I ‘ve now discovered that not only does my namesake, the elderly woolly jumper-admiring New Zealand poet, have at least one fan in the world (according to the bookride comments box), but also there are many copies on ABE of two books by yet another Robin Healey.
This upstart, it would seem, is a world expert on Italian literature, whose Italian Literature before 1900 in English Translation and Twentieth century Italian Literature in translation: an annotated bibliography, 1927 - 1997 appear to have created quite a stir in the academy, judging by the reviews. I was particularly delighted to read that ‘ If anything, Healey is much too modest about his own accomplishments ‘.
Along with the disadvantages of having a nominal doppelganger in the literary stakes, come some obvious advantages. Online Googlers will make gratifying assumptions in your favour regarding books bearing your name, including details relating to your age, education and background. Which is nice. Meanwhile, here are some further names to conjure with.
Geoffrey Archer, Dark Angel, Skydancer, Scorpion Trail, etc etc etc.
Matthew Arnold, Stakeholder negotiations: Exercises in sustainable development, 1995.
Jane Austin, Jump Start
The Overwrought Urn (Graphic Originals)
James Baldwin, Whole Earth Ecology, an environmental tool-kit.
John A. Brain, An Evening with Thomas Talfourd , 1889.
John F. Brain, The Man who created God.
Robert Bridges, Invitation to Fly Flight Manouevres Manual for Private Pilots, 1983.
Frank Bruno, Riggermortis, 1966
Roy Campbell, Measuring the Sales and Profit Results of Advertising
Edward Carpenter, The Service of a Parson: why is he there and what he does.
Steven Crane, The personal Income Tax Savings Handbook
Steven A. Crane, Ashamed of Joseph: Mormon Foundations Crumble.
Is Mormonism now Christian ?
Raymond Chandler, All that Glitters, the crime and the cover-up. (Chandler was the lawyer uncle of the boy at the heart of the Michael Jackson scandal ).
Leonard Cohen, Choosing to work: an action-oriented job-finding book, 1979.
Harry H. Crosby, A Wing and a Prayer: the ‘ Bloody 100th ‘ Bomb Group of the eighth US Air Force in action over Europe in World War II.
John Dunne, Reasons of the Heart
William C. Falkner, The Siege of Monteray
Iain Fleming, Accounting for Business management, 1997.
Robert Frost, Victorian and Edwardian Staffordshire from old Photographs, 1977.
Robert Frost, All for Strings ( comprehensive string method ), 1986
John G. Fuller, Prescriptions for Better Home Video Movies
Alan Ginsburg, American and British Regional Export Determinants, 1969
William E. Hague, Remodel, don’t move: how to change your home to fit your lifestyle. New Complete Basic Book of Home Decoration, 1982.
Ian Hamilton, Resources and Industry (OUP)
Dennis Healy, The Illustrated Rules of Baseball, 1995.
Geoffrey Hill, Illuminating Shadows: the mythic power of film, 1992
Susan Hill, Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel: meet the ‘Munks.
Spider-Man: Spider man versus Electro.
David Hulme, Will Christ Return ?, 1990.
Lee Hunt, The Vampire of New York
M. R. James, Successful Bowhunting
John Keates, Understanding maps, 1996
John Locke, Isometric perspective designs and how to create them
Mary McCarthy, Making Books by hand
Margaret Mitchell, Mealtime Magic Cookbook.
Henry Miller, California Missions: the earliest series of views made in 1856
Keith Richards, Tender mercies: inside the world of a child-abuse investigator, 1991
Walter Scott, Lung Cancer: a guide to diagnosis and treatment, 2002.
Ian Sinclair, Photographic Guide to Birds of Southern Africa.
Adam Smith, Supermoney, 1972.
John Wain, Wildtrack, a poem.
Harold K Wilson, Grain Crops, 1955
W. B. Yates, Diaspora .
[R.M.Healey]
Many thanks Robin. Got a feeling that John Wain (angry young man) actually wrote 'Wildtrack', but not John Wayne the cowboy actor. As for 'Adam Smith' I guess that was a sort of 'nom de blague' (real name Hiram Potts or something.) The odd thing is when a well known writer also wrote a very minor book as well. Robert Aickman the highly rated, valuable and collected writer of ghost stories and fantasy was also the was founder and Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association. He wrote 'Know Your Waterways. Holidays on Inland Waterways' which is worth £10 as opposed to £500 or more for some of his fiction. One wonders whether any of the above writers are one and the same with their famous namesakes -- could Frank Bruno have knocked out a forensic thriller ('Riggermortis') between bouts in the ring or Geoffrey Hill, the great poet, also be an expert on cinema and myth... ?
4 comments:
I have been trying to find a cheapo copy of RH's Twentieth-Century Italian Literature in Translation: An Annotated Bibliography, 1929-1997 (Toronto Italian Studies). Nothing under $50, most over $100. Why?
i think the reason Aickman's Know Your Inland Waterways is comparatively cheap is simple: many more copies were printed, so it's a much more common book.
Not forgetting:
Samuel Beckett. The Fjords and Folk of Norway (1915).
An early piece of precocious juvenilia from the miserabilist master?
Great stuff Robin though have to be pedantic and say our Denis Healey only has one 'n'(aside: I guess we all know an early fictional reference to baseball is in Northanger Abbey - Catherine was a player in her girlhood).
Steve I guess that is the most affjordable of Becker's early works?
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