Rare Book Monthly
Articles - February - 2004 Issue
Bookseller, Book Writer: <br>An Interview with John Dunning
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Now to your wonderful writings… Many writers put themselves or their ideal of themselves into their work. Are you Cliff Janeway, the bookseller/police detective protagonist in your novels? Cliff is my idealized vision of myself, what I would be if I were different. He’s a knight with feet of clay and he has a sharp, well-honed sense of ethics.
The best thing about the Janeway novels, from a bookseller’s point of view, is that Cliff gives us great tips about books – what’s rare, what’s not, different points to look for – as well as giving us a whopping good story. Cliff is also a good person and he stresses the integrity part of bookselling. Do you think that there is still a lot of integrity in the book business as compared to most retail selling? Sure, in the book business? Yeah. But there are also a lot more crooks in the book trade than there used to be. The old booksellers might be eccentric, but they might also sell you a $200 book for $30. Today, sharpsters who are in it just for the money, are on the Net, are selling books that are of dubious quality; lots of forgeries are being sold as real. It takes an expert to tell the difference. No, the old gentleman’s game of bookselling is fading as the old gentlemen are dying off.
I’m excited that there is another Cliff Janeway, the Bookman’s Promise, I believe? May we have a sneak preview and when can we look forward to reading it? I’ve got mine, and Scribner’s has shipped 30,000. There is a release date of March 9 so you should see it pretty soon. They have also done a Booked Twice omnibus of the first two so you can find all three in hardback.
Last but not least, may I have a peek into your book, Two O’clock Eastern Wartime: what is that about? It’s a mystery, set in 1942 at a radio station in a fictional town in New Jersey.
John, thank you for being so forthright. I hope all my readers will check out www.oldalgonquin.com both for your own books and for that wonderful and varied inventory that you have on line. Also, I really enjoyed the Bookscout’s Corner and Old Time Radio Gallery that are on your web page, and I can hardly wait for the Bookman’s Promise. (2-04)
