[Sleevs from Gangstagrass]

A million or so years ago, you visited my middle school in Baltimore and the Macdonald Hall and Bugs Potter books quickly became my favorites. Even as an adult, I have read them again and again, as recently as about 10 years ago. In the last few weeks, an old friend who reads books aloud over zoom -- doing the voices and generally making a delightful spectacle of it -- started reading (at my request) Who Is Bugs Potter?
 
As he read, I realized the following: even though as a kid I never considered the prospect of working in the music business (I was a writer, who went on to become the first-ever woman blogger at the Washington Post) I have pretty much become Adam! ...without the beard, that is.
 
These days I manage a world-touring band, and though we've never had to slip out a window to avoid the crush of fans, I have found myself playing the role of security more than once when faced with handsy audience members. And there is for sure an element of cat herding to get the guys back to the hotel after a show. As rolling-on-the-floor hilarious as I remembered finding Bugs Potter when I was a kid, listening to my friend read it to me now that I know that life so well was another level. I had to let you know that book has brought joy to me across three decades. 
 
We want to read Bugs Potter Live at Nickaninny next, but I can't find a copy for less than $50! I see that it's out of print -- which is a great shame and I hereby register my displeasure at that development -- and I'm wondering if there's a way to get a copy directly from you. I'd feel better about sending you CAN$50 than sending it to some profiteer. And/or is there a PDF around somewhere I could send to my friend so we can read it together?
 
Until we can procure a copy of Live at Nickaninny, next up will be This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall. I am hoping to send my friend all the books in the Bruno and Boots series -- I've already sent him Son of Interflux, which is also on our list -- and I hope they are all still in print!
 
Thank you!
 
Warmly,
Sleevs
 
P.S. If you'd ever like to come to a Gangstagrass show, I will be happy to put you on the list as my guest. We also give talks around the world about the history of genre and polarization in music. The New York Times recently gave us a full page in the print edition under the headline "This Is the Music America Needs"  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/opinion/gangstagrass-music-america.html  and I would love for you to see what we do live. This short video is a great place to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJseXgy-PRo 
Thank you again! :D

[Darren]

Sleevs,

Don't forget used book stores, I've seen Nickaninny there before. Libraries as well.

[Gordon Korman]

Hi, Sleevs. Thanks for posting. I'm glad my books made such an impression on you - and I'm thrilled and amazed that you find echoes of BUGS POTTER in your life in the music business!

Sadly, LIVE AT NICKANNNY is no longer in print. While my older books are re-released from time to time, I don't have the feeling that this particular title will be back anytime soon. The few copies I have left are from my own collection, so I can't really part with them. I hope you understand.

Congratulations on all your success with Gangstagrass. I remember seeing the Times piece, by the way, and while I'm not familiar with most of the music (yet - I'm on it!), I love the Justified theme. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Thanks for being a long-time fan! I wish you all the best tracking down a copy of NICKANINNY.

-------Gordon Korman-------

[Asher]

Gordon, would you be OK if I pointed Sleevs to a bootlegged pdf? I now own a copy, but I admit I read one back in the day when I couldn\'t afford one. 

[Sleevs]

Thanks to another astute forum reader, I was able to library-style borrow a PDF from archive.org. It looked like they didn\'t have it at first, because the whole middle was blank, but turned out it was possible to log on to archive.org and get the full text. 

I see what you mean -- it is a product of a time that is not the current time. That\'s ok, though, I\'m glad I got to reread it and see how far we\'ve come over these decades! And Who Is Bugs Potter remains one of my all-time favorite books, as funny today as when I read it in middle school.

Thank you!!