Catalog 159, M
126. MALOUF, David. Johnno. (Queensland): University of Queensland Press (1975). The correct first edition (Australian) of his first novel, a semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in Brisbane in the 1940s and '50s. Signed by the author in 1987. A bit of shelf wear to the lower board edges, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with mild fading to the spine. A scarce book, especially in such condition and signed.
127. MANKELL, Henning. Pyramiden. Stockholm: Ordfront Forlag, 1999. The first edition (Swedish) of the ninth book in his Kurt Wallander series, this being a collection of five short stories and a prequel to the series as a whole; the first story takes place in 1969, well before the time of the first novel in the series, Faceless Killers. Mankell has won virtually every international mystery writing award, been a bestseller throughout Europe and the United States, and virtually single-handedly launched the genre of "Nordic noir," the most famous and commercially successful examples of which have been the novels of Stieg Larsson, who wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Not published in English until 2008. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
128. McCARTHY, Cormac. Outer Dark. NY: Random House (1968). His second book which, like his first, The Orchard Keeper, was published to great critical reviews and modest-to-poor sales: the total sales of the Random House edition of this book numbered just 2705 copies. Modest edge sunning to boards, a very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with minor wear at the spine extremities, one short edge tear, and a hint of sunning to the spine title. A nice copy of an early book by the National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
129. McCARTHY, Cormac. Child of God. NY: Random House (1973). His third book, which, like his first two, received good critical reviews but sold poorly. Reportedly being filmed by James Franco for release in 2013. A very near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a small chip to the upper rear panel and a bit of fading to the red spine title. An attractive copy overall, without the remainder stamp that one finds so frequently on copies of this title.
130. McCARTHY, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. NY: Knopf, 1992. The advance reading copy of the first volume of the Border Trilogy, a landmark novel that won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and propelled its author to "instant" literary celebrity -- after nearly three decades of writing well-received literary novels in relative obscurity. Issued in wrappers and publisher's folding box, signed by the author, it was sent out in advance of publication to promote the book, one of the early moves by then-new Editor in Chief of Knopf, Sonny Mehta, to try to break the publishing company out of an old-fashioned disdain for publicity and promotion and inject some new excitement into that aspect of publishing. Presumably it helped Mehta that he had a writer like McCarthy to help launch that effort; similarly, it doubtless helped McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses sold almost ten times as many copies in hardcover as all five of McCarthy's previous books combined, which were all published by Random House. Rumor has it that approximately 400 were to be done but the author quit after about 200, and declined to do any more. Fine in a very near fine folding box with rubbing to the corners. McCarthy's signature is uncommon, and this was his breakthrough book.
131. McMURTRY, Larry. The Last Picture Show. NY: Dial, 1966. His third novel, which fully realized the promise shown by his first two books and firmly established his literary reputation. Basis for the Academy Award-winning movie, which launched the careers of several Hollywood notables, including Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd, not to mention McMurtry himself, who was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay and went on to win one almost 30 years later with Diana Ossana for the screenplay of Brokeback Mountain. This is an agency copy, with the label of the Ziegler-Ross Agency of Los Angeles on the front flyleaf. Ziegler was McMurtry's agent for a time. In his 2010 memoir Hollywood, McMurtry wrote: "Long ago I had an agent named Evarts Ziegler, a very elegant man who had been, I think, to Princeton. He was said to prefer to represent Princetonians, which left him with James Stewart and not much of anybody else. I got along well with Mr. Ziegler, and this despite the fact that I hadn't been to Princeton. I don't remember our parting -- at some point Evarts Ziegler just drifted away." This copy came from the estate of Polly Platt, production designer on the film of The Last Picture Show and wife of Peter Bogdanovich. Platt reportedly recommended the book to her husband for a film, and further recommended Cybill Shepherd for the lead, a series of events which cost her her marriage as Bogdanovich left Platt for Shepherd. Platt and McMurtry, however, became very close; she was apparently the model for the character Jill in All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, and the two both received film credits for work on The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, Texasville and The Evening Star; Platt was nominated for an Oscar for Art Direction for Terms of Endearment. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with very shallow wear to the top edge and a short tear at the upper rear spine fold. A notable copy of a major novel in McMurtry's career.
132. McMURTRY, Larry. In a Narrow Grave. Austin: Encino, 1968. McMurtry's first book of nonfiction, a collection of essays on Texas. Done by a small press in Austin, the first printing was so rife with typographical errors that it was destroyed; reportedly only about 15 copies survived, although recent estimates have suggested the number might be a bit higher but still very small. This is one of those copies, with "skycrapers" for "skyscrapers" on page 105. Although not called for, this copy is signed by McMurtry. Fine in a fine dust jacket; a flawless copy. Easily the scarcest trade edition in the McMurtry canon -- at least that we know of -- and this is as beautiful copy of it as could be hoped for. Provenance: the Bruce Kahn collection.
133. MENDELSOHN, Jane. Innocence. NY: Riverhead Books, 2000. The advance reading copy of the second novel by the author of I Was Amelia Earhart; the film rights to this title were bought by Killer Films, who made Boys Don't Cry, and the movie (which involves a vampire sect at a private school) is due out in 2013. Fine in wrappers, with publicity material laid in, including a sheet in which Mendelsohn talks about the creation of Innocence.
134. MEWSHAW, Michael. Man in Motion. NY: Random House (1970). One of the dedication copies of Mewshaw's first book, a novel, inscribed in the month of publication to Dr. Herbert Schaumann, "who gave of his time,/ energy, and friendship when no/ one else knew or cared./ With gratitude and affection,/ Michael Mewshaw." Mewshaw is an acclaimed writer of both fiction and nonfiction, and this book is reminiscent of early books by both Robert Stone and Richard Ford -- a road novel with dark undercurrents and mordant humor that ends with the protagonists "coming of age" in Mexico. The recipient of this copy, Dr. Schaumann, was a teacher of Mewshaw's at the University of Maryland. He is one of three dedicatees of this book, the others being George Garrett, who taught Mewshaw during graduate school at the University of Virginia, and Mewshaw's mother. One section marked in text; fading to cloth edges and two tiny spots on prelims; a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with slight corner chipping and a small ink number on the rear panel. An important copy of a first novel by a writer that NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse has called "the best novelist in America that nobody knows."
135. (MILLER, Henry). Of, By & About Henry Miller. Yonkers: Oscar Baradinsky/Alicat Bookshop, 1947. A collection of pieces by Miller, as well as pieces about Miller by H.L. Mencken, Aldous Huxley, William Carlos Williams, Wallace Fowlie, Blaise Cendrars, Cyril Connolly, and others. One of 1000 copies, of which 750 were for sale. Near fine in oversize stapled wrappers. The Alicat Bookshop Press published a number of important volumes in the late 1940s, including work by such writers as Maya Deren, Charles Willeford, Djuna Barnes and Anais Nin, in addition to the ones included in this collection.
136. (MILLER, Henry). La Tour de Feu, No. 47: Henry Miller ou Les Mauvaises Frequentations [Bad Dating].: (Bordeaux): (Tour de Feu)(1955). A French literary magazine; this issue focuses on Miller, with writing (in French) both by him and about him. Miller's early writings, including Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, were published in France decades before they were permitted in the U.S., and he thus received significantly more critical attention in France than in the U.S. until the 1960s. Pages uncut; near fine in wrappers.
137. (MILLER, Henry). Tuvoti. (California): Arthur & Glee Knight, 1972. An 80th birthday celebration for Miller, published as The Unspeakable Vision of the Individual, Vol. 2, No. 3. With work by Charles Plymell, Douglas Blazek, Tuli Kupferberg, Norman Mailer and others. Several photos of Miller and letters by him reproduced. Quarto; near fine in stapled wrappers.
138. MORRISON, Toni. The Bluest Eye. London: Chatto & Windus, 1979. The first British edition of her first book, which was published in the U.S. in 1970. This was released in the U.K. after the critical success of Morrison's third book, Song of Solomon, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1978. Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in a near-calligraphic hand: "For ___/ Happy Birthday/ Toni Morrison/ May 5, 1992." Recipient's signature on front flyleaf with the inscription; fine in a fine dust jacket. One of the nicer inscriptions we have seen by Morrison.
139. MORRISON, Toni and Slade. The Tortoise or the Hare. NY: Simon & Schuster (2010). A children's book, written by Morrison and her son, Slade, and illustrated by Joe Cepeda. Signed by Morrison on a (publisher's?) bookplate on the front flyleaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
140. -. Same title. An advance copy in the form of unbound signatures laid into dust jacket. Fine. Uncommon.
141. MORTENSON, Greg and RELIN, David Oliver. Three Cups of Tea. One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time. (NY): (Viking)(2006). The famous, and later infamous, account of Mortenson, who, in response to kindnesses bestowed on him by locals when he was lost in Pakistan after an unsuccessful ascent of K2, vowed to return to that village and build a school -- a project that led to his founding the Central Asia Institute and to an ongoing effort that has resulted to date in the building of, reportedly, more than 170 schools (mostly for girls) in impoverished regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to Mortenson's repeatedly being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The hardcover edition, which sold only 20,000 copies, had a subtitle that Mortenson opposed and that was changed, at his insistence, on later editions. The book became a bestseller in paperback and was on The New York Times Book Review bestseller list for more than four years. It was also adapted to a version for young adults and one for children. A moving account of one man's commitment to changing the world for the better, and a remarkable story of a book that began in obscurity and became first a cultural touchstone -- required reading for U.S. (and other) military leaders, as well as inspiring reading for millions of others, over four million copies having been sold, in more than 40 countries -- and, then, a cultural cliché, when it was revealed first by author Jon Krakauer and later 60 Minutes that Mortenson and Relin had taken liberties with the telling of the story, and in Mortenson's case, possible liberties with his financial relationship to the Central Asia Institute. Uncommon in the first printing. This copy is signed by Mortenson, who has added the word "Peace!" Ticket and program for the Mortenson reading (of Stones Into Schools) at which this copy was signed is laid in; Mortenson's career as a speaker is likely now behind him. Fine in a fine dust jacket, in custom clamshell case.
142. -. Same title. The advance reading copy, which boasts of a planned 6-city author tour. In the four years before the controversy hit, Mortenson's itinerary grew to include more than 500 speaking engagements. This copy is signed by Mortenson and by David Relin, who at one point claimed sole authorship of the book, saying it was published with Mortenson as co-author over his objections. Fine in wrappers and custom clamshell case. Scarce.
143. MULLER, Herta. The Land of Green Plums. NY: Metropolitan/Holt (1996). The first American edition of this novel by the 2009 Nobel Prize winner, translated from the German by Michael Hofmann. Inscribed by Muller on the evening in 1998 that she was awarded the IMPAC prize, the largest literary prize in the world for a single book (£100,000). Inscribed by the author to Greg Gatenby, one of the judges for the award; Muller has also drawn a caricature of Gatenby, as well as adding her address, phone and fax. Also inscribed by Michael Hofmann, the translator. Stamp of the award on the front flyleaf; hint of a crown bump; fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a shallow vertical crease to the spine. A remarkable copy of an important book by the Nobel Prize-winning author.
144. MURAKAMI, Huraki. After the Quake. NY: Knopf, 2002. The first American edition of this collection of stories that examine the impact of the Kobe earthquake on Japan and ordinary Japanese citizens. Signed by the author and stamped on the half-title page. Murakami is one of the most highly regarded contemporary Japanese authors: his 1987 novel Norwegian Wood sold millions of copies and made him a literary superstar in Japan. His novel Kafka on the Shore won the Franz Kafka Prize in the Czech Republic as well as the World Fantasy Award, and he has won numerous other awards and prizes, including the Jerusalem Prize, given for work dealing with human freedom in society. His stories appear in The New Yorker regularly. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A somewhat uncommon collection that is scarce signed.
145. MUSIL, Robert. The Man Without Qualities. London: Secker & Warburg, 1953, 1954, 1960. The first English edition of his masterwork, in three volumes. (The fourth volume, intended to contain Musil's concluding chapters and unfinished at the time of his death, wasn't published in English until a new translation was done in 1996.) Musil's great work has been compared to that of Proust and Joyce; in focusing on a year in the life of an Austrian intellectual near the onset of the First World War, Musil explored not only the culture of the time but the way that ideas shape human lives and events, giving the novel a transcendent relevance beyond its own era. The first two volumes exhibit a bit of loss to the spine stamping and the first volume has slight foredge foxing; the books are otherwise fine in near fine, spine-tanned dust jackets, the first two of which are price-clipped. One of the great literary works of the 20th century. For the three: