorial meeting, I finally sat down and read the same edition you might have just read: FSG paperback, with an introduction by Robert Penn Warren--who is also under ongoing and serious consideration. I know that Warren is both a rights challenge and a textual conundrum, but I'm not sure where Gordon is in the process.

--David

Curious if Robert Cormier or Betty Smith have been considered for inclusion?

Cormier's The Chocolate War and I Am the Cheese were highly regarded, and he has many other novels that could fill out a volume.

Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is much loved, but she has other well-being regarded novels that are ripe for rediscovery.

I just finished reading LOA's American Women's Suffrage, released on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I noted years ago LOA's tendency to release volumes of historical writings on or near anniversary dates with zeroes at the end. Based on that, I predicted that a volume of Pilgrim writings would appear this year, the 400th anniversary of the founding of Plymouth Colony. I'm not far off. Plymouth Colony: Narratives of English Settlement and Native Resistance from the Mayflower to King Philip's War is due to be released next April.

Here's my question. The full title of the forthcoming Pilgrim volume suggests that its focus may be narrow. Is there another Pilgrim volume planned?

That actually suggests a fairly inclusive scope for the Plymouth experience, to my mind. What would be ruled out that would be relevant, do you think? The one thing that occurs to me is the experience of the Atlantic journey, but "narratives of settlement" could reflect on the journey as much as looking ahead.

@DCloyceSmith, thanks for your reply! The FSG edition was indeed what I read. (Albeit in hardcover.)

Now I am wondering about Dorothy West. From what I can tell her two novels and collected stories might fit perfectly into a single volume. Has she ever come up?

Has LoA considered more volumes of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century? The two existing volumes end with poets born in 1913. That leaves much of the century untouched.

>99 SamsonK: When American Poetry: 20th Century was first announced, it was supposed to be in four volumes. Assuming that LOA's plans haven't changed, they may be waiting for the 20th Century to age a bit before releasing the other two.

>99 SamsonK:
>100 Podras.:
Four volumes was also my understanding. As we get closer to the present, though, obtaining rights may well become more of an issue, which may partly explain the delay (just my guess, though).

I just received the E. O. Wilson volume. The introduction says that it is part of LOA's two-volume edition of Wilson's writing, to there is one more to come for those who are keeping track.

I would like to suggest Helen Keller for inclusion in LOA. She is important as a historical figure and a social activist, as well as a literary artist. 'The World I Live In" is probably her masterpiece but not her only notable work.

Are there any plans for a Cormac McCarthy volume series? I believe it could be divided into three volumes with all the stuff he has written, including screenplays, short stories and his one non-fiction essay. It'd be great to have him included into the Library of America. Also, what about Thomas Pynchon?

>104 Azraeel: I think there are a lot of people who would like to see both those men included. I think I remember reading somewhere that there had been talks about McCarthy. I’d imagine they’d be interested in publishing Pynchon as well.

The biggest issue with both of them has got to be getting the rights, I’d guess. Also, I wonder how they even lay out a plan to publish Pynchon. Most of his novels are lengthy. How many volumes could include multiple books? Not that I think that would, or should stop the LOA from publishing him. It’s just an interesting problem.

I’d be delighted to see either of them included.

>105 Dr_Flanders: LOA set a precedent for one-work volumes with Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy back in 2003. Anyone up for an LOA edition of some of James Michener's works, most of them huge?

>106 Podras.:
Michener is one of my favorite authors, but his best known works run 1000 pages or more each. They could print, though, an anthology of some of his shorter works — Tales of the South Pacific, Bridges of Toko-Ri, Journey, etc.

I’m not sure what the point of a 1:1 LOA volume, especially with relatively contemporary writers. I guess having it match all your other LOA volumes and the archive quality paper.

>106 Podras.: Yeah, I was aware of that one. There’s also Always Coming Home by Le Guin, which they expanded to fill a full volume.

But that’s a far cry from having to do so on four or five novels by the same author. I’m not opposed to it, and I’m not sure they couldn’t squeeze two into a single volume if necessary.

I thought I read something a few years ago about how it had become more difficult for them to bind extremely large volumes. Wasn’t there maybe a Franklin volume that they split into two volumes on later printings, or am I misremembering that?

For the record, I’d like to see Pynchon in, however they decided to do it.

i think they could manage Pynchon in 5 volumes:

1) V., The Crying of Lot 49, and add in the early stories form Slow Learner
2) squeeze Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland together
3) and 4) They would probably have to publish Mason and Dixon and Against the Day 1:1 cuz those are chunky books
5) Inherent Vice and Bleeding Edge

They will certainly have the same problem when they eventually get up to DFW!!

Dr. Flanders: regarding printing books. I'm assuming by "them" you mean printers in general -- not a particular publisher, like LOA -- since sometimes various publishers uses the services of the same printer or printers. As someone who collects art books, I have many BIG volumes from publishers like Taschen. Also, a lot of books from publishers like DC and Marvel (more from the former than the latter), as well as a few small press publishers (IDW, for example). Yes, I consider a great many comic book illustrations to be art -- not _all_, but quite a few (Jim Aparo, Dave Stevens, and just about all the work done for the "Sandman" volumes come right to mind). Those books are often BIG books -- between 800 and 1500, regular-sized, or over-sized, pages -- and the printers and publishers have had few problems printing and publishing them (there have been the _very occasional_ spine problems; but not often). So the size of the book is rarely a hindrance.

The 3rd edition of The Norton Shakespeare has 3490 numbered pages plus a handful of unnumbered ones. I wouldn't recommend that LOA go to that extreme, however. The pages are as thin as the finest tissue paper I've seen, though they are still opaque enough that they aren't difficult to read. Turning just one page at a time is another matter.

>110 vharty:
What, or who, is DFW?

>111 Truett:
What is IDW?

>113 euphorb: DFW == David Foster Wallace

I assume Truett means this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDW_Publishing

Here is the message I wrote a few years back, regarding the size of LOA volumes:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/150158#3926995

As I’d mentioned, the problem is not with the first printing, when our usual press run ranges from 7,000 to 15,000 copies, but with subsequent printings of a many of our titles. In many cases, a few years after a title’s initial publication, a three- to five-year supply can be as low as 500 copies. The cost to set up the book (called “make-ready” in the industry) is so high that the printing/binding cost per book is far more than most readers would be willing to pay. To “break even” on some of these titles, we’d have to charge $100 or more in bookstores, which would decrease sales even further. As it is, we subsidize those volumes with donations and with sales of other books.

In addition, since I wrote the above message, the number of *American* printers that can print large books has decreased by two—bankruptcies, both of them. In fact, there are only two firms remaining in the U.S. that both have the presses to print on thin (30# to 40#) paper *and* that can do sewn bindings of books of 1,200 pages or more.

Most (and perhaps all) of the books mentioned above, published by Taschen and IDW and other larger commercial publishers, are printed abroad, which one can do more affordably if you have a much larger staff and print enough books to negotiate substantial contracts with printers in Europe and Asia (especially in China)—and if you are able to work in the extra four to eight weeks of delivery time. This really is not an option for us; we simply don’t have the volume or the bandwidth.

An anecdote you might find interesting: the Obama biography, which ended up being around 1,400 pages, was split into two volumes not simply to make more money—although I’m sure that was a consideration—but because the number of American binderies available to bind millions of copies of a book that large was simply not sufficient. They simply couldn’t have done it as one volume in 2021 even if he or they had wanted to.

Another recent nail in the coffin, by the way, is the closing at the beginning of this year of the last paper mill in the U.S. that produced high-quality literary opaque paper. A number of publishers were left high and dry with that announcement and several of us worked together through a broker *during the pandemic* to find a mill in Finland (!) to produce our paper.

All in all, the last few years have been particularly challenging for smaller presses—not just Library of America—who are dedicated to publishing physical books. Here’s hoping the recent, substantial increase in book sales ends up turning things around and encourages American printers to expand their capacity.

--David

>111 Truett: Yes, I certainly wasn’t saying that no one can publish huge books. Just that I believed I’d read or heard somewhere that it was no longer feasible for the LOA to publish those 1200 to 1500 page volumes. But I couldn’t remember where I’d read that.

>115 DCloyceSmith: Thank you for finding your older post, Mr. Smith. I was beginning to fear that I was misremembering!

DCLOYCESMITH! (!): I humbly echo the thanks of Dr. Flanders. Thanks, once again, for educating us regarding the varieties and the Ins and Outs of the publishing industry. Truly.

Dr. Flanders: My bad. Didn't see the above (at least I don't think I did), or I forgot. Glad you took my post as an attempt at enlightening (although DCS's post shed further light on how much trouble the publishers have to go through at DC, Marvel, and...IDW, wherein ALL the books are illustrated). IDW Publishing produces graphic novels of every sort. They produce collection of classic newspaper comic strips -- "Pogo", for one -- and adaptations of novels, etc., as well as original graphic novels and comics. They are one of the larger publishers, now; but not so long ago, they were an up and coming independent publisher, a place for comic book writers to go to (along with Dark Horse, etc.) in order write and draw comics and graphic novels that weren't solely super hero based.

>117 Truett: Think nothing of it. I could’ve typed my thoughts out more clearly too, compounded with the fact that I couldn’t remember where I’d heard about the length of volume thing. I’m glad Mr. Smith remembered.

But that might put the squeeze on multi-novel volumes of Pynchon, I don’t know. I’m for Pynchon or McCarthy, either way.

Great discussion all around, I appreciate learning not only about LOA editions and potential future editions, but a little about the business side of things, as well!

>106 Podras.: I'd love to see James Michener in LOA. John Jakes, too. I love a good, epic historical.

>115 DCloyceSmith: Thanks for the update on the production end of the supply chain, David. I remember attending a BISG presentation on the state of the supply chain just after those two printers declared bankruptcy and, though it was a generally sad presentation, it was fascinating as well. I'm sorry to hear LOA has been so heavily impacted.

For what it's worth, I'd hate to see authors like Michener or Jakes not be included just because of average length of their work. If a single novel needed to be split into multiple volumes - say, a two-volume set for one title - I'd still be interested. I'd definitely shell out $$$ for an LOA set of Jakes' North and South trilogy!

>120 beatlemoon: That's an interesting idea about splitting long novels into multiple volumes. I am not totally sure of the facts about this, but I think that was often done in the 19th century with 3 volumes being the most common. David, do you think that LOA might consider that when appropriate in the future?

With regard to post 115 by >115 DCloyceSmith:, I just unearthed this article on LOA's web site that expands on How a Library of America Book is Born.

>123 Podras.:
I recall the news within the last year or two that LOA had to search for (and eventually found) another printer, because Edwards Brothers went out of business.

>124 euphorb: That is true, but I think that LOA's standards haven't changed along with their printers. I certainly hope that is true. Can you verify that David?

What about the irascible Harlan Ellison? He has a huge body of work, was widely respected (and feared) during his day, and undoubtedly influenced many writers of speculative fiction. He's now passed, as well as his wife, so has LOA ever considered publishing his short story collections? Most of his books seem out of print now, and it would be a shame if Harlan's highly imaginative and potent voice fell out of favor.

Dave

wordrubble: If you look -- cursor down the page, for instance -- you'll see a whole thread from Nov 2020 devoted to just this subject. One of a few. Contacted Harlan, myself, before starting one (or more), and he was thrilled about the idea while he was still alive. Unfortunately, the final say comes from the "Board of Directors" or some such, and those types are always stodgy, and conservative-minded. Harlan DOES have a story in the LOA book edited by Peter Straub, so there's that. Also: his books aren't out of print -- they are being printed by an E-book publisher; and a few are being published by Jason Davis. Overall, I believe rights and suchlike are being handled by J.M. Straczynski. He's even shepherding THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS into publication.

>125 Podras.: Although the location has changed, the article linked to above (https://loa.org/news-and-views/728-how-a-library-of-america-book-is-born) is still entirely accurate. In fact, the press shown in the photos was purchased by the printer in Michigan where many of our books are now printed, and it is used for LOA series production.

--David

>128 DCloyceSmith: Thank you, David.

A recent mailing promoting LOA membership says volumes by Rudolfo Anaya and Don DeLillo are forthcoming in the coming year. Other names on the list have already been announced.

>130 Podras.: Any details on what works will be contained in the DeLillo volume?

I wonder if it's just a one-off or LOA would do a complete DeLillo edition, and it would include Amazons?

>131 JacobHolt: Nothing. The letter just had a list of forthcoming authors.

Just posted this in a Mailer thread, but seems worth mentioning in this one as well. This Los Angeles Times story mentions that Library of America will be publishing another Mailer volume next January, "The Naked and the Dead and Selected Letters 1945-46":

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2022-01-06/norman-mailer-...

Would there ever be further volumes of Tennessee Williams? The two existing volumes, I believe collect most of the important writings, but much still remains.

>136 Pablum: I was just thinking of this as I am reading through the first LOA volume. I'm sure the two volumes will be it for the plays, but New Directions has a Collected Stories (four collections in one volume), Memoirs, two volumes of Selected Letters, New and Selected Essays, even a volume of Collected Poems, plus the novels The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Moise and the World of Reason. I didn't realize he had written so much beyond the theater.

Are there any plans for more crime collections? Either anthologies or writer specific?

>137 bsc20: I have only the first LOA volume of Williams' plays--does the second volume include any notes as to why they didn't include Clothes For A Summer Hotel? I have never read that play--though I know its reputation is poor, I still find its exclusion from the second volume odd.

>139 D_B_J: As usual, no explanation for the choices, only for the text editions. That play had a very negative press reaction according to a Williams biographer, Donald Spoto, and it was the last of his to go to Broadway in his lifetime. None of his last five full-length plays make it into the LOA edition, which ends with A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur.

It would have required a third volume to do a complete Williams plays, but either the editors thought a two-volume selection made more sense or LOA balked at such an arrangement or some combination. A clear problem would have been that almost all of the well-known plays would have been in the first two of a three volume complete edition.

It didn't stop them with O'Neill and Miller. The first volume of O'Neill has a lot of apprentice work. I still don't have the last volume of Miller--what is there to really hang your hat on in that volume? (I'll probably cave anyway at some point). But for Williams, it will be two, and for good. An additional volume, if it ever happens, would not be drama, it seems apparent.

Question for DAVIDCLOYCESMITH:

Any chance of the LOA ever publishing some of the works of Daniel J. Boorstin?

THE IMAGE is a classic -- and it was WAY ahead of its time -- and should be a natural. And his THE AMERICANS trilogy or the "Knowledge" trilogy would be pretty groovy, too.

This morning's NY Times Book Club email re E.L. Doctorow's RAGTIME made me wonder if LOA has ever considered a Doctorow volume (or more). He certainly seems like a worthy candidate for inclusion. As always, I know there are numerous authors LOA would like to anthologize whose estates prove problematic in one way or another. Doctorow apparently enjoyed a good relationship with LOA, based on what was posted after his death in 2015, so perhaps there's a better chance in his case.

I have a Doctorow novel (City of God) on my shelf but haven't read it, and generally hear good things about Ragtime. Not an author who is mentioned that frequently, though.

I've only read The Waterworks, which didn't impress me, but it isn't considered one of his better ones. Ragtime and March are on my shelf.

LOA video of Doctorow from 2015:

https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/645-e-l-doctorow-pays-tribute-to-herman-melvi...

I've just received a membership renewal reminder e-mail from LOA that included a list of forthcoming volumes. Here it is:

"New and forthcoming publications include collections devoted to the writings of Rudolfo Anaya, Ray Bradbury, Don DeLillo, Frederick Douglass, William Faulkner, Margaret Fuller, Ernest J. Gaines, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Hijuelos, Norman Mailer, Walker Percy, Charles Portis, and Joanna Russ; the complete Army of the Potomac trilogy by Bruce Catton; the first collected edition of the plays of Adrienne Kennedy, several never before published in book form; and the collected poems of Ursula K. Le Guin, gathered in one volume for the first time, with an introduction written by her friend Harold Bloom shortly before his death. In late 2023, a much-anticipated anthology will gather a wide variety of texts—letters, journals, sermons, travel accounts, petitions, wills, advertisements, and more—by more than 100 Black writers living through the turbulent decades of America’s founding."

Many of the items have been formally been announced, and some were leaked, but there are some new ones, too. Aside from the last item, nothing was said about when they will be published. The last item is almost certainly main-series volume 366, Black Writers of the Founding Era.

Walker Percy! I'm not remembering that name coming up before. Excited about it.

ETA Except of course we discussed in this very thread, see >49 LesMiserables: and later.

I'm especially excited about the William Faulkner volume(s). That may mean that the long awaited collection of his short stories is finally coming to fruition. More Hemingway is also exciting. I don't recall Joanna Russ's name coming up vis-a-vis LOA before. That would make three female science fiction writers in LOA's stable from a field that in its early days had very few of them.

Oh, I didn't even clock Russ's name in there. Nice!

Great news about more Faulkner. This definitely must be the collected short stories mentioned 11 (wow) years ago here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/127913#3072625

I wonder if the Joanna Russ volume, if it's just a single volume, could potentially collect all of her fiction? She published a number of short novels and a few short story collections, but the overall page count shouldn't be too huge.

https://www.tor.com/tag/reading-joanna-russ/

I have a further e-mail from LOA promoting membership which has verified that the forthcoming Faulkner publication(s) will contain "the corrected, unexpurgated texts of all the short stories William Faulkner collected in his lifetime." A quick check with Wikipedia reveals that Faulkner wrote 125 stand-alone short stories. I sense a multi-volume edition coming.

The Writings of Frederick Douglass volume that just came out -- is that ever gonna be boxed along with Douglass' autobiographies?

>152 Podras.:
A quick check of Wikipedia also reveals that Faulkner collected only 48 stories in his lifetime, leaving unanswered whether the remaining 77 stand-alone stories will be included by LOA in some future volume(s).

>154 euphorb: Good point. I missed that. Here's hoping ...

I would love to see Harry Crews in the LoA. Some of his early novels are out-of-print and hard to find. Volume 1:

Novels, 1968-1972
The Gospel Singer | Naked in Garden Hills | This Thing Don't Lead to Heaven | Karate Is a Thing of the Spirit | Car

I very much hope they keep rolling with the Crime Novels series. I was especially ecstatic to see inclusions from Charles Williams, Ed McBain, and Dan J. Marlowe in the forthcoming volumes. My one disappointment was that included was no title from John D. MacDonald, the absolute finest of all the paperback original crime writers of the 50s and 60s. Given the high praise that Geoffrey O’Brien, who edited the two forthcoming 60s Crime volumes, has written of MacDonald I was surprised to see him not included. To be honest, a volume or two of JDM’s work would be magnificent to have. David Goodis got his own (deserved) LOA volume and MacDonald’s work surpasses that of Goodis by a long shot. I very much hope volumes of Crime Novels of the 1970s will appear. If they do my greatest desire would be to see the work of Ralph Dennis included.

In the vein of the multi-volume collections of Ross MacDonald and Elmore Leonard we’ve been given surely James Lee Burke would be deserving of a collection. His writing is the apex of crime fiction over the past 3 plus decades.

I hope to see the novels of Marilynne Robinson included.

On other fronts I’d love very much to see Frank DeFord and Thomas Merton.

Last, writers from the American Conservative tradition tend to be rather under-represented in the LOA. Yes, there was the non-series compendium volume a couple year back but there are several writers arguably worthy of a volume of their own - Whittaker Chambers, Russell Kirk, George Will, and Antonin Scalia?

Upcoming writers were named again in LOA's annual membership renewal promotion e-mail. This time, the list includes

Wendell Berry, Jimmy Breslin, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, E. L. Doctorow, William Faulkner, Margaret Fuller, Ernest J. Gaines, Helen Keller, Adrienne Kennedy, Ursula K. Le Guin, Walker Percy, and Joanna Russ.

The forthcoming Jim Crow: Voices from a Century of Struggle, Part 1 volume was also mentioned.

We already know about most of the names. It was a pretty good guess that a second Joan Didion volume would be coming eventually. New are volumes for E. L. Doctorow and Ernest J. Gaines. A Margaret Fuller volume has been teased before.

Doctorow! I think I recently commented about his possible inclusion in the LOA. I'll be curious to see what novels they group together for this (initial?) volume.

>159 D_B_J: I've not read any of Doctorow (not sure why), but if his Ragtime is a fraction as good as the movie, I'm in.

Hardboiled fans like myself who read and enjoyed Chester Himes’s “The Real Cool Killers” in the Crime Stories of the Fifties anthology and “Run Man Run” in the Crime Stories of 1964-69 anthology might be interested to know that Everyman’s Library is scheduled to publish a Chester Himes anthology on February 6, 2024.

The Essential Harlem Detectives: A Rage in Harlem, The Real Cool Killers, The Crazy Kill, Cotton Comes To Harlem

I hope LOA continues its crime series. The selections so far have been superb.

How about writings on Zorro? Created by Johnston McCulley

>158 Podras.: Today's email adds Thomas Merton to the list. As a longtime Merton devotee, I am thrilled by this news. I imagine a Merton volume would include The Seven Story Mountain, but I'll be very curious to see what else it will comprise.

>163 D_B_J: I didn't get the email, but I'd be very happy to see an LOA Merton edition. He has a very large output, and I would hope that a substantial portion of that, at least, will be included in LOA's edition.

>164 euphorb: Tentative title is "Thomas Merton: Writings of the 1960s," and tentative contents include New Seeds of Contemplation and Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. All subject to change.

In browsing through LOA's web site, I happened on the Project Support page in which is listed potential future volumes. Here is the list:

An unprecedented gathering of Black writers from America’s founding era, 1760–1800

A selection from Henry David Thoreau’s incomparable journals

A collection of the writings of Margaret Fuller, leading feminist intellectual during the nineteenth century

A major two-volume anthology dedicated to the nineteenth-century American short story

A collection of the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim

An anthology of plays by twentieth-century American women playwrights

The first of these has come to fruition. The rest are not new, but it is heartening to see that LOA is still looking forward to their eventual publication. The sooner the better.

>166 Podras.:
I applaud LOA’s willingness to publish anthologies of works that would otherwise not be represented in the set. These include both shorter works and longer ones by authors who wrote only one or two notable books. Anthologies based on genre, such as crime or science fiction or baseball, may have limited appeal except to a subset of LOA readers, but deserve recognition.

One genre that is conspicuously missing is science (other than nature writings). For the last century or more, America has been a world leader in both the physical and biological sciences. While many of the writings are too technical to be included in a set for general readers, others are not. I’m thinking of essays by Stephen Jay Gould and Lewis Thomas; “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn; “Five Easy Pieces” by Richard Feynman; “Relativity: The Special and the General Theory” by Albert Einstein; and “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins. These are all books written for non-specialists by significant contributors to science, and there are many more like them.

>167 jroger1:
I agree with you about the need for more scientific writings. Rachel Carson's, Loren Eiseley's, and E. O. Wilson's works are among those that LOA has published, and LOA included a fine piece on applied statistics by Gould in its non main-series volume, Baseball: A Literary Anthology, but the examples you gave are excellent. Kuhn's book in particular, though still controversial in some respects and responsible for the widespread misuse of the phrase "paradigm shift" (not its fault), was itself a revolution in an understanding of how scientific knowledge progresses.

Any consideration for the writer who influenced many Beat writers, Herbert Huncke?

>168 Podras.:
The dust jacket front flap of the E O Wilson volume says it is volume 1 of 2. Have you heard any more about volume 2? Volume 1 was published in 1921.

>171 jroger1:
According to the editor of the first volume (David Quammen), in an interview on the LOA site, the second volume will contain the following books: On Human Nature, Consilience, The Social Conquest of Earth, and selections from Sociobiology.

>172 euphorb:
Thanks! I’ve read the first one and will look forward to the others.

>171 jroger1: That wouldn't be 2021 would it?

>174 Podras.:
Yes, it would. At my age the centuries tend to run together. -)

>167 jroger1:

I agree with you about the need for more science writing in LOA. I also agree with your suggestions, although I note that Richard Dawkins, although of LOA quality, is, alas, British and therefore not eligible. I’ve been keeping a list of authors and works I’d like to see in LOA. Among the science items are the following, all reasonably non-technical and also not mere popularizations:

Richard Feynman:
The Character of Physical Law
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
The Meaning of It All
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

Albert Einstein (German, but American since 1933):
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
The Evolution of Physics (with Leopold Infeld)
Ideas and Opinions (a collection of shorter pieces, not all scientific)

Stephen Jay Gould:
Ten volumes collecting his “This View of Life” essays (there are 300 of these essays; undoubtedly LOA would include only a judicious selection, though all are valuable).
The Mismeasure of Man
Wonderful Life
An Urchin in the Storm
Rock of Ages
Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle

Carl Sagan:
Cosmos
Contact
The Pale Blue Dot
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
The Demon-Haunted World

George Gaylord Simpson:
Attending Marvels
The Meaning of Evolution
This View of life
Concession to the Improbable

Freeman Dyson (British, but American since 1951 until his death in 2020):
Disturbing the Universe
Weapons and Hope
Infinite in All Directions

Douglas Hofstadter:
Gödel, Escher, Bach
I Am a Strange Loop

Daniel Dennett:
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life

I welcome any comments on these suggestions as well as additional suggestions (there are certainly many that I have overlooked).

>176 euphorb:
Those are all excellent suggestions. And you are right, of course, about Dawkins being British; my apology.

Gould, Sagan, Hofstadter would all be instant buys for me.

I just received the latest Wendell Berry volume from LOA: Port William Novels & Stories, The Postwar Years (main series volume 381). The flyer that came with the book says the stories are arranged in internal chronological order; spanning the years 1945 through 1978. There is to be a third volume, it says, to bring the series up to the present.

A complete VC Andrews would be amazing.

In its most recent e-mail solicitation for renewing a membership, LOA lists several recent and forthcoming volumes. A new name on the list is George Templeton Strong, a mid 19^th century lawyer. The message doesn't say, but it seems likely that the edition will contain excerpts from his diary.

I was surprised to find that Gustav Hasford's The Short-Timers, the basis of Stanley Kubrick's cultural touchstone Full Metal Jacket, is out of print. Not only that, but it seems to be quite difficult to find a used or library copy. Hasford's other books, and a great many novels of Vietnam from his generation, are similarly languishing. I do not know whether Hasford himself deserves a main series volume, but perhaps an anthology of Vietnam novels, or securing the rights to Haford's work for publication in the paperback series, would serve the LOA's mission well.

Just read two of Alfred Hayes's early novels, All Thy Conquests (1946) and The Girl on the Via Flaminia (1949), both set in wartime Rome and both worthy. All Thy Conquests has been out of print for decades. NYRB has also published his In Love (1953), My Face for the World to See (1958), and The End of Me (1968). It seems all five could be included in a Hayes volume.

LOA is currently promoting The Black Fantastic: The New Wave of Afrofuturist Fiction in e-mails. Part of its spiel is this phrase: "Building on the legacy of titans Octavia E. Butler and Samuel R. Delany, these visionary writers ...". I take that as a hint, not a certainty, that LOA has plans in the future for Delany. That would be very welcome, if true.

What about romances, bodice rippers?

Do think we need more philosophy?

>183 bsc20: Glad to see mention of Alfred Hayes. I have all three of those NYRB reprints, but wasn't aware of the late 1940s titles and will seek them out.

The latest LOA email mentioned William Kennedy as one of the authors slated for publication in the near future. I'm guessing perhaps the first three books of the Albany Cycle?

Adding touchstones for William Kennedy and The Albany Cycle.

>188 D_B_J: what other writers were mentioned?

>184 Podras.: A Delany collection would be amazing. I really like what LOA has been doing in sf, though I haven't got around to picking up the Russ yet.

Have there been any rumblings of an Anne Tyler edition?

>191 Stevil2001: I would love a Delany collection. I’ve never dived into his writing, but if the LOA published a volume, I think I’d jump right in.

I don't think LoA would publish his pornography

Which crime novels should be part of a two volume covering the 1970s?

>190 A_B: I don't recall, except that all of the other names & titles were ones I'd already seen here or elsewhere.

I've since gotten confirmation that it will indeed be the Albany trilogy, or the first three books of the Albany cycle as it's now generally known and referred to (Legs, Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, and Ironweed).

>192 Pablum: I'd cheer for that!

>195 A_B: I'm not nearly as well versed in that era of the genre as I'd like to be, but the first title that comes to mind is George V. Higgins' 1970 debut The Friends Of Eddie Coyle. (I finally got around to watching the 1973 film adaptation starring Robert Mitchum a couple of years ago, and it's well worth viewing.)

Is there enough writing for a single Bret Harte volume?

From LOA's June newsletter:

FORTHCOMING: SPRING 2026

Library of America is gearing up to greet the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a slate of releases exploring the origins and trajectory of American democracy: examinations of our foundational political ideas, forays into the glory of our wild places, and bold works from masterful crafters of American fiction. In this sneak peek at our forthcoming Spring 2026 titles, find out what we have in store for readers during this milestone anniversary in our country’s history.

Leading the pack is The Living Declaration, in which historian and presidential speechwriter Ted Widmer traces how our national charter came to be and how it has shaped the political aspirations of Americans and the world for more than two centuries. Weaving together sixty fascinating original texts and featuring dozens of illustrations, this volume seeks to decipher the Declaration in its myriad dimensions, drawing on a diverse range of perspectives to deliver a 360-degree view of this iconic document. Also on tap: the Albany novels of William Kennedy, a compendium of works by genius journalist John McPhee, the heart-stopping crime fiction of Jim Thompson, and more.

William Kennedy: The Albany Trilogy
Legs | Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game | Ironweed
Introduction by Colum McCann
Paul Grondahl, editor
Library of America #397 / ISBN 978-1-59853-841-0
March 2026

John McPhee: Encounters in Wild America
The Pine Barrens | Encounters with the Archdruid | The Survival of the Bark Canoe | Coming into the Country
David Remnick, editor
Library of America #398 / ISBN 978-1-59853-842-7
March 2026

John Steinbeck: The Library of America Collection (four-volume boxed set)
Novels & Stories 1932–1937 | The Grapes of Wrath & Other Writings 1936–1941 | Novels 1942–1952 | Travels with Charley & Later Novels 1947–1962
Elaine Steinbeck, Robert DeMott, and Brian Railsback editors
Library of America volumes #72, #86, #132, #170 / ISBN 978-1-59853-848-9
March 2026

Jim Thompson: Five Noir Novels of the 1950s & 60s
A Hell of a Woman | After Dark, My Sweet | The Getaway | The Grifters | Pop. 1280
Robert Polito, editor
Library of America #399 / ISBN 978-1-59853-843-4
April 2026

SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS

The Testimony of Henry Adams, Freedman: Hope, Terror, and Exodus in the Post–Civil War South
Introduction by Steven Hahn
ISBN 978-1-59853-836-6
February 2026

The Living Declaration: A Biography of America’s Founding Text
Ted Widmer
ISBN 978-1-59853-844-1
May 2026

On Democracy
Walt Whitman
Introduction by David Bromwich
ISBN 978-1-59853-846–5
June 2026

>200 D_B_J: Thank you so much for the update.

Anticipating the 400th volume and excited to see what it is.

McPhee volume speaks to me at a fundamental level.

Criterion just released Grifters in 4k not too long ago.

>195 A_B: I would so hope to see one of the works of Ralph Dennis. His Hardman series - when at its best - can stand squarely with Chandler, Hammett, and Macdonald. He never received the wide acclaim in life he deserved - “the most beloved obscure private eye writer that ever lived,” as writer Ed Gorman described him. It’s finally starting to come around to him with his work being brought back into print since 2018. If anyone deserves a slot in such a collection it’s Dennis.

What about a volume collecting the journalism and expose writing by reporter Nellie Bly? In addition to her obvious books,there must be some articles that need to be unearthed from the archives.

What about a two volume or more of writing on American business? Could include Andrew Carnegie (The Gospel of Wealth, 1889) and John D. Rockefeller (selected essays/memoirs), My Years with General Motors (1963)by Alfred P. Sloan to recent writings to show a history of business thought and practice and innovation and theory.

There must be enough to fill a volume of writing by Yankton Dakota writer Ella Cara Deloria, including her translations in Dakota Texts and novel Waterlily.

>205 A_B:

I recently picked up an edition of her shorter pieces from U of Nebraska Press (I think), and have Waterlily on my shelves waiting for a re-read. In general there is a lot of indigenous writing to be picked up and I wonder if part of LoA's approach is to leave anything published by a University Press out of consideration for now.

In a recent newsletter, LOA said that on Oct. 22, 2026, it will publish The Annotated Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway. it is similar in concept to its recent The Annotated Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

At another point, the newsletter spoke of research being done for a future volume of the writings of Eleanor Roosevelt. It wasn't clear to me whether it was for an LOA publication or for someone else.

As part of my deep dive into American literary realism, I recently started two novels I have been meaning to get to for YEARS, both by authors with the initials HF, born only a year apart, The Cliff-Dwellers by Henry Blake Fuller (1857-1929) and The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic (1856-1898).

Oddly, neither of these two important realists have appeared in the LoA, despite being in the public domain. Nor have others such as Edgar Watson Howe, Joseph Kirkland, John William De Forest, Edward Eggleston, Hamlin Garland, and Rebecca Harding Davis. I see a possibility for a couple of omnibus volumes here. (Or even more, going farther into “local color” writers such as Alice Brown, Grace King, James Lane Allen, and Mary Noailles Murfree.)

The Frederic novel, his seventh of ten, highly regarded by Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published just two years before his premature death at 42. He had lived hard (including eight children, five by his wife and three by his mistress).

Fuller, perhaps America’s first unequivocally gay writer - he really did not try to hide it - got a late start, and lived a good deal longer. The Cliff-Dwellers was his third novel, a landmark in Chicago literature. With the Procession, his fourth and also set in Chicago, is equally well-regarded, and I will certainly read it as well.

I imagine that Fuller and Frederic must have been aware of each other, but I would like to know more about that.

More about these as I get further along.

Seconding your interest in these late 19th/early 20th century realists, in fact these writers may be the most prominent group of American fiction writers in the public domain left mostly unrepresented in LOA. The Damnation of Theron Ware is an absorbing book, way ahead of its time; and Fuller's novel Bertram Cope's Year has just been reissued by another publisher in paperback. Both of these writers have enough that is supposed to be of interest for a full volume, as would several of the others you mention. I hope LOA avoids the anthology route with them and gives us a bit more.

The delay must be the thought of the minimal sales that these volumes would bring; these writers are the definition of out-of-fashion. I assume that's why we also haven't gotten anymore Howells. It seems clear that LOA only wants, or perhaps is only financially able to, put out one -- or maybe no? -- volumes each year that don't have a chance of paying their own way. Thus the search for underwriting for each volume. We may need to find the only billionaire in America who reads 19th century realist writers before we get Fuller or Frederic. But thanks for mentioning them so that LOA will see that there is some interest.

>209 MichaelLOA: Great response, I really appreciate it! Definitely, full volumes for some of these writers would be better. I was surprised to discover that there was not one for Hamlin Garland.

As you might guess, I am a big William Dean Howells fan. I am currently finishing up Dr. Breen’s Practice.

Out of fashion writers are an enthusiasm of mine, generally speaking.

And speaking of Dr. Breen’s Practice: William Dean Howells’ 1881 novel is about a New England-based woman physician, a very rare and novel species at the time. Dr. Breen is an adherent of the homeopathic school, and that creates as many problems for her when confronted with traditional medicine as being a woman does.

Among the non-fiction books I’m reading at this same time, fan of baseball history that I am, is David Rapp’s Tinker to Evers to Chance, about the famed infielders of the Chicago Cubs in the first decade of the 20th Century. I arrived at a chapter on team manager Frank Selee (1859-1909), and was startled to learn that his mother, Annie Maria Case, “had distinction as one of the first female physicians in New England…She became a leading practitioner of ‘homeopathic’ treatments.”

Did Howells have Dr. Case in mind when he created his Dr. Breen? The dates and the geography and the school of medicine certainly match up.

>211 PatrickMurtha: Nice serendipity to your reading agenda.

>212 elenchus: Because I read a lot of books at once, I am constantly getting these little criss-crosses. I enjoy that.

The Prefaces for the 2-volume The American Short Story: The Nineteenth Century say that LOA is working on a similar project for the Twentieth Century. No indication as to when it may be available.

>214 Podras.: I noticed that as well, but I'm not certain it can be taken as a definitive statement of intent by LOA itself. It's a statement by the editors of the 2-volume anthology rather than by LOA people and, to my eye, could be read as no more than a statement that those editors did not want to step on the toes of the editors of a possible future anthology of 20th century stories by including stories by James or Wharton going too far beyond 1900. I'd love to see such an anthology of 20th century stories in LOA, but the statement in question is ambiguous (though the reference to Native American stories might argue that it is in fact a contemplated future LOA project). I had thought of asking about it in this forum, and it would be useful to have a response by David Cloyce Smith, but he does not seem to have participated in this forum for several years.

>215 euphorb: It is a shame about David. He may be too busy with other things, or he may have gotten discouraged by harassment he was getting from some quarters.

As for a 20^th century short story anthology, I recognized the ambiguity but thought that LOA wouldn't likely have allowed that hint (if you will) if there wasn't some substance behind it. I, too, would love to see such an anthology.

>216 Podras.:
David is listed on the LOA web site as the Director of Production & Direct-to-Consumer Marketing. I always appreciated his thorough answers to questions from forum members, but perhaps it was taking too much of his time. One or two members were asking him lots of questions. The forum is no longer as active as it once was.

Suggestions—I would like the following volumes:
1) Joseph Mitchell, collected works
2) Erik Erikson (psychologist) collected works
3) Edward Hirsch (poet) collected writings on poetry
4) Czeslaw Milosz, collected writings on poetry (collected poems are already published by other presses). Obviously he is Polish/Lithuanian, but he did live in USA for many years.
5) Adam Zagajewski, poet, collected writings (also originally Polish but he moved to USA and had many years of residence)
6) Studs Terkel, collected works
7) Roger Ebert, collected writings on film
8) Hubert Selby Jr, collected works
9) Thomas Merton, collected writings
10) Kenneth Koch, collected writings

Thanks.

What about writers in exile? Plenty of volumes for these candidates: Thomas Mann, Aldous Huxley, Bertolt Brecht, Wh Auden, Franz Werfel, Lion Feuchtwanger, Carlos Bulosan, Czeslaw Milosz. Of this who would you want to see with a LOA volume? Rate them from 1-8.

>218 corinwenger:
I don't know all of these names, but of those I do I would second Czeslaw Milosz (who, by the way, was a US citizen for the last 34 years of his life), Studs Terkel, Roger Ebert, and Thomas Merton (at least one volume of his writings have been announced, or at least alluded to, though i would hope for several more).

>218 corinwenger: interesting names. Up in the Old Hotel collects Mitchell. I’m not sure how much more worthy material there would be beyond that stellar collection since he famously stopped writing mid career. If we are thinking New Yorker people, maybe E.B. White? Terkel would be interesting but oral history is tricky since others are doing the talking. But as historical documents, good stuff. As for fellow Chicagoan Roger Ebert, basically all of his reviews are available online (as are Terkel’s interviews). Not sure how much difference that would make. I think they did a Kenneth Koch in the poetry series, did they not?

>219 A_B: Not sure on any of them. Nabokov and Tocqueville are precedent for writers from elsewhere. Issue with Mann, Huxley, and Brecht is that their most famous work was not American unlike Nabokov. LOA did not publish his Russian novels and stories or Tocqueville’s Ancien Regime. Could we add Waugh to that list? Joseph Brodsky? Solzhenitsyn? Bulosan died early with I believe only a single volume to his name, though an important one.

>211 PatrickMurtha: getting to this late but count me in for more Howells. At a minimum the Hazard of New Fortunes trilogy and his travel writings from Italy (Venetian Life, Italian Journeys, Tuscan Cities).

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. for me. Not a new suggestion, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

>217 jroger1: Regarding Mr. Smith's nonappearance around here of late: I would imagine -- and this isn't blatant political...stirring, of any sort -- given the current climate in government at the moment, and given that jobs are hanging by a thread, that Smith and anyone connected with The Library of America are trying to keep their heads down and stay out of the line of fire. Yes, it is a nonprofit and it IS independent, but...the government controls grants and can affect copyright laws, etc. And the current administration has shown it has no problems eviscerating any and everything it can, just because.

Is it me, or is there a decided -- almist "New Criterion" preference for mainly dead white men in the wish lists?

Toni Morrison -- her entire library -- would be brilliant. And long overdue.

Is it me, or is there a decided -- almist "New Criterion" preference for mainly dead white men in the wish lists?

Toni Morrison -- her entire library -- would be brilliant. And long overdue.

>227 Truett: Only speaking for myself, but not at all a "preference" for dead white men, just a pointer to a genre/group of writers -- late 19th & early 20th century realists -- that are fading from memory and underrepresented in LOA. I'd definitely include writers such as Mary Wilkins Freeman and Ellen Glasgow, and journalists such as Ida B. Wells and Nellie Bly, in that list. (All are represented in Penguin Classics). Penguin can probably be a little more adventurous in that they get more course adoptions, and LOA has clearly shifted to be less tolerant of lower-selling volumes if unsupported by donations...not surprising, this has happened with every publisher.

LOA would certainly publish Toni Morrison in a heartbeat if the rights were available. Right now, her books sell so well that there's little incentive for the publisher or estate to strike a deal with LOA. Flagging sales or securing a position in the new canon would be the two main motivations for an estate or publisher of works still in copyright to authorize an LOA edition. (So for instance, there's a motivation for Octavia Butler and Ursula LeGuin's estates to authorize LOA editions, ensuring that these mainly genre authors will be seen as part of American Literature going forward). There are plenty of great Black writers from the past 75 years who will be as essential to LOA eventually as William Kennedy or Peter Straub, but their works are now going through rediscovery, and their original publishers need to benefit from this rediscovery for a while before licensing their works to LOA. (I think first of Gayl Jones and of William Demby, whose novels are in the process of being reissued in paperback by Random House, but also John A. Williams, William Melvin Kelley, Lucille Clifton, etc etc).

Toni Morrison is on a long list of writers that LOA would issue if the rights were available (even if only to particular editions, such as Emily Dickinson and Lewis & Clark). Those are the ones we really want next! It's frustrating, as I probably won't live to see Martin Luther King or Emily Dickinson in LOA editions. :-)

And not to speculate on David Cloyce Smith without knowing him, but I'd guess that he's near retirement age...maybe he's just rationing how often he wants to engage with a group of impossible-to-please kvetchers like us! :-)

>228 MichaelLOA: Michael: LOL (if use of that isn't too out of date). I was acquainted with Harlan Ellison (professional friends, in my estimation, though he was more generous in his descriptions), but I would say that BOTH of us started out, from childhood, as curmudgeonly kvetchers. I figured the rights might still be a prob with Morrison, wasn't sure, since a few authors who still seem to be selling have been included.

As for DCloyceSmith, if his absence is due to being able to work less, now, excelsior! But -- from the safety of my seat in Australia -- I still cringe everytime I read the news of new horrors visited upon established systems, etc., as well as the citizens of our country (dual citizen, here) -- I can't help but be worried and wonder what will be left intact when (if) the current hooligans are ousted.

For now, back to the beloved distraction of good (and great) fiction.

According to Amazon, LOA will be releasing main-series volumes 404 and 405: Eleanor Roosevelt: Autobiographies & Political Writings on Mar. 2, 2027.

And a boxed set: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiographies-Political-Writings-Eleanor-Roosevelt/dp/1...