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Catalog 105, C

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98. CALISHER, Hortense. In the Absence of Angels. Boston: Little Brown (1951). Her first book, a collection of stories. This is a review copy, with letter laid in to such effect. Offsetting from letter; foxing to page edges; near fine in moderately spine-faded dust jacket.

99. -. Another copy. A review copy, with letter laid in to such effect. Fine in a very good dust jacket with creasing on front cover and minor edgewear.

100. CALISHER, Hortense. Extreme Magic. Boston: Little Brown (1964). Review copy of her fifth book, a collection of eight short stories and a novella. Inscribed by the author in 1973. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip glued to front flyleaf.

101. CALVINO, Italo. The Watcher and Other Stories. NY: HBJ (1971). Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a gutter nick at the front spine fold. Still an exceptionally nice copy.

102. CALVINO, Italo. The Castle of Crossed Destinies. NY: HBJ (1977). An unusual book by the Italian postmodernist, a series of fantasies based on the Tarot and illustrated with a number of color reproductions of a 15th century Tarot deck, and line drawings of an 18th century deck. Smudge to half title; else fine in a near fine jacket.

103. CALVINO, Italo. Numbers in the Dark. NY: Pantheon (1995). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this posthumous collection of stories, many of them previously unpublished. Fine in wrappers.

104. CANIN, Ethan. The Palace Thief. NY: Random House (1994). The author's third book, a collection of novellas. Canin was named in both the Granta 20 and The New Yorker 20 lists. His first book, Emperor of the Air, was a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award winner. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in 1995.

105. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.

106. -. Same title. Bound typescript, here entitled "Four Novellas." 8 1/2" x 11" sheets tapebound in cardstock covers with several pages of reviews and a message of welcome for Canin to the Random House list bound in. An unusual format, probably issued for in-house use and done in small quantities. Fine.

107. CANTY, Kevin. A Stranger in this World. NY: Doubleday (1994). His first book, a highly praised collection of stories. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author. Blurbs by Harry Crews, Ann Beattie, Padgett Powell and Joy Williams.

108. CARTER, Angela. Fireworks. NY: Harper & Row (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this collection of nine stories. Covers mildly sunned; near fine in wrappers.

109. CARVER, Raymond. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? NY: McGraw-Hill (1978). The paperback edition of Carver's first collection of stories and his first book to receive something approximating national distribution. Carver's stories had been appearing in literary journals and anthologies but it was the publication of this book that brought his name to college campuses and gave Carver the reputation of a writer of striking originality, whose seemingly understated stories packed great power of vision into tales stripped almost entirely bare of affect. Nominated for the National Book Award. Owner name on half-title; near fine in wrappers and signed by the author.

110. CARVER, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. NY: Knopf, 1981. Carver's second major collection of stories. This is a third printing, fine in a near fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author to his brother "with love," in the year of publication. A fine family association copy.

111. CARVER, Raymond. Cathedral. NY: Knopf, 1983. His third collection of stories to be published by a major trade publisher, and a major literary event that confirmed Carver's preeminent place among American short story writers of the day, and signaled a full-fledged resuscitation of the short story in American literature. Inscribed by Carver to his daughter in the month of publication: "For my daughter, Christine/ with love and best wishes, always./ Your dad/ (R.C.!)/ Syracuse, NY./ September 11, 1983." A somewhat soiled copy; very good in a modestly edgeworn dust jacket; about near fine. An excellent association copy of one of Carver's major books.

112. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers and housed in a custom cardstock folding box.

113. CARVER, Raymond. The Stories of Raymond Carver. (London): Picador/Pan (1985). The third printing. Like the second printing cited by Stull in his note in the ABC checklist, the cover of this was changed, and is stamped in blue as well as yellow-gold and black. The publication information on this printing varies slightly from both the first and second printings, citing a new association of Picador with Collins. This copy is fine in wrappers and inscribed by the author to his brother and sister-in-law "with love," in 1988. A fine association.

114. CARVER, Raymond. Where I'm Calling From. NY: Atlantic Monthly, 1988. The definitive collection of his fiction, published just before he died and containing therefore the "final" versions of a number of his most important and frequently anthologized stories, as well as seven stories previously uncollected. This is the uncorrected proof copy of the trade edition, which was preceded by the Franklin Library edition. Shallow creasing to front cover, and first leaf detached; still about near fine in wrappers. Signed by Tess Gallagher on the dedication page, which reads "Dedication tk [to come]." The book was dedicated to her.

115. -. Another copy of the proof. Lip print on the epigraph page; first leaf loosening; one short and unnecessarily glued edge tear to front cover. Overall, still near fine in wrappers.

116. -. Another copy. Tear at front spine fold; near fine in wrappers.

117. (CARVER, Raymond). Carver Country. NY: Scribner (1990). Quarto, with photographs by Bob Adelman and text from Carver's stories and from his unpublished letters. With an introduction by Tess Gallagher. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed and inscribed by Gallagher.

118. CASEY, John. Testimony and Demeanor. NY: Knopf, 1979. The uncorrected proof copy of his second book, a highly praised collection of stories. Laid in are three pages of publisher's promotional material, with review excerpts from Casey's first novel, including a John Irving blurb. Fine in tall wrappers, with a label pasted over bottom edge of pages.

119. -. Same title, a trade edition. Fine in near fine jacket with light wear at crown.

120. -. Another copy, a review copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

121. CHABON, Michael. Werewolves in Their Youths. NY: Random House (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of stories by the acclaimed author of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, among others; recently named to The New Yorker 20. Fine in wrappers.

122. CHANDLER, Raymond. The Finger Man and Other Stories. NY: Avon (1946). Digest-size paperback original in the Avon "Murder Mystery Monthly" series, containing three hard-boiled stories by Chandler and an essay, "The Simple Art of Murder," about the mystery novel genre. Pages browning as usual; wear at spine crown, and light crease on front cover; overall very good.

123. CHEEVER, John. The Enormous Radio and Other Stories. NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 1953. Cheever's second book, a collection of his stories from The New Yorker, published a decade after his first book. Funk and Wagnalls was primarily a publisher of reference books -- dictionaries, in particular -- and not literature, and this book probably did not receive the kind of distribution that his later books, published by more literary houses, did. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with one tiny corner chip and a small closed edge tear.

124. -. Same title. NY: Harper Colophon Books, 1965. First thus. A collection that includes all the stories from the 1953 collection of the same name, plus three of the stories from Cheever's first book, The Way Some People Live, which was never reprinted. Only issued in wrappers. Read and rubbed; very good. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only reappearance of any of the stories from Cheever's first book, as he did not allow them to be reprinted or the book to be reissued. A scarce and bibliographically significant paperback.

125. CHEEVER, John. The Stories of John Cheever. NY: Knopf, 1978. The uncorrected proof copy of this massive collection, which won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. One diagonal crease to the upper corner of the front cover and first few pages, otherwise near fine in wrappers.

126. CHEEVER, John. The Day the Pig Fell into the Well. Northridge: Lord John, 1978. First separate edition of a short story that first appeared in The New Yorker in 1954. Of a total edition of 301 copies, this is indicated on the colophon in type to be a "Presentation Copy," inscribed by the author to his bibliographer and dated in the year of publication. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. An excellent association copy.

127. CHEEVER, John. Expelled. (Los Angeles): Sylvester & Orphanos (1988). A miniature book limited edition, the first separate publication of the first story Cheever wrote that was accepted for publication, by The New Republic in 1930. With an introduction by Malcolm Cowley, who was the editor who accepted the story, and a 10 (miniature) page afterword by John Updike. Designed by Warren Chappell. One of 185 copies only, signed by Cheever, Updike, Cowley and Chappell. Approximately 3" x 2 1/4". Fine in slipcase.

128. CHEKHOV, Anton. V Sumerkakh. St. Petersburg: A.C. Suvorin, 1895. Later printing of this early collection containing some of Chekhov's first serious work: prior to 1884, his work had appeared primarily in humor magazines. This title was awarded the Pushkin Prize, Chekhov's first significant literary recognition. Alexei Suvorin, who published this volume, was a close friend, who urged Chekhov to aspire to more literary work, like that collected here, than he had been accustomed to. Included in this collection are his famous stories "A Nightmare," "A Calamity," and "Agaf'ya." With this and his later collections, Chekhov not only revitalized but redefined the modern short story form. The highest praise that is given today to a writer of short fiction is comparison to Chekhov. This is a very good copy in contemporary Russian half calf and cloth-covered boards. Inscribed by Chekhov in August, 1900, "in memory of Yalta and our meeting." Books inscribed by Chekhov, the master of the modern short story, are notably scarce.

129. CHESTER, Alfred. Here Be Dragons. Paris: Finisterre, 1955. First book by this expatriate writer who was associated with the Beat movement; a collection of stories that was only published in Paris. Of a total edition of 1125 copies, this is one of 1000 copies of the regular edition. Fine in self-wraps and sunned, near fine glassine dust wrapper. An attractive copy of a scarce and fragile book.

130. CLIFF, Michelle. The Store of a Million Items. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin/Mariner, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of stories by this Caribbean-American writer. Fine in wrappers.

131. COHEN, Marvin. The Monday Rhetoric of the Love Club. (London): Deutsch/Rapp and Whiting (1973). Review copy of the British edition of this collection of short stories and dialogues. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: "Dear ____/ This book has/ lousy misprints/ in it, damn it./ (But not my fault.)/ Regretfully,/ Marvin Cohen."

132. CONRAD, Joseph. Tales of Hearsay. London: Fisher Unwin (1925). A posthumous collection of four short stories, dating from both very early in his career -- over a decade before his first book -- and also from just before he died. Offsetting to endpapers; very good in a dusty and lightly edgeworn, very good dust jacket.

133. CONROY, Frank. Midair. NY: Dutton/S. Lawrence (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of the second book, and first book of fiction, by the author of the classic memoir Stop-Time. This collection of short stories was eighteen years coming. Inscribed by the author to the publisher in May 1985: "For Sam --/ A publisher who cares about art,/ and a man who cares about artists./ A rare wizard indeed./ With my admiration -/ Frank Conroy." Near fine in wrappers.

134. COOK-LYNN, Elizabeth. The Power of Horses. NY: Arcade (1990). A collection of stories. Remainder stripe top page edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket. The author is a member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe.

135. COOVER, Robert. The Water Pourer. Bloomfield Hills/Columbia: Bruccoli-Clark, 1972. A single story, which is an unpublished chapter from the author's first novel, The Origin of the Brunists. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. This copy has a sheet laid in indicating that it was sent as a complimentary copy at the author's request. Fine in a near fine glassine dust jacket.

136. CORMIER, Robert. 8 Plus 1. (NY): Pantheon Books (1980). A collection of stories written over a 10-year period, each with an introduction by the author. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Cormier is known for his young adult novels, several of which are considered contemporary classics.

137. CORTAZAR, Julio. End of the Game. NY: Pantheon (1967). The first American edition of a collection of stories originally published in 1956 in Mexico. Contains the story "Blow-up" -- basis for the 1966 film by Antonioni, an example of the link between the European avant garde cinema of the 1960s and the Latin American literature of the same period. Very near fine in like dust jacket with one small tear at the lower back panel. His scarcest publication in this country.

138. (CREELEY, Robert). Short Story 3. NY: Scribner (1960). An anthology of work by four writers chosen in open competition. Creeley contributes seven previously published stories. The other winners in this round were Burton Raffel, Matthew Carney and Joseph Slotkin. Near fine in a rubbed and price-clipped dust jacket, about near fine.

139. CROWLEY, John. Novelty. NY: Doubleday (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of four long stories, including the award-winning "Great Work of Time." Finalist for the 1990 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection. Fine in wrappers.

140. CRUMLEY, James. The Muddy Fork. Northridge: Lord John, 1984. A single story, part of a work-in-progress, by the author of The Last Good Kiss and The Wrong Case, among others. Of a total edition of 250, this is one of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.

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