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Fanfare, v. 1, issue 5, December 1940
Page 28
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STRANGE INTERLUDES pages hecto'd in bright purple, when I gaze upon black print, such as this letter, it appears green, and the illusion persists some little while. The principle involved is old stuff, of course, but I never happened to notice this application of it before. I never got as big and legible hectographed a mag, either. That machine must be sumpn. Almost I envy you, but...DETOURS LEADS THE FIELD! (awjr's poll? Well, there was the Literary Digest, you know! And my clientele is very select; probably too aristocratic to vote! Consolation!) THE STARDUST CLASSICS by Jack Chapman Miske Fanfare received and read with gratification. It represents a considerable improvement over its predecessors, I feel, and as long as the duplication is as good as was that of my copy, it'll be damn good! ***...To a certain extent, Earl, you're right about Williams' stories in Stardust, but I feel you've gone a little too far in your criticism. It's true that as they were printed the stories are inferior, but each had great promise. The first one was too damn sirupy. Writing of that sort has to go just so far and then stop. Williams forgot all about bounds. The story to which it was a sequel ("Robots Return," Oct. '38 Astounding) went just so far and then stopped: result, a beautiful story beautifully done. The second was pretty bad; couldn't compare with the original, "The Man who Looked Like Steinmetz," one of the most literary of all stf stories. It just stank. The third, "Cycle of Age," was rehash stuff, of course, but contained some good lines...about Nature's working with outworn materials. "City in the Faroff Sky" had beautiful possibilities for an almost pure fantasy, but Williams spoiled it. Bringing in stuff like mention of Charlie McCarthy ruined the atmosphere that had builded up, and after that it gets too thick, as does "Quest of the Gods." "Do or Die" is all right, I feel; even good...but that title: paging H. Alger, Jr.!!! ********************************************** THE LAST MINUTE FANFARE, the different fanmag, again makes a sensational detour from "The Crooked Road"! Here you have a first Anniversary Issue of a fanmag with no previous ballyhoo, no begging for ads to put it over, and no pro authors cluttering up the premises because of their names. The quantity and quality of our material now stacks up with the best of them, we believe, and we no longer feel any qualms of conscience about charging ten cents for it. We are sorry, though, about the absence of our well-liked departments--DOTS, FANMAG REVIEWS, POLL NEWS, the Q&A DEPARTMENT, and the biography; they'll be back again next issue....Here's how last issue's material came out: In first place is the format, layout, and hectoing, with 91.7. Next comes UNITE OR FIE with 89.4, showing that the NFFF idea really has something on the ball. Then, in order: R.D.SWISHER biog--86.1; Contents page and interior headings--83.7; FAN Q&A DEPT--80.7; STRANGE INTERLUDES--80.1; POLL NEWS--80.0; EDITORIAL--76.7; FANMAG REVIEWS--76.2; THE LAST MINUTE--75.2; OUTSIDE--74.6; THIS ONE'S ON THE HOUSE--74.5; CHANCE--70.8; THE NEVER DEAD--70.7; COVER--69.4; THE MAKINGS OF A MISOGYNIST--(due mainly to Joe's giving himself a zero)--67.9... If you can use any of the material advertised on the back cover, don't forget to mention FANFARE...And now, until the next issue, so long from the Strangers.--awandes
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STRANGE INTERLUDES pages hecto'd in bright purple, when I gaze upon black print, such as this letter, it appears green, and the illusion persists some little while. The principle involved is old stuff, of course, but I never happened to notice this application of it before. I never got as big and legible hectographed a mag, either. That machine must be sumpn. Almost I envy you, but...DETOURS LEADS THE FIELD! (awjr's poll? Well, there was the Literary Digest, you know! And my clientele is very select; probably too aristocratic to vote! Consolation!) THE STARDUST CLASSICS by Jack Chapman Miske Fanfare received and read with gratification. It represents a considerable improvement over its predecessors, I feel, and as long as the duplication is as good as was that of my copy, it'll be damn good! ***...To a certain extent, Earl, you're right about Williams' stories in Stardust, but I feel you've gone a little too far in your criticism. It's true that as they were printed the stories are inferior, but each had great promise. The first one was too damn sirupy. Writing of that sort has to go just so far and then stop. Williams forgot all about bounds. The story to which it was a sequel ("Robots Return," Oct. '38 Astounding) went just so far and then stopped: result, a beautiful story beautifully done. The second was pretty bad; couldn't compare with the original, "The Man who Looked Like Steinmetz," one of the most literary of all stf stories. It just stank. The third, "Cycle of Age," was rehash stuff, of course, but contained some good lines...about Nature's working with outworn materials. "City in the Faroff Sky" had beautiful possibilities for an almost pure fantasy, but Williams spoiled it. Bringing in stuff like mention of Charlie McCarthy ruined the atmosphere that had builded up, and after that it gets too thick, as does "Quest of the Gods." "Do or Die" is all right, I feel; even good...but that title: paging H. Alger, Jr.!!! ********************************************** THE LAST MINUTE FANFARE, the different fanmag, again makes a sensational detour from "The Crooked Road"! Here you have a first Anniversary Issue of a fanmag with no previous ballyhoo, no begging for ads to put it over, and no pro authors cluttering up the premises because of their names. The quantity and quality of our material now stacks up with the best of them, we believe, and we no longer feel any qualms of conscience about charging ten cents for it. We are sorry, though, about the absence of our well-liked departments--DOTS, FANMAG REVIEWS, POLL NEWS, the Q&A DEPARTMENT, and the biography; they'll be back again next issue....Here's how last issue's material came out: In first place is the format, layout, and hectoing, with 91.7. Next comes UNITE OR FIE with 89.4, showing that the NFFF idea really has something on the ball. Then, in order: R.D.SWISHER biog--86.1; Contents page and interior headings--83.7; FAN Q&A DEPT--80.7; STRANGE INTERLUDES--80.1; POLL NEWS--80.0; EDITORIAL--76.7; FANMAG REVIEWS--76.2; THE LAST MINUTE--75.2; OUTSIDE--74.6; THIS ONE'S ON THE HOUSE--74.5; CHANCE--70.8; THE NEVER DEAD--70.7; COVER--69.4; THE MAKINGS OF A MISOGYNIST--(due mainly to Joe's giving himself a zero)--67.9... If you can use any of the material advertised on the back cover, don't forget to mention FANFARE...And now, until the next issue, so long from the Strangers.--awandes
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