Suntup epitomizes Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo with fine press editions and artwork that emanate the true anti-war classic novel from 1939.
The Following Preview Review of Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and the Suntup Editions limiteds is *Spoiler Free
It is the vital works of fiction that continue to make worldwide waves again and again.
Trumbo’s anti-romantic-war novel is one of the great ones.
The protagonist Joe Bonham wakes in a hospital bed to slowly discover that an enemy artillery shell has taken his arms and legs and left a mangled hole where his eyes, nose, teeth, and tongue used to be.
The premise told from a first-person narrative: he cannot hear or speak, or leave his prison.
The famed filmmaker’s book was published in 1939 and was heavily influenced by the fallout of what Trumbo called the last “romantic war” in World War I.
The meaning I take from that sentiment is that it was a war that could very much have been avoided and various war machines and romantic ideals in politics continued to make larger and larger waves until the Great War was unleashed.
And there were many wars he felt similarly about (World War II was not one of them).
And so this harrowing work truly claws at one’s humanity and brings into focus many uncomfortable realities of the world.
Because of this, it has been very impactful since its publication, its winning the National Book Award and Trumbo’s subsequent adaptation into a film in 1971.
Decades afterward, this film would be used by Metallica in their most successful and popular song titled “One” and its music video, and that would act as a relaunching of Johnny Got His Gun that was again thrust into popular culture to harp on the horrors of war.
Suntup Editions took on this monumental title, which will be shipping in the near future and there are still Artist Editions available for purchase.
The numbered and lettered editions are sold out.
But all of the books feature stunning artwork by Ūla Šveikauskaitė that really captures the soul brought forth in Johnny Got His Gun.
The AE edition is the only one of the three featuring a dust jacket and is signed by the artist.
The image of the skulls and the cover image with the raised peace sign are striking!
This is a book and fine press editions that will forever resonate with you!
The details of Suntup Editions ARTIST EDITION:
6” x 9” trim size.
256 Pages.
Limited to 750 copies.
Full cloth, smyth-sewn binding.
Two-hits foil stamping.
Introduction by Dalton Trumbo from 1959, with addendum written in 1970.
Foreword by Cindy Sheehan.
Afterword by E.L. Doctorow.
Six full-color illustrations by Ūla Šveikauskaitė.
Dust jacket featuring artwork by Ūla Šveikauskaitė (the only edition featuring the dust jacket).
Signed by the artist.
Printed offset on archival Cougar Natural.
Housed in a metal mesh paper slipcase with an acrylic coating.
Final Quarter Announcement Schedule For The Forgotten Fiction: here it is folks, news, news, and all the fun coming to TFF to close out the year with a BANG!
For those of you wondering, there are many new writers coming on for guest posts, including authors like Tom Deady, and more book reviews are coming.
Everything got hung up again in the last two months with not one, but two Covid scares for my toddler.
She did not get it, but it wreaked havoc for quite a while and her daycare was shut down for two weeks, twice, and we were quarantined, limiting my own working hours to her sleeping hours, and that affected both the volume of reviews and the output of the Rune Works Wood Shop.
All of that has now passed: a bevy of projects are being polished up and packed and mailed!
I am so happy to be working a lot again, though I did enjoy having a lot more time with my daughter – the kid is amazing.
Housekeeping out of the way, prepare yourselves for many new incredible books that will be in Preview Reviews, like Boys In The Valley by Philip Fracassi – this is Earthling Publications Halloween Book Of The Year – and Josh Malerman’s Ghoul N’ the Cape, and then so many contemporary and classic book reviews too.
Gwendy’s Button Box S/L will likely by my first SST Publications review, though Bird Box may leapfrog it.
My many editions of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, from a signed first edition to Suntup’s marvelous numbered edition will be reviewed along with the story, my second favorite of all time.
Asimov will get his own page for The End Of Eternity, the S/L from of Robots of Dawn from Phantasia Press, and of course, Foundation and more robot tales.
Philip K. Dick will also be here with a page constantly adding reviews starting with the new Centipede Press boxed set and a gorgeous limited of The Cosmic Puppets, as well as many, many more novels from all eras.
Five Decembers by James Kestrel from Hard Case Crime is going to be grand, as well as more Crichton, some Lawrence Block, and Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, and of course Cline’s Ready Player One and Ready Player Two (I have a surprise to show you for these)!
There are so many more in the works, as well, and to get a feel for what you the Eager Readers want, I am devising a poll to be sent out to all on our email list.
The TFF-inspired fiction-based Rune Works Wood Shop is revealing some new products that clients have ordered.
There are new crazy designs for book traycases, coffee table display cases for LEGO builds, custom limited edition bookends and even Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer 40K Partitions and Player Dungeons Boxes, complete with a Dice Vault and Storage Tray and a compartment for a pencil, pad or tablet.
So many great things are coming!
TFF will be showing off its first comic book cases at the Rune Works booth at New York Comic Con in October too!
More news on that and the END OF THE YEAR CRAZY giveaway contest is going to be leaked soon . . . stay tuned!
Final Quarter Announcement Schedule:
Tuesday Sept. 28 the next contest and prizes are announced
Tuesday Oct. 5 @ 1pm EST is the LIVESTREAM event and giveaway!
Wednesday Oct. 27 the next contest and prizes are announced
Tuesday Nov. 9 @ 1pm EST is the LIVESTREAM event and giveaway!
Friday Dec. 10 the next contest and prizes are announced
Tuesday Dec. 21 @ 1pm EST is the LIVESTREAM event and giveaway!
CRAZY End of year LIVEstream will be on Dec 21, 2021! There will be books for international fans, there will be at least one custom Rune Works book case being given away and a TON of other surprises! Stay tuned for more info on this!
The Exorcist By Blatty S/L by Suntup, Lonely Road & Gauntlet fine presses provides one of the world’s most terrifying and thrilling novels an exceptional book reading experience.
The Exorcist By William Peter Blatty is an all-time great work of fiction.
This cannot be understated; the writing, the tale, the characters are all remarkable.
The film adaptation that Blatty was a part of will forever be a classic, as well, but the novel adds so much more to the brilliant characters, the shocking story, and the uniquely personal detective work.
The following book review of The Exorcist: The Fortieth Anniversary Edition will have mild Spoilers** that will end with the story review and the start of a fine press book review of each of the Holy Trinity: The Exorcist signed and limited editions by Gauntlet Press, Lonely Road Books, and released this year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of this iconic masterpiece of horror and paranormal suspense, Suntup Editions.
I have a favorite! But now back to the The Exorcist: The Fortieth Anniversary Edition book review!
For those who have read The Exorcist, but not the revised edition, I highly encourage you to take up the endeavor.
On September 27, 2011, The Exorcist was re-released as a 40th Anniversary Edition in hardcover, paperback and audiobook featuring new and revised material. Of this edition, Blatty wrote:
“This will have a touch of new material in it as part of an all-around polish of the dialogue and prose. First time around I never had the time (meaning the funds) to do a second draft, and this, finally, is it. With forty years to think about it, a few little changes were inevitable — plus one new character in a totally new, very spooky scene. This is the version I would like to be remembered for.” [Suntup.press]
From the eerie and ominous opening of the book, we touch on foreshadowing and evil and duty for Father Lankester Merrin, as he meets with a dear friend.
An ancient Assyrian idol of the demon Pazuzu has been found at Merrin’s archaeological dig in northern Iraq.
And this creepy and poignant chapter, the sweat that runs from the elderly Jesuit priest in the full light of the sun spilling over the desert, bespeaks an impending battle, and what may be strife in the spiritual battleground and the physical one.
He must leave his dear friend and go back to the US. Some goodbyes are heartbreaking.
Blatty leaves Merrin behind for much of the book and focuses on a little girl named Regan in Washington D.C.
She is possessed; there is no spoiler there, folks.
Blatty was originally inspired by the story of the demonic possession of a child in the 1940s.
Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of Chris, a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. for a film, lives in a creepy old house overlooking a terribly long and narrow stairway outside.
The murder of Chris’ producer, who is found at the bottom of the stairs with his head turned all the way around – quite unnaturally – begins an investigation into the family in the house.
Welcome one of the most fun detectives in fiction: Lt. William Kinderman!
He is an older man, who is jovial, polite, and so very sly and intuitive with regards to human behavior and reactions.
Because the film producer was murdered after he was in Chris’ home, Kinderman has no choice but to thoroughly investigate every occupant of the house, as well as the visiting Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras, who he befriends in part for company and in part to get information out of him.
This is a thrilling, and at times humorous, cat and mouse game, as the two speak and meet again and again.
Meanwhile, Chris, an atheist, is upset as her daughter quickly dissolves before her into what she thinks is multiple personality disorder.
Regan speaks in other languages, lashes out at her doctors, is shriveling away physically, and even makes her entire bed tremble, as if there was an earthquake.
Aside from locking up Regan in an institution, which Chris will not do, one of the psychiatrists suggests that Regan may think she is possessed and so an exorcist may provide a psychosomatic cure.
Father Carris tries desperately to build a case to the Church for exorcism, but Regan’s time is running out.
**Spoilers END here
The Exorcist: The Fortieth Anniversary Edition by William Peter Blatty is truly something special – there is no work of fiction like this.
The research involved in writing this book was extensive, the writing could not be better, and the eerie world is so real, it scares the hell out of me to this day.
And that is my guess as to why the 71-week bestseller is considered one of the most controversial books of all time.
To pay homage to this classic work of literature, I will review the three small press publishers that crafted S/L editions containing Blatty’s preferred fortieth anniversary text, and I will review in the order they were published before I compare the three, Gauntlet, Lonely Road, and Suntup, limited editions.
The Exorcist by Blatty gets the grand fine press treatment it deserves
First released was the interesting Gauntlet Press edition that has a signature sheet for the 25th Anniversary and a publication page for the text version, the 40th Anniversary (I do not know why and am so curious about that).
It is a beautiful book that was limited to 600 copies with an introduction by F. Paul Wilson who signed it, as well as Blatty.
Only the lettered, which I do not have got illustrations in the book, but I will say that the cover art of this book is my favorite of any trade or small press dust jacket art that I have seen.
It is black, simple, elegant, and the warped image of Regan in the light symbolizing a cross is, to many, disturbing.
The boards are a fun iridescent sable cloth too and the pages are of a nice quality.
The Exorcist: The Fortieth Anniversary Edition by William Peter Blatty Signed and Numbered Limited Made By Lonely Road Books
Lonely Road Books produced a phenomenal edition of the work in an oversized 7.5” x 10.5” to highlight the stunning original art by Caniglia.
This edition was limited to 374 numbered and signed by Blatty!
The dust jacket is gorgeous, but I prefer the white faux leather boards and red foil stamping sans dj.
The slipcase is crimson with gold foil stamping and the paper is quality, though not as thick in the hand as the Gauntlet or the Suntup.
The artwork in the book is the real highlight, aside from the author’s preferred text and signature, of course.
This art is tied for my favorite (with the Suntup), and it has a ton of illustrations and I think more than any other illustrated edition to date.
It is a sight to behold!
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty Numbered Edition By Suntup Editions
To celebrate the 2021 50th anniversary of the great book, Paul Suntup and his team went all out to deliver one of the most celebrated numbered editions of The Exorcist and of their own outstanding lineup.
Suntup’s numbered version of The Exorcist is a bar setter.
With William Peter Blatty deceased, his close friend, a man he called his “brother” director of The Exorcist film William Friedkin penned the introduction and signed the book, as well as the marvelous artist Marc Potts.
Getting the award winning director to talk about the book and to sign this edition is nothing short of amazing.
But what is more, the intricate Jesuit priest shirt and collar, done in two-color Japanese cloth, with a white paper tie, is out of this world amazing!
“The EXORCIST by WILLIAM PETER BLATTY Suntup numbered edition unboxing” VIDEO by THE JEFF WORD
From Suntup’s description:
The Numbered edition of 250 copies is a handmade lapped component case binding constructed from purple and black Japanese cloth covers and purple folded single folio endsheets. It features foil stamped titling at the spine, a white Plike paper collar, flush mounted and wrapped at the head of the book, and is housed in a cigar-style enclosure covered in Japanese cloth. The edition is printed letterpress on Mohawk Via Vellum and is signed by William Friedkin and Marc Potts. Each copy of this edition is sewn and bound by hand. [Suntup.press]
This handbound gem has a smooth feel and an effervescent shine to the boards that catches the light in the most beautiful of ways.
The page type is outstanding, and the letterpress printing is truly the finest way to read the book.
You can see the ink on the page so easily and you can feel the impression of each word or device that the letterpress stamped onto the page.
There is no experience like reading this edition of the book.
It is heavy, it is drool-worthy in its visual design, and the fine art illustrated by Marc Potts is by far the darkest of all the editions I have seen.
The artwork in the book is every bit as good as Caniglia’s and tied to be my favorite of all.
And the cigar style case in the vestment purple and black cross insignia is a work of art in and of itself.
The overall transcendent edition of fiction for The Exorcist goes to the rarest of the S/L’s, the Suntup Editions numbered.
All of these books are incredible works of art that pay great homage to the work’s author, Blatty, and I recommend them all.
Suntup’s upcoming S/L: The Silence Of The Lambs & The Wolfen, signed by Thomas Harris and Whitley Strieber, respectively, highlight genre-defining literary moments with moving art and a design tone that make each of the books’ three editions stand apart.
This is a Spoiler-free Preview of the latest author-signed titles from Suntup Editions.
We will wait to review the stories and the facets of the different limited states, in detail, until after the Suntup editions of the novels come out, but it is worth looking at the exciting flair and literary soul that these two gems offer up in their overall design aesthetic and their stirring illustrations.
Because the ARCs of these two beauties are out in the wild, we can briefly review the sneak peak pb’s, if you will.
We are privileged to bring an inside look into the ARC for the Thomas Harris masterpiece The Silence Of The Lambs.
The story ends after 365 pages in this heavy and gorgeously crafted paperback.
As a thank you, Suntup Editions gave their loyal readers, they offered this Gift SOTL ARC, with the reader’s name in it, for free to all who had placed a number of orders over the year; it is truly remarkable.
This cover of The Silence Of The Lambs Gift ARC features the Artist Edition slipcase artwork, a stunning representation of the death’s head moth on a gray backdrop.
What never ceases to amaze is that Suntup ARCs are made of a better quality than many a trade paperback sold for retail.
The bright white paper is quality, as is the layout, and of course, the incredible illustrations by Tom Bagshaw.
Each of the three states of the book will have their own motif that captures the spirit of the writing and also works off of the editions of The Red Dragon By Thomas Harris that Suntup made previously.
This is no easy feat and finding a truly innovative, thought-provoking, and moving artist for each work is equally marvelous.
The art that Tom Bagshaw has done for this book is truly special.
The greatness of the story warrants art of this caliber and each piece delivers.
Here is a Preview of The Wolfen signed by author Whitley Strieber and the accompanying art portfolio.
I know little of the story, but a New York City-bound detective thrill ride after a new species of werewolf is the type of noir-horror genre-bender that captures my attention.
And I have no doubt, as with all other Paul Suntup selections, that this book will be quite enjoyable on the fiction front.
We will review it with a Yea or Nay after it is out.
What I am very familiar with is the artist François Vaillancourt’s great work on many novels.
Take a look at the illustrations François has created for this incredible book!
There are no words.
The snarling wolves! The snow-spatter! The Brooklyn Bridge? The detailed buildings and backgrounds and shadows!
And accompanying them even the slipcase and traycase and wooden case for each edition is as gritty as the pieces for the book!
These Suntup Editions of The Wolfen are going to be deep-rooted horror, thrilling, and impactful.
And with the bevy of astonishing artwork there is an accompanying Art Portfolio available, limited to 300.
The Art Portfolio and the Artist Edition of The Wolfen are still available atSuntup’s site here!
Suntup’s art prints are among the best there are, and TFF will review the Portfolio along with the editions when they come out, as the fiction is given an extra amount of livelihood with this kind of brilliant art and design.
My biggest critique of these books – and it is a big one – is that I have to wait to get the limited editions now; but that is not the publisher’s fault.
So buckle up, hone your favorite fava beans recipes and replace your claw-marked clothes, because the two newest author-signed editions from Suntup promise to set the bar ever higher, and they will hit us all too soon in the coming months.
P.S. I want to personally thank Paul Suntup for such a generous and beautiful gift in the ARC of SOTL. It means a lot.
The Forgotten Fiction ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE 3-2021 To 6-2021: we are going keep TFF’s Eager Readers up to snuff with all of the happenings, from book reviews, to guest reviewers, to giveaway contests, to Rune Works reader-inspired creations.
Seeing how TFF has grown immensely in just a few short months and less than a year since its launch, I want to thank you all for your support and shared enthusiasm for all that we love as bibliophiles.
ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE 3-2021 To 8-2021
March 30, 2021 @ 12pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
April 5, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Livestream & Giveaway Contest Drawing
April 28, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
May 4, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Livestream & Giveaway Contest Drawing
May 26, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
June 1, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Livestream & Giveaway Contest Drawing
June 30, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
July 6, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Livestream & Giveaway Contest Drawing
July 28, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
August 3, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Livestream & Giveaway Contest Drawing
August 25, 2021 @ 1pm EST
TFF Book Giveaway Contest Is Announced & Opened To Enter Free
And so we will be doing a monthly livestream, via Facebook Live, and in that brief time I will share news for upcoming book reviews and RW Cases or other creations, as well as finish each session with a drawing to choose a winner for a free giveaway contest.
What did I just say?!
Well, yeah, every month there will be a free to enter TFF Giveaway Contest taking place the week before the livestream.
I love reading, and TFF will be spreading the love!
The prizes will get better and better – wait until you see this month’s contest! – and most often there will be a choice for the winner (or winners, when we mix it up) to choose from so that if we are giving away books you can hopefully get something you do not have.
Quite a few brilliant authors are interested in writing book reviews on all sorts of fiction.
I spoke briefly last week on Elizabeth Yoo’s upcoming reviews of 1960’s Italian fiction that she will blow us away with, but so much more than that is on the horizon, and since I love almost every type of fiction out there, from horror and sci-fi to historical fiction, there will always be a fun variety to peruse.
So in this site’s NEWS section I will post a TFF Quarterly ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE and I will feature them in a pulldown from the site menu under NEWS too.
What is coming up?
Well, besides the monthly contests, I will pick a book of the month that either was or is going to be reviewed during the livestream – a teaser, if you will – and I would like to start some Q/A time too (maybe not every time), but I will play that by ear. I love to live in the moment, so we will see where things take us.
Coming up next in book reviews…
In no particular order, except that CD’s NIGHT SHIFT by Stephen King is almost certainly next, here are the book-newcomers to The Forgotten Fiction magazine:
NIGHT SHIFT by Stephen King – Cemetery Dance Gift Edition
Ready Player One By Ernest Cline – Lettered Edition By Curious King Books
Later By Stephen King – Numbered Edition By Hard Case Crime
A Scanner Darkly By Philip K. Dick – Suntup Editions Numbered and Artist Editions
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – Suntup Editions Numbered and Artist Editions
More Books by Michael Crichton – requests are open, folks!
The End Of Eternity By Isaac Asimov (and pictures of a rare first edition)
The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War Of The Worlds, all By H.G. Wells – all Suntup Edition’s Limited Numbered
Killer Come Back To Me the unpublished Ray Bradbury book celebrating Bradbury’s 100th birthday by Hard Case Crime
There will be many books that pop up and wedge there way in between the ones above, but these are some of the fiction titles, young and old, to look forward to.
Branching off of both The Forgotten Fiction and my fledgling production company, press and PR agency Rune Works Productions Ltd. are the literary creations crafted by hand in my woodshop, like the TFF Rune Works Book Cases.
Call them traycases, slipcases, or whatever else you want, but do not call them mass produced haha.
These are beloved creations that I have hand crafted for my own library, art to hold my most precious art.
I am busy working on these RW Rare Book Cases:
A one-of-a-kind SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 2021 ARC case for the winner of the Unofficial Fans Of Suntup group’s contest, Kyle – this will be a 1 / 1 and like nothing anyone has ever seen
SECRET Case Project [hint: horror and Ania Ahlborn]
CARRIE 1st Edition case
FAHRENHEIT 451 case
The Gunslinger case
The Long Walk case
“The Bachman Books” case
“Gunslinger” Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction cases
A I of I creation customized for an issue of Astounding Fiction from 1953
Startling Mystery 1967 and 1969 Case
Fight Club cases, with a strip of cartoon film?
A Scanner Darkly case for the first edition of Philip K. Dick’s classic
Revival Us First Edition for signed copies
End Of Watch Us First Edition for signed copies
If It Bleeds Us First Edition for signed copies
The End Of Eternity Isaac Asimov case
And even a non-book case for a rare Star Wars Lego piece!
There are a couple of cases I want to remain a secret for now.
These are some ambitious projects that I have undertaken and some will be ready to fly in the near future, while others may take a year or more to develop (some have already crossed into this realm).
These are handmade and planned and collaborated on with usually one person, me, or a very few others, at times.
That takes time.
But I love to make them and I love to see their purpose fulfilled as the books join with them, and much as time is one of our most precious commodities, up there with family and health, I take my time to ensure the quality I feel all of my work, from my written works to my web-made to my hand-made works all are the most they can be.
