Finding Paul Difilippo's books in Soho (was M&D remaindered?)

[Eric Alan Weinstein]

     Soho never ceases to interest and surprise me. Having
travelled south-west from Bloomsbury at 3pm for a lunch-meeting
with my friend Jeremy at an eating-house which proved overcrowded,
we took a stroll to D'arbly Street.  There we encountered the almost 
packed Yo! Shushi restaurant. THis has a funky-but-airy interior featuring 
a series of conveyor belts endlessly carrying an incredible variety of 
Shushi plates, served like Dim Sum. A pound or two each. Evidently they
have another branch, called something like Oi! Shushi, at Liverpool Street. 

It was a fun lunch, even though I kept looking over the belt 
to see what the Famous Anglo-Indian Actor was choosing. Then 
my friend and I continued down the street to this really neat new 
cafe called Tactical. Tactical is one of those ultra-hip (under-hip?)
but comfortable bookshop cafe's. They only sell
ten books and there are only ten pastries, but they are all perfect.

In my curiosity, I went over to see if they were selling M&D, but they 
were not. As I found out, they have sold out of the book both times
they stocked it. M&D continues to sell fairly briskly, and is certainly
easily spotted when one hangs around reader-friendly cafe's.
 I challange (challange? have I been eating red meat?) anyone 
in London to spend an afternoon at the Troubodours or Valerie or 
Mason Bertaux without spotting it at least once. 
Indeed, if it were smaller, say CL49 size, I'm sure it really would have
been the ubiquitous fashion accessory this summer, spotted in
suburban Little Chefs and motorway service area food courts.

Back to Tactical---what they did have on the shelf, Alongside some
books by the Beats, Camus and Irving Welch (sic) and copies of 
Wallpaper and Living Marxism,  was a variety of books by the 
Pynchon-list's own Paul DiFillippo. Yea Paul! 
I bought a book called The Steampunk Trilogy, which I look forward
to as my weekend reading treat. Jeremy, himself a sometime-writer of 
Sci-Fi novels, bought another.

    Anyhow, I liked the place and am thinking of taking some of the PIPS 
London seminar series participants there for post-or pre-lecture drinks
when we start up in mid-October. 


Eric   

Eric Alan Weinstein
E.A.Weinstein at qmw.ac.uk