Dear Boyd
I recently acquired, all the way from California to South Devon, a copy of Donald Sidney-Fryer's 'Clark Ashton Smith: The Sorcerer Departs', and I am really glad I did, because not only is it one of the best things I have read about CAS, but one of the best short biographies of any artist I have come across. It is therefore surprising to see your site's rather ungenerous dismissal of the book, which you admit to not having read anyway! Your comments suggest a pedantic, over-detailed work which is of little value, yet the fact that the author is one of the few people left who actually knew CAS, and who is clearly highly regarded by such Smith experts as Dr Farmer, Ron Hilger and Scott Connors, should itself indicate the opposite. I found the book beautifully balanced between life and work, elegantly written and crying out for quotation: 'he [CAS] belongs...only to that mystical mainstream of literature and art which is one with all cultures and all ages.' It was worth buying the book for that line alone! I reccommend it to all Smith lovers, and suggest you get hold of one, read it and perhaps modify your opinion!
Best wishes
Bob

I was being descriptive not evaluative. Some people don't care about an authors life. The in print page only contains a brief note to help people in their decision whether to by or not.

Fair enough, but to suggest that only those interested in the 'minutiae' of CAS' life need bother to read it implies that it is a huge, unmanageable tome full of unnecessary detail, which is emphatically not the case. In fact, there is more analysis of the work than there is detail about the life, which is why I suggest you read it before commenting!
Best wishes
Bob

Where did I say minutiae?

THE SORCERER DEPARTS is one of the first and finest biographical/critical essays on CAS and some forty years later it still serves as perhaps the best introductory article on the life and work of Clark Ashton Smith. I hope that Boyd will consider reading the essay and give it a fair chance before discouraging others from reading it. After all, there is no over-abundance of such material regarding Smith, and the Tsathoggua Press edition is a great value (in spite of its many typos)usually around $5.00 to $10.00.
-Ron

OK, 'all the details' is what you actually say. My point is that it is a misleading description.
bob

OK, 'all the details' is what you actually say. My point is that it is a misleading description.
bob

OK, 'all the details' is what you actually say. My point is that it is a misleading description.
bob

No idea why that came up three times - I didn't intend to be THAT emphatic!

Geee you people are tough, I just said it was only of interest to people interested in CAS's life. I make no evaluative comment whatsoever.

Boyd Wrote:
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> Geee you people are tough, I just said it was only
> of interest to people interested in CAS's life.

Like the people who frequent this site perhaps? :-)

I can assure you at least half the site visitors will have never herd of CAS before visiting the site.

I was surprized to see these booklets listed as "in print" as I was under the impression Tsathoggua Press closed up shop many years ago.
Perhaps Perry Grayson is still selling the remainder of his stock? Anyone know where or how "The Sorcerer Departs" can be ordered?

Boyd- as coincidence would have it, your personally inscribed copy of Donald Sidney-Fryer's "Songs and Sonnets Atlantean:The Second Series" is on its way down under even as I write this. (BTW, it sure costs a bundle to send a book from Calif. to New Zealand!) If you liked George Sterling's poetry, you should also enjoy this. Hope so anyways.
-Ron

It's still in print - link is on the In Print page. I check to make sure everything on the page is available.

Ron -thanks for the book and yeah postage is crazy, costs more than the books often, tis why my library is woefuly small.

B.

And all I wanted to do was to say how much I had enjoyed a book, and to stop people from being put off buying it! Personally, I cannot seperate a writer's life from his or her work, but I acknowledge that some readers like to keep them apart. The more I know about the life, the more I can relate it to the books, but that's just me. I certainly didn't want my enthusiasm for The Sorceror Departs to be seen as an attack on the site, or Boyd's running of it.