Catalog 104, C-E
67. CAMUS, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. NY: Knopf, 1955. The first American edition. Underlining and marginal notes in the preface and the text to page 7; otherwise a fine copy in a very good dust jacket (laminated by a previous owner) with some fading and surface soiling but no edgewear. One of the most important philosophical works by the author of The Stranger, among others.
68. CANIN, Ethan. Blue River. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. The second book, first novel, by this recipient of Granta's top twenty young authors honors. Signed by the author in 1995. Mark to top page edge, possibly a remainder mark, partially abraded; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
69. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Pan Books, 1992). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
70. CANIN, Ethan. The Palace Thief. NY: Random House (1994). The author's third book, a collection of novellas. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in 1995.
71. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
72. 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.
73. CAREY, Peter. The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith. London: Faber and Faber (1994). The first British edition of this novel by the author of the Booker Prize-winning Oscar and Lucinda. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with one short tear at the lower rear spine fold.
74. CARROLL, Jim. Poem, Interview, Photographs. Louisville: White Fields Press, 1994. A small chapbook printing a poem, "8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain," and an interview about the contemporary poetry scene as compared with that of the Beat generation in the Sixties, along with several photographs. Of a total edition of 300 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. A sensitive, poetic tribute to Cobain, leader of the rock group, Nirvana, a heroin addict, and a suicide. Carroll's poem is written from the perspective of one who has "been there," both in terms of his heroin addiction and in terms of the struggle with artistic integrity in the glaring light of celebrity. Fine in stapled wrappers.
75. CARTER, Angela. Heroes and Villains. London: Heinemann (1969). The uncorrected proof copy of her fourth book. Price inked on front cover and half title, where there is also a bookstore stamp. Spine-cocked and creased, some surface soiling; very good in wrappers.
76. CHABON, Michael. Wonder Boys. NY: Villard Books, 1995. The advance reading copy of the third book by the author of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Werewolves in Their Youth, among others. Fine in wrappers.
77. CHATWIN, Bruce. Autograph Letter Signed. [July, 1986]. Two full pages, written on two sides of one sheet. Written to two researchers of the history of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Patagonia, providing, in answer to their questions, information on all he had encountered of the legend and the evidence in Cholila. Signed, "Bruce Chatwin." Folded in eighths for mailing; else fine. Hand-addressed mailing envelope included. With a retained copy of the letter that was sent to Chatwin. Autograph material by Chatwin is extremely scarce.
78. CHATWIN, Bruce. Autograph Postcard Signed. [August, 1986]. Written to the two researchers of the Cassidy and the Sundance Kid legend, who had informed Chatwin that a man who had given him a tour of the outlaws' hideouts was serving a murder sentence in Utah for strangling his wife. Chatwin's postcard reads: "---was a weirdo. Thank god he didn't strangle me. B.C." The front of the postcard shows beaded artwork depicting a personified winter and some animals. One light corner bump; postal markings; else fine. With a retained copy of the letter that had elicited the response.
79. CHAUDHURI, Amit. Freedom Song. (London): Picador (1998). The advance reading copy of this highly praised novel by a young Indian writer whose first book was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1991. Fine in wrappers.
80. CHEEVER, John. The Journals of John Cheever. NY: Knopf, 1991. The uncorrected proof copy of this award-winning selection from the writer's journals. Fine in wrappers.
81. CONNELLY, Michael. The Poet. Boston: Little Brown (1996). His fifth novel, which breaks away from the Harry Bosch series and features reporter Jack McEvoy and a psychopathic villain as eerily intelligent as Hannibal Lecter. Winner of an Anthony Award for Best Novel of the year. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
82. CONRAD, Joseph. The Nigger of the "Narcissus." London: Heinemann, 1898. The first edition, first issue, of one of Conrad's greatest novels -- a book that lives up to its author's dictum that a work of art "should carry its justification in every line." Points of issue penciled in on front pastedown; cloth rubbed and frayed a bit at tail of spine; hinges starting; a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket.
83. CREWS, Harry. Karate is a Thing of the Spirit. NY: Morrow, 1971. His fourth novel, generally considered one of his best books. Inscribed by the author to a well-known writer with "thoughts of love and joy." Mild foxing to the spine cloth and page edges; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Laid in is a Christmas card from "Harry, Sally and Byron," apparently written in Sally's hand.
84. CREWS, Harry. The Hawk is Dying. NY: Knopf, 1973. His sixth novel. Signed by the author. One light corner bump; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
85. CROWLEY, John. Beasts. Garden City: Doubleday, 1976. The second book by the author of Little, Big, which won the World Fantasy Award and was selected as one of David Pringle's 100 best fantasy novels of all time. Crowley is also the author of the Aegypt, which was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and was also chosen as one of Pringle's 100 best. One of his other novels, Engine Summer, was selected by Pringle for his list of the 100 best science fiction novels ever, and three of his six novels were chosen by Yale literary critic Harold Bloom for his controversial list of the works comprising "the Western canon." An important author who is still relatively little-known outside the fields of science fiction and fantasy, except among the cognoscenti of contemporary literature. Remainder speckling bottom page edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
86. CUNNINGHAM, Michael. Flesh and Blood. NY: FSG (1995). The third book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours (although only one prior publication is listed within). Fine in dust jacket, and signed by the author.
87. CUNNINGHAM, Michael. The Hours. NY: FSG (1998). His fourth book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, a rare literary "double." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
88. D'AMBROSIO, Charles. The Point. Boston: Little Brown (1995). His first book, a collection of stories. D'Ambrosio won the 1993 Aga Khan fiction prize from the Paris Review. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
89. DELILLO, Don. The Names. NY: Knopf, 1982. A quintessential DeLillo novel, which throws into sharp relief the individual, the family, and language, amid the vagaries of international events. This copy bears the ownership label of author Julian Barnes on the front pastedown. Tipped to the flyleaf is a 1987 letter of transmittal from Knopf to Barnes. Light corner bumping; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
90. DELILLO, Don. Underworld. (n.p.): Picador (1998). An advance reading copy of the first British edition. The rear cover declares the title "The American Novel of the Decade," an appellation it somehow missed in this country. Very slight corner crease to rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
91. -. Same title. An advance excerpt of the British edition, running 60 pages. Fine in wrappers.
92. DICK, Philip K. The Cosmic Puppets. NY: Ace (1957). Paperback original, bound back-to-back with Sargasso of Space, by Andrew North [i.e., Andre Norton]. Small corner crease on rear cover, otherwise this is a very nice copy, very near fine in wrappers and exceptionally scarce thus. Inscribed by the author to Tim Powers, Dick's best friend and a science fiction writer who twice won the Philip K. Dick Award: "To Tim -/ with affection/ Philip K. Dick." An excellent association copy by a writer who has five books listed in Pringle's top 100 science fiction novels of all time, and whose works include such SF classics as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Man in the High Castle and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.
93. DICK, Philip K. The Crack in Space. NY: Ace (1966). Paperback original. Pages darkened with age, otherwise a fine copy. Inscribed by the author: "To Tim Powers - a/ good friend & drinking/ companion./ Philip K. Dick." A novel that explicitly dealt with racial issues, which were in the forefront of the political consciousness of the time, and, as such, a good example of how Dick helped consolidate the idea of science fiction as a genre of writing capable of being used for serious consideration of social and philosophical issues, and as a vehicle for meaningful social commentary. A very nice copy.
94. DICK, Philip K. A Maze of Death. Bantam (1977). The second paperback reissue of this novel originally published in 1970. Inscribed by the author to Tim Powers, "the sex maniac of Orange County." Fine in wrappers.
95. DICK, Philip K. The Golden Man. (NY): Berkley (1980). The uncorrected proof copy of this paperback original. A collection of stories which Dick helped select, and for which he wrote an introduction and "story notes." Inscribed by Dick (somewhat incoherently) to Tim Powers -- an inscription in which Dick has managed to misspell both Powers' name ("Pouers," with the "u" struck and a "w" written above it) and his own (two "l"s in "Phillip," the latter crossed out). Near fine in spine-darkened wrappers. An extremely scarce proof: proofs are done in much smaller quantities for paperback novels than for hardcovers, generally; the ones that we have seen for which we have been able to get reasonably reliable numbers have been done in print runs of fewer than two dozen copies. And, again, an excellent association.
96. DIDION, Joan. The White Album. NY: Simon & Schuster (1979). Her second collection of the sometimes-astringent personal essays that have, in large part, established her considerable literary reputation. Fine in a fine dust jacket with one crease on the front flap.
97. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979). Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
98. DOCTOROW, E.L. Loon Lake. NY: Random House (1980). His fifth novel, and first after the success of Ragtime, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
99. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Spine slant; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded and price-clipped dust jacket.
100. DUBUS, Andre. The Last Worthless Evening. Boston: Godine (1986). A collection of four novellas and two stories. Dampstaining to lower rear board; very good in a very good dust jacket.
101. DUBUS, Andre. Broken Vessels. (London): Picador (1993). The first British edition of the first book of nonfiction by the author of Meditations from a Movable Chair. This collection is introduced by Tobias Wolff. Erasure front flyleaf; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
102. DUFRESNE, John. Louisiana Power and Light. NY: Norton (1994). His highly praised second book, first novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
103. DUFRESNE, John. Love Warps the Mind a Little. NY: Norton (1997). The most recent novel by the author of Louisiana Power and Light and The Way That Water Enters Stone. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
104. ELLISON, Ralph. Flying Home and Other Stories. NY: Random House (1996). The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumous collection of short fiction by the author of Invisible Man. Most of these stories date from early in Ellison's writing career and about half had never been published before. Fine in wrappers.
105. ELLISON, Ralph. Juneteenth. NY: Random House (1999). The advance reading copy of Ellison's posthumously published novel. Publication of this book created a minor controversy: it was excerpted from a much larger mass of manuscript pages and, in effect, was only one of the many subplots of the actual novel on which Ellison was working (and had been for decades) when he died. Critics took the editor and publisher to task for the creation of this particular novel for which, they said, there was no evidence that Ellison himself had ever envisioned it as a separate book. Laid in are twelve pages of notes Ellison wrote to himself about the book, which appeared in the published version but not in this advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
106. ELLROY, James. Brown's Requiem. (NY): Avon (1981). The author's first book, a paperback original, nominated for a Shamus Award. Spine-creasing; very minor dampstaining to top stain and foredge; about near fine in wrappers.
107. ELLROY, James. White Jazz. NY: Knopf, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of this crime novel set in L.A. in the Fifties. Fine in wrappers.
108. ENGLANDER, Nathan. For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. NY: Knopf, 1999. His first book, a collection of stories that earned extraordinary praise and was quickly reprinted a number of times. Signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. One very slight corner bump; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
109. ERICKSON, Steve. The Sea Came in at Midnight. (NY): Avon (1999). The advance reading copy (marked "Advance Uncorrected Proof") of his highly praised latest novel, focused on millennial, and millennarian, issues. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket (which reprints the oft-used Thomas Pynchon blurb).
110. EVANOVICH, Janet. One for the Money. NY: Scribner (1994). The first book in her highly praised Stephanie Plum series of comic mystery novels. Nominated for the Agatha and Edgar Awards for Best First Novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.