Description

Published 2013

In October 2012, Richard Matheson found a journal he started in 1993, in which he wrote a page a day on and off for several years. He eventually put it away, adding to it again from 2003-2005. This journal, MUSINGS, is a fascinating look into Richard Matheson.

We may have thought his 2012 novel, GENERATIONS, was his most autobiographical writing, yet it is MUSINGS that is the closest to being a Matheson autobiography. He discusses his youth, college years, wartime experiences, how he feels about his short stories and novels, and much more. It’s written in a conversational tone, with self-deprecating humor and keen insight. Coming in at only ninety-three pages, we couldn’t publish the journal as a stand-alone. Fortunately, the journal itself provided an answer.

In MUSINGS Matheson refers to an unpublished novel he had written around the same time he wrote HUNGER AND THIRST (as a matter of fact the main character has the same name as the protagonist in HUNGER AND THIRST). He found the novel, LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE, which adds even more autobiographical material.

Matheson wrote LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE during his college years, and it deals with his experiences at college, in novel form, in the same fashion that much of BEARDLESS WARRIORS deals with his war experience in the form of fiction.

Those who enjoyed HUNGER AND THIRST will find LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE equally enthralling. And, as MUSINGSexplains that both novels are autobiographical – Matheson opening himself up as he’s never done before.

Gauntlet’s edition of LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE and MUSINGSwill be the only versions of the novel and journal to see publication.

“Deeply involving and beautifully written, the diary: MUSINGS, and the novel: LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE, are windows into the soul of a man who became a legend of letters in his own time. Prefaced by a moving Introduction by his equally talented son, Richard Christian Matheson, this book is a truly revelatory experience.” –– The Tomb of Dark Delights

“(Leave Yesterday Alone/Musings) is for Matheson’s legion of fans who will enjoy acquainting themselves with the man he was before he earned his literary reputation with works such asI Am Legend.”– Publishers Weekly

“It’s been a scant six months since Richard Matheson left the world but it feels both like a lifetime ago and only moments ago.  While many novels and countless short stories abound in various editions over the years, a reader could often crave for a deeper peering into the soul… LEAVE YESTERDAY ALONE will appease that craving and is a double shot of intimacy from the author and in an offering that will leave fans affected in a manner most will not expect. Once again, Gauntlet Press brings to the audience a product both unique and brilliant…Thanks to them, icons like Matheson and Bradbury will never fade from memory.” — Dave Simms, HorrorWorld

“The first portion of this book [“Musings”]  includes his thoughts about growing up. What a complex maize of personalities, locales, reminiscences, and nearly-lost memories they are.” — True Review, 2014

“Leave Yesterday Alone is a stark examination of the human condition which focuses on the relationship between man and woman as well as man and his most inner self.  Sure, this may be Matheson at his earliest,but it’s also Matheson at his best, both celebrating and foreshadowing many years of greatness to follow.” — Rick Hipson, Hellnotes