Vietnam and The Sixties, Vietnam 6
222. LEDERER, William J. and BURDICK, Eugene. The Ugly American. NY: W.W. Norton (1958). One of the early books on Americans in Vietnam, covering the same people and events as Graham Greene's The Quiet American, but from a substantially different viewpoint. Later made into a not-very-successful film, this book was a smash bestseller, reprinted numerous times, distributed through major book clubs and generally became so much a part of the culture that its title became a buzzword, albeit one which was somewhat different from the authors' intentions, for a certain kind of American, and American approach, particularly in the Third World. An extremely common book, the true first printing is nonetheless quite scarce; this is a near fine copy in the first issue dust jacket (blurb by "John T.[sic] Marquand"). A nice copy of a keystone book.
223. -. Another copy. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
224. -. Another copy. Very good in an about very good dust jacket with moderate chipping at spine extremities.
225. -. Same title, a later printing, lacking the dust jacket, but warmly inscribed by the Burdick to a Navy Admiral in 1958. Slight foxing to page edges otherwise near fine.
226. LEDERER, William J. and BURDICK, Eugene. Sarkhan. NY: McGraw-Hill (1965). Their second novelistic collaboration, which the authors believe was suppressed by the U.S. government. According to the authors' later statements, virtually all copies disappeared from bookstore shelves soon after publication, and the book was not reprinted. It neither achieved the sales nor received the reviews that would have been expected for a new book by the authors of the landmark bestselling novel The Ugly American, which the authors suggested years later was the result of a deliberate effort by powers unknownbut presumably involving collaboration between the publishing industry and agents of the U.S. Governmentto suppress the book because of its critical view of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Fine in fine dust jacket.
227. LEDERER, William J. Our Own Worst Enemy. NY: Norton (1968). Exposé of America's "self-inflicted defeats," particularly in Vietnam, by the co-author of The Ugly American. Fine in rubbed, else near fine dust jacket.
228. LEE, Gus. Honor and Duty. NY: Knopf, 1994. A novel of a Chinese-American boy at West Point in the '60s, with Vietnam as backdrop and context. Fine in fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
229. LEROY, Col. Jean. Un Homme Dans La Rizière. Paris: Éditions de Paris (1955). Inscribed by the author in the year of publication to Graham Greene, who provides the introduction. Very good in pictorial wrappers. Blurb by Jean Larteguy, who directed the series of which this volume is a part. An excellent association copy of an uncommon, early French analysis of the Vietnam conflict.
230. LESTER, Julius. The Mud of Vietnam. (NY): (Folklore Press) (1967). Quarto pamphlet of a poem written by Lester while on a visit to Hanoi in 1967. Edges darkening, and minor surface soiling; near fine. Very scarce.
231. LIFTON, Robert Jay. Home from the War. Vietnam Veterans: Neither Victims Nor Executioners. (NY): S&S/Touchstone (1973). Early, sympathetic study of Vietnam vets. First printing of the paperback edition, issued a year after the hardcover publication. Remainder stripe and some rubbing; still near fine in wrappers.
232. LUCE, Don and SOMMER, John. Vietnam. The Unheard Voices. Ithaca: Cornell U. Press (1969). Personal account by two volunteers who spent many years in Vietnam, learning the culture and the language, and who wrote this book in hope that it would help the Vietnamese voices to be heard in this country. Fine in a very good dust jacket.
233. (LUCE, Don). We Promise One Another. Poems From an Asian War. (Washington): (Indochina Mobile Education Project) (1971). Poetry. Co-compiled by Luce. Remainder stripe, and minor cover crease; about near fine in wrappers.
234. (M16A1). EISNER, Will. The M16A1 Rifle. Operation and Preventive Maintenance. (Washington): (Dept. of the Army) (1969). Instruction manual for the M-16, illustrated by the famous cartoonist and replete with buxom blondes and double entendres (e.g., a chapter on "How to Strip Your Baby"). A humorous, but deadly serious manual, interesting in the way it makes a technical task accessible by using humor, comic-simple illustrations, and a touch of sex. A fine copy, still sealed in plastic.
235. MacPHERSON, Myra. Long Time Passing. Vietnam & the Haunted Generation. Garden City: Doubleday, 1984. A massive oral history of the war and the generation that came of age during it, based on hundreds of interviews with veterans, their families, protesters, etc. Fine in fine dust jacket.
236. MAILER, Norman. Why Are We in Vietnam? NY: Putnam (1967). A comment on the war without overtly mentioning it. Fine in a dust jacket with some fading to the spine lettering; else fine.
237. MARTIN, Ron. To Be Free! NY: Vanguard (1986). A novel of escape from a North Vietnamese P.O.W. camp. Front hinge slightly weak otherwise as new in dust jacket.
238. MASON, Bobbie Ann. In Country. NY: Harper & Row (1985). Highly praised first novel about a young girl's search for her father, who died in Vietnam before she was born. Fine in fine dust jacket. Made into a well-received movie.
239. MASON, Robert. Chickenhawk. NY: Viking (1983). Acclaimed first-person account by a heavily decorated helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Reprinted a number of times, the first printing is somewhat uncommon. One of the many Vietnam memoirs that blur the line between fiction and nonfiction by using techniques of fictionverbatim reconstructed conversations, telescoped activities, etc.in a volume that is ostensibly factual. A moving account. Fine in fine dust jacket.
240. MASON, Steve. Johnny's Song. NY: Bantam (1986). The first attempt, it would seem, at making Vietnam war poetry into a mass market item -- the announced first printing for this title being 35,000 copies. Boards slightly bowed; else fine in fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author.
241. McAFEE, John P. A Slow Walk in Sad Rain. (NY): Warner (1993). Uncorrected proof copy of this novel based on the author's time as a Green Beret in Laos. Tiny edge tear upper front cover; else fine in wrappers with publisher's promotional sheet laid in.
242. McALLISTER, Bruce. Dream Baby. NY: TOR (1989). The first novel about the CIA's experiments with mind control and ESP in the Vietnam war. This is the second science fiction novel dealing with the war, healers, and psychic or occult phenomena in recent yearsElizabeth Scarborough's The Healer's War, published in 1988 and winner of the Nebula Award, being the other. Fine in fine dust jacket.
243. McCARTHY, Mary. Vietnam. NY: Harcourt, Brace and World (1967). First person account of the author's trip to Vietnam, which she undertook "looking for material damaging to the American interest," as she explains frankly. Only issued in wrappers in this country, which did not please the author: she felt, justifiably, that issuing the book only in softcover both trivialized it and also made it less likely to receive reviewer attention. Owner name on half-title; else fine.
244. McCLARY, Clebe and BARKER, Diane. Living Proof. (Pawley's Island): (McClary) (1982). Fourth printing of a first person account of "Vietnam hero Lt. Clebe McLary," who was badly injured in Vietnam and later became an evangelist. Foreword by Tom Landry, longtime Dallas Cowboys coach. Front cover crease; else near fine in wrappers. Illustrated with photographs. Signed by the author.
245. McNAMARA, Robert S. In Retrospect. The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. (NY): Times Books (1995). Uncorrected proof copy of this enormously controversial history and memoir written by the Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson when the buildup in Vietnam took place. Fine in wrappers.
246. MEIRING, Desmond. The Brinkman. London: Hodder & Stoughton (1964). The correct first edition, preceding the U.S. edition. A novel of Laos in 1959-1960, involving a French journalist, a Vietnamese-Laotian communist and a U.S. C.I.A. agent. Previous owner's name, otherwise fine in fine dust jacket. An uncommon, early novel of the Southeast Asian conflict.
247. MEYER, Nicholas. Target Practice. NY: HBJ (1974). A mystery novel centering around an ex-P.O.W. who commits suicide. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. About near fine in like jacket with one short edge tear at the upper front panel.
248. MILLER, Carolyn Paine. Captured! Chappaqua: Christian Herald Books (1977). A mother's story of her family's imprisonment in 1975 by the Viet Cong while on missionary duty. One of the few books which is both a missionary tale and a POW account. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
249. MILLER, B. W. The Newbe. Florence: HiString (1973). Novelized account of the author's experience in Vietnam, published by a small record company in Alabama. Illustrated with photographs, presumably the author's snapshots. Not listed in the second edition of Newman's bibliography. Fine in near fine dust jacket.
249a. Another copy. Fine in very good dust jacket with a 1" tear at lower front joint. Uncommon.
250. MILLER, Kenn. Tiger the Lurp Dog. Boston: Little Brown (1983). The author's first book, a well-received novel about a LRRP team and their mascot. Fine in near fine dust jacket.
251. MOLLOY, Tom. The Green Line. Charlestown: Charles River (1982). The author's first novel, about a Vietnam vet who is "scarred and haunted by his experiences in the war." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple of short edge tears.
252. MONTGOMERY, George. Till We All Die. NY: Carlton Press (1991). A vanity press personal account of the author's experiences in the war. Fine in fine dust jacket. Signed by the author in the year of publication.
253. MOORE, Daniel. Burnt Heart. Ode to the War Dead. SF: City Lights (1971). A long poem written in response to the war and the suffering it caused. Very near fine in wrappers.
254. MOORE, Robin. The Green Berets. NY: Crown (1965). Very scarce first edition of this novelistic treatment of the war and its heroes. The book was submitted to the Defense Department for clearance; it contained details of South Vietnamese corruption and the torture of a Viet Cong sympathizer and as such was considered a "security" risk. Under pressure from the government, a wraparound band was added to the book, proclaiming "Fiction Stranger than Fact!," apparently to strengthen the impression that the book was "fiction." The first line of the book, however, reads "The Green Berets is a book of truth," and the author goes on to claim veracity, if not absolute accuracy with regard to names and details, for the book's contents. A fascinating bit of literary history, most of which was rendered moot by the fact that the book was a phenomenal success and bestseller; the pressure exerted by the government to back away from unpleasant truths could not match the unremitting commercial pressure of the book's popular appeal, not to mention that the book's overall stance was decidedly pro-American. Basis for the John Wayne film. An interesting footnote in the history of the literature of the war. This is a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with several short, closed edge tears. Lacking the added wraparound band.
255. MOORE, Robin and ROTHBLATT, Henry. Court Martial. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971. A novel about the murder trial of several Green Berets accused of killing a Vietnamese double agent; based on an actual incident. Very good in very good dust jacket. Uncommon.
256. MORRELL, David. First Blood. (NY): Armchair Detective Library (1990). The limited reissue of the author's first book, a well-written adventure novel of a Vietnam vet, which introduced the "Rambo" character into American culture long before the movie of that name. Of a total edition of 126, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. Fine in slipcase.
257. MORRIS, Marjorie and SAUERS, Don. And/Or. NY: Harper & Row (1967). Photographs contrasting images of the Vietnam war with images of peace from the U.S. This is the hardcover issue of a striking book that received wide distribution in its paperback edition. Powerful antiwar images, with dust jacket blurbs by Edward Steichen, Bobby Kennedy and J. William Fulbright. Near fine in near fine dust jacket with one short, diagonal edge tear at the upper front spine fold.
258. MORT, John. Tanks. Kansas City: BkMk (1986). A collection of stories about Vietnam, by a writer who served with the First Air Cavalry there in 1969-70. Very near fine in wrappers.
259. MRAZEK, Col. James. The Art of Winning Wars. NY: Walker (1968). An essay on war by a retired colonel, written in light of the quagmire in Vietnam. Inscribed by the author in 1969. Very near fine in like jacket.