That's Fantastic!

Fantasy of the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History, by Randy Broecker. A gorgeous volume that wisely confines itself to the hundred years that Fantasy truly defined itself as a genre and before it began to suffer genre fatigue. Full of glorious color illustrations clustered on every page, mostly book and magazine covers, many of them familiar to me in real life. As such it is almost a personal scrapbook of my reading and interests for forty years. If I were making a core memorial collection (wink-wink) I would want this book included, but I can’t go so far as to say that it is absolutely essential. So: Ranking: Highly desirable. File Code: Literary History. With a Minor in Art. Hardback.

Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters (1987), by John Grant. A legacy from John (it was on the way to Half-Price when he let me have it. We do that sometimes, let each other harvest a selection from books we want to sell.) Because it came before “The Little Mermaid”, it is a perfect snapshot of Disney before their ‘renaissance’. I remember browsing it when we came back from a trip to Enchanted Rock and the other guys were otherwise occupied. Ranking: Expendable. File Code: Reference. Animation. Film. Hardback.

Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Savage Barbarian, by Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas, a famous graphic artist, worked with the Conan franchise from 1970. Here he collects art from magazines, comic books, and Robert E. Howard’s writing to put together a visual encyclopedic guide to the places and peoples of the Hyborian Age. This book allows me enough of a taste of Conan; at one time I had gotten a collection of almost all of Howard’s work before I realized I really didn’t like most of it and sold them. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Reference. With a Minor in Art. Hardback.

Top 100 Fantasy Movies, by Gary Cerani. What it says on the label. A slick, graphics-heavy volume, snappy in recording the essentials (who made it, what it’s about, and why it’s important). It usually starts with a poster, and then some pertinent stills, seldom taking up more than two pages per movie. A delightful browser that gathers many of my favorite films. It has the wisdom to place “The Fellowship of the Ring” at No.1, with “The Wizard of Oz” a close second. Ranking: Essential. Book Code: Movies. Fantasy. Softcover.

The Faces of Fantasy: Photographs by Patti Perret. Putting faces to all the names of the writers who produced so much wonder (and sometimes dreck) during my lifetime. Includes a short quote or poem from most of them, talking about Fantasy and what it means to them. To see how some of them like to dramatize themselves can be … a revelation. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Fantasy Writers. Photography. Hardback.

Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children’s Illustration, by Michael Patrick Hearn, Trinkett Clark, and H. Nichols B. Clark After those credits, I feel there is very little to say. John was going to sell this book but gave it to me instead. We sometimes do that: go over our offerings for Half-Price Books then let the other keep what appeals to him. I’ve found it most useful for remembering old books and then finding out facts about them. Ranking: Good, But Expendable. File Code: Art. History. Reference. Hardback.

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: Expanded Edition, by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. I used to have the original hardback edition, which I ditched for this one. A browser’s book, full of maps that I know to be inaccurate or approximate at best (compare them to official maps) and limited to places supposed to exist or have existed or are contiguous to this Earth. Not made in time to include Hogwarts, though. Ranking: Dispensable. File Code: Fantasy. Geography. Softcover.