Catalog 137, K-L
133. KAEL, Pauline. State of the Art. London: Marion Boyars (1987). Reviews from the mid-1980s: Flashdance, Desperately Seeking Susan, Footloose, Stop Making Sense, The Big Chill, etc. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Again, from Kael's library.
134. KENEALLY, Thomas. Schindler's Ark. London: Hodder & Stoughton (1982). The true first edition of the book that became Schindler's List when published in the U.S. and which was the basis for the Academy Award-winning Spielberg film. Winner of the Booker Prize. Keneally is Australian and his books are usually published there first; in this case, however, the U.K. edition precedes even the Australian edition. This title had more than a decade to disappear before the film came out and renewed interest in it. Although we don't have any figures for the print run of the first edition, it came at a point in Keneally's career when he would likely have been considered by his publisher a "mid-list" author -- one whose books would be well-received and reach a small, cultured audience, but had little commercial potential. Normally publishers cut back both the print runs and the advertising budgets for authors who seem to have proven to have limited commercial appeal, a self-reinforcing process that often ends up creating the situation that an author's scarcest books are those from the middle or latter part of his or her career -- the novelist Patrick O'Brian, with his Aubrey-Maturin series of novels, is a notable example of this phenomenon. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
135. -. Same title, the first Australian edition. Sydney: Hodder & Stoughton (1982). Small bookstore label front flyleaf; else fine in a fine dust jacket. The U.K. edition reportedly precedes the Australian but "following the flag" would make this the more desirable edition, and it is a better-bound edition than the U.K.
136. KENNEDY, William. Ironweed. (NY): Viking (1983). The third book in his Albany sequence. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award and basis for the 1987 Hector Babenco film in which both the lead actors, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, earned Oscar nominations. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
137. KEROUAC, Jack. On the Road. NY: Viking, 1957. His second novel, the quintessential "road novel" and the book that defined the Beat generation. With its theme of two outcasts crossing the American heartland, Kerouac's fictionalized account of his exploits with his friend Neal Cassady -- here depicted as "Dean Moriarty" -- updated Mark Twain's story of Huck Finn and Jim on the Mississippi and became a cultural landmark. It helped introduce Zen Buddhism and other Eastern traditions into the popular culture of the West, and pioneered the concept of recreational drug use, a novel idea in the Fifties but one that was taken for granted barely a decade later. Unlike many self-consciously "hip" novels, both before and since, it continues to be read and admired today, retaining its freshness due to the immediacy of its writing, the clarity of its youthful perceptions, and the authenticity of the characters' quests. Spotting to top stain, otherwise a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with very mild rubbing at the edges and folds.
138. KESEY, Ken. Sometimes a Great Notion. NY: Viking (1964). His second and most ambitious novel, about a logging family in Oregon, and embodying the individualistic values that helped Kesey to become a counterculture leader and icon. This is the state with the Viking ship on the first half-title, and in the first issue dust jacket, with the author photo credited to "Hank Krangler" and only two lines of biographical information about the author on the rear flap. Slight pull to text block; near fine in a very good dust jacket with a 2" edge tear on the front panel and some staining or offsetting visible only on verso. Still, a very nice copy of a book which, because of the black dust jacket, tends to rub and show wear readily.
139. KIDDER, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains. NY: Random House (2003). Nonfiction, an account of a Harvard-educated doctor who chose to work in the poor mountain villages of Haiti. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of a New Machine and House, among others. This is the uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
First Book, Inscribed Association Copy
140. KING, Stephen. Carrie. Garden City: Doubleday, 1974. His first novel, the beginning of a career that reinvigorated the horror genre, led the author to become the best-selling American author of all time, and resulted in gaining him a degree of celebrity and name-recognition usually reserved for film stars and athletes. Also the basis for one of the defining movies of the '70s. Inscribed by King in 1980 to Stanley Wiater, a three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association. With Wiater's bookplate on the front flyleaf and address label on the front pastedown. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with very slight spine darkening. A nice association copy of an important first book.
141. KING, Stephen. Salem's Lot. Garden City: Doubleday, 1975. King's second novel. This copy has the second issue dust jacket, with the [printed] price $7.95 (dust jacket is corner-clipped) and the reference to "Father Cody" in the flap text. Inscribed by the author to horror writer Stanley Wiater and his wife in 1998: "Remember: they only come out at night." With Wiater's bookplate on the front flyleaf. A fine copy in a good dust jacket with internal tape repairs at the edges and folds and a bit of black added to the spine. A nice association copy of a book that is seldom found signed these days.
142. KING, Stephen. The Shining. Garden City: Doubleday (1977). King's third novel, memorably filmed by Stanley Kubrick. Inscribed by King to Stan [Wiater] "with all best wishes" in 1979. This title is the third-scarcest of King's novels, in terms of the size of the first printing, which was 25,000 copies; King's novels these days typically have first printings of a million or more copies. Added to the scarcity factor is that Doubleday was notorious in the 1970s for producing books cheaply, thus they showed wear easily and were inherently less durable than the typical trade hardcover of the period. This copy has a bit of sag to the text block and a little wear and rubbing to the spine; still about near fine, with Wiater's bookplate and address label, in a near fine dust jacket with wear at the spine extremities. Laid in is a postcard advertising the Emmy-Award winning miniseries of The Shining on ABC.
143. KING, Stephen. Night Shift. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. One of the rarest King titles -- harder to find, especially in collectible condition, than his other Doubleday titles -- this collection of stories includes such now-familiar titles as "Children of the Corn" and "The Lawnmower Man." While King is most famous for his novels, and for the movies made from his fiction, his short stories, of which this is his first collection, are reminiscent of those of Shirley Jackson in terms of literary accomplishment and the ability to quietly shock the reader. This copy has been inscribed by King in 1982 to fellow horror writer Stanley Wiater: "All best from a very guilty (but determined) Stephen King." Wiater's bookplate and address label on front pastedown; stray pen mark (not a remainder mark) lower page edges; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the crown.
144. KING, Stephen. The Stand. NY: Doubleday (1978). Another of King's early novels published by Doubleday, in a remarkably cheap binding. A massive book -- 823 pages -- which some consider his best. Nonetheless, a larger edition with "restored" text was issued in 1990. Inscribed by the author to Stanley Wiater in 1982: "All best, and thanks for coming by." Previously, warmly inscribed to Wiater from his wife in 1979, on the rear pastedown. A bulky volume, with a bit of sag in the binding and a cup ring on the front board; still about near fine in a dust jacket with a partial price sticker on the lower front flap and a gift card adhered to the inner rear flap; else fine.
145. KOCH, Christopher. Across the Sea Wall. London: Heinemann (1965). The second book by the Australian author of The Year of Living Dangerously and a two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award. A coming-of-age novel in which a young Australian on his way to Europe meets a European refugee on her way to Australia, and the two end up in India and Java. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with minimal rubbing at the upper rear spine fold.
146. LE CARRÉ, John. Call for the Dead. NY: Walker (1962). The first American edition of Le Carré's first book, which introduced George Smiley. With this book, Le Carré also introduced a new level of realism to the spy genre, in contrast to the far-fetched, swashbuckling adventures of James Bond that were popular at the time. With his third book, The Spy who Came in From the Cold, he raised the entire genre to the level of literature, by making the spy's predicament and the mysteries he must unravel a metaphor for the human condition generally and the mysteries of life that confront us all. This is the correct first American edition, with a white dust jacket printed in red, black and purple, not the ubiquitous later book club edition that is often mistaken for a first. Signed by the author. Slight spine roll; else a fine copy in a fair dust jacket with only several small edge chips but split along the front flap fold.
147. LE CARRÉ, John. A Murder of Quality. NY: Walker & Co. (1963). The first American edition of his second book, which also featured George Smiley, "that bland and deadly espionage agent." Le Carré's first three books were written while he himself was working for British intelligence and his writing brought a new level of realism to the contemporary spy novel. Smiley, of course, later became the apotheosis of the spy in Le Carré's "Karla" sequence. Signed by the author with both his pen name and his real name: "John Le Carré aka David Cornwell -- for Christmas 2004, London." Boards splayed; foxing to top edge; a very good copy in a very good dust jacket with a couple edge tears and surface nicks. Ironically, despite being published during the Cold War years, and being novels that focused on the Cold War itself, the first American editions of Le Carré's first two books were printed in Communist-bloc Poland, and their bindings and the quality of paper used for the dust jackets are below the normal standards for American trade publishers of the time, making them more susceptible to wear than many books of the period.
148. LE CARRÉ, John. The Naive and Sentimental Lover. NY: Knopf, 1972. The first American edition of his first novel to depart from the espionage genre, a book that he later said was his own personal favorite of his books, but which enjoyed considerably less popular success than his spy stories. Signed by the author. Trace fading to spine cloth; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket.
Association Copy, and 1/26 Lettered Copies
149. LEIBOVITZ, Annie. Photographs, 1970-1990. (NY): HarperCollins (1991). A retrospective of her photographs over the first 20 years of her career. Leibovitz began her photography career in 1970, after living on a kibbutz in Israel in 1969. For more than a decade she was a freelance photographer and, at the same time, the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. In 1975 she was the concert tour photographer for the Rolling Stones, and in 1980 her now-iconic photograph of a nude John Lennon on a bed with his fully clothed wife, Yoko Ono, was the last picture of Lennon taken before his death. Inscribed by the artist in New York, October 1991: "For ______.../ if not for you.../ all my love/ Annie." The inscription refers to the fact that the recipient was, in large part, responsible for the publication of the book. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a small corner nick at the spine base.
150. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 26 lettered copies reserved for private distribution, signed by the artist. The limited edition of this title has long been out of print and copies seldom turn up. The lettered edition rarely turns up on the market. Clothbound; fine in slipcase.
151. LENNON, John. In His Own Write. London: Cape (1964). Lennon's first book, a collection of poetry, short prose pieces and drawings published at the height of the Beatles' initial popularity. Illustrated with Lennon's own drawings. A bit of wear to the corners and crown and creasing to the joints; near fine in pictorial boards, without dust jacket, as issued. A scarce book in the first edition; the U.S. edition had a much larger first printing, and the book went into multiple printings in both countries almost immediately.
152. LENNON, John. A Spaniard in the Works. London: Cape (1965). A collection of poetry, short prose pieces and drawings. Trace page edge foxing, light lamination wrinkling; near fine in pictorial boards, without dust jacket, as issued.
153. (LEONARD, Elmore). "Elmore Leonard on John Steinbeck" in 20 Years of Publishing America's Best. (NY): Library of America, 2002. A keepsake issued on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Library of America, printing the remarks of six writers, on writers. Also includes Richard Price on James Baldwin and Michael Cunningham on Flannery O'Connor, among others. One of 1500 copies printed; fine in stapled wrappers.
154. LEVY, Andrea. Small Island. NY: Picador (2005). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of this novel that won the Orange Prize. Fine in wrappers.
155. LIGHTMAN, Alan. Reunion. NY: Pantheon (2003). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the physicist author of Einstein's Dreams. Lightman's last book, The Diagnosis, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Fine in wrappers.
Four Letters from Jack London about His Boat
156. LONDON, Jack. Typed Letters Signed. 1910-1912. Four letters from London to the secretary of the Vallejo Yacht Club concerning, primarily, his yawl "Roamer" and his skiff. The letters revolve around the maintenance and care of "Roamer" and London's joining the Vallejo Yacht Club in order to see to her care. London and his wife, Charmian, spent much time on "Roamer," and it has been said that sailing her was his first and best method for dealing with depression. The two took innumerable trips together, each better than the last according to Charmian; one of the letters mentions their return from a one month cruise on Big Lake. Each letter is signed in full; the last, which is on a half sheet of paper bears two holograph corrections, including the substitution of "port" for "starboard." The letters are folded for mailing; else fine. A nice view of a personal aspect of London's life that was enormously important to his writing life.