What do you think?
Rate this book
August Derleth Redux: The Weird Tale 1930-1971
This monograph, published during the centennial year of August Derleth's birth, contains comprehensive, cutting-edge scholarship that will revitalize scholarship in Derleth, the man and his work. With rare clarity, Haefele demonstrates the essential role Derleth played in the "tale" of the literary Weird Tale genre, while carefully examining the events which led to millions of books by H. P. Lovecraft and others circulating world-wide. Here we find Derleth firmly re-established along-side S. T. Joshi as the eminent champion of Lovecraft he was. Foreword by Don Herron. Limited Edition.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 6, 2022
A very informative little book that is Haefele’s first in a line of books to try and rehabilitate August Derleth’s reputation amongst the Weird Fiction literary community.
If you’re interested in this monograph, then it needs no further explanation that Derleth’s reputation has been ….. Tarnished, to put it mildly.
This is an attempt to rebalance the prevailing perspective, and I don’t think it’s controversial to say it’s pretty one-sided at the moment. Haefele goes into detail on Derleth’s tireless publishing efforts. He didn’t just champion Lovecraft, though he was the focus of Derleth’s initial and strongest efforts, but for many writers in the field of weird fantasy and even science fiction which would have otherwise languished in the pulps of history.
One thing that is maybe overlooked is that Derleth didn’t just promote authors with Arkham House, which was his own publishing effort and one he sometimes had to support out of his own pocket - but he also worked tirelessly to get Lovecraft and co. published abroad and in translation. He would often work with other publishers he felt had greater chances of getting these works into readers’ hands. An interesting example of Lovecraft’s work proliferating to the mass market would be the Armed Service Editions which were issued to soldiers during WWII.
Included in the back are addendums with listings of the many books Derleth worked to get published outside of Arkham House for the authors he championed.
Haefele goes into details like this and more. For example, I didn’t know that Derleth also had his own version of Lovcraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature”; Derleth’s is titled “The Weird Tale in English since 1890”. Further supporting the fact that Derleth really did care about weird fiction as an artistic genre and wanted to see it grow and thrive.
I think I tend to agree with him, that some critics’ desire to see Lovecraft rise to the greats of American literature meant any disavowal with his more “pulpy” associations, which would also include Derleth’s contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos (itself a very pulpy creation).
But Lovecraft’s reputation has now been secured; it’s time for the zealousness to be turned down a notch, and let a more holistic view emerge. (Same with the disparagement of the Cthulhu Mythos itself)
This was just the beginning, and I intend to go back and re-read his A Look Behind the Derleth MythosI, which my initial reading had been very positive.
It seems like a caricature has been made of Derleth since his death, and I’m glad there are those like Haefele who seek to bring back a more fully realized view of the man and his life’s work.
If you’re interested in this monograph, then it needs no further explanation that Derleth’s reputation has been ….. Tarnished, to put it mildly.
This is an attempt to rebalance the prevailing perspective, and I don’t think it’s controversial to say it’s pretty one-sided at the moment. Haefele goes into detail on Derleth’s tireless publishing efforts. He didn’t just champion Lovecraft, though he was the focus of Derleth’s initial and strongest efforts, but for many writers in the field of weird fantasy and even science fiction which would have otherwise languished in the pulps of history.
One thing that is maybe overlooked is that Derleth didn’t just promote authors with Arkham House, which was his own publishing effort and one he sometimes had to support out of his own pocket - but he also worked tirelessly to get Lovecraft and co. published abroad and in translation. He would often work with other publishers he felt had greater chances of getting these works into readers’ hands. An interesting example of Lovecraft’s work proliferating to the mass market would be the Armed Service Editions which were issued to soldiers during WWII.
Included in the back are addendums with listings of the many books Derleth worked to get published outside of Arkham House for the authors he championed.
Haefele goes into details like this and more. For example, I didn’t know that Derleth also had his own version of Lovcraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature”; Derleth’s is titled “The Weird Tale in English since 1890”. Further supporting the fact that Derleth really did care about weird fiction as an artistic genre and wanted to see it grow and thrive.
I think I tend to agree with him, that some critics’ desire to see Lovecraft rise to the greats of American literature meant any disavowal with his more “pulpy” associations, which would also include Derleth’s contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos (itself a very pulpy creation).
But Lovecraft’s reputation has now been secured; it’s time for the zealousness to be turned down a notch, and let a more holistic view emerge. (Same with the disparagement of the Cthulhu Mythos itself)
This was just the beginning, and I intend to go back and re-read his A Look Behind the Derleth MythosI, which my initial reading had been very positive.
It seems like a caricature has been made of Derleth since his death, and I’m glad there are those like Haefele who seek to bring back a more fully realized view of the man and his life’s work.
Displaying 1 of 1 review