Roy Underhill’s first novel is complete and off to the printer. It is an enormous honor to publish this labor of love, which Roy has been working on for years. (I really don’t want to ask how many hours he has in this manuscript.)
In true form, as I was preparing the digital files for upload this evening, Roy called me to add one more joke – something that popped into his head while he was soaking in the bathtub. And it involved a prosthetic leg.
So of course we added it.
And you can see above, the cover came out quite nicely. Jode Thompson, the illustrator, blew us all away with her work. And her work ethic. We typically work odd hours, and she was always right there ready to help.
If everything goes well, the book should ship from the printer in mid-November – just in time for Christmas. It will be $29. As per usual, everything we do is printed in the United States. This book will be hardbound with a red cloth cover and a full-color matte dust jacket. The interior pages will be casebound and sewn for durability.
I don’t have any more details on where it will be available, but I will post them when I get them.
We’ll soon be posting some excerpts from the novel for your enjoyment. until then, here is the description of the book that Megan Fitzpatrick wrote for the dust flap.
“Calvin Cobb is Section Chief of the Broadcast Research division – the smallest section of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Along with his staff of four women (all severely injured WWI volunteers), Calvin studies “broadcast seed, nutrient and amendment distribution technology and practice” – that is, what happens when the sh*t actually hits the fan.
“But the four women are more interested in developing the world’s first supercomputer (using abandoned punch-card tabulating machines), and Calvin is more interested in woodworking…and in one particular woman: Kathryn Dale Harper, host of the radio program “Homemaker Chats.”
“How best to woo her? Why, a radio show: “Grandpa Sam’s Woodshop of the Air!”
“It’s an almost-overnight sensation (for measured drawings, write to “Grandpa Sam’s” and be sure to include a 3 cent stamp to cover the cost of duplication). But – as Calvin discovers – success breeds jealousy… a dangerous thing when one’s enemy has friends in high places.
“Can Calvin and his friends save the world through woodworking, one listener at a time? Perhaps – but first, they’ll have to save themselves from Nazis, the clutches of the FBI, bureaucracy and wooden legs that break at inopportune times.
“Well, you get the idea.”
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. For those of you who wish to offer technical advice on the motorcycle shown on the cover, or the particulars of pre-war prosthetic technology etc. etc., we kindly ask that you get a girlfriend.
WHOO HOO!!
I think that redhead on the cover bears a striking resemblance to Megan. WooHoo!!!
If only. But thank you.
So, when is the audiobook (narration by Roy of course) coming out?
Roy requires rest.
Hot Damn!
…and I’m excited about the book too.
Now THAT would be the image to release so that we could make it into posters!
No peg leg jokes please :-)…when I had my above knee amputation in 1953 the technology was a legacy from the Civil War. They still used draw knives to carve the socket shape and configuration from Ash wood. The knee joint was nothing more than a 1/2″ diameter steel unhardened pin that ran in Lignum Vitae wood bushings, and the swing through was controlled by pressure from a leather strap. It weighed about the same as the original (35#)
Every improvement has been driven by wars (a rather stupid incentive if you ask me). My current
model is carbon fiber, precision bearings that are replaced at 5 year intervals, and it is computer tracked enabling it to keep in memory the gait, speed of walk, cushions the heel strike and adjusts for various terrain. It weighs 7# and is solid as the rock of Gibraltar.
It is not the latest version available as at my age of 79 I have no need for all the bells and whistles.
By the way, the bike looks like an Indian.
Lee (the saw guy)
Mr. Lee, thank you for speaking up on this one. Just visited your website… learned that there are some items that are unavailable in Germany. I wish I could try the Mk3 and see what it does.
Hi…each distributor (I have two in Germany) chooses their own mix of product, and even though I can make suggestions, they are free to do as they see fit. The Precision Saw Guide is slowly being accepted into the woodworking arena for use in Marquetry, although it was originally designed for very precise angular cuts in steel.
Until the distributors recognize a need, or respond to a “special order”, they are unlikely to gamble on a pretty expensive unit.
Lee (the saw guy)
http://www.knewconcepts.com
Very excited. I took Mr. Roy’s dovetail and mortise/tenon class last November and he was waxing on and on about this book. Can’t wait to read it.
Hey, “A Novel With Measured Drawings” . . . I always thought “Drawings” had two “r’s” in it.
Waiting for the T-shirt, an XXXL or XXXXL size too. Posters are not so good at keeping the sun off my tender. lily-white body.
I am looking forward to this book almost as much as I used to look forward to watching the newest Lone Ranger episode on TV as I sat astraddle the stuffed chair’s back in the den.
I have been waiting for this book since St. Roy talked about it at a demonstration I was at 12 years ago. Already alerted the wife that this book is coming out and I really really want it..
Oh, yeah…… On my must-have list.
Would pre-orders help or not be worth the effort?
I want a poster of the book cover (along with my book when ordered)!
Oh I am looking forward to this book! Agreed THIS would be a GREAT poster!
Will any autographed copies be available with the initial offering?
I’ve wanted to buy this book for several years, most of which I didn’t really believe it existed, but wanted to buy it anyway.
The cover is what every artist strives for : a perfect blend of hyperbole, disregard for convention, and titillation.
It appears there is something from the front suspension! Otherwise looks great….
They shall not pass!
Gotta a girlfriend; wife of 40 plus years. So that qualifies me to comment on the motorcycle. Definitely something wrong with the front suspension. That said I’ll join in wanting a poster (and the book). Poster would look great framed and hanging in the shop. Now where do I find a rubber chicken head or a stuffed turkey?
You’re saying you have a wife AND a girlfriend? That’s not something that one normally broadcasts on the internet.
The suspension does look weird, but it’s essentially the same as what you see on some old Indian motorcycles. For example: http://images.classiccars.com/classifieds/279497_12546694_1933_Indian_Motorcycle.jpg
Looks like an artist’s interpretation of a springer front end. Figure since I mentioned the poster first, I get the one that is autographed and marked “1” of “???” (of course, I will pay extra for the poster when I buy the book!).
So are we to assume the rider is St. Roy and the driver is Megan then?
I am going to make a special case for this!