Catalog 103, P-S
337. PAZ, Octavio. Alternating Current. NY: Viking (1973). A collection of essays on a variety of themes, literary and philosophical, originally published in periodicals over the period 1959-1967. Paz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
338. PAZ, Octavio and Charles Tomlinson. Air Born/Hijos del Aire. Mexico City: Pescador, 1979. Poems co-written by the authors. Of a total edition of 391 copies, this is a Roman-numeraled copy in cloth and boards, apparently one of 75 such copies (although the colophon is ambiguous or just plain wrong on this matter) signed by both authors. Fine.
339. -. Same title, in wrappers. Not signed on the colophon, but inscribed by Paz to Roman Jakobson and his wife, Christine "with friendship and admiration." Jakobson is widely considered one of the greatest linguists and thinkers of the 20th century and his influence has been pervasive. A wonderful association copy between one of the great Latin American Nobel Prize winners and one of the most important intellectual figures of the century. Near fine.
340. PERCY, Walker. The Movie-Goer. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1963. The first British edition of the author's first book, winner of the National Book Award and an immediate success that helped establish Percy as an important writer and chronicler of the spiritual malaise of modern America. Spine-cocked, tape marks to endpapers; very good in a very good, edge-darkened and price-clipped dust jacket that differs in design from that of the American edition.
341. PIRSIG, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. NY: Morrow, 1974. Pirsig's first book, an acclaimed and bestselling inquiry into values and examination of Quality, and a title that is difficult to find in nice condition owing to its "perfectbound" construction. One page corner turned, slight pulling to the text block, small pink spot at the lower page corners; still a very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket.
342. PRICE, Reynolds. Letter to a Man in the Fire. (NY): Scribner (1999). The advance reading copy. A book-length rumination on the subject of "Does God Exist and Does He Care?" Written in response to the questioning of one of Price's readers who was dying of cancer. Fine in wrappers.
343. PROULX, E. Annie. The Shipping News. NY: Scribner's (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of her second novel, winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Fine in wrappers.
344. PUIG, Manuel. Pubis Angelical. NY: Vintage (1986). The uncorrected proof copy; this title was issued as a softcover original in this country. Reviewer's pencil notes throughout; otherwise near fine.
345. PUIG, Manuel. Tropical Night Falling. NY: Simon & Schuster (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumously published novel by the author of Betrayed by Rita Hayworth and others. Fine in wrappers.
346. RICE, Anne. Pandora. Ny: Knopf, 1998. The first trade edition of this collection of vampire tales. Signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
347. RICE, Anne. Vittorio, the Vampire. NY: Knopf, 1999. The uncorrected proof copy of her most recent volume in her ongoing series of vampire novels. Fine in wrappers, with dust jacket art stapled inside the front cover.
348. RIVERA, José Eustasio. La Vorágine. Bogota: Editorial de Cromos, Luis Tamayo & Co. [1924]. A novel of the rain forest, considered one of the great novels of South America prior to the avant garde movements of the Thirties and the "boom" novels three decades later. The title translates as "The Maelstrom" and focuses on the "caucheros," or rubber workers, of the rain forest, and draws on both the drama and the politics of their situations to create an ambitious, multi-faceted novel with social and political overtones as well as the exotica and danger of the rain forest environment itself. García Márquez has called it the greatest Colombian novel (before his own) and an antecedent to his own writing. Several owner names on the early pages; the front cover has been professionally restored; even tanning to covers; spine rubbed and indented from reading; minor stain to front wrap which has bled through to title page on, but not obscuring, the signature. In all, only a good copy in the original wrappers, but an exceedingly scarce and fragile book, and one of the most important Latin American novels from the early part of the century, predating the "boom" and helping to define the particular attributes that have come to be associated with the Latin American novel.
349. ROBBINS, Tom. Another Roadside Attraction. London: W.H. Allen, 1973. The first British edition of Robbins' first book and only the second hardcover printing as the book was never reprinted in hardcover in the U.S., although it was never out of print in paperback. One of the few successful literary novels to feature counterculture characters, psychedelic drugs, and metaphysical speculations. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
350. ROBBINS, Tom. Jitterbug Perfume. NY: Bantam (1984). The uncorrected proof copy. A bit dusty and worn; about very good in wrappers.
351. RUSHDIE, Salman. Grimus. London: Gollancz, 1975. The first edition of the first novel by the author of Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses, and The Ground Beneath Her Feet, among others. This is a fantasy that is by all accounts not in the same class as his later works but is quite scarce and, by virtue of his later career, an important first book. Fine in an internally foxed, else fine dust jacket.
352. RUSHDIE, Salman. Midnight's Children. NY: Knopf, 1981. The author's second book, winner of the Booker Prize, Britain's most prestigious literary prize. The first book in Rushdie's ambitious sequence of novels of the Muslim world, which culminated in The Satanic Verses and the death sentence that was imposed on him by Moslem fundamentalists. The American edition is the true first, preceding the British (they were both printed in this country). An important book that launched Rushdie's literary career as it represented a quantum leap from the subject matter and accomplishment of his first novel. This title was later named as the outstanding title among all the Booker Prize winners -- the so-called "Booker of Bookers," and Rushdie has since completed work on the screenplay. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A major novel that has become quite uncommon in recent years, especially in the British edition, the first printing of which has been reported as 2500 copies.
353. RUSHDIE, Salman. Shame. London: Jonathan Cape (1983). The first edition of the second in his series of books dealing with Islam and the countries of the East, beginning with Midnight's Children and ending with The Satanic Verses. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Fine in a fine jacket, and signed by the author.
354. RUSHDIE, Salman. The Moor's Last Sigh. NY: Pantheon (1996). The American edition. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
355. -. Another copy. Spotting to foredge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Signed by the author.
356. -. Same title. One of 1000 numbered copies of the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers in publisher's two-part, sliding cardstock box, an elaborate production for a promotional item. Signed by the author.
357. RUSHDIE, Salman. The Ground Beneath Her Feet. NY: Henry Holt (1999). The advance reading copy of his latest novel, which is currently viewed as the heavy favorite to win this year's Booker Prize. Fine in wrappers.
358. -. Another copy. Very near fine in wrappers.
359. SANCHEZ, Sonia. Shake Loose My Skin. Boston: Beacon Press (1999). The advance reading copy of this collection of new and selected poems. Fine in wrappers.
360. SEXTON, Anne. Love Poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969. Her fourth collection of poems. Inscribed by the author to another writer in the year of publication: "For _______,/ who unloads/ bodies and is my/ lover,/ Yrs,/ Anne." A fine copy in a very good dust jacket. Sexton was a close friend of Sylvia Plath, whom she met in Robert Lowell's poetry class, and, like Plath, she suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide, in 1974. Her 1966 collection, Live or Die, won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and her work is generally credited with validating the "confessional" mode of writing in contemporary poetry, especially by women, and has thus been extremely influential in the years since her death. Sexton inscriptions are uncommon, and good literary associations such as this (which is not as intimate as it sounds) are extremely scarce.
361. SHACOCHIS, Bob. The Immaculate Invasion. (n.p.): Viking (1999). The advance reading copy of this nonfiction work about Haiti, by a novelist whose previous books have been set in the Caribbean, and who spent 18 months living with U.S. Special Forces commandos in Haiti, leading to the writing of this book. Fine in wrappers.
362. SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. NY: Viking (1977). Her first novel, which combines traditional native storytelling with the Western form of the novel to create a book that embodies what it describes -- the book itself is structured as a healing ceremony. The success of this book, both critically and commercially, helped pave the way for the publishing of later Native American writers, such as Louise Erdrich, Linda Hogan and others, and it has become a standard text on college campuses in the study of multicultural literature. This is a fine copy in a very near fine first issue dust jacket with only a slight degree of the usual spine-fading.
363. SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Storyteller. NY: Seaver Books (1981). The uncommon hardcover edition of her third book, a collection of stories and poems and photographs by a writer who is "not only our finest Native American writer but one of the outstanding American writers of her time" -- a publisher's blurb, to be sure, but a well-earned one. Silko's stories have the feel of a "traditional" tale which could have been passed down through a tribe or family for generations, at the same time as they use the western short story form to create a singular, telling moment. This volume reprints a number of the stories that were first collected in The Man to Send Rain Clouds, as well as poems from her first book, Laguna Woman, and previously uncollected and/or unpublished work. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
364. SIMPSON, Mona. Anywhere But Here. NY: Knopf, 1987. The first novel by this Granta 20 author. Inscribed by Simpson to another novelist. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. A nice literary association.
365. (SNYDER, Gary). "A Stone Garden" in Japan: Theme and Variations. Rutland/Tokyo: Tuttle (1959). Snyder's first book appearance, in this anthology of unpublished poems about Japan by American writers. One of 1250 hardbound copies. Lengthy gift inscription, fading to spine; else a near fine copy without dust jacket, as issued, in a worn cardboard slipcase that is about very good. An uncommon item: we have not had it before and Tuttle, the publisher, jointly issued its books in Japan and the U.S. It is likely that many of the copies of this book were sold in Japan and never made it to the U.S.
366. SONTAG, Susan. Illness as Metaphor. NY: FSG (1978). An important essay by one of the leading American intellectuals of our time. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
367. SONTAG, Susan. Typescript of "Proust Our Contemporary." Undated. An essay. Six pages, ribbon-copy, with corrections in two hands. Fine.
368. (SONTAG, Susan). MUDRICK, Marvin. "Susie Creamcheese Makes Love Not War." Undated. A scathing review of A Susan Sontag Reader and of Sontag herself. Seven-page, ribbon-copy typescript, with holograph corrections, apparently in the author's hand, and also marked by a copyeditor. Small corner tear, not affecting text; near fine.
369. SOYINKA, Wole. The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness. NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. The advance reading copy of this essay on African politics and the possibility of reconciliation between oppressor and oppressed, by the Nigerian Nobel Prize winner who has lived in exile since a death sentence was passed on him in his native country. Fine in wrappers.
370. SPENDER, Stephen. "David Hockney's Magic Quest." 1987. Photocopied typescript, 11 pages, reproducing the author's substantial holograph corrections. Together with an autograph letter signed transmitting the piece to the editor of Art & Antiques magazine. Together with the proof sheets for the article corrected by Spender and with an autograph note signed transmitting the proofs, "with some slight corrections made by David over the telephone." Spender has also struck out the "Sir" from "Sir Stephen Spender" in the byline: "I don't sign myself 'Sir' in my writing. It is my fault, of course, that I ever attempted a title but I think it looks silly put to a book or article." Also together with an autograph note signed and a typed letter signed preceding and agreeing to the details of the article. Items are folded for mailing; the typed letter is near fine, the other items are fine. Envelopes included. As a young man in the 1930s and 40s, Spender was considered, along with W. H. Auden, one of the most important poets of his generation. In later years, he wrote less poetry and more criticism, and it is as a "man of letters" that he is known now, rather than strictly for his poetry. He was invited to become a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature, the highest honor of the society and a position that is limited to 10 individuals at a time. In 1982, Spender published Chinese Journal, an account of a trip to China he took with Hockney and a book that was illustrated by Hockney. For the archive:
371. SPENDER, Stephen. "Thoughts About Henry Moore's Shelter Drawings." 1991. Photocopied typescript, five pages reproducing holograph corrections, with an additional five pages of captioned illustrations. With an autograph note signed transmitting the piece. Together with two autograph letters signed, one preceding and agreeing to the article; one requesting proofs of the revised article (not included). Items folded for mailing, with envelopes included; else fine.
372. STEINBECK, John. Nuits Noires. Paris: Éditions de Minuit (1944). The French underground edition of The Moon is Down, and the first unexpurgated translation, published in an edition of 1500 copies. Together with the Éditions de Minuit trade edition, published in 1945, after the liberation, in an edition of 5325 numbered copies, of which this is one of 1590 copies intended for export. Both are fine in wrappers. Also together with a second printing of a 1943 Swiss edition (in French): Nuits sans Lune (Lausanne: Marguerat Editions), the earlier expurgated edition which had been censored by a Swiss government wary of Germany. Near fine in self-wrappers. A very scarce example of an "underground" publication in occupied France during the Second World War. For all:
373. STEINBECK, John. Un Américain à New York et à Paris. Paris: René Julliard (1956). A review copy of this collection of pieces, for which there is no comparable U.S. edition -- distinguished from the trade edition by the printed initials "S.P" on the rear cover in place of a price there. Fine in wrappers. Together with a later printing of the trade edition, which is spine-creased; near fine in wrappers. An advance copy of a scarce Steinbeck item. For both:
374. STONE, Robert. Damascus Gate. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. The advance reading copy of the latest novel by the author of the National Book Award-winning Dog Soldiers, among others. A densely plotted political and metaphysical thriller set in contemporary Jerusalem. Slight rubbing; still fine in wrappers.
375. (STONE, Robert). "Starving Birds" in Fiction, Vol. 2, No. 1. NY: Fiction (1973). An excerpt from a novel-in-progress, which turned out to be Dog Soldiers. A bibliographically significant piece, in that this is the only place where Stone's novel-in-progress is identified by the title Skydiver Devoured by Starving Birds, a title which was later dropped. Also includes John Lennon, Donald Barthelme, Jerome Charyn, and others. Tall newsprint journal. Fine, and scarce, particularly in this condition.
376. (STONE, Robert). The Best American Short Stories 1988. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy. Includes the short story "Helping" by Robert Stone. This copy is signed by Stone at his contribution. Other contributors include Louise Erdrich, Rick Bass, Raymond Carver and Tobias Wolff. "Press Copy" markings on cover and first page; near fine in wrappers. "Helping" was also included in the anthology in this series that selected the best American short stories of the decade.
377. (STONE, Robert). "We Are Not Excused" in Paths of Resistance. The Art and Craft of the Political Novel. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of original essays. With additional contributions by Isabel Allende, Charles McCarry, Marge Piercy and Gore Vidal. Spine-faded; near fine in wrappers.
378. SULLIVAN, William L. Listening for Coyote. NY: Morrow (1988). Personal account of a naturalist walking across Oregon. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
379. SÜSKIND, Patrick. Perfume. NY: Knopf, 1986. The uncorrected proof copy of the author's unusual, highly praised first novel, winner of the World Fantasy Award. Rear cover corner chipped (chip laid in). Near fine in wrappers.