Catalog 92, O
292. O'BRIEN, Tim. Northern Lights. NY: Delacorte Press/ Seymour Lawrence (1975). His second novel, a tale of two brothers in the wilderness of northern Minnesota, one of them a war veteran, the other a veteran of the protests against that war. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence: "To Sam/ With great admiration/ and respect and, mostly,/ thanks,/ Your friend,/ Tim." Top edges of cloth faded, else a fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with slight wear at the crown. A cheaply-made, "perfectbound" book, this title is difficult to find in nice condition, rivaling his first book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, for scarcity. The association is an excellent one: Lawrence published O'Brien's first three books, to increasing critical acclaim, culminating in his third book, Going After Cacciato, winning the National Book Award. After that, O'Brien moved to Alfred A. Knopf--usually considered the premier literary publishing house in America--for one book, and then came back to Lawrence--who now had his own imprint at Houghton Mifflin--for his fifth book, The Things They Carried--widely considered the best American work of fiction to come out of the Vietnam War. A wonderful literary association on a nice copy of a scarce book.
293. O'BRIEN, Tim. Going After Cacciato. (NY): Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (1978). His third book, a magical realist novel about a recruit who decides to simply walk away from the Vietnam war and go to Paris, overland. Dreamlike and surreal passages alternate with some of the most vivid, straightforward writing that has been done about the Vietnam war. The New York Times said that "to call Going After Cacciato a book about war is like calling Moby Dick a book about whales." Winner of the National Book Award. Warmly inscribed by the author to his publisher, Seymour Lawrence: "To Sam,/ With affection and/ gracious thanks; you've/ stuck with me all/ the way./ Tim." Near fine in an edge- and spine-sunned dust jacket with the NBA seal.
294. O'BRIEN, Tim. Speaking of Courage. Santa Barbara: Neville, 1980. His first limited edition, a chapter that was excised from Going After Cacciato and later appeared in a modified form in The Things They Carried. Issued in a total edition of 326 copies, this identified in type on the colophon page as a "Presentation Copy," and is signed by the author and additionally inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence. Clothbound; spine-faded; else fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
295. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Nuclear Age. NY: Knopf, 1985. His fourth novel, about safety and sanity and a man compelled to dig a bomb shelter in his back yard to save his family even if it means losing them in the process. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket. Again, an excellent literary association, akin to--in a different generation--a Hemingway-to-Maxwell Perkins inscription.
-. Another copy. Signed by the author. Extremely slight upper corner bump; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
296. O'BRIEN, Tim. From How to Tell a True War Story. (n.p.): Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1987. A broadside excerpt from The Things They Carried, beginning: "You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask." (There was another broadside done in 1992 called "A True War Story" with different text.) One of 150 numbered copies, signed by the author. 10 1/2" x 11". Fine.
297. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, 1990. His fifth book, chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the dozen best books of the year, in all categories. By broad consensus one of the best works of fiction to come out of the Vietnam war, or the best, and a book that straddles, or blurs, several usually distinct categories: it resembles a novel--with characters that recur throughout the individual episodes; a memoir (the main character is named "Tim O'Brien" and bears many similarities to the author); and a collection of short stories, related but essentially independent. Whatever its category, it is likely to be considered the Vietnam war's equivalent to The Red Badge of Courage--a tale told from the perspective of one foot soldier which rings with authenticity and universality made all the more powerful by appearing not to pretend to much beyond a simple recounting. The whole sequence of episodes is couched in a series of reflections on storytelling, the nature of stories and their relation to truth, which give the book its own context: O'Brien is writing for a contemporary audience--one that shares his knowledge of Vietnam--but he is also writing for the ages--for all those who will have only the story to go by, not the experience. This is the publisher's copy. Leatherbound with marbled endpages. Spine-sunned, else fine. A near-unique item: we have seen one other such copy--in the library of Tim O'Brien.
298. -. Same title, the trade edition. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence: "To Sam/ Another one --/ this is/ special!/ Thanks [underlined three times]/ Tim." Fine in a spine-faded, else fine second issue dust jacket, with the lettering properly centered on the dust jacket spine.
-. Same title, the Franklin Library edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1990) and the correct first edition, with a special introduction written by the author which gives some insight into his vision of the line between fact and fiction. Signed by O'Brien. This copy belonged to Seymour Lawrence, publisher of the trade edition. Leatherbound; all edges gilt; with a silk ribbon marker. Fine.
299. O'BRIEN, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods. Boston: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, 1994. His sixth book, about a Vietnam vet who rises to a position of public prominence but carries a secret that threatens to undo him. Published to universal acclaim; named best novel of the year by Time magazine; made into a movie for television. Fine in fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
300. OFFUT, Chris. The Good Brother. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1997). Third book, and second novel, by the author of Kentucky Straight and The Same River Twice, who was selected as one of Granta magazine's "20 Best Young American Authors." Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
301. OLSEN, Tillie. Tell Me a Riddle. London: Faber & Faber (1964). The first British edition of the author's first book, a highly praised collection of stories. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence under the front flap: "For the Lawrence of WAKE--who still is--/ Tillie Olsen/ June 1965." Laid in is an autograph note signed: "This for you -- personally -- & your wife who looks/ like my Karla --/ --/ I hope you can reissue these someday, with other/ pieces --/ --/ And other books./ TLO/ A scrawled on picture where we met." Included is a 3 1/2" square black and white photo of Olsen at her desk ("scrawled on" only on verso). The note is on 4" x 6" paper; paperclip imprint, else fine. The book is near fine in a very good dust jacket with tiny chipping at the extremities. An important first novel: Olsen has been widely seen as one of the most important American women writers of the postwar era, and her relatively small body of work has had a disproportionate influence both because of its quality and because of the political reality that there has been so little of it largely because of the societal double standard imposed on women, who have been expected to subsume their careers, literary or otherwise, to the demands of raising a family, keeping house, etc. Olsen began writing in the 1930's but didn't publish a book for nearly thirty years because of the demands of economic survival. The title story of this collection won the O. Henry Award for the best story published the year it came out and later became one of the most widely taught and anthologized stories of the modern canon. Olsen's hope was realized: Lawrence re-published this book in 1969, enabling a new generation of readers to discover her work, which was long out of print by then. He also published her next books, as she had hoped.
302. OLSEN, Tillie. Yonnondio from the Thirties. (n.p.): Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (1974). Her first novel, begun in 1934--a chapter of it was published in the Partisan Review that year--and put aside for nearly 40 years while the author raised her four children and attended to the tasks of survival. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence, in part: "For Sam who first endeared himself/ to me as editor of/ Wake years before we met,/ and later as editor and cherisher/ of Katherine Anne Porter..." Fine in a very good dust jacket. Books inscribed by Olsen--whose handwriting is so tiny as to be almost unreadable--are quite uncommon, and good association copies are rare.
303. OLSEN, Tillie. Silences. (NY): Delacorte/Lawrence (1978). Nonfiction. An important statement about women writing by one of the most highly praised writers of her generation, whose literary output has been constrained by her need to attend to the other aspects of life that women, far more than men, are expected to take care of, which is one of the themes of the book. With a lengthy inscription by the author to Seymour Lawrence on the front pastedown, in part: "...who brings to publishing the excitement,/ dedication, insistences, passion for perfections that/ go into writing, into art --/most inadequately inscribed on a shaky/ table in Arcata -- Trinidad -- where/ you risked the clouds in a tiny plane/ to come and hear one of your writers/ read." Spine- and edge-sunned; near fine in a similar dust jacket. An extraordinary inscription in an important book.
304. (OLSEN, Tillie). Mother to Daughter, Daughter to Mother. Old Westbury: Feminist Press (1984). A daybook and reader compiled by Olsen. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence: For Sam --/ In spite of this "evidence"/ my [double-underlined] publisher/ Love dear one/ Tillie." With sentiments on the mother/daughter theme by 120 authors including Alice Walker, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Gloria Naylor, Paula Gunn Allen, Toni Cade Bambara, Alice Walker, Alice Munro, Ellen Glasgow, May Sarton, Carolyn Forché, Lucille Clifton and many others. Spine-faded; else fine in wrappers.
305. O'NAN, Stewart. The Names of the Dead. NY: Doubleday (1996). His third book, second novel, a Vietnam and post-Vietnam story that was published to excellent reviews. O'Nan's first book won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for Short Fiction and his first novel won the 1993 Pirates Alley William Faulkner Prize for the Novel. A Granta 20 author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author. Tim O'Brien blurb, among others.
306. O'NAN, Stewart. Flannery O'Connor, Meet Stephen King. (Web): Boldtype (1997). An offprint from the online magazine Boldtype, a six page essay by O'Nan on the violence (and grace) in his work. 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. Fine, and signed by the author.
307. (O'NAN, Stewart). GARDNER, John. On Writers and Writing. NY: Addison-Wesley (1994). A volume edited by O'Nan and collecting Gardner's reviews and essays on writers, books and writing, including the classic and controversial "An Invective Against Mere Fiction." With an introduction by National Book Award-winning author Charles Johnson. Fine in dust jacket and signed by O'Nan.
308. ONDAATJE, Michael. Aardvark. Toronto: Ganglia (n.d.) (c. 1967). His second "book"--a single sheet of paper, 3¬" x 4¬", folded once to make a four-page notecard--containing a three-word poem by Ondaatje. Reportedly there were 50 copies, although it has also been reported as 40. This one is fine, and is signed by the author. A scarce, ephemeral, early item by this award-winning Canadian author.
309. ONDAATJE, Michael. Running in the Family. NY: Norton (1982). The first American edition of this memoir. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a diagonal crease on the rear panel.
310. ONDAATJE, Michael. The English Patient. (London): Bloomsbury (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of the British, and true first, edition of his most recent book, co-winner of the Booker Prize and the basis for the Academy Award-winning film. Reproducing several copy-editor's marks in text. Near fine in wrappers.
311. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition (NY: Knopf, 1992). Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
312. -. Same title, the first American trade edition. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
313. ONDAATJE, Michael. "We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes..." (n.p.): (Okeanos) (1993). Broadside excerpt from The English Patient. 9" x 6". A fine copy, and signed by Ondaatje on verso.
314. (ONDAATJE, Michael). New Wave Canada. Toronto: Contact Press (1966). Quarto. An anthology of Canadian poetry edited by Raymond Souster, issued in wrappers in an edition of 736 copies. Ondaatje's fourteen poems constitute his first book appearance. Acidic pages darkening; a very good copy, inscribed by Barry Lord, another contributor. The first copy of this we have seen.
315. (ONDAATJE, Michael). "Philoctetes, on the island..." in Unicorn Folio, Series Three, Number One. (n.p.): (Unicorn Press) (1969). Anthology of twelve broadsides by Canadian poets, limited to 375 numbered sets. Among the other contributors is Margaret Atwood (an attractive piece illustrated with a striking woodcut), an early publication for her as well. Ondaatje's piece is signed by the author.
316. (ONDAATJE, Michael, BANKS, Russell, and YOUNG, David, eds.). Brushes with Greatness. Toronto: Coach House (1989). "An Anthology of Chance Encounters with Celebrities," with contributions by Annie Dillard, Paul Auster, Edmund White, Rita Dove, Michael Herr, Joyce Carol Oates, Timothy Findley, Nicholas Delbanco and many others. Apparently only issued in wrappers, and only in Canada. Fine.
317. -. Another copy. One rear corner crease; else fine.