Perspectives on the Espresso

Following on from my Espresso post of the other day, several other bloggers have written about this development.

My friend, colleague, and knight in shining armour for being "the only validator of Petrona on Facebook apart from Petrona herself", James Long, writes a post at The Digitalist about the Espresso-Blackwell deal. Excitingly, James features a video of the machine in action, though I have not dared to watch it yet – but please do take a look. Part of James's take is "could Blackwells use the EBM to leapfrog Borders or Waterstones in the UK by selling the long tail titles across all segments, categories and genres? Unlikely, I suppose, with just 60 stores, and that idea relies on readers/bookbuyers everywhere being very determined about what they want to buy next, and being constantly on the hunt for relatively obscure titles."

James also refers to Eoin Purcell's post about the E-B deal. Eoin writes: "I hope they [Blackwell] roll it out fast and with fanfare before other[s] steal their thunder. When you consider the customer breakdown and the likely purchases that Blackwell encompasses, you see that they are almost ideally suited as a launch customer for the Espresso in the UK."

Last but of course not least, author Debi Alper writes a post called Books – the next chapter? in which she concludes: "Looks like a positive result for publishers, authors, booksellers, readers …" Right on, Debi.

Jeff Marks on Anthony Boucher

It is a while since I read the Dorothy L mail list: I have not read it since I started this blog, in fact (there is only time for so much). But it was there that I first heard of "the Boucheron", the main US mystery convention, gradually discovering that it is named after a man called Anthony Boucher. At that time (2005), a DorothyL-er called Jeff Marks was writing a book, "the ultimate resource on Anthony Boucher, critic, editor, translator, writer, and scriptwriter. So many people know of Bouchercon today, but few know of the man behind the World Mystery Conference." So I got to read a bit about Jeff's progress — I think we even exchanged a few emails about it. Well, I am delighted to say that the book is now out.

"Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography is the first book to look at the life and career of the 20th century's most influential mystery and suspense critic. Along with his mystery criticism, Boucher was known for starting The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, writing seven novels, and writing the radio plays for Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen."

See more about the book at Jeff's website, and buy it (and others!) via his online bookstore.