Subject: (urth) Question for Lafferty fans ...

From: Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:02:45 +0000

I was wondering if any of you have managed to get your hands on and read *
Archipelago*, the first in the "Devil is Dead" trilogy.  As far as I can
tell, there was only one print run of 1,000, and the copies that I find
online are at least $150.  Does this work like a "regular" trilogy, in that
it is necessary (or at least highly recommended) that the books be read in
order?  I know with Lafferty all bets are off, so I wouldn't be surprised
if I could read them out of order!

I am also not sure about the last couple volume ... the Wiki says that the
third book in the trilogy, *More Than Melchisedech, *is itself in three
parts, that look like they were printed as chapbooks.  All are virtually
impossible to find online, and incredibly expensive.  If they were printed
as chapbooks, do any of you know if they have been collected elsewhere,
perhaps in a science fiction anthology or something similar?  I ask because
I stumbled across a nice copy of the second volume (*The Devil is Dead*)
that, while still expensive, was a bit more in my price range.  Of course,
I am also just plain curious about all things Lafferty I can find!
*
*
Thanks!* *
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From: Daniel Petersen <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:59:17 +0000

Hi Antonin, I still haven't read anything but *The Devil Is Dead* because
the other volumes have been too expensive for me to obtain.  I get the
impression you can read at least the first two out of order, but it
eventually makes sense better if you read the entirety.

Interestingly, related to Wolfe, I believe Lafferty's novella 'From The
Thunder Colt's Mouth' in the affordable 'science fiction triad' called *In
the Wake of Man* (where Wolfe's 'Tracking Song' first appeared) is an
excerpt from *More Than Melchisedech*.  The novella is an interesting read
in itself, but I'm not sure how much it tells you about the trilogy (I
certainly didn't notice much connection to *The Devil is Dead*, but there
was an appearance from *Devil*'s protagonist, Finnegan.)

Whilst there is good news in the pipeline that there should be a new
Lafferty collection of short stories coming out in a few years' time
(possibly introduced by some famous authors), with more popular volumes to
follow such as his novels *Past Master *and *Fourth Mansions* - the Argo
Mythos cycle (as the volumes you're referring to are sometimes called) is
almost certainly not high on the publisher's priority list and so it will
still be quite some time before they see the light of day.

Since you're self-professedly curious about all things Lafferty, I highly
recommend a perusal of the Lafferty blog I write as some quite
knowledgeable people frequently comment with lots of insights and insider
knowledge about the publication of Lafferty.

http://antsofgodarequeerfish.blogspot.co.uk/

Take care,

DOJP

(For those wondering what all this Lafferty stuff is doing here in a Wolfe
board, check out Wolfe's rather fawning comments on Lafferty here:
http://antsofgodarequeerfish.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/its-great-to-be-young-and-in-danger.html
.)

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 9:02 PM, Antonin Scriabin
<kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>wrote:

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From: Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:22:30 +0000

Thanks for the detailed response!  It is remarkable that a writer of
Lafferty's caliber has such a fragmented oeuvre.  As I was searching for
more about this trilogy I came across many references to unpublished works
of his, and of course some of the published things were limited print runs,
chapbooks, etc.  A shame, really!  I will see if I can find *In the Wake of
Man*, Lafferty + Wolfe will of course be a great combo.  Where did you
happen to hear about the possibly forthcoming Lafferty reprints?  The short
story collection seems particularly interesting; *Nine Hundred
Grandmothers* is hands down my favorite book of short stories.  Thanks for
the link to your blog, I remember having read some posts there after
finding your Wolfe blog.  Good stuff!

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 5:59 PM, Daniel Petersen <
danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:

> excerpt from *More Than Melchisedech*.  The novella is an interesting
> read in itself, but I'm not sure how much it tells you about the trilogy (I
> On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 9:02 PM, Antonin Scriabin <
> kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I was wondering if any of you have managed to get your hands on and read
>> *Archipelago*, the first in the "Devil is Dead" trilogy.  As far as I
>> can tell, there was only one print run of 1,000, and the copies that I find
>> I am also not sure about the last couple volume ... the Wiki says that
>> the third book in the trilogy, *More Than Melchisedech, *is itself in
>> three parts, that look like they were printed as chapbooks.  All are
>> virtually impossible to find online, and incredibly expensive.  If they
>> were printed as chapbooks, do any of you know if they have been collected
>> elsewhere, perhaps in a science fiction anthology or something similar?  I
>> ask because I stumbled across a nice copy of the second volume (*The
>> Devil is Dead*) that, while still expensive, was a bit more in my price
>> range.  Of course, I am also just plain curious about all things Lafferty I
>> can find!
>> *
>> *
>> Thanks!* *
>>
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From: Daniel Petersen <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:31:34 +0000

My pleasure, Antonin!  Only too glad to try to help out another Laff
enthusiast.  There's a guy who comments on the blog called Andrew Ferguson
who wrote his MA dissertation on Lafferty (the only academic paper on
Lafferty so far):
http://virginia.academia.edu/AndrewFerguson/Papers/288013/Lafferty_and_His_World.
 He has passed along some of this insider knowledge about upcoming
publication of Lafferty.

-DOJP

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:22 PM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com
> wrote:

> chapbooks, etc.  A shame, really!  I will see if I can find *In the Wake
> of Man*, Lafferty + Wolfe will of course be a great combo.  Where did you
>> Hi Antonin, I still haven't read anything but *The Devil Is Dead*because the other volumes have been too expensive for me to obtain.  I get
>> the impression you can read at least the first two out of order, but it
>> certainly didn't notice much connection to *The Devil is Dead*, but
>> there was an appearance from *Devil*'s protagonist, Finnegan.)
>>
>> (For those wondering what all this Lafferty stuff is doing here in a
>> Wolfe board, check out Wolfe's rather fawning comments on Lafferty here:
>>>  I was wondering if any of you have managed to get your hands on and
>>> read *Archipelago*, the first in the "Devil is Dead" trilogy.  As far
>>> as I can tell, there was only one print run of 1,000, and the copies that I
>>> find online are at least $150.  Does this work like a "regular" trilogy, in
>>> that it is necessary (or at least highly recommended) that the books be
>>> read in order?  I know with Lafferty all bets are off, so I wouldn't be
>>> surprised if I could read them out of order!
>>>
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