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[INCOMPLETE SINCE APRIL] Cleanup: The Gilda Stories
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The Gilda Stories (other topics)The Gilda Stories (other topics)
The Gilda Stories (other topics)
The Gilda Stories (other topics)
The Gilda Stories (other topics)
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1. All Editions: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
- The April 1991 Original Publication Date is incorrect, but I believe I know why it was set to that. The original Publishers Weekly review of the novel was published in April 1991: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780... (hit the big button that says “Details” to see this information). Publishers Weekly lists the publication date as June 1991. If this isn’t enough proof to change the Original Publication Date, it should just be 1991 with no month.
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2. First US Paperback Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9780932379948)
- The publication date is incorrect. If the above entry isn’t enough proof to set it to June 1991, it should just be 1991 instead.
- “1st” should be removed from the Editions field.
- The description is incorrect. There are two possible descriptions for it. The back of the book only has a quotation from the book on it and no other description:
“Gilda laid the secret open with great detail. She described her first bath, the scent of her mother’s sweat, the feel of Bird’s arm around her waist, the sound of laughter from the women at Woodard’s, the thrill of moving beside the wind and how the smell of wind had changed in the years since she’d taken to the road. She even described the rush of life she felt as she shared the blood, leaving dreams in exchange. She told of mourning friends and family long dead. And of her fear of not dying, of not being one with the universe again.”
The publisher's website (see the archive link in entry 3) has this description:
An elegant, sensual, and naturalistic fantasy--a Black vampire story. Time-traveling from Southern slavery in 1850 to environmental devastation 200 years later, Gilda is the quintessential outsider seeking community.
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3. First US Hardcover Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9780932379955)
- This is not a paperback edition. The archived publisher site lists the ISBN as a hardcover: https://web.archive.org/web/200210031...
- The publication date is incorrect. It should be June 1991 or just 1991 like the paperback edition.
- The cover art is incorrectly set to the 2nd Edition Paperback. Unfortunately the only place I can find this edition’s cover art is a very bad quality photo on AbeBooks (https://www.abebooks.com/978093237995...), but you can pretty clearly see that it’s the exact same as the first edition US Paperback. If simply re-using the paperback art is not allowed, the cover art is also available in the above publisher link, albeit extremely small and low-quality.
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4. Second US Paperback Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9781563411403)
- The publication date is incorrect. According to an archived Amazon page, it should be January 30, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/200705101...
- The cover art is incorrect. Unfortunately I can’t find good quality cover art, but Amazon and AbeBooks have bad quality cover art: https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/97... // https://www.abebooks.com/Gilda-Storie...
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5. Current US Paperback Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9780872866744)
- The publisher is incorrect. According to the title page, it should be City Lights Books.
- The praise quotes and author bios need to be removed from the description. It should just read as follows, transcribed from the back cover:
This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and the erotic potential of the vampire story.
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6. US Kindle: The Gilda Stories (ASIN B01F1G67OK)
- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as Entry 5.
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7. Missing Edition: US Ebook
Worldcat confirms its existence: https://search.worldcat.org/title/966...
TITLE: The Gilda Stories
AUTHOR: Jewelle Gomez
AFTERWORD: Alexis Pauline Gumbs
ISBN-10: 0872866998
ISBN-13: 9780872866997
ASIN: 0872866998
PUBLISHER: City Lights Publishers
DATE PUBLISHED: May 2, 2016
NUMBER OF PAGES: [not available]
FORMAT: Ebook
EDITION: 25th Anniversary Edition
DESCRIPTION: [same as Entry 5]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://citylights.com/wp-content/upl... // https://citylights.com/city-lights-pu...
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8. Penguin Speculative Fiction Special Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9780143138921)
- The description is incorrect. It should read as follows:
Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler’s Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, now as a new Penguin Classics hardcover, a Penguin Speculative Fiction Special
First published in 1991, The Gilda Stories is a groundbreaking speculative fiction vampire novel that begins in 1850s Louisiana, where a young Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who “shares the blood” by two women there, Gilda spends the next two hundred years searching for a place to call home. Taking only blood as sustenance, killing as a last resort, Gilda moves through the centuries up to the dystopian future of 2050. Gomez’s classic, with a Black lesbian heroine, has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of Blackness, radical ecology, redefinitions of family, and the erotic potential of the vampire story.
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9. First UK Paperback Edition: The Gilda Stories (ISBN 9780907179610)
- “New ed” should probably be removed from the Editions field. This isn’t a new edition anymore.
- The publication date is incorrect. Amazon says it should be June 18, 1992: https://www.amazon.com.au/The-Gilda-S...
- The description is incorrect. It should read as follows, transcribed from the back cover:
Born into slavery as Girl, the young child is chosen, given a gift to see and know what we often find hard to imagine. Gilda’s stories are not those of a mere mortal; her magical tales sweep you along as she strides across time, traversing the centuries. For unlike the vampires we may have encountered already, Gilda owns a special spirit and uses her power wisely, with intent.
As a woman-loving vampire her quest is lustful and she feels her purpose keenly: to try and make sense of human-made cataclysms and everyday horrors, to give mortals a glimmer of insight into making choices that may enhance their lives, their families’ lives, maybe even the life of the planet itself.
Jewelle Gomez uses lyrical and sensuous prose to draw us into the souls of her vampires – at once other-worldly and omnipotent and at times gripped by humdrum selfish emotions and a fear of loneliness.
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10. Current UK Hardcover: The Gilda Stories: The immortal cult classic (ISBN 9781784878627)
- “The immortal cult classic” needs to be removed from the title.
- Alexis Pauline Gumbs needs to be added with the Afterword role.
- The description is incorrect. It should read as follows:
In this radically reimagined vampire myth, the night hides many things…
Louisiana, 1850. A young girl escapes slavery and is taken in by two mysterious women. Rumoured to be witches, the pair travel only at night, dress in men's clothing and seem to know others' innermost thoughts. But the girl sees the promise of true freedom in their dark glittering eyes: the promise to ‘share the blood’ and live forever. They name her Gilda.
Over the next two hundred years, Gilda moves through unseen spaces: through antebellum brothels, gold-rush bars, Black women’s suffrage groups, hair salons and jazz clubs, searching for a way to exist in the world. Her body, powerful against the passage of time, will know both beauty and horror through the women she desires and the blood she craves. But can Gilda truly outrun the darkness of history and face a future where the lives of everyone she loves are at stake?
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11. 2nd UK Paperback Edition: The Gilda Stories: The immortal cult classic (ISBN 9781784878610)
- “The immortal cult classic” needs to be removed from the title.
- Alexis Pauline Gumbs needs to be added with the Afterword role.
- The publication date is incorrect. It should be June 6, 2024.
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12. UK Kindle: The Gilda Stories: The immortal cult classic (ASIN B0BPLHTTPW)
- “The immortal cult classic” needs to be removed from the title.
- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as Entry 10.
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13. Missing Edition: UK Ebook
TITLE: The Gilda Stories
AUTHOR: Jewelle Gomez
AFTERWORD: Alexis Pauline Gumbs
ISBN-10: 1529910463
ISBN-13: 9781529910469
ASIN: 1529910463
PUBLISHER: Vintage Classics
DATE PUBLISHED: September 9, 2023
NUMBER OF PAGES: 336
FORMAT: Ebook
DESCRIPTION: [same as Entry 10]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://cdn.penguin.co.uk/dam-assets/... // https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/45599...
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14. Missing Edition: Upcoming UK Paperback
TITLE: The Gilda Stories
AUTHOR: Jewelle Gomez
AFTERWORD: Alexis Pauline Gumbs
ISBN-10: 1529955629
ISBN-13: 9781529955620
ASIN: 1529955629
PUBLISHER: Vintage Classics
DATE PUBLISHED: September 4, 2025
NUMBER OF PAGES: 336
FORMAT: Ebook
DESCRIPTION: [same as Entry 10]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8... // https://amzn.eu/d/eRMdMVK
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15. MP3 CD Audiobook: Gilda Stories, The (ISBN 9781799719205)
- The title is incorrect. It should be The Gilda Stories
- The page count is incorrect. It should be 12.
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16. Invalid Editions
These editions need to be invalidated.
A. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
B. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...