I guess here's what I'm getting at. It seems that Hill House is producing/publishing (whatever) special renditions of Neil's books, the regular novels of which are Harper's, right? So there's a numbered AG, a lettered edition, and I guess some special Neverwhere though I don't see the details. And you mentioned Anansi Boys in a previous post, so I'm guessing that maybe they'll be doing a special (numbered and lettered) of that as well at some point.

So, as a subscriber, you're pre-paying for all of the Hill House versions (numbered or lettered or whatever) of Neil's books, and with it getting extra goodies ... right?

I get that Melinda was a separate project, as it was the first time pub of the story...

And you mentioned the special Hill House edition of 999 (which I got in paperback and really enjoyed) .. but I don't see any mention of it on the web site I'm at. Actually, I just found the link to the (full?) catalog, so I'm looking at that right now .......

the 999 book came out in 1999 before they had a website up and was done in conjunction with Cemetary Dance, so they might not have posted info about it

Hill House will eventually publish all of Neil's books. When they first started taking orders, they requested prepayment for the first two: American Gods, which has been released, and Neverwhere, which they're still working on. They have announced the Anansi Boys special edition (info about that will be posted soon, be patient) and are taking preorders and payment for it now.

Just read through the catalog ... some very awesome stuff there. You say you got AG with all the extras? What's the "A Screenplay" all about? A screenplay of what? AG? And you got Melinda and AG ... and you like the books? Quality is good stuff, huh? (rereading your posts above) Worth the $200? Have you gotten anything else from them before?

A Screenplay ...they couldn't legally post what novel it was based on. It's a screenplay to Good Omens which Neil wrote (without Terry) in the early 90s trying to satisfy endless stupid studio execs.
I don't sit down and read enough, so I can't tell you how American Gods editions differ, but I have started the screenplay ...and so far no scenes from the book have cropped up.

Sweet, thanks GMZoe. And thanks for being patient with all my questions, I felt like I was being dense but just wasn't sure what exactly was going on with the Hill House pieces. I think I've got it, and am just waiting on an e-mail from them before I purchase Melinda.

s'all good! It's so rare I get to use my geeky knowledge around here...

I'm just stoked to have found Hill House! Their stuff looks amazing. I love my Biting Dog books, but not sure when they'll be doing another Neil project. And while I don't exactly have the money to throw at Hill House for everything that looks cool, it would be nifty to have a few of those unique items.

That's what's really drawing me to the Melinda book, and I DO have the $$ for that one right now. It's hard, on the one hand it IS a Neil story, and a unique one at that, but then it's the art that's drawing me to it and I would like to get it because of the complete package (in other words, liking it for the art AND the story) and with your review I'm just not convinced about the story part (believe it or not I haven't liked everything Neil has written). That said, I think the uniqueness of the thing will win me over anyway ... I'm just rambling ...

Say, there's Biting Dog and Hill House, what other unique presses or items should I check out and drool over?

We need Silly Punk over here to give another opinion on the book *tries waving her down*

Oh, we've chatted today. She likes the book (probably put it as "it's purrrdy), really liked the artwork and thought the story was sad. I know she's excited about having a unique first edition sort of thing. Still, I would like to have SillyPunk post just to have her put it in her own words. *joins GMZoe in trying to wave her down*

*runs in breathless*

on my limited knowledge of these things, I liked it. and am not the least bit guilty dropping 100+ on it (remember Canadian exchange and all that) which is something coming from a student, the race of perpetually cash-strapped over-educated peoples.

and i am not a collector in the least (can't afford to) but its definitely one of the most unique books in my collection. I'm glad to have it overall.

*goes off to kitchen for a moment*

could you bring me back a snack please?

*profers banana sandwich*

oh and fruit juice.

wow... If I was really rich I would buy that, but as of now I can just stare sadly at the beatiful online photos.

Well, did well enough with my ebay auctions that I'm going to buy one as soon as I hear back from Hill House I'm all shades of excited.

I am a fun of the work that Hill House does. These books are works of art in not only the writing but the craftmanship that goes in to the paper and bindings.

Decided to hell with waiting for a reply and sent the order to Hill House (SillyPunk had said the only reason she needed to confirm before ordering was the international shipping, so since that doesn't apply and the order form was still up I'm assuming they still have some and just sent off the order). Barring anything unforeseen, I'll have a book! Yay me!

My book will be in the mail today!

I got my book! Flipped through it quick, then started reading it and devouring it slowly last night. Didn't get far into it, but what I've read has been ... interesting. I like it, but it's not something to read quickly and easily and "get it", so I'm gonna take my time and see what I get out of it, then read it again and no doubt get something new from it. I'll try my hand at a review of sorts in the near future.

yes, please let people know if my review was full of *cough* (pardon me) or not!

Well, I've read it quickly once, then a second time reading the words on the page and carefully looking at the pictures. And I'm still not sure.

I know what would make it a bit easier to enjoy for me, and that would be a small, full text version, so that I could get the poem (I'm calling it a poem) into my head, get the tone, the structure, the feel of it. With that, then, I could go back and read the book with the pictures and the text broken on the page as it is and perhaps enjoy it a bit more, letting the pictures add to the texture of the words. Right now, with the way the text is broken up on the pages, it's hard for me to get a flow to it, and thus the text and the pictures don't compliment each other as much as I want.

When I have a moment, I'm going to retype the poem into one text version and see if that helps. If it doesn't, then at the moment I just don't get it. Maybe some day.