Thank you. And yes, it's a fascinating subject of its own, and "compulsive" is exactly right, with or without the negative connotations. For example, as anyone around here could tell you, I'm something of a Lovecraft fanatic: I collect anything I can lay my hands on by or about the man: not only his fiction, but his poetry, essays, letters, memoirs of, biographies, criticism, the works of numerous writers who have been influenced by (including Ligotti), scraps of information... I'd collect his laundry and grocery lists if I could (and, in the letters, I suppose I often have
). He simply fascinates me on numerous levels (which is why I spend so much time doing analyses of his work, such as his poem "Amissa Minerva", which I've been working on analyzing for over three weeks now -- albeit usually in small increments due to my work schedule). I've even made it a point of picking up various books which are the particular editions of that book he had in his library, to aid in my research on the man and his work.
Now, a fascination that gets to that point
is obsessive, but not (generally speaking) harmful; and can be quite beneficial, if it aids one in learning, or provides added interest on a subject to oneself or others. Nonetheless, obsessive it is.
And, to return to our original topic: had I the money, I'd get that copy of Ligotti's
Agonizing Resurrection, as it contains pieces I've not found elsewhere, and I'd very much like to read anything by him I can. Which is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to that publication by Hippocampus of his
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, which (from what I gather) is a fascinating and very important key to much of what lies behind (or beneath?) his work....
