Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Subterranean Press (2006), Hardcover, 83 pages
Description
In this taut, eerie novella from Powers (Three Days to Never), used-book hunter George Sydney finds he can summon a beautiful poet when he discovers a signed volume containing a previously unknown variant of one sonnet. The good news is that he can bring the mysterious woman, Cheyenne Fleming, back to life. The bad news is that if he does, he will never meet her, and the act itself may harm an innocent. Set in Los Angeles, Powers' intricate story shows how Sydney's loneliness and alcoholism leaves him vulnerable to someone (or something) that is not what it appears to be.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Anome
Another short story in book format by Powers, about a small-time book buyer and seller who finds a rare edition of a book, and starts meeting the author's ghost. As usual, it explores an interesting idea, and is well written.
LibraryThing member sdobie
George Sydney meets a mysterious woman on Hollywood Boulevard who quickly leads him into making life-or-death decisions.
A well-written story that ends up exactly where you expect it to.
A well-written story that ends up exactly where you expect it to.
LibraryThing member sben
A quick novella, with standard Powers tropes -- an alcoholic protagonist who encounters the supernatural. (Spoilers follow.)
Being short, it apparently doesn't have room for the hero to badly injure himself; also, there is no redemption at the end.
Being short, it apparently doesn't have room for the hero to badly injure himself; also, there is no redemption at the end.
LibraryThing member ScoLgo
This is a short little ghost story that I have read before, (it is included in 'The Bible Repairman & Other Stories'), but it was cool to check out this limited-print version from Subterranean Press. The typeface, illustrations and layout really help elevate the story beyond print alone. From the
"A first edition of a 1968 book of poems, with a sonnet that appears in no other copy -- a mysterious girl with a special fountain-pen, who needs a special favor -- and an old woman who warns used-book dealer George Sydney that helping the girl he's fallen in love with will mean that he will never have fallen in love. Hollywood Boulevard, with its bars and used-book stores and the legendary Chinese Theater, is the psychic killing ground where Sydney must learn the rules of an old supernatural rivalry -- and choose to save either the woman he loves, or his soul."
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inside leaf:"A first edition of a 1968 book of poems, with a sonnet that appears in no other copy -- a mysterious girl with a special fountain-pen, who needs a special favor -- and an old woman who warns used-book dealer George Sydney that helping the girl he's fallen in love with will mean that he will never have fallen in love. Hollywood Boulevard, with its bars and used-book stores and the legendary Chinese Theater, is the psychic killing ground where Sydney must learn the rules of an old supernatural rivalry -- and choose to save either the woman he loves, or his soul."
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Language
Physical description
83 p.; 8.1 inches
ISBN
1596060751 / 9781596060753