Joe and Frank

The week has actually been fairly decent. So far I've not felt to overwhelmed by anything. But ever now and then I'll feel a sudden sense of sadness. The lorazepam appears to help in such cases.

Over the weekend, I bought a book that is a tribute to Franklin W. Dixon and the Hardy Boys. "The House on the Point" by Benjamin Hoff could almost be the genuine article. I haven't spotted anything that would be at odds with one of the original books. But on the other hand, my memory of these is hazy.

Some years ago, I had a large collection of juvenile series books from "Tom Swift" to "Nancy Drew" to "Hardy Boys." I bought them at garage sales, flea markets and even ordered some through "The Antique Trader." And I'm fairly sure some may have been from the initial printings.

Then came a bizarre deacquisition period. Which I now realize was caused by being obsessive compulsive. And the collection had become overly large and unwieldy. So I had a series of garage sales and sold all of them. Idiot! I now wish I'd kept some of them.

One of the series was about 20 books, all in excellent condition, with color plates, from "The Wizard of Oz." The first book was by far the most well-known. But there were many others in the series.

Several years ago, duplicates of the original "Hardy Boys" books were available. Over the years, the books have been altered with almost every printing. To the point a title now may bear no relationship to the initial effort with the same name.

Yesterday evening, I went to both Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble looking the duplicates. But neither place had them.

Looking online, I've discovered a site The Hardy Boys Original Series Books that offers "detailed information on authors, artists, revisions, cover art and more." A very interesting site indeed.

The other evening, I went searching on the web for slash fiction about Joe and Frank. I didn't find very much. But I'm sure it's there.

PAX!