f Dickens fans crowded onto a waterfront dock； anticipating the arrival of an English ship with copies of the final installment of The Old Curiosity Shop on board。 According to the story； several would…be readers were jostled into the water and drowned。
I don't think either Malcolm。 or Ralph wanted anyone drowned； but they were curious as to what would happen if serial publication were tried again today。 Neither was immediately aware that it has happened （there really is nothing new under the sun） on at least two occasions。 Tom Wolfe published the first draft of his novel Bonfire of the Vanities serially in Rolling Stone magazine； and Michael McDowell （The Amulet； Gilded Needles； The Elementals； and the screenplay Beetlejuice） published a novel called Blackwater in paperback installments。 That novel … a horror story about a Southern family with the unpleasant familial trait of turning into alligators … was not McDowell's best； but enjoyed good success for Avon Books； all the same。
The two men further speculated about what might happen if a writer of popular fiction were to try issuing a novel in chapbook editions today … little paperbacks that might sell for a pound or two in Britain； or perhaps three dollars in America （where most paperbacks now sell for 6。99 or 7。99）。 Someone like Stephen King might make an interesting go of such an experiment； Malcolm said； and from there the conversation moved on to other topics。
Ralph more or less forgot the idea； bu