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Every Friday, I have the pleasure of sharing a snippet or two from my reading adventures—whether it’s from a book I’m currently diving into, a future pick waiting on my shelf, or a delightful surprise from my library. I’ll link this post to The Friday 56 meme, hosted by My Head Full of Books.
This week, I'm featuring a snippet from page 56 of The Trouble at Peña Blanca by Nelson Nye (1907-1997). I stumbled upon this intriguing ten-cent paperback at a thrift store last month, only to discover it’s missing a whopping fifty-one pages—specifically, pages 169 to 220! It’s supposed to feature one novella and two short stories: "The Trouble at Peña Blanca," "Homecoming," and "Hoof in the Gut." This gem belongs to the Jove edition, published in December 1987.
In my quest to track down a complete copy, I scoured the internet and found a handful of rare-used versions selling for anywhere from $2.49 to $18. However, most are either the Avon edition from 1969 or the Zebra edition from 1978, at least among those listings with identifiable cover art. Surprisingly, I could not find a trace of Jove's cover anywhere online—until now! Thanks to this post, a piece of that mystery exists.
What the hell did she think! He wasn't in this for love; and fifty percent of whatever they could get—on top of that loot he'd buried in the stable—could be just enough to put him back into business. She'd have to deal with him. She hadn't any choice. She could still make a profit with nothing invested except a little time. And time was the breaking point.
page 56, The Trouble at Peńa Blanca
⁓B.J. Burgess
Oh boy, a sleuth is uncovered in you. I do love hunting down a treasure. Good work!
ReplyDeleteWas the original copy a misprint or vandalized?
DeleteThe paperback is well-worn; the glue at the spine is loose, which suggests that pages may have fallen out at some point. The person who donated the book likely didn't realize it was missing pages. I knew the paperback was in rough condition and thought I could repair it with acid-free glue and tape. However, I didn't discover that it was missing pages until I picked it up to read.
DeleteI could tell whoever read it pulled the front cover around the spine when reading.
DeleteHuh! Once when I went to a thrift store I found a book for cheap that I was looking for. It wasn't until later that the probably about 75% of the book were in a totally random order. I've never seen anything quite like it.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a printing error in the manufacturing process.
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