Neglected Books
@neglectedbooks.com
Brad Bigelow, writer in Missoula, MT
Author, Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts (Jan 2026)
Editor, Recovered Books series @ Boiler House Press:
www.boilerhouse.press/recovered-books
Editor, neglectedbooks.com. Champion of reading off the beaten path.
Author, Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts (Jan 2026)
Editor, Recovered Books series @ Boiler House Press:
www.boilerhouse.press/recovered-books
Editor, neglectedbooks.com. Champion of reading off the beaten path.
On this date in 2011, I looked back at some of my professors at the University of Washington and the books they wrote that are still worth remembering.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
On this date in 2011, I looked back at some of my professors at the University of Washington and the books they wrote that are still worth remembering.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
This afternoon's mindblower was learning that the lyrics for this tune were written by Lina Wertmüller.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8g...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8g...
Rita Pavone - Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro (Live 1966)
YouTube video by Music Rain
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This afternoon's mindblower was learning that the lyrics for this tune were written by Lina Wertmüller.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8g...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8g...
"Datemi un Martello." Italian singer Rita Pavone has a hammer and she looks like she's just trying to decide exactly what or who she's gonna f*** up with it tonight.
RITA PAVONE DATEMI UN MARTELLO 64
ORIGINALISSIMA
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"Datemi un Martello." Italian singer Rita Pavone has a hammer and she looks like she's just trying to decide exactly what or who she's gonna f*** up with it tonight.
Blanche Frederici channeling Radclyffe Hall in her portrait of a best-selling author in The Office Wife (1930), with Lewis Stone as publisher. The Office Wife was based on a novel by Faith Baldwin, who was in a partnership with her children's nanny. Was director Lloyd Bacon suggesting something?
November 25, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Blanche Frederici channeling Radclyffe Hall in her portrait of a best-selling author in The Office Wife (1930), with Lewis Stone as publisher. The Office Wife was based on a novel by Faith Baldwin, who was in a partnership with her children's nanny. Was director Lloyd Bacon suggesting something?
Brown Face, Big Master, the memoir of Malcolm Gladwell's Jamaican mother, Joyce, was marketed as a religious text, but it's subtle, sensitive, and reluctant to draw universal rules from individual experiences.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Brown Face, Big Master, the memoir of Malcolm Gladwell's Jamaican mother, Joyce, was marketed as a religious text, but it's subtle, sensitive, and reluctant to draw universal rules from individual experiences.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
Next in the Recovered Books series from @bhousepress.bsky.social: Makeshift, Sarah Campion's 1940 novel about the journey of Charlotte Herz, a German Jewish woman, from 1919 through the Weimar republic, the rise of the Nazis, and her journey in search of a new home.
November 24, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Next in the Recovered Books series from @bhousepress.bsky.social: Makeshift, Sarah Campion's 1940 novel about the journey of Charlotte Herz, a German Jewish woman, from 1919 through the Weimar republic, the rise of the Nazis, and her journey in search of a new home.
Random cover from my shelves: Rule III: Pretend to be Nice by Annabel Dilke (1964)
Naive Katie falls in with Dominic, "an ex-Cambridge petty criminal in elastic-sided boots" who grows marijuana in his window box. Will virtue prevail? Stay tuned
Naive Katie falls in with Dominic, "an ex-Cambridge petty criminal in elastic-sided boots" who grows marijuana in his window box. Will virtue prevail? Stay tuned
November 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Random cover from my shelves: Rule III: Pretend to be Nice by Annabel Dilke (1964)
Naive Katie falls in with Dominic, "an ex-Cambridge petty criminal in elastic-sided boots" who grows marijuana in his window box. Will virtue prevail? Stay tuned
Naive Katie falls in with Dominic, "an ex-Cambridge petty criminal in elastic-sided boots" who grows marijuana in his window box. Will virtue prevail? Stay tuned
Two legends of 1930s comedy collide. Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore muddle through the difficult problem of placing an order. From The Gay Divorcee (1934).
November 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Two legends of 1930s comedy collide. Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore muddle through the difficult problem of placing an order. From The Gay Divorcee (1934).
Paper Profits (1930), Arthur Train's tale of the highs and lows of the kind of stock speculation that led to the Great Crash of 1929, demonstrates the risks of a formulaic writer tackling a subject ill-suited to happy endings. Fascinating but flawed.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Paper Profits (1930), Arthur Train's tale of the highs and lows of the kind of stock speculation that led to the Great Crash of 1929, demonstrates the risks of a formulaic writer tackling a subject ill-suited to happy endings. Fascinating but flawed.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
My favorite Sunday jazz album. I like to imagine sitting on a Sunday morning in an apartment on Nob Hill in 1958, with a cup of coffee and the Chronicle pink section, looking out over the Bay. And this is the soundtrack for that fantasy. (And hey—it's on Fantasy! And on red vinyl!)
November 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
My favorite Sunday jazz album. I like to imagine sitting on a Sunday morning in an apartment on Nob Hill in 1958, with a cup of coffee and the Chronicle pink section, looking out over the Bay. And this is the soundtrack for that fantasy. (And hey—it's on Fantasy! And on red vinyl!)
The camera work in Double Door (1934) seems well ahead of its time, foreshadowing that of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Dir: Charles Vidor; Cinematographer: Harry Fischbeck.
November 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The camera work in Double Door (1934) seems well ahead of its time, foreshadowing that of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Dir: Charles Vidor; Cinematographer: Harry Fischbeck.
“Another one of your grandchildren, Mrs. Sparkes,” people would ask the woman who first cared for Janet Hitchman. “No, no relation of mine. None whatever.” Janet Hitchman's memoir, The King of the Barbareens (1965), is a grim account of childhood when nobody wants you.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“Another one of your grandchildren, Mrs. Sparkes,” people would ask the woman who first cared for Janet Hitchman. “No, no relation of mine. None whatever.” Janet Hitchman's memoir, The King of the Barbareens (1965), is a grim account of childhood when nobody wants you.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
A random cover from my stacks: Contact by Eva Tucker (1966)
An experimental/feminist novel. Published by Calder & Boyars, whose brilliant list was driven by the amazing Marion Boyars until she left to form her own list in 1975.
An experimental/feminist novel. Published by Calder & Boyars, whose brilliant list was driven by the amazing Marion Boyars until she left to form her own list in 1975.
November 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
A random cover from my stacks: Contact by Eva Tucker (1966)
An experimental/feminist novel. Published by Calder & Boyars, whose brilliant list was driven by the amazing Marion Boyars until she left to form her own list in 1975.
An experimental/feminist novel. Published by Calder & Boyars, whose brilliant list was driven by the amazing Marion Boyars until she left to form her own list in 1975.
Fan dancers, from Sitting Pretty (1933). Choreography by Larry Cebalos, who was clearly a quick study of Busby Berkeley.
November 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Fan dancers, from Sitting Pretty (1933). Choreography by Larry Cebalos, who was clearly a quick study of Busby Berkeley.
I'm tickled pink to learn that I'll be teaching another class on Pre-Code films for the Lifelong Learning program at the University of Montana in spring.
November 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I'm tickled pink to learn that I'll be teaching another class on Pre-Code films for the Lifelong Learning program at the University of Montana in spring.
“As regards fear I was an expert.” Dormer Creston's Enter a Child is a vivid recreation of the dark terrors and bright joys she experienced growing up in a Victorian family. Brilliantly written, it's extraordinarily rare — but available free on @archive.org.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
“As regards fear I was an expert.” Dormer Creston's Enter a Child is a vivid recreation of the dark terrors and bright joys she experienced growing up in a Victorian family. Brilliantly written, it's extraordinarily rare — but available free on @archive.org.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
The Left-Handed Passenger by Felix Riesenberg (1935)
Based on the Morro Castle disaster. If this book is remembered today, it's because William Burroughs read it & recorded the fact in his journal.
Based on the Morro Castle disaster. If this book is remembered today, it's because William Burroughs read it & recorded the fact in his journal.
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The Left-Handed Passenger by Felix Riesenberg (1935)
Based on the Morro Castle disaster. If this book is remembered today, it's because William Burroughs read it & recorded the fact in his journal.
Based on the Morro Castle disaster. If this book is remembered today, it's because William Burroughs read it & recorded the fact in his journal.
C. Aubrey Smith, from Love Me Tonight (1932)*
*The answer to the question, "Why didn't they let C. Aubrey Smith do more musical numbers?"
*The answer to the question, "Why didn't they let C. Aubrey Smith do more musical numbers?"
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
C. Aubrey Smith, from Love Me Tonight (1932)*
*The answer to the question, "Why didn't they let C. Aubrey Smith do more musical numbers?"
*The answer to the question, "Why didn't they let C. Aubrey Smith do more musical numbers?"
Reposted by Neglected Books
“Bigelow (@neglectedbooks.com) sketches an intimate portrait of Faulkner and makes a convincing case that her efforts were foundational to future Cather researchers. This restores Faulkner to her rightful place in literary history.”—@publisherswkly.bsky.social bit.ly/4o88OSI
Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts by Brad Bigelow
Bigelow, an editor at Boiler House Press, debuts with an illuminating biography of Nebraskan writer and editor Virginia Faulkner...
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
“Bigelow (@neglectedbooks.com) sketches an intimate portrait of Faulkner and makes a convincing case that her efforts were foundational to future Cather researchers. This restores Faulkner to her rightful place in literary history.”—@publisherswkly.bsky.social bit.ly/4o88OSI
Join Diana Wichtel, Sarah Shieff, and me on Dec 9th (Dec 10th in NZ) as we discuss Makeshift, the newest title in the Recovered Books series from Boiler House Press.
Register for free on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-la...
Register for free on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-la...
November 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Join Diana Wichtel, Sarah Shieff, and me on Dec 9th (Dec 10th in NZ) as we discuss Makeshift, the newest title in the Recovered Books series from Boiler House Press.
Register for free on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-la...
Register for free on Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-la...
I don’t believe in golden ages, but I do believe in golden moments, when circumstances allow people to experience something irreproducible. Muriel Draper's Music at Midnight (1929) is a memoir of one: two years when her house became the center of the music world of London.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I don’t believe in golden ages, but I do believe in golden moments, when circumstances allow people to experience something irreproducible. Muriel Draper's Music at Midnight (1929) is a memoir of one: two years when her house became the center of the music world of London.
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
An article I wrote last century, in which I argued that Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were as significant to 1960s pop music as the Beatles and surveyed the many, many Tijuana Brass imitators that followed in their wake.
www.spaceagepop.com/...
www.spaceagepop.com/...
November 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
An article I wrote last century, in which I argued that Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were as significant to 1960s pop music as the Beatles and surveyed the many, many Tijuana Brass imitators that followed in their wake.
www.spaceagepop.com/...
www.spaceagepop.com/...
"Gee, I think he's cute."
"So are hippopotamuses when they're babies." Joan Blondell with a trademark comeback, from I've Got Your Number (1934), in which Pat O'Brien and his fellow telephone repairmen save the day.
(Well, there was a time when such things happened.)
"So are hippopotamuses when they're babies." Joan Blondell with a trademark comeback, from I've Got Your Number (1934), in which Pat O'Brien and his fellow telephone repairmen save the day.
(Well, there was a time when such things happened.)
November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
"Gee, I think he's cute."
"So are hippopotamuses when they're babies." Joan Blondell with a trademark comeback, from I've Got Your Number (1934), in which Pat O'Brien and his fellow telephone repairmen save the day.
(Well, there was a time when such things happened.)
"So are hippopotamuses when they're babies." Joan Blondell with a trademark comeback, from I've Got Your Number (1934), in which Pat O'Brien and his fellow telephone repairmen save the day.
(Well, there was a time when such things happened.)
Next in the Recovered Books series from @bhousepress.bsky.social: Makeshift, Sarah Campion's 1940 novel about the journey of Charlotte Herz, a German Jewish woman, from 1919 through the Weimar republic, the rise of the Nazis, and her journey in search of a new home.
November 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Next in the Recovered Books series from @bhousepress.bsky.social: Makeshift, Sarah Campion's 1940 novel about the journey of Charlotte Herz, a German Jewish woman, from 1919 through the Weimar republic, the rise of the Nazis, and her journey in search of a new home.
The secret to getting through big, dense, difficult books.
(Anyone interested in getting through Dorothy Richardson's big, dense, difficult Pilgrimage should sign up for the email list at ReadingPilgrimage.com.)
(Anyone interested in getting through Dorothy Richardson's big, dense, difficult Pilgrimage should sign up for the email list at ReadingPilgrimage.com.)
The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The secret to getting through big, dense, difficult books.
(Anyone interested in getting through Dorothy Richardson's big, dense, difficult Pilgrimage should sign up for the email list at ReadingPilgrimage.com.)
(Anyone interested in getting through Dorothy Richardson's big, dense, difficult Pilgrimage should sign up for the email list at ReadingPilgrimage.com.)