William Ashbless

 

On Pirates, by ‘William Ashbless’. Introductions by Tim Powers and James P. Blaylock. Illustrations by Gahan Wilson. Afterwords by ‘William Ashbless’ and ‘William Hastings’.

A chapbook put out by Subterranean Press, signed by both authors, and #344 out of 1000 such special editions of signed chapbooks. “William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by fantasy writers James Blaylock and Tim Powers. Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s, originally as a reaction to the low quality of the poetry being published in the school magazine. They invented nonsensical free verse poetry and submitted it to the paper in Ashbless's name, where it was reportedly enthusiastically accepted. Ashbless is, however, best known in his incarnation as a 19th-century poet, in which guise he appears in Powers' The Anubis Gates (1983) and as a lesser character in Blaylock's The Digging Leviathan (1984). Neither author was aware that the other's novel contained a William Ashbless until the coincidence was noticed by the editor responsible for both books, who suggested that the two consult one another so that their references would be consistent.” – Wikipedia. There is another book I want to get: “In 1985, Powers and Blaylock produced Offering the Bicentennial Edition of the Complete Twelve Hours of the Night: 1785–1985, a prospectus for a non-existent collection of Ashbless poetry, published by Cheap Street Press. ("The Twelve Hours of the Night" had been mentioned in The Anubis Gates as Ashbless's most famous work.) The prospectus included a sample poem and a replica of Ashbless's signature (the "William" was signed by one, and the "Ashbless" by the other, of the authors).” – Ibid.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Chapbook. Pirates. Humor.

The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook, by James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers.

An honest-to-goodness cookbook full of recipes I wouldn’t mind trying out, surrounded with the usual humorous appurtenances by Blaylock and Powers. It goes like this: they find clues that seem to point to Ashbless’s demise and try to rush one of his works into publication. Ashbless turns up and castigates them for trying to cash in on their old friend’s death, but the book is too far along in the process so they have to simply add an explanation in an Afterword from the old poet of what really is going on. From the Subterranean Press, not only one of 750 signed copies by both Blaylock and Powers, but also personally inscribed to “Lisa! Finally you’ve got yourself a real cookbook! Happy Birthday! Love, Jim & Viki”, Viki being Blaylock’s wife, whom he mentions in just about every dedication page of his books.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Cookbook. Fantasy. Hardback.

Pilot Light, by ‘William Ashbless’. Illustrated by Gahan Wilson. Introduction by Tim Powers. Afterword by James P. Blaylock. Annotations and A Postscript by ‘William Ashbless’.

Once again Powers and Blaylock try to issue one of Ashbless’s works in the wake of his supposed death (here a short science fiction story to be submitted to Harlan Ellison), and once again Ashbless turns up to throw cold water on their efforts. Special Bonus Feature: An Interview with William Ashbless. A First Edition, but not signed, and a tiny book from Subterranean Press, at that.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Short Story. Science Fiction. Satire. Hardback.