Richard Matheson Readfest

So I was reading about all these new movies coming out based on books and one that caught my eye was the story of "The Box" which stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. It's a box such that if you push a button, you become instantly wealthy, but you kill someone that you don't know. I thought it was a pretty interesting premise, and when I googled the author Richard Matheson, I found out he had written I Am Legend as well AND Stephen King called him his greatest influence. How could you go wrong? Hence, my Richard Matheson readfest began.

Button, Button: Uncanny Stories by Richard Matheson

There are a lot of stories in here. But let me tell you, some of them are dissapointing. "Button, Button" didn't live up to the hype - I guess because it was a short story, and I expected the ending to be better (it's got a pleasant twist but I was looking for something more). The story probably would've been better if it was a very short/somewhat short novella, which means I'm looking forward to seeing the movie still.

I expected more of a philosophical approach to the short story than it was (and I think that's partly because of the ending which was ba-dum-da-dum blah). There was room for elaboration and, in my humble opinion, some deeper and more profound dialogue. Norma, the wife, really annoyed me by the end - but I thought that she and her husband, Arthur, could've had some pretty good banter before it was all over!

There are some stories that are pretty good - I especially enjoyed "No Such Thing as a Vampire". But others, like "Pattern For Survival" and "Dying Room Only" were just weird... partly because they didn't have the kind of weirdness I expected from Matheson. I thought that "Button, Button" was actually one of the stronger short stories in this collection, even though a lot of the reviewers on Amazon strongly disagreed with this opinion. All in all, the stories in this collection are just average - the title story is good, and readers will enjoy this if they're looking for a quick read, but it didn't have that sparkle you expect from Matheson.



I Am Legend

I must confess, I watched the movie a long time ago (it was scary!) and didn't read the book beforehand. However, I still enjoyed this story immensely and it was much better than the movie. I Am Legend the movie changed the ending a lot and the story line a little. Adding in the dog and Will Smith was a good call but the movie's new ending - not so much.

Anyway, I Am Legend has that special twist I really expected from Matheson. It's about a man named Robert Neville who, because he was bitten by a vampire bat (?), is immune to a germ that infects people and gives them vampire-like qualities. Furthermore, in shocking and disturbing news, the germ can also inhabit dead people to make them zombies. But it also infects living people, too - and Robert Neville's flaw is that he fails to see that the vampires are still inherently people on the inside.

Every day, Neville goes around building back up his house, then waiting out the storm of vampires who try and lure him out of his cave at night. And fairly, he's tired of living the way he is, and so he sets about finding a cure for vampirism. While walking in the daylight, he meets a woman who seems to be immune, just as he is, so he captures her for observation. And the story only gets better from there.

In conclusion, if you have a couple of hours to kill, skip the collection and go for I Am Legend.

Then, read "Button, Button" in November before the movie comes out. It'll take you 15 minutes.

The Rare Book Room Is Finished!

We have finally finished the rare book room! The chairs are plush, the shelves are dusted and settled in place, the mahogany tables are polished, AND the books are in order. I want to live in there; it's so cozy. I think the proprietor does as well, he fell asleep in there the other day. Once you close the french-style doors, it is relatively quiet.

We feature rare and collectible works-- some novels, some biographies, some children's books. A few notable pieces are:


A first printing, first edition of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

An illustrated, 1930s edition of 21 Delightful Ways of Committing Suicide by Jean Bruller

A signed, first edition/first printing of After Many A Summer by Aldous Huxley

A first edition, first British printing of Thackeray's Vanity Fair

A first edition, first British printing of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This is interesting because, due to the controversial content, it did not get published in the United States until three years after it was published in the UK and France.


Anyway, come visit us and our rare book room or drop in to www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com and check out our inventory listed online.