21 Comments

I came to say about Tom Cox’s 1983, but see it has already been mentioned. I also thought you might get a chortle from a long title which we read for book club a few years ago; Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse) by Paul Carter. It’s about as mad as it sounds!

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Val McDermid has since added a 1989 sequel to 1979 but I’m sure you knew that… I think it’s planned as a trilogy but I don’t think the third book is out yet.

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“Rebecca” by Daphne DuMaurier

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I think you might have misunderstood the brief! It’s a list of one-letter titles, so I’m not after a title beginning with R, but simply a book called ‘R’.

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Your fellow Substacker Tom Cox has a novel (and very good it is too) called 1983. It was published last year by Unbound (who apparently haven’t yet paid Tom the royalties they owe him).

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Oh yes of course I know about this as I’ve followed Tom in various places for ages. Very sad about the Unbound thing, of course (I also published two books with them), but not sure that it’s relevant to the current conversation?

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Fair point: it was 1983 that I really wanted to include in your list.

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Yes indeed. Sorry, my reply didn’t acknowledge this properly. I’ll amend my records accordingly!

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I should have said “silly me, I knew about this because mention of it appears in my inbox every other week!”

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Regarding date-names, I wrote a post like that. 'Beach-Combing Journal' is the name of the series-- the title of the post is '1910'

https://rosiewhinray.substack.com/p/beach-combing-journal-1910

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I see nobody has claimed that date in your list-- the closest is Trotsky!

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I loved the newsstand guys of London, they were unfailingly patient and helpful in response to my idiot questions

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Was wondering why Luther Blissett might have called his autobiography Q and that has led me into a whole new Thing.

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I had exactly the same thought but felt I had delighted my readership

More than enough by that point.

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Lev, if you're interested in the music business, how it has changed and where it is going, you should consider reading Ted Gioia's amazing Substack.

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Thanks. I’m already subscribed, but appreciate the thought!

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You never fail to surprise us. Thank you

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1913 - Florian Illies - terrific book with the subtitle The Year Before the Storm - but maybe if you're being stern that discounts it!

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Yup, there were quite a few like that.

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I love this series.

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Thanks!

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