Finally republished: Complete Uncle

[hitmouse]

Really thrilled about this. I read and loved these books as a child, as did my brothers. No one else I knew had ever heard of them, they disappeared from the library, and I started to imagine they were a dream, until I found a fansite and some electronic copies about 10 years ago.

Turns out that there is a serious underground fanbase which includes Neil Gaiman. There was a major feature on these books in The Economist a few years ago. They are delerious and very inventive satirical fantasy which works on several levels, with some of Quentin Blake's best illustrations. Of the 6 novels only 2 have ever been reprinted. The rest have been out of print for about 40 years. Originals go for silly money.

Finally republished all together as a Kickstarter project. Each book weighs in at nearly 2kg. My postman complained.

Available shortly through Amazon, Waterstones, or better yet directly from the guy who has republished the books:
The Complete Uncle

Not cheap, but pretty good considering what you are getting. Likely to go fast.

 

[HareBrain]

Never heard of it, but it looked too good to miss. I await the herniated postman with interest.

 

[hitmouse]

I will be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Toby Frost]

Wow. I read Uncle as a child and it was only a small step from that to Gormenghast, somehow. Re-reading them, they are pretty funny if you have that sort of sense of humour, although I find Uncle rather self-righteous and Beaver Hateman curiously likeable (and I suspect that the author did too!). They do get a bit repetitive, although it's hard not to be entertained. Anyone looking for meaning or social critique is destined for disappointment!

 

[Pyan]

I think I've got the reprinted pair mentioned by hitmouse in the o.p. - it's a Red Fox (Random House children's imprint) book containing "Uncle" and "Uncle Cleans Up", and was published in 2000.

£1.50 charity bargain - I'd been looking for these for years, since I borrowed them from my local library in about 1966. It's available from Amazon for £9.99, though.

 

[HareBrain]

My copy has now arrived (alas, I had to collect it from the sorting office, so it was I who suffered from its weight). Very nicely presented and bound, though I would have liked a dust jacket. Having read a few pages at random (the rest will have to wait for a while) I cannot see why I never heard of it as a kid, or why it ever went out of print -- it's charming, lovely and funny, and written with an unrestrained, genuine, good old-fashioned storytelling pizzazz that I can probably appreciate as an adult more than I would have done as a child. Looks like it should be a joy.