"This is either the funniest dirty book or the dirtiest funny book ever written!" -Isaac AsimovSomewhere around 1969 I began to grow dissatisfied with the underlying principle of most novels---that a disembodied voice in the first or third person was telling us a story. I liked the idea of novels passing themselves off as documents, and drew inspiration from Mark Harris's WAKE UP, STUPID, and Sue Kaufman's DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE, the first ostensibly a collection of letters, the second, duh, a diary. (One could, of course ...
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"This is either the funniest dirty book or the dirtiest funny book ever written!" -Isaac AsimovSomewhere around 1969 I began to grow dissatisfied with the underlying principle of most novels---that a disembodied voice in the first or third person was telling us a story. I liked the idea of novels passing themselves off as documents, and drew inspiration from Mark Harris's WAKE UP, STUPID, and Sue Kaufman's DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE, the first ostensibly a collection of letters, the second, duh, a diary. (One could, of course, go back further, to the very beginnings of the English novel in the works of Daniel Defoe and Samuel Richardson.)I also found myself interested in writing with greater candor about sexual topics. I had knocked out dozens of soft-core paperbacks, and wanted to try anew with greater freedom and more realism.I wrote three paperback original novels for Berkley under the pen name Jill Emerson, two of them in diary form, the third a presumed collaborative novel written in concert by the three viewpoint characters. These were fun to do and worked out well, and they led to RONALD RABBIT IS A DIRTY OLD MAN. I riffed on the experience of my friend George Dickerson, who like the novel's protagonist had the magazine he was editing folded out from under him; George went on reporting to his empty office for several months, until they found him out when they noticed he'd stopped using his expense account. (A man of many talents, George went on to serve as a reporter for Time Magazine for several years, then segued into a career as an actor; he had a principal role in Blue Velvet.) I spliced in an experience of my own, when I drank for hours at the Kettle of Fish on Macdougal Street, emerging only to be picked up by a carful of rich Catholic schoolgirls from the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Noroton, Connecticut, who essentially kidnapped me and drove me back to school with them. These things happen.I wrote the book in four furious days in an apartment on West 35th Street. I did so thinking it would be another pseudonymous paperback, and that no doubt gave me the freedom to write it as I did; after it was written, the friends who read it liked it so much that I was persuaded to publish it as a hardcover novel, and under my own name. My agent sent it to Bernard Geis, a quirky publisher whose editor-Don Preston-loved the book. Bernie had offices on two floors in midtown Manhattan, and had installed a fireman's pole in case one wanted to get from 9 to 8 in a hurry. All I recall of Don is he told me to avoid seeing Carnal Knowledge, which he hated, and that I must hurry to see McCabe and Mrs.Miller, which he loved. Once I'd managed to sit through McCabe and Mrs. Miller, I knew I'd love Carnal Knowledge.Around the time Ronald Rabbit was published, Bernard Geis slid into Chapter Eleven. I can't think this had a salutary effect on sales. Martin Levin in the New York Times Book Review pointed out that the book was written in the form of a series of letters, which was also the case with Richardson's Pamela, generally acknowledged to be the first English novel. And that, Mr. Levin said, was as much as he had to say on the subject.Well, that's fair.I had the publisher send a copy to Isaac Asimov, whom I'd met a few times over the years. "That's either the funniest dirty book or the dirtiest funny book I've ever read," Isaac told me. "That would make a wonderful blurb," I said. "Over my dead body," he replied.Well, okay. Isaac's been gone over 25 years now, and while I wish he were still around, he's not. And so I'll just remember him fondly, and thank him for giving Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man a helping hand, all these years later.
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Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $9.65, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2018 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $29.68, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2018 by CreateSpace Independent Publis.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $32.98, very good condition, Sold by Bookmarc's rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from La Porte, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Subterranean Press.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. CJ6-A first Subterranean Press edition paperback book SIGNED by author on the title page in very good condition that has some bumped corners, wrinkling, chipping and crease, label on the opposite side of the front, some light discoloration and shelf wear. 9"x6", 148 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a dirty old man. - to cart. $50.00, very good condition, Sold by Night Lights rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Olancha, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by B. Geis Associates.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. No dust jacket. 179 p.; 22 cm.-. Red paper over boards, yellow cloth spine, both bright and clean. Minor corner bump. 1" closed tear ffep. Binding tight, book square. One of Block's most elusive titles.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $54.98, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. First edition copy. Collectible-Very Good. Good dust jacket. Owner's name on front endpage. Dust jacket price clipped. In protective mylar cover. From the collection of Charles Edward Roberts, owner and founder of Wonder Book & Video. With his signature on his personalized bookplate on front endpage.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $56.54, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Subterranean.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $58.84, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2018 by CreateSpace Independent Publis.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man to cart. $65.00, very good condition, Sold by Brazos Bend Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Bernard Geis.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Book First printing of first edition. Near Very Good in like dust jacket. Some dust-spotting and a small stain to top page-edges. Browning at gutter of pastedowns/endpages. Internally clean, bright and unmarked. DJ has light corner wear with the exception of a single chip at the upper front corner. Two tiny tears at head of jacket spine plus a longer (less than 1/4") tear at bottom of rear panel. The reverse side of the DJ has some foxing which is also apparent on the cloth spine of the binding. Original $5.95 price intact on jacket flap. DJ now protected in mylar.
Add this copy of Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man [Illustrations By Phil to cart. $70.00, very good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by ASAP.
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Very good. Signed. First Edition. First ed, stated. SIGNED by Block and Parks on back of title, limitation E (one of only 26 copies). Minor shelf wear. Pages/boards clean. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.
Those familiar with Lawrence Block may be in for a shock if they read this bawdy, but amazingly hilarious book of correspondence between a twisted character and those within his postal service circle. Not for the faint of heart, but designed for those with an eye for the ribald.
