|July 6, 2008|
Alas, the Curse of the Brits has hit me again, and my beloved Poisoned Pen Press (UK) is closing up shop. Sigh. This means that, if you want live in the UK and want copies of their edition books, you’ll have to scurry. They still have copies of THE ART OF DETECTION (hardcover and paperback) and TOUCHSTONE, and a very few of A GRAVE TALENT.
Better news comes for you audio fans: TOUCHSTONE is finally available, from Recorded Books (www.recordedbooks.com or 1-800-638-1304—the ISBN is 978-4361-0902-4.) I’m not sure about downloads, if I get an answer on that I’ll let you know. In any case, here’s the (hmm, interesting…) cover:
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I love the U.S. book cover with the…book, but I must say this cover does convey the message of a true touchstone, so, perhaps it is a bit more literal without being as artistic.
–Alice
Laurie,
I am very sorry to hear about Poisoned Pen Press. The loss of any piece of the fragile literary world leaves us all a little poorer.
And to flip instantly over to a very bright note, let me say congratulations to you and to whomever was responsible for getting Jefferson Mays to be the one to be the voice of “Touchstone”. He is a very fine actor whom I have had to pleasure to see in “I Am My Own Wife” (where he skillfully played a great number of characters of all nationalities, allegiances and persuasions in an award winning Off-Broadway production) and in “Journey’s End” (an incredibly moving Broadway revival about a group of British soldiers in the trenches in WWI). See, some good things do happen now and then. I am grateful.
–Marjorie
I still think the US book cover is the best!
Sad news indeed about PPP in the UK. I hope the list and/or imprint can resurface somehow, if is ‘up for sale’…? I hope this does not affect immediate sales for you here in the UK – we may be smaller in number than in the US, but we all want your books… :-1
Heehee. Like Alice said, a very literal view–it _is_ a stone and someone _is_ touching it. The cover could be worse, though. As a long-time Recored Books listener, I can tell you some of the cover art is sooooooo bad it cannot be described. All the old Mrs. Pollifax books were terrible. The older versions of anything by Elizabeth Peters were also gross.
Nikki
P.S. Thanks for the response about Mary’s name. Someday, when you are not busy editing/rewritng a book (when will that be? 😉 ), I will list for you all the ways you nailed Russell family traits. It’s just one more reason for me to love the books.
I love the book cover and must say I find the audio book cover a bit, mmmm…ghoulish. More of a zombie hand than a human one. Might bring in new fans, though.
Jefferson Mays has a remarkable voice. I have only ‘read’ a few audiobooks over the years, but Touchstone has just hit the top of the list for my next excursion in that direction. Much as I loved the ink-on-paper edition, it will be sheer desert to hear JM read the story!
Dessert, I meant dessert! I’ve had a hard time with desert/dessert allllllll my life! Hope you knew what I meant, Laurie.