The BURIED Book Club discussion

Mano, Mexican for hand, wrote one rather buried book all about the letter, ehhhh, number V: Take Five.

Eric wrote: "Mano, Mexican for hand, wrote one rather buried book all about the letter, ehhhh, number V: Take Five."

And his other books are even furtherly buried. Of what I've UNEARTHED from him so far, all are worth a perusal.

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Eric wrote: "Mano, Mexican for hand, wrote one rather buried book all about the letter, ehhhh, number V: Take Five."

And his other books are even furtherly buried. Of what I've UNEARTHED from hi..."

I'm interested in The Bridge most of all, I think.

Planning a Dalkey excursion for next week; I'm on holiday and am planning to read Take Five and Roubaud's Loop. Just doing my part.

Jonfaith wrote: "Planning a Dalkey excursion for next week; I'm on holiday and am planning to read Take Five and Roubaud's Loop. Just doing my part."

Take Five is a nice way to do a holiday. I don't know Roubaud. Tell us more?

Measuring my progress is too distracting, the pages crackle with satire and snide dialogue.

Jonfaith wrote: "Measuring my progress is too distracting, the pages crackle with satire and snide dialogue."

Yes, but we being peppered by proper quotes would be wooly! Please?

Enrique wrote: "first printing of Bishop's Progress. Of course I grabbed it, having become aware of him solely through the BURIED Book Club. Is this his first published novel?"

His first, yep. And my next Mano. Take Five is nearly doubtless his meisterstuck. And I'm looking forward to the four of his I've not gotten to yet. Topless is relatively easy to come across; not in print, but he must have toured for it; I actually found it signed in a brick and mortar.

One can discover a few articles written by Mano around the internet. So far I have come across these, which are well worth a read:

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-01-0...

http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/NR_ar...

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/39611839/Th...


And this interview:

http://wittenburgdoorinterviews.blogs...


Finally, and sadly, internet travels discovered this: "Dave Lull tells me that the reason D. Keith Mano is no longer producing novels seems to be not a lack of sales but the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s Disease."

Oh and my rather silly review of Topless is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just received The Proselytizer in the mail and took a pic of the bio as, not only is there a cheery picture of the man himself, but we discover he was " vice preseident of the X-pando corporation which manufactures cements, pipe-joint compounds etc"...

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...

Serioulsy. Someone needs to write this man's biog asap.

Which led me here:

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/08/mag...

Though now I discover many were here before me: https://www.goodreads.com/user_status...

but put that here to help others

Updated the details for The Proselytizer as nothing existed. Have also put a quote of the first para...

And he wrote a play, apparently. Also this article informs us that another reason for the lack of writing is that no one will give him a contract!

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/29/the...

Jonathan wrote: "And he wrote a play, apparently. Also this article informs us that another reason for the lack of writing is that no one will give him a contract!"

Did you catch his tv writing?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0961354/?r...

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "And he wrote a play, apparently. Also this article informs us that another reason for the lack of writing is that no one will give him a contract!"

Did you catch his tv writing? ..."

I did, thanks...will sit down to watch them at some point (and fully expect Christianity to be involved somehow in each of them!)

There's a pretty stunning all-vintage-sci-fi bookstore downstairs from my new office. Amongst its wonders, today, was a copy of The Bridge. So I may well embark upon Mano at last.

My First Edition of Take Five arrived today containing the following wonderful inscription from the Master himself:

"To Rich Nicholls - One of the 11 - mybe 12 - people to have read Take Five. Your name will be etched on a bronze plaque beside my tombstone - Gratitude and Best Wishes D. Keith Mano 1.24.94"

Love it, but also makes me sad that the author of one of the greatest books of the last 50 years should be so abandoned...

My copy arrived today (from Amazon, not the author...) Looking forward to my first BURIED book!

That's a touching inscription, although sad that this Rich Nicholls fellow got rid of his copy. (Or maybe he died, which is also sad).

My dad is named Rich(ard) Nicholls, and I can categorically state that he has never, and never will, read Take Five. That's why we haven't spoken in thirty years.

MJ wrote: "My dad is named Rich(ard) Nicholls, and I can categorically state that he has never, and never will, read Take Five. That's why we haven't spoken in thirty years."

Unless he is living a secret pomo-fiction-reading double life!

Josh wrote: "My copy arrived today (from Amazon, not the author...) Looking forward to my first BURIED book!"

Take Five? Most excellent!

I have been corresponding a little with Mano's son, Chris, who has informed me:

"He is living in Manhattan under the care of my step mom Laurie Kennedy. His faculties are failing him worst of which is his inability to communicate verbally but he remains in high spirits. He spent nine years writing Take Five only to have the publisher "lose" thousands of copies. I personally feel The Fergus Dialogues to be his most important work and my favorite, written in part due to the affects of Parkinson's."


and

"dad wrote his autobiography for a series called "contemporary authors" , although i cant remember which volume. Its a hardcover series from i think the eighties or early ninties complete with a picture of me and my brother. Also his friend Jeff Hart wrote "The accomplishments of D Keith Mano for the Swannee Review. "

I have found the bio here:

http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Keith...

But it will not let me buy it, as it is US only apparently...

Jonathan wrote: "The Fergus Dialogues"

Thanks for the remind. That's the only Mano I've not yet on my shelves.

And very sweet to know that Mano might be receiving word finally at last that a few folks have found his books.

"The accomplishments of D Keith Mano", Swannee Review ;; the specifics of which ::
http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/lit... (where one will find further Mano bibliographic stuff).

yeah - I asked Chris to tell him how much he is appreciated here.

As for Fergus "a dark comedy about the difficulty of representing God." = into the shopping cart

Jonathan wrote: " = into the shopping cart"

Oh, right. Ditto'd.

But I read a related article somewhere on the topic from Mano and wasn't so very impressed ;; which is to say, Read the book, dude.

So I came home to this unexpected surprise today - a package from Laurie (Mano's wife) with copies of three of his books and a very kind letter which said as follows:

"Dear Jonathan,

Christopher shared your emails with me and I read them to Keith. He smiled and seemed very pleased. As a token of our appreciation for your enthusiasm - I send you copies of Bishop's Progress (1) War is Heaven (3) and The Bridge (6). Hope you enjoy!

All the best to you and to all at Goodreads.com. "

To say this made me happy would be an understatement...

Wow. So nice to know that he knows he and his books are appreciated.

Yes - and thanks must go to you and your reviews, without which I may never have discovered his work.

Such a lovely gesture! Thanks for sharing this, Jonathan :)

Yes, very nice. Taking the next step, making these BURIED writers aware they appreciated.

MJ wrote: "Yes, very nice. Taking the next step, making these BURIED writers aware they appreciated."

Thanks - I feel like all BBC members should choose a living BURIED author and try and contact them - just to let them know they are being read!

What makes it sadder for me is knowing how ill he is.

Jonathan wrote: "Thanks - I feel like all BBC members should choose a living BURIED author and try and contact them - just to let them know they are being read! "

On that topic: I have been talking to Rosalyn Drexler over the last few months ahead of some Verbivoracious reprints. She is 87 and her husband is gravely ill. I let her know that various people on Goodreads appreciate her work, and she seemed happy about this, but she strikes me as quite melancholy and resigned in general (understandably . . . she also feels she was unappreciated her whole life, both her pop-art and books). (I don't think it's breaching confidence to much to report this, but I can delete this comment if so).

The problem with contacting BBC writers is the reality of how frustrated or rejected the authors might feel. We're trying to heal in effect an already very large wound.

MJ wrote: "The problem with contacting BBC writers is the reality of how frustrated or rejected the authors might feel. We're trying to heal in effect an already very large wound."

Agreed - but to let them know that there are those with shovels out there, and that they are not as forgotten as their royalties may indicate, does seem like a Good Thing To Do.

Jonathan wrote: "to let them know that there are those with shovels out there, and that they are not as forgotten as their royalties may indicate, does seem like a Good Thing To Do. "

Definitely.

As a publisher of several Buried Authors, I can say that most of them love to hear from readers. If you can't find their contact info, and they're published by small houses, an e-mail to the publisher will likely be quickly forwarded on (I certainly do that).

Ah shit. I knew it was coming, but very sad to hear.

His son informs me he went peacefully, so at least there is that, and he had been ill for a long time.

http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstat...

for another brief notice

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nyti...

says contributions can be made to the "Best Friends Animal Society", which I just did and, if his books every gave you pleasure, maybe a donation of a few bucks would be a nice way to say "thanks"

RIP D. Keith. You leave behind a body of excellent work, with the staggering Take Five at its helm.

RIP D. Keith. Take Five is one of the few truly great American novels. Thank you.

belatedly, RIP Dear Keith Mano.

The Washington Post also did an obit ::
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
[makes sense for them to have done it ; they've got Steven Moore writing reviews. But truly happy to see him obit'd in both WP & NYT.]