Catalog 130, R-S
255. RANKIN, Ian. A Question of Blood. (London): Orion (2003). The latest novel in the Scottish author's highly praised and bestselling John Rebus mystery series. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
256. RICHLER, Mordecai. Joshua Then and Now. (n.p.): McClelland and Stewart, 1980. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the author of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, among many other books. Richler won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, twice -- once for fiction and once for nonfiction. He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of this book, which received 12 Genie nominations -- Canada's equivalent of the Oscars -- and won five of the awards. Richler's screenplay garnered a nomination. Ringbound in cardstock covers; slight sunning to rear cover; still fine.
257. ROGERS, Pattiann. Legendary Performance. Memphis: Ion/Raccoon (1987). The third book by this award-winning poet, inscribed by the author to another award-winning poet in 1988. Fine in wrappers.
258. ROGERS, Pattiann. Firekeeper. (Minneapolis): Milkweed (1994). A collection of "new and selected poems." Warmly inscribed by the author to another poet in the year of publication "with much thanks for warm hospitality, good conversation, for your presence." Fine in wrappers.
259. ROREM, Ned. Settling the Score. NY: Anchor Books (1989). The first Anchor edition, a reprint, of this collection of essays on music by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and author, and one of the leading cultural figures of the second half of the twentieth century -- a longtime friend of Paul Bowles and Paul Goodman, a young man in Paris in the days of Cocteau and Gide, among others, and a leading critic in a number of fields, most especially music and opera. Inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael, "the only other critic in the world." Fine in wrappers.
260. ROREM, Ned. Other Entertainment. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1996). A collection of essays of books, film, music and the arts. Inscribed by the author in 1998 to the film critic Pauline Kael, "with love forever." A nice association between two titans of 20th century culture. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
261. ROTHENBERG, Jerome. A Seneca Journal. (NY): New Directions (1978). A collection of poems by the founder of Alcheringa, a literary journal of ethnopoetics. Inscribed by the author to poet Amiri Baraka in 1979. An excellent association between Rothenberg, whose poetry and magazine helped publicize ethnic poetry and bring it into the mainstream, and Baraka, one of the most highly praised African-American poets of the postwar era and also the founder of Totem Press, which published a number of the Beat poets whose work formed the underpinnings for Rothenberg's journal. Fine in wrappers.
262. RUKEYSER, Muriel. Mediterranean. (NY): Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy (n.d.)[c. 1936-38]. A four-page poem, issued by the Writers and Artists Committee of the Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy during the Spanish Civil War. The rear cover solicits funds. "With season wishes," written on the inside front cover in Rukeyser's hand (unsigned) -- her standard greeting on copies of this piece. One staple missing; else fine in stapled wrappers. Scarce.
263. RUSHDIE, Salman. The Satanic Verses. (NY): Viking (1988). The first American edition of this controversial book. An ambitious novel and an imaginative tour de force, the book seems destined to become part of literary history by virtue of its notoriety -- it prompted a death sentence on Rushdie by Islamic fundamentalists, causing him to go into hiding for years -- rather than its considerable literary accomplishment. Winner of the Whitbread Prize. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a short and shallow crease at the top edge. From the library of National Book Award-winning author Robert Stone.
264. SALINGER, J.D. Franny and Zooey. Boston: Little, Brown (1961). The third printing of the third book by the author of The Catcher in the Rye, two novellas that originally appeared in The New Yorker. Signed by Salinger. Foxing to page edges and offsetting to endpages; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with rubbing at the spine extremities and a bump at the upper rear spine fold. Salinger is perhaps the most reclusive of modern American authors, and books signed by him are extremely scarce. We've probably seen fewer than a dozen signed copies of Salinger's books offered on the market in the past two decades.
265. SCHULBERG, Budd. What Makes Sammy Run? NY: Random House (1941). Inscribed by the author to Garson Kanin in the year of publication. Laid in is a typed note signed from Schulberg to a third party, in 1982, offering to purchase the book so that he can send it back to Kanin "with a funny note." Schulberg wrote both novels and screenplays: he won an Academy Award for his screenplay for On the Waterfront, and he wrote the novel on which the Humphrey Bogart film The Harder They Fall was based. Kanin was an actor, screenwriter and director; his screenplays were nominated for Oscars three times -- for Adam's Rib, A Double Life and Pat and Mike. Shelfworn, heavily spine-faded and slightly cocked; a very good copy in a very good dust jacket with small chips to the edges and folds. An excellent association between two versatile figures, who excelled in a number of artistic arenas.
266. SCHUYLER, James. Alfred & Guinevere. NY: Harcourt Brace (1958). The racy, comic first novel by one of the foremost poets of the New York School. This copy is inscribed by the author to poet Gerard Malanga, "with love," an excellent association between two prominent New York poets. Near fine in a very good, mildly spine-sunned dust jacket with two edge tears and light wear to the spine extremities.
267. (SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor). GAINES, Charles and BUTLER, George. Pumping Iron. NY: Simon & Schuster (1974). The softcover issue of the first edition of this landmark volume on "The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding," which featured a photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger on the cover when he was still known solely as a bodybuilder, years before he became an actor, much less a politician. Inscribed by both Gaines and Butler. The book went through a huge number of printings and the first edition, in cloth or paper, is quite scarce these days, especially signed copies. Light cover splaying and one corner crease; a near fine copy.
268. SETH, Vikram. From Heaven Lake. Travels through Sinkiang & Tibet. London: Chatto & Windus/Hogarth (1983). A review copy of the author's first regularly published book, an account of his attempt to hitchhike home to Delhi, India, overland from Nanjing University in China, via Tibet and the Himalayas. Warmly inscribed by the author in 1992 "in the hope that you come traveling our way soon," and signed "Vikram." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
269. SETTLE, Mary Lee. Celebration. NY: FSG (1986). The first trade edition of this novel (preceded by the Franklin Library edition). Inscribed by the author to Annie Dillard: "For Annie, who is/ a long time whisperer-and-/ laugher-and- understander/ togetherer -/ Much love/ Mary Lee." One page corner turned; fine in a near fine, edge-sunned dust jacket. A nice inscription by the author of the Beulah quintet and the National Book Award-winning Blood Tie, and an excellent literary association.
270. SEYMOUR, Gene. Jazz. The Great American Art. NY: Franklin Watts (1995). The uncommon hardcover edition of this volume in the African-American Experience series. Warmly inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael "In admiration/ & affection./ Thanks for the/ advice, the tally/ the friendship./ As Dizzy Gillespie/ once said I without/ you, no me/ Best/ Gene." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
271. SHAWN, Wallace. The Designated Mourner. NY: Noonday Press (1997). The first Noonday Press edition of this play by the Obie Award-winning actor and writer, son of the legendary New Yorker editor, William Shawn. Inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael. Together with Shawn's interview with Mark Strand in The Paris Review, Vol. 40, No. 148 [NY: Paris Review, 1998]. Laid in is an autograph postcard signed from Shawn to Kael saying the "enclosed interview with Mark Strand not totally unrelated to The Designated Mourner." Both books are fine in wrappers; the card is near fine. Shawn's father hired Kael at The New Yorker. Books signed or inscribed by Shawn are uncommon.
272. SHAWN, Wallace. Four Plays. NY: Noonday Press (1998). The first Noonday Press edition of "A Thought in Three Parts," "Marie and Bruce," "Aunt Dan and Lemon," and "The Fever." Inscribed by Shawn to Pauline Kael on her birthday in 1999. Fine in wrappers.
273. SHELTON, Richard. Calendar. Phoenix: Baleen Press (1972). The hardcover issue of this collection of poetry by a writer known for his writings on the American Southwest, including the memoir Going Back to Bisbee. Illustrated by Douglas Denniston. Inscribed by the author to another poet. Oblong quarto. Faint dampstaining to cloth; fading to spine; very good, without dust jacket (as issued?).
274. SIMMONS, Charles. Wrinkles. NY: FSG (1978). The author's third novel, inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael, a longtime friend, "with love." Small lower corner bumps; near fine in a very good dust jacket.
275. SIMMONS, Charles. The Belles Lettres Papers. NY: Morrow (1987). The author's fourth novel, about The New York Times Book Review, sections of which were first published pseudonymously. Inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael in the year of publication "with affection and against all advice." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
276. (SITWELL, Edith). A Book of the Winter. London: Macmillan, 1950. An anthology of poetry and prose about winter, compiled by Sitwell. Inscribed by Sitwell to Theodore Roethke, "with admiration and best wishes." A nice literary association. Fine in a near fine, mildly spine-tanned dust jacket.
277. SMITH, Julie. New Orleans Mourning. NY: St. Martin's (1990). The sixth novel by this mystery writer, which won the Edgar Award for best novel of 1990. Signed by the author. A bit of staining to top edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
278. SONTAG, Susan. The Volcano Lover. NY: FSG, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel of ideas couched in the form of a historical romance. Reportedly, the prepublication copies of this book contain significant differences from the final published text and this, the proof copy, is much more scarce than the advance reading copy in pictorial wrappers. Spine- and edge-sunned; near fine in wrappers. Her subsequent novel, In America, won the National Book Award.
279. SOOS, Troy. Murder at Fenway Park. (NY): Kensington Books (1994). The first book in the author's Mickey Rawlings series, a murder mystery set in 1912 and one of a small number of mystery novels with a baseball theme. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small stain at the upper edge of the rear panel.
280. STEGNER, Wallace. Clarence Edward Dutton. An Appraisal. Salt Lake City: University of Utah (n.d.)[1935]. Stegner's extremely scarce first book, a condensation of his dissertation done for his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa in 1935. Utah naturalist Clarence Edward Dutton wrote the definitive book on the Grand Canyon, originally published in 1882. Nearly a century later, when the book was republished, Wallace Stegner provided an introduction for the new edition. Stegner was the leading advocate for, and exponent of, a regional literature of the American West, arguing for its universal relevance and importance. For a number of years he ran a prestigious writing program at Stanford University, which graduated such writers as Ken Kesey, Larry McMurtry, Wendell Berry, Tillie Olsen, Robert Stone and many others. Influential as both a writer and a teacher, Stegner was probably the single most important figure in the history of Western American literature. His first book is a legendary rarity: copies of it show up only every few years; and Stegner's bibliographer noted only two copies found -- one of which was Stegner's own and the other was in the Library of Congress. A rare and important debut by a seminal figure in American literature. Fine in stapled wrappers and custom clamshell case.
281. STEIN, Gertrude. Geography and Plays. Boston: Four Seas (1922). An early volume of Stein's experimental prose, which was intended to capture the techniques of abstraction and cubism that were then current in painting and apply them to literary work. Inscribed by the author. A fine copy in the second issue binding, without the lettering on the front cover, in a very good, spine-darkened dust jacket, with modest chipping, mostly at the crown. Introduction by Sherwood Anderson.
282. STERN, Richard. Shares and Other Fictions. Harrison/Encino: Delphinium Books (1992). Inscribed by the author. Mild bowing to front board; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket nicked on the front flap fold.