Card 847. Ivan Doig.

Somewhere between card #811 and 847, the cards started getting dated "2006" instead of "2005."

The book promoted on the card ended up being a New York Times bestseller.

Card 862. Andrew Vachss.

He's known by many as a mystery novelist but he did so much in his life (passed away in 2021). Of interest to many on Card Talk would be the comic books and graphic novels he wrote including, "Batman: The Ultimate Evil" (1995) and "Predator: Race War" (1993).

Card 878. Andy Summers.

Card 880. Simon Winchester.

"A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906" is the second of two books out of all 1080 books promoted with these cards that I have read. Either I need to read more or I have just been reading all the wrong books.

This one has relevance for me since I have lived my whole life in or near San Jose which is about 50 miles south of San Francisco. I experienced the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 but that was apparently just a minor shake-up next to the 1906 quake. I hadn't read any of Winchester's books before reading this one. It's quite detailed and yet very readable. He tells real stories very well, and since he is a geologist, he knows the subject. A scientist doesn't always have the gift of being able to talk to a mainstream audience as well as talk shop with fellow scientists but Winchester has that gift. I recommend it to any science or history buff especially if you're interested in San Francisco/California history. However, after reading it, I've been thinking of moving to Utah or anywhere else hundreds of miles from the San Andreas Fault.

Winchester's book "The Professor and the Madman" is much better than any book about a dictionary has any right to be (has anyone see the movie with Mel Gibson and Sean Penn?).

Card 881. Annie Leibovitz.

Getting back to more Booksmith cards...

Card 883. Science writer, Mary Roach.

Card 895. One of the early cyberpunk authors, Rudy Rucker.

This is one of the early cards with the 2007 date.

Card 930. Khaled Hosseini.

Hosseini's first novel, "The Kite Runner" (2003) did okay as a hardback but the paperback edition really took off, selling over 1 million copies and was later adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film.

For some reason, The Kite Runner has become one of those books that is popular in high school English reading lists.
Very strange, since it includes a scene where an adolescent boy is raped by an adult man.

Card 935. Chuck Panozzo, Styx bass player.

I remember Styx having several hit songs, but like many 70's groups, you hear just one or two of their songs on the radio these days. I hear "Blue Collar Man" the most - less often, "Mr. Roboto" and "Too Much Time on My Hands." I had thought "Lady," "Come Sail Away," and "The Best of Times" were more popular but I guess not.

Card 942. Pamela Des Barres.

Unnumbered card. Kiara Brinkman.

Brinkman worked at Booksmith and later married another store employee, cartoonist Sean Chiki. Together, she wrote and he illustrated the graphic novel, "Lucy in the Sky" (2021).

This card fits in the timeline between Card 942 and 943.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

I've been checking on recent sales of these cards.

#405 David Sidaris & Bernard Cooper $20 12-28-23
#208 Harlan Ellison $20 3 bids 1-17-24
#561 Harlan Ellison $20 1 bid 1-17-24
#751 Camille Paglia $10 BIN 1-16-24
#200, 272, 453 Neil Gaiman 3 for $60 1-18-24
#469 Ursula K. LeGuin $20 1-18-24
#296 Peter Coyote $10 1-28-24
#634 Ann Waldman $10 1-28-24
#695 China Mieville $10 2-8-24
#579 Cory Doctorow $10 2-8-24

I've seen a number of $5-10 sales too so it seems like values overall are on the rise. You might still find a lot with the average price per card being less than $5 but I haven't seen one in a while.

Card 959. Harry Shearer.

It doesn't say it on the card but I remember that among his other credits he was a "Saturday Night Live" cast member for a season in the mid-80's. What I didn't recall was that he had been a member during the 79-80 season (long time since I've seen one of those episodes).

Card 971. Rudy Rucker.

While putting the image together, I saw that the card was miscut. I hadn't noticed that with any of the other Booksmith cards before.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

Two cards numbered 976, Diane Vadino and Matthew Kennedy.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I've been checking on recent sales of these cards.

#200, 272, 453 Neil Gaiman 3 for $60 1-18-24

Given the recent accusations of sexual misconduct, I wonder if they would go for as much now.

Yeah, and think about all that Sandman and other stuff. The Sandman binder with just the base set used to go for over $100 - more if the foil chase cards and the common promos were included. However, I just checked and saw a binder with base cards sold in an Ebay auction last month (Sept 2) for just $15.50 plus just $8.44 shipping - just 3 bids. Another binder with the base set, a 6-card sheet, the common promos, the 7-card foil chase set, 2 of the scarce silver-bordered prototypes, and even the 3D Stereo hologram went for just $90 with just 1 bid. Some of those cards were signed by various artists too.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I've been checking on recent sales of these cards.

#200, 272, 453 Neil Gaiman 3 for $60 1-18-24

Given the recent accusations of sexual misconduct, I wonder if they would go for as much now.

Card 980. James Gurney.

This one promotes the fourth book in Gurney's "Dinotopia" series. Of course his other trading card connection is the Dinotopia set by Collect-A-Card back in 1995.