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Searching For Books That No Longer Exist

MrRING

MrRING

Android Futureman
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Messages
6,053
There is a book I'm looking for that I know I've seen on numerous occasions, but I can't seem to find that it even exists anywhere. Any bibliophiles up for the task of trying to find that it does exist, and not just in my head?

The title, as I recall it, was The Green Ray. It wasn't the Jules Verne novel, nor is it the 1920's racist sci-fi novel by (Hank Thompson?)... it was a new book in the early 1990's, and the plot was that of an old time radio voice who used to appear as a crime-busting adventurer called the Green Ray... he's an old man, but he winds up getting caught up in some kind of adventure that forces him to merge his 60 year old body with the personality he developed as the Green Ray to solve what happened...

I remember the book distinctly because it was printed to look like an old pulp (rough-hewn paper edges) with an art nouveu style cover. It looked cool at the time, but I couldn't afford it, so I didn't get it. Now I can't find it on Amazon or Google or any of my usual library search engines...

(This thread, if popular can be used for looking for other books that people half-remember...)
 
Crickey, I think you are right.... I'd ask how you found it - but that'd spoil the mystery! :D

Anybody else got a book they can't find a copy of?
 
I'm still looking for one book I owned when I was a kid and have never been able to track down (including looking on-line). As far as I can remember, it was called 'The History of Flight'. It was a kid's book, with illustrations by two Italian artists. There are various books out there (i.e. the 'Time-Life' series) that go by this title, but they aren't one I'm looking for. I can recall various details pretty well, including the cover, inside covers, and the interior illustrations.

I know this isn't a Fortean book, but I need all the help I can get... ;)
 
I tell if you want me to Mr R.I.N.G, though you maybe dissapointed!

Ill need a bit more info than that Jerry! ;)
 
What sort of info do you need? I have no idea who the book was written by, nor who the publisher was. AFAIK the book was published in the early to mid-70s. Despite trawling through Abebooks, etc. I've not come any closer to acquiring this particular book.
 
Sorry we just can't have Dirtybob worshipped as some kind of mage.
Here's where he probably found it:
http://forums.abebooks.co.uk/abesleuthuk

Very handy. Found me "Cookery Tales of Oaktree Kitchen" just from a brief description of the characters and the fact that the cover was orange.
 
beakboo said:
Here's where he probably found it:
http://forums.abebooks.co.uk/abesleuthuk

Very handy. Found me "Cookery Tales of Oaktree Kitchen" just from a brief description of the characters and the fact that the cover was orange.
Click to expand...

Maybe this is where we finally find that most elusive book with the 19th century American west photo of the thunderbird/pterodactyl! :D
 
I read a book as a child (late 70s-early 80s) that I have forgotten the name of and have never heard of since. The main character was a boy who moved to a new town with his unfriendly relatives, and was having such a hard time at school that one day he went home through the fog and found his home had turned into a much friendlier place, with nice people he didn't recognise but who knew him. At the end he had his problems worked out and things went back to normal, whether it was foggy or not - it was always the fog that indicated when he'd arrive at the strange but comforting house. Any ideas? Probably long out of print now, but I loved it at the time.
 
Post that on the link I gave above GNC, along with any details such as colour and type of binding. You've a pretty good chance of someone recognising it.
 
Thanks, I tried but couldn't log in, even with cookies enabled. It's all getting a bit technical for me.
 
beakboo said:
Sorry we just can't have Dirtybob worshipped as some kind of mage.

:( :(

Why not - its what ive always dreamed of.......
Click to expand...
 
GNC said:
Thanks, I tried but couldn't log in, even with cookies enabled. It's all getting a bit technical for me.
Click to expand...
I think there's something wrong with the site, it claims not to know me. Crossed to the other side of the street when it saw me. :roll:
 
It seems to like me, so I have started a thread on your book - hope you dont mind GNC.

Its not how I found the first one - that was just a normal google search, using
Keywords from Mr. R.I.N.G.S description.
 
Excellent, thanks very much, Dirtybob.
 
I've been looking for The Dark Gods by Geoff Gilbertson et al since a friend lost it for nearly 10 years now, even the authors don't have a copy.
 
Redneck said:
I've been looking for The Dark Gods by Geoff Gilbertson et al since a friend lost it for nearly 10 years now, even the authors don't have a copy.
Click to expand...

We have a copy, I think purchased from Amazon in the not too distant past.

I've seen a copy in Courtyard Books, Glastonbury, it was about a year ago but they might have more.http://www.speakingtree.co.uk/ is the sister shop (sells cool remainders) might be worth calling them?
 
My 'lost' book:
A fair while ago (we are talking decades) I borrowed it probably from Taunton library, it was all about the folklore of farm horses, written by a very old man who had learned his stuff from very old men as a kid in East Anglia. It was wonderful fascinating stuff but unfortunately I can't remember the title or author, I would dearly love a copy. It was a standard size hardback.
 
Marion said:
My 'lost' book:
A fair while ago (we are talking decades) I borrowed it probably from Taunton library, it was all about the folklore of farm horses, written by a very old man who had learned his stuff from very old men as a kid in East Anglia. It was wonderful fascinating stuff but unfortunately I can't remember the title or author, I would dearly love a copy. It was a standard size hardback.
Click to expand...

Oooh, I would love to have the name of that as well!
 
GNC

Does this help

Well, there is a book called Fog Magic by Julia L Sauer which nearly fits your description except the main character is a girl not a boy. She has a special kind of affinity with the fog and discovers that when it comes down on certain days she can walk to the next town and visit a family of special friends there - she basically travels in time.

Probably not right but I thought I'd throw it in as it is amazing how you can sometimes merge details of different books together!



juni
 
chop chop

Anyone have a spare copy of Howard Austen's Myra Breckinridge Cookbook? :shock:
 
Dirtybob said:
GNC

Does this help

Well, there is a book called Fog Magic by Julia L Sauer which nearly fits your description except the main character is a girl not a boy. She has a special kind of affinity with the fog and discovers that when it comes down on certain days she can walk to the next town and visit a family of special friends there - she basically travels in time.

Probably not right but I thought I'd throw it in as it is amazing how you can sometimes merge details of different books together!



juni
Click to expand...

Nope, sounds similar but that's not it, but thanks. The main character was definitely a boy and the author was a man. One thing I've remembered is that the carpet in the fog house was a special shade of green - that was how he would be aware that he was in the new house instead of the unfriendly one. Maybe that helps.
 
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