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Acolyte, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 13, Winter 1946

tasy, by Samuel Field, an Army friend of R. A. Hoffman, Acolyte art director. It is an allegorical account of army life which is not without merit. A copy may be obtained for 25¢ from 1005 W. 35th Place, Los Angeles 7, Calif. Selected Fragments, by Gerry de la Ree, is a pretentiously printed collection prose poems, most of which have previously appeared in amateur  magazines. Quality is uneven, and although no single item is too bad. the collection does not deserve as good a format as it has been given. De la Ree may live to regret the permanent publication of early work which is almost certain to be outgrown as his style develops and matures.   Nevertheless, the pamphlet
is pleasant reading and should particularly interest lovers of fantastic prose poems. 25¢ from Gerry de la Ree, 9 Bogert Place, Westwood, New Jersey.   The third item came very nearly being cited earlier in
this column, when I was speaking of fantasy shysters.    It is a 26-page printed,  illustrated pamphlet entitled Rhode Island on Lovecraft, and
contains five brief essays on HPL by various Providence residents. These range from Winfield T. Scott'a very able analysis of Lovecraft as a poet down to the asinine two pages by some woman who used to
talk cats with HPL. If published at a reasonable price, this brochure would be a worthwhile companion piece to Marginalia, but when someone has the crust to ask $1.00 for 36 pages of undistinguished printing of this nature, I am tempted to make remarks about people who are trying to cash in on Lovecraft'e name and fame.    If Arkham House had sold
the 377-page Marginalia, at the same rate charged for the present pamphlet, it would have cost $43.50 instead of $3.00. The omission of this publisher's address is deliberate; The Acolyte does not choose to assist an enterprise of so questionable a nature.

TUCKER GETS TOLD.   Since Fantasy Forum is being crowded out of this issue, and since the following letter from Mick McComas of Random House was inspired by the Tucker article which replaced Banquets for Bookworms last issue, it does not seem altogether out of place to include it here.
     "I don't know who Mr. Bob Tucker is—nor do I much care—but, as a publisher, I was rather irritated by his article.   There are two sources of buying new books at less than list prices. One is the selling of remainders----remainders of editions of books which failed to sell and which the publisher has sold to the remainder dealer for a fraction of the original price. Another is the straight price-cutting firm--and some of the outfits that Mr. T. thinks of so highly fall in
this category. I won't go into the bad economics of price-cutting. Suffice it to say that it raises hell with the legitimate book store which is, in the final analysis, the bulwark of both publisher and author--all three of whom are trying to raise American publishing to the European level. But I note that, as is usual when one tries to
get something for nothing, there are appearances that Mr, T. is being bamboozled just a bit. In addition to recommending books which can be purchased in reprint editions anywhere on the stands---Tales of Terror, Creeps by Night, etc.--he mentions as selling up to $2.69. Six Novels of the Supernatural, now on sale anywhere in the original
edition for TWO DOLLARS!  We all want cheaper books, and they'll come--but not by building up price-cutting."

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tasy, by Samuel Field, an Army friend of R. A. Hoffman, Acolyte art director. It is an allegorical account of army life which is not without merit. A copy may be obtained for 25¢ from 1005 W. 35th Place, Los Angeles 7, Calif. Selected Fragments, by Gerry de la Ree, is a pretentiously printed collection prose poems, most of which have previously appeared in amateur magazines. Quality is uneven, and although no single item is too bad. the collection does not deserve as good a format as it has been given. De la Ree may live to regret the permanent publication of early work which is almost certain to be outgrown as his style develops and matures. Nevertheless, the pamphlet is pleasant reading and should particularly interest lovers of fantastic prose poems. 25¢ from Gerry de la Ree, 9 Bogert Place, Westwood, New Jersey. The third item came very nearly being cited earlier in this column, when I was speaking of fantasy shysters. It is a 26-page printed, illustrated pamphlet entitled Rhode Island on Lovecraft, and contains five brief essays on HPL by various Providence residents. These range from Winfield T. Scott'a very able analysis of Lovecraft as a poet down to the asinine two pages by some woman who used to talk cats with HPL. If published at a reasonable price, this brochure would be a worthwhile companion piece to Marginalia, but when someone has the crust to ask $1.00 for 36 pages of undistinguished printing of this nature, I am tempted to make remarks about people who are trying to cash in on Lovecraft'e name and fame. If Arkham House had sold the 377-page Marginalia, at the same rate charged for the present pamphlet, it would have cost $43.50 instead of $3.00. The omission of this publisher's address is deliberate; The Acolyte does not choose to assist an enterprise of so questionable a nature. TUCKER GETS TOLD. Since Fantasy Forum is being crowded out of this issue, and since the following letter from Mick McComas of Random House was inspired by the Tucker article which replaced Banquets for Bookworms last issue, it does not seem altogether out of place to include it here. "I don't know who Mr. Bob Tucker is—nor do I much care—but, as a publisher, I was rather irritated by his article. There are two sources of buying new books at less than list prices. One is the selling of remainders----remainders of editions of books which failed to sell and which the publisher has sold to the remainder dealer for a fraction of the original price. Another is the straight price-cutting firm--and some of the outfits that Mr. T. thinks of so highly fall in this category. I won't go into the bad economics of price-cutting. Suffice it to say that it raises hell with the legitimate book store which is, in the final analysis, the bulwark of both publisher and author--all three of whom are trying to raise American publishing to the European level. But I note that, as is usual when one tries to get something for nothing, there are appearances that Mr, T. is being bamboozled just a bit. In addition to recommending books which can be purchased in reprint editions anywhere on the stands---Tales of Terror, Creeps by Night, etc.--he mentions as selling up to $2.69. Six Novels of the Supernatural, now on sale anywhere in the original edition for TWO DOLLARS! We all want cheaper books, and they'll come--but not by building up price-cutting."