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Books that you WISHED existed, that you'd actually buy


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OK, here's a thread to post descriptions of books that you would LIKE to purchase and/or read, if only they ACTUALLY existed.

And if anyone knows of any books that fit (or sort of fit) the various descriptions posted here, please do tell!! (And provide links, where possible.)

First up, a couple books I've been pining for in recent years (both ideally kinda half "coffee-table" book (with lots of great pictures and diagrams), with a half "semi-serious" scholarly but approachable text)...

1) A rather deep survey of American churches that were designed and build during the first half of the 20th Century (or perhaps up to as late as the 1960's or maybe 70's). The focus should NOT be on "neo"-traditional styles (so no neo-Gothic, please) -- but rather on MODERN styles (or styles that were modern at the time they were built). I'm thinking Prairie Style, Deco (both Zig-Zag and Streamline-Modern), and various post-WWII styles -- and everything in between. (But again, no neo-Gothic, please.)

2) A similar architectural survey book (and similarly deep), but with a focus on Synagogues and other non-Christian places of worship (Mosques, Buddist temples, etc...). This book need not focus exclusively on "modern" styles, but rather a complete survey of architectural styles and a general history of non-Christian places of worship in the U.S., from what I would guess date back to the 19th Century (probably the mid-1800's? -- if the focus was on buildings still in existence), on up through the current decade.

How about you?? What books do you wish existed??

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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The Complete Stories of Donald Barthelme

I think between 60 Stories and 40 Stories you get most (nearly all?) of them but maybe some overlap. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to put such a thing together.

On a more selfish note, I really wish that my anthology of subway poetry had been published. One publisher was interested but said that the rights were just a killer. And this was before Congress revised and extended the copyright laws, bringing a lot of PD material back into copyright. Oh well.

Maybe I'll go talk to the Andorrans. ^_^

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The Complete Stories of Donald Barthelme

I think between 60 Stories and 40 Stories you get most (nearly all?) of them but maybe some overlap. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to put such a thing together.

Well, there perhaps is no overlap between these after all, but I mostly would like one place where all the short story collections are reprinted in their original order. In any case, I see that there is one more Barthelme collection coming out in October: Flying to America. This will have many uncollected pieces. So I'll probably get this and 60 Stories at the same time.

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2) A similar architectural survey book (and similarly deep), but with a focus on Synagogues and other non-Christian places of worship (Mosques, Buddist temples, etc...). This book need not focus exclusively on "modern" styles, but rather a complete survey of architectural styles and a general history of non-Christian places of worship in the U.S., from what I would guess date back to the 19th Century (probably the mid-1800's? -- if the focus was on buildings still in existence), on up through the current decade.

Such a book was published as accompanying catalogue for an exhibition at the Frankfurt, Germany, Museum for Architecture, focussing on Synagogues in Germany from the beginning to the present time. (Just to fuel your fantasies ...).

The one that I wish for was introduced in a novel by German author Ernst Theodor Amadée Hofmann: A leather-bound volume that fits into your jacket pocket and always is just the book you want to read right now. No need for anything else ...

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I would like a catalog of all known Klimpt paintings and a listing of diminsions and "survivors".

This does exist, but it is rare and quite expensive. Gustav Klimt: With a Catalogue Raisonne of His Paintings by Fritz Novotny and Johannes Dobai.

Powells seems to be cheapest, starting at $600.

I'm actually about 75% going to get the upcoming Catalogue Raisonne of Stuart Davis' work. If you pre-order through Amazon they knock over $100 off the price ($300). I think I would look at it enough to justify the purchase. But I could never tell my wife how much I paid...

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I would also enjoy a complete discography arranged, session by session, chronologically.

Yeah, same here.

Shouldn't be too hard to do for somebody who's already got the raw data in malleable form. Just dump it into a database or spreadsheet and sort by date. Formatting of the file might be a little cumbersome, but they got people who are real good and real fast at that.

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I would like a catalog of all known Klimpt paintings and a listing of diminsions and "survivors".

This does exist, but it is rare and quite expensive. Gustav Klimt: With a Catalogue Raisonne of His Paintings by Fritz Novotny and Johannes Dobai.

Powells seems to be cheapest, starting at $600.

I'm actually about 75% going to get the upcoming Catalogue Raisonne of Stuart Davis' work. If you pre-order through Amazon they knock over $100 off the price ($300). I think I would look at it enough to justify the purchase. But I could never tell my wife how much I paid...

Shit, I don't know where that "p" came from. :mellow:

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One book that I was interested in was one by jazz musicians about how they developed their solo style and what they think about while playing. Amazing, I found it. I wonderful book called 'Thinking in Jazz' what should be required reading for all jazz fans.

Another I would love is 'The Edited and Abridged BNBB and Organissimo Writings of Jim Sangrey." (i know im not alone on this one.)

Edited by md655321
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