Catalog 129, P-Q
437. PANCAKE, BREECE D'J. The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake. Boston: Little Brown (1983). The uncorrected proof copy. Includes a foreword by James Alan McPherson to this collection of short stories by a promising young writer who was, at one time, McPherson's student and who committed suicide before this book was published. Prominent book reviewer's name front cover and a few ink notes in his hand on the last blank and in the text; spine slightly slanted; near fine in wrappers.
438. PARKER, Robert. Thin Air. NY: Putnam's (1995). A special advance reading copy in pictorial wrappers of a novel in Parker's Spenser series. Signed by the author. A fine copy.
439. PAYNE, David. Confessions of a Taoist on Wall Street. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel, winner of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award, previously given to such writers as Philip Roth, Robert Stone and Robert Penn Warren. This is the second issue proof, in tan wrappers and with a Tom Robbins blurb on the front cover. An earlier proof, in blue wrappers, lacked the Robbins blurb. Signed by the author. Sticker removal mark on front cover and crease to crown; near fine in wrappers.
440. PERCY, Walker. The Thanatos Syndrome. NY: FSG (1987). The uncorrected proof copy of Percy's last novel. Near fine in wrappers.
441. PERRY, Thomas. Island. NY: Putnam, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy of the fourth book by the author of the Edgar Award-winning The Butcher's Boy, among many other highly praised thrillers and mysteries. Near fine in wrappers.
442. PHILLIPS, Jayne Anne. Black Tickets. (NY): Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of her well-received first collection of stories. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence, her publisher, and signed "the witch." Spine sunned; else fine in wrappers.
443. -. Another copy. Fine in wrappers.
444. PHILLIPS, Jayne Anne. Shelter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. The advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
445. PIRSIG, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. NY: Morrow, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of Pirsig's first book, an acclaimed and bestselling inquiry into values and examination of Quality. Pirsig's book was published to little fanfare but became a word-of-mouth bestseller and ultimately sold millions of copies in paperback. One of the key books in articulating the aspirations of the generation that had just made the 1960s the most turbulent decade in American history since at least the 1930s and probably since the Civil War. This is the second issue proof, in tan wrappers with typeset page numbers; there was a first issue proof in red wrappers and reproducing holograph page numbers. A near fine copy, with publicity letter laid in.
446. PRICE, Reynolds. A Long and Happy Life. NY: Atheneum, 1962. The advance reading copy of his first book, winner of the William Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel. Signed by the author. Mild spine creasing; else fine in yellow wrappers. With a Eudora Welty blurb that does not appear on the published book.
447. PRICE, Richard. The Wanderers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of the author's first book, basis for the well-received Philip Kaufman film. Creasing to rear cover; abraded spot on front cover; very good in wrappers. Uncommon.
448. PRICE, Richard. Ladies' Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. The uncorrected proof copy of his third book, a darkly comic novel of sexual obsession. Reviewer's comments and small tear on the first leaf (the half-title); otherwise fine in wrappers. Uncommon.
449. PRICE, Richard. The Breaks. NY: Simon & Schuster (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of the fourth novel by the author of The Wanderers and Clockers. Publication date written on front cover; else fine in wrappers.
450. PROULX, E. Annie. The Shipping News. NY: Scribner (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of her third work of fiction and second novel, which won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, a rare literary double. Fine in wrappers.
451. PYM, Barbara. An Unsuitable Attachment. (London): (MacMillan) (1982). The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumously published novel, with an introduction by Philip Larkin explaining the book's history: it was Pym's seventh novel, completed in 1963 and inexplicably rejected by her publisher, leading to a period where Pym went unpublished for sixteen years. A reassessment of her writing began in 1977 when the Times Literary Supplement named her one of the most underrated writers of the century (Larkin was one of the judges), and she was retrospectively viewed as a major British woman writer. The book published immediately after the "reassessment," Quartet in Autumn, is generally considered her finest work. Spine cocked, with a short tear at the lower front spine fold. Very good in wrappers. A scarce proof.
452. PYNCHON, Thomas. V. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1963). The advance reading copy of his first book, winner of the Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year. With elaborate inventiveness, labyrinthine plots and a sometimes paranoid comic sense, Pynchon became the postmodern standard against whom all writers since have been measured. Each of his first three novels won one or more of the major literary awards given out in this country. This copy is sunned and spine-creased, with some shelf-soiling to the bottom page edges; a very good copy in wrappers.
453. -. Same title. London: Jonathan Cape (1963). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition. Pynchon's first novel is scarce in any edition; the U.K. proof is remarkably uncommon, and scarce in jacket. Minor spine creasing, small sticker removal shadow on first blank; a near fine copy in wrappers, in a near fine proof dust jacket.
454. PYNCHON, Thomas. Gravity's Rainbow. NY: Viking (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of Pynchon's landmark third novel, winner of the National Book Award as well as the William Dean Howells Medal for the best work of fiction by an American over a five-year span. Gravity's Rainbow became the benchmark for postmodern American fiction upon publication and secured its mysterious and reclusive author's place in the postwar American literary pantheon. It is also widely considered the culminating novel of the Sixties the one which encapsulates and sums up the postwar events that resulted in the countercultural rejection of mainstream society and the quest for a plausible alternative view not only of contemporary society but of humanity itself. Pynchon's identity and whereabouts have consistently remained mysterious, and his publications have increasingly tended to be well-guarded secrets up to the moment of publication. For a number of years it was reported that no proofs of Gravity's Rainbow had been done, with Viking itself reportedly having confirmed that; however, in the last decade a dozen or so examples of this massive (760 pages) proof have shown up on the market. This copy has been read and bears the reviewer's marks in the text and on the rear cover; the spine is dulled from blue to gray; moderate overall wear; still very good, in a custom clamshell box.
455. -. Same title. London: Jonathan Cape (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition. Not noted in Mead and in our experience considerably scarcer than the scarce U.S. proof, which is itself quite uncommon. This copy belonged to and is signed, in 1974, by Julian Barnes, author of Flaubert's Parrot and England, England, among many others. The signature precedes Barnes's first published book by six years. Barnes's bookplate inside front cover; rear cover creased; else fine in a spine-faded near fine proof dust jacket.
456. PYNCHON, Thomas. Slow Learner. Boston: Little Brown (1984). An advance issue of this collection of five early stories, with a new introduction by the author. Each of these stories was being offered for sale in unauthorized, bootleg editions at the time; this volume was Pynchon's attempt to take the bottom out of the market for piracies of his own writings. In keeping with his secretive approach, he reportedly requested that no proofs be printed of this book prior to publication; instead, a very small number of folded and gathered signatures were prepared and laid into proof dust jackets and issued as advance copies; the usual number cited for such copies is "about 10." This is one of those sets of sheets, "f&g's," laid into a dust jacket. Other than some light creasing to the jacket from where it overlays the sheets, fine.
457. QUAMMEN, David. The Song of the Dodo. NY: Scribner (1996). An advance reading excerpt printing two of the ten chapters from this ground-breaking volume focusing on "island biogeography in an age of extinction." This copy belonged to Terry Tempest Williams and bears her ownership signature. An important book, which was nominated for a National Book Award, and was selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 best books of the year, in all fields. In addition, a nice association copy, with the ownership signature of one of the most respected writers in the field where Quammen sets his sights -- the intersection between ecology and social change. Dampstaining to lower edges, not affecting text; near fine in wrappers.