It finally arrived: the mammoth, famous collection of photographs called SUMO by Helmut Newton and published by TASCHEN. Perverts can rejoice that it is as beautiful as advertised. We are selling it for a client, and though the members discount cannot be applied (we do feel badly about that), not one inch of the heady, sweaty interior is diminished. The book comes with its own specially designed table, for the love of Zeus! We weep into our arms at the sight of it. Is this the flashy, art press version of Kramer’s coffee table book that doubles AS A COFFEE TABLE? Is this the pinnacle of one’s first decade in the business (as B&D, at least?). We’ve worked in other shops, and not once did this behemoth of paper land on our desks. If it did, we’d be in the hospital with broken feet or legs. It weighs 35 kg! This book was definately part of Marley’s chain, or SOMEONE’S chain, to be dragged across Victorian England and used to scare psychopathic capitalists. The dogs are terrified of it, as it lands with a thud. We are left puzzled by its stellar existence.
Less sweaty (yet still cool) books of smaller sizes have come into the shop as well. We had an experimental/horror fan sell us some excellent titles. We’ve been processing more of those underground comix along with contemporary indie stuff to boot. More vintage comic reprints are here on the member’s page. And a big, colourful book on the trashy films of Roger Coman also walked through our door, along with other useful flotsam and jetsam of the literary persuasion. It’s impossible sometimes to not JUST READ them all, and finally make real the incorrect dreams of those who “wish to own a bookshop and just read all day,” but we have to make a living. They are YOURS to read, beautiful people. We are but a esoteric, shawl-wearing children of Victorian England selling pearly barnacles of culture in the dark alleys of Life. Our reputations are so golden that the Guild of Thieves even recognize our work as Good and True. We do not buy from these thieves. But we do nod to them as we go along, acknowledging their respect. If you are questioned in these alleys just say, “I seek Jason and Vanessa,” and they will let you pass.
