Monday 10 August 2009

News on Deighton reissues


Word from my editorial contact at Len Deighton's publishers, Harper Collins, is that following the initial release of the first four revised editions of SS-GB, Bomber, Goodbye Mickey Mouse and XPD - all with new introductions by Len Deighton himself (more details in future posts) - is that on 1 October this year the following books will be published in new editions, again each with new introductions by the author: The Ipcress File, Horse Under Water, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain. These are the books which are really synonymous with Deighton as an author and their appearance should result in another spurt in media attention, one would imagine.

In addition, there are plans to issue for Father's Day 2010 the Bernard Samson novels Berlin Game, Mexico Set and London Match (my personal favourites), which I look forward to tremendously, particularly for any author insight on this key character. The next trilogy in this series, Spy Hook, Spy Line and Spy Sinker, are also slated for publication later in 2010 along with the author's only collection of short stories, Declarations of War, some of which are among his finest works including the short story First Base - set in Vietnam - which was initially planned to be a full-blown novel. Len Deighton's French Cookery Course may also follow this year's republication of the Action Cook Book.

One thing they are also considering for the new novel reissues is to include commentary on the new cover designs by Deighton's great friend and design colleague Arnold Schwartzman. The four covers for the four classic Harry Palmer novels draw inspiration from Raymond Hawkey's originals, with a cornucopia of objects on each giving clues to the main themes in the story. They're excellent, and a great compliment to the story.

So - a lot to look forward to!

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