What a piece of work I am

May 29, 2007 4:18 AM

Eric Kraft might be he best writer you've never heard of. While at Harvard in the early sixties he imagined a boy on a broken down dock trying to place the soles of his feet as close as possible to the surface of the water without touching. What emerged was literary genius: the saga of Peter Leroy and the associated characters of the clamming town Babbington. Initially distributed as a newsletter to friends in the know, it was ultimately published in a series of remarkable novels.
posted by Turtles all the way down (9 comments total)

This post was inspired by my spring cleaning, which involved organizing my bookshelves, which in turn inspired my discovery and display of all my Eric Kraft novels. And a recollection of the first one, Little Follies, purchased at a bookstore at Heathrow, leading to a hunger for the as-yet-unpublished-series in North America.

Well, there you go, as far as motivation. I can't recommend these books highly enough.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:23 AM on May 29, 2007

Actually, it says on his website that they're published by Picador in the US, but they seem mostly out of print here in the UK.

Do you have any idea of the order of publication? Or just which one is the second volume?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:01 AM on May 29, 2007

OK, figured it out. They get kinda hard to find after the first though, don't they.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:14 AM on May 29, 2007

Looks interesting. I'll try and seek them out. Thanks for the recommendation.
posted by MrMustard at 5:57 AM on May 29, 2007

The cover image in the last link makes me so not want to read this, but the crisp prose in the second link makes me glad I did.

Thanks turtles all the way down. A name to add to the my second-hand bookstore author's list.
posted by three blind mice at 6:18 AM on May 29, 2007

It looks as though my initial experience--finding a great book abroad that I couldn't find at home--has been re-experienced by PeterMcDermott and others. Actually, the UK version of Little Follies, which I've now lost (lent away) was quite lovely in its production. But please, all, if you ever come across any of these novels by Eric Kraft grab them and read them!
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:29 AM on May 29, 2007

I know where to find some of his books.
posted by chuckdarwin at 11:05 AM on May 29, 2007

Thanks, Turtles.

I think I've "lent away" (nice phrase) about five copies of Little Follies over the years, and almost as many of Where Do You Stop?

I'm kicking myself for not having picked up the Voyager CD-ROM.

"Clams -- the tasty snack in the crunchy pack!"
posted by tangerine at 5:14 PM on May 29, 2007

Turtles all the way down writes 'It looks as though my initial experience--finding a great book abroad that I couldn't find at home--has been re-experienced by PeterMcDermott and others.'

Actually, my copy of 'Little Follies' arrived in the post today. It cost me the grand sum of one penny, plus postage. :-)

I was just disappointed because I thought I might be able to pick up the first three or four, chronologically, in one fell swoop. But I guess hunting for them will make them that much sweeter when I do find them.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:27 PM on June 1, 2007