Copies of Muirsheen Durkin and The Trickster

Copies of Muirsheen Durkin are in; I have ordered copies of
The Familiar Compound Trickster. I should have them sometime this week.

Ben Jonson and Cataline

Ben Jonson and Catiline

Around 1611, Ben Jonson wrote a play entitled Catiline about the rebellion. It was a notorious failure. One modern critic said that the play was so terrible, students who cheated should be forced to read it. About 30 years ago, I read the play and concluded that it had been falsely maligned. It didn’t seem to be the weighty bore I had expected. Sometime later I reread the play, and my reaction was, “Hey, this play really does stink!” Strange how our reactions to a given work can vary upon different readings. Strange how our appreciations of works can be affected by extra-literary factors, such as colds, toothaches, quarrels, anxiety, weariness, the afternoon doldrums, etc. Strange also how we pay little attention to these factors and assume that everyone equally is open to each literary work any time it might be picked up. I suppose I owe Jonson a third reading of this play to see, if I can, what I really feel about it.

My Novel on Eliot Ness as a Christmas Present?

The Ness Novel

All three of my novels should be ready well before Christmas. But I am somewhat reluctant to recommend the Ness novel as a gift for someone repelled by fictional violence. This novel rivals my WILDERNESS OF TIGERS, my fictional portrayal of Kentucky's villainous Harpe brothers,perhaps the county's first serial killers--in bodies and violence. When I wrote WILDERNESS, I doubted that I would come across a killer as merciless as they, but the then in reaching the second version of my ELIOT NESS AND THE UNTOUCHABLES, i found that new evidence had been found concerning a still officially unsolved series of murders that occurred when Ness was public safety director of Cleveland. Immediately I knew a book was at hand. I might add that I describe none of the historical murders but do graphically portray their results.

   I wrote THE GRAVE AND THE FIGURE EIGHT  in the early seventies in longhand in about 14 thick 8" by 11" student notebooks, skipping every other line for revisions.  I did some revising, but I looked at the ms. and realized that this book would probably rival WAR AND PEACE in length.  Because of my teaching duties and the extreme unlikelihood of anyone publishing such a long work from an unknown, I put it aside and reworked it in the first decade of the 21st. century.  It was taken by a publisher who accepted unknowns, but the price was set so high that few would buy it!  This occurred when ebooks were getting underway. ((It's  available as an ebook now).   I can't prove the following, but I suspect that the company set prices  so high so that the authors would buy books at a discount (still high) and try to sell the publications on their own.

More on the first edition of THE GRAVE AND THE FIGURE EIGHT

The reason I had the book republished is that the original firm published it traditionally; that is, without my having to pay any money. However, the price was set at $29,00, much too high to attract readers to a book by a new author.  Furthermore, a friend and I were inexperienced in proofreading such a long book and believed we could catch all errors on our own. Drat! We let too many slip by. Now I use a copy editor, one supplied by the publisher. Drat! Still errors slip by.  Alas, I've learned that no book has been published that is totaly error free.

Reduced Prices on first edition of THE GRAVE AND THE FIGURE EIGHT

  On my website, I am offering copies of the first edition of THE GRAVE AND THE FIGURE EIGHT for the reduced prices of $4.00 per paperback and $7.00's per hard back.

A NESS MYSTERY

Recently I was contacted by Matthew Pearl, a writer who is doing an article for a national magazine on the 60^th anniversary of the publication of Ness and Oscar Fraley’s book THE UNTOUCHABLES.  In particular, he sought my help concerning a mystery involving the book’s publication.  We know for certain that Ness’s wife Betty and Bobby, their adopted son got almost nothing in royalties either from the book or the TV series. The question is why? A lady whose knowledge of Ness is immense and whom Ideeply trust said that she had found a letter in the Ness files in Cleveland in which Ness, fearing that the book would not sell, agreed to sell the rights to Fraley for a lump sum. On one of my research trips to Cleveland I could not find the letter, nor could a librarian, who insisted no such letter existed. In my book ELIOT NESS AND THE UNTOUCHABLES I discussed the deal but observed that the letter seems to have been misfiled. Pearl also could not find he letter and suspects the lady might have been mistaken about what she saw.  But no documented information exists as to the contract’s nature.  Yet we know that after the book’s fame Betty Ness well-nigh lived in poverty.  In fact, for a while, she had to live with their former maid, Corine Lawson, a black woman.  One possibility is that Betty was somehow cheated of her share of the profits, but if so, why didn't she fight back in court. Believing in the likelihood of such a deal, I included it my forthcoming novel about Ness THE FAMILIAR COMPOUND TRICKSTER.  Of course, that book is fiction, so the deal doesn't have to be historical.  But something like that must have happened.  However, knowing the truth would be fascinating. I have been helping Pearl by making suggestions and answering minor questions.  Indeed I hope he unearths the truth. I plan to write more about this matter on my new blog page..  

Book Orders Up and Running

Today I officially launch my on line service to sell my books.  I have had this offer for sometime, but never really made good use of it. Today I made it official.  Go to my website; ken@kyken.com, look on the page that lists available purchases. I list other dealers and then give my prices.  Book prices vary, of course, today. Usually the publisher sets them,  then distributes copies to a dealer at a discount, so the dealers then can charge any price they want, sometimes asking a lesser one that the official price.  I'm selling my books at about the average of the prices I pay for author copies. I'd rather be read than rich!  (Of course, rarely today do books make great profits! ) Hence, the copies I sell should be cheaper than many dealers. Check out this list on my webpage!  I, of course, do not sell ebooks. These will have to be bought elsewhere on line..

Anniversary of Eliot Ness' book THE UNTOUCABLES!

 Two weeks ago ago I received a call about Eliot Ness from a writer named Matthew Pearl, who is planning an article on Eliot Ness for VANITY FAIR, to be published next year. He reminded me that next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the publication of THE UNTOUCHABLES, which began the entire Eliot Ness phenomenon, beginning with the television miniseries and original TV series starring Robert Stack.  Mr. Pearl asked me some questions about the publication of Ness's book and about Ness. His article will highlight the book's anniversary!

Welcome!

  Welcome, folks to my new blog page?  Ask anything you wish about my books. such as where they are available, when are new ones coming out, comment on old ones, ask me what I meant by having character X do this or that!  I hope we can have interesting discussions.  I will update my progress on certain projects, etc.