Why is the cover of that bit of bureaucracy posted above?
Because that’s the bit of bureaucracy that contains this:
The hunter, by Richard Stark, pseud.
New York, Pocket Books, 155 p.
(Permabook edition, M 4272)
© Richard Stark; 15Dec62; A607387
Fifty years ago today, a fresh-faced guy in a Chevy offered a lift to a man walking across the George Washington Bridge. He was told to go to hell. And for fifty years, folks have been going to hell with Parker.
Since The Hunter likely didn’t hit bookstores until early 1963, we’re going to use 2013 as the year of Parker’s fiftieth anniversary.
Traditionally, that anniversary is celebrated with gold.
If the folks guarding that gold are sloppy, it won’t be there for long.
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Oh wow. How will we commemorate it?
I say we knock over a bank.
I’m in!
I say we knock over bank, then I shoot you and rip off your share.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com
Peter:
You just signed your death certificate. ;)
This subject probably already has been addressed, but as a long-time Parker fan, I’ve always been curious about the publishing notes in “The Hunter” and “The Man with the Getaway Face”. The Permabook edition of “The Hunter” (M4272) states that it was published in February 1963, but lists the first printing as December 1962. “The Man with the Getaway Face” (PB Edition 6180) states that it was published May 1963, but lists the first printing as March 1963. I’ve always wondered if these “first printings” were actual published editions, or simply printings to satisfy the copyright regulations. In the “other books by Richard Stark” notes contained in “The Outfit”, it indicates that “The Hunter” was published as a “Permabook” and “Getaway Face” as a “Pocket Book” edition. Does anyone have a better understanding of how Pocket Books actually defined their publishing dates?
James:
That’s been puzzling us for some time. We aren’t quite sure. My guess is that the Permabook edition of The Hunter is the first, and there was some technicality that led to a date in December 1962 and another in 1963. But we don’t know for sure.
I’ve always believed that the editions I mentioned were the first, mostly because I’ve never been able to find any others that predated them. Also, because in “The Outfit” there are reference notes to the backstory contained in the first two books, and the notes refer to M4272 and PB 6180. Interesting little mystery.
Hard to imagine that it will be Parker’s fiftieth anniversary; I’ve been reading the books since 1966, and it saddens me to think there won’t be anymore. I was really looking forward to the followup to “Dirty Money” and the development of the new identity.