Catalog 109, R-S
348. RAPHAELSON, Samson. The Human Nature of Playwriting. NY: Macmillan, 1949. A book on playwriting by the author of The Jazz Singer, among others. Inscribed by the author to another writer. Fine in a very good dust jacket.
349. ROTH, Philip. My Life as a Man. NY: HRW (1974). The uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author in 1975. Small stain to front wrapper, otherwise a fine copy in wrappers. An uncommon proof, especially signed.
350. ROTH, Philip. The Facts. NY: FSG (1988). The uncorrected proof copy of his autobiography. Roth, the author of Goodbye, Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint, reached a new level of literary acclaim in the 1990s, with four of his books winning the major literary awards given out in this country -- the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Fine in wrappers.
351. RUSHDIE, Salman. Midnight's Children. London: Jonathan Cape (1981). The first British edition of the author's second book, winner of the Booker Prize, and the first book in Rushdie's ambitious sequence of novels of the Muslim world, which culminated in The Satanic Verses and the death sentence imposed on him by Moslem fundamentalists. The American edition is the true first, preceding the British (they were both printed in this country); however, this is the more desirable edition for "following the flag" and it is also considerably scarcer than the U.S. edition, with 2500 copies printed (the British book market being approximately one-fifth the size of the U.S. market). An important book that launched Rushdie's literary career as it represented a quantum leap from the subject matter and accomplishment of his first novel. This title was named as the outstanding title among all the Booker Prize winners -- the "Booker of Bookers." Light bump to one lower corner; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a hint of sunning to the spine.
352. SALINGER, J.D. Twenty-Two Stories. (n.p.): (Train Bridge Recluse) (1998). A later edition of the pirated stories that first appeared together in the two-volume piracy The Complete Uncollected Short Stories in 1974. (Actually, only the later issues carried 22 stories; the first issue lacked "Go See Eddie.") This is a one-volume piracy, in plain blue wrappers and with a wraparound band listing the contents. Fine.
353. (SALINGER, J.D.). Studies in J.D. Salinger. NY: Odyssey Press (1963). Reviews, essays and critiques by John Updike, Joan Didion, Harvey Swados, Dan Wakefield, Mary McCarthy and others. Updike's piece, "Franny and Zooey," is reprinted from The New York Times Book Review, with "several emendations of the text. . . made at Mr. Updike's request." Spine-creased; else near fine in wrappers. An early and significant book of Salinger criticism.
354. (SALINGER, J.D.). HAMILTON, Ian. In Search of J.D. Salinger. NY: Random House (1988). The uncorrected proof copy of the controversial biography which was originally suppressed when Salinger objected to the quoting of a number of his letters that reside in the archive of the author's papers at the University of Texas. Publication was halted, legal wrangling ensued, with the result being that Hamilton had to revise his book, editing out not only the direct quotes from Salinger's letters but even his own paraphrasing of them -- ruled to be in violation of the "fair use" clause of the Copyright Act. This is the revised proof, with the offending quotes edited out. Tiny spots on foredge, else fine in wrappers.
355. SALTER, James. Autograph Postcard Signed. October 5, 1997. A brief note agreeing to sign a book, written on a Washington D.C. hotel postcard. Tiny nick at margin; still fine. Signed with the author's initials.
356. SARAMAGO, José. The Tale of the Unknown Island. NY: Harcourt Brace (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this fable by the 1998 Nobel Prize-winning author. Translated by Margaret Jull Costa and illustrated by Peter Sís. Fine in wrappers.
357. SARTON, May. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing. NY: Norton (1974). A reissue of perhaps her best-known novel, first published in 1965. Signed by the author. This edition has a new introduction by author Carolyn Heilbrun, a noted writer on feminist issues. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a jagged tear at the upper front spine fold.
358. SAUNDERS, George. Civilwarland in Bad Decline. NY: Random House (1996). The uncorrected proof copy of his highly acclaimed first book. Fine in wrappers. Saunders was selected as one of The New Yorker magazine's 20 best American writers under 40. The publisher's promotional material that is laid in includes a blurb by Thomas Pynchon, among others.
359. SAUNDERS, George. Pastoralia. NY: Riverhead Books, 2000. The advance reading copy of his second short story collection. A crease across the mid-spine; else fine in wrappers. The cover reprints the Pynchon blurb from his earlier book.
360. SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Laguna Woman. Greenfield Center: Greenfield Review (1974). Her elusive first book, a collection of poems published by Native American author and publisher Joseph Bruchac's press. Silko's first exposure to wide readership came in The Man to Send Rain Clouds, an anthology of fiction edited by poet Kenneth Rosen in 1974. She had several stories in the collection, one of which was selected for Martha Foley's Bicentennial anthology, 200 Years of American Short Stories, a remarkable honor for a writer who had not even had a book of fiction published at that point. As an individual of mixed descent -- part Laguna Pueblo, part Mexican, part white -- Silko wrote from a perspective that acknowledged and used elements of each culture, while she herself was apart from all of them -- an outsider -- and as such, her perception was remarkably individuated, free from the clichés of standard Indian stories. It was in this way -- in her ability to create characters who were alienated from both mainstream society and their own cultures -- that she not only created compelling stories and characters but came to be regarded as a voice for the disenfranchised. Now her writings appear widely in anthologies and as introductions, although now they are more overtly "political," and more explicitly identified as "Indian." For a writer whose total literary output over 25 years is relatively small, Silko has had enormous influence -- on publishing, on college campuses in Native American literature and multiculturalism courses, and in helping to define the parameters of a Native American literature that avails itself of Western forms and the written word at the same time that it draws upon tribal oral traditions of storytelling and other ceremonial purposes. Fine in stapled wrappers. A very attractive copy of a rare and important first book.
361. SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. NY: Viking (1977). Her first novel, which combines traditional native storytelling techniques with the Western form of the novel, to create a book that embodies what it describes -- the book itself is structured as a healing ceremony. Inscribed by Silko in the year of publication to writer and publisher Gus Blaisdell. In the 1970s, Silko was attending law school and Blaisdell was in charge of grants to ethnic writers at the National Endowment for the Arts. Blaisdell awarded a grant to Silko that allowed her to quit law school and write this book. The inscription reads: "For Gus,/ The one who kept me/ going at a time when/ I almost became a/ lawyer instead./ I won't forget,/ Love,/ Leslie/ 12 April 1977/ Albuquerque." Fine in a near fine, spine-faded first issue dust jacket with a paper clip imprint at the upper edge of the front panel and a tiny gutter nick on the rear panel. An excellent association copy of this important novel.
362. SPARK, Debra. Coconuts for the Saint. Boston: Faber and Faber (1994). Fine in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author. Laid in is an autograph note signed by the author (12/23/95) thanking the recipient for asking for her signature.
363. SPICER, Jack. Billy the Kid. (Stinson Beach): (Enkidu Surrogate) (1959). One of 750 copies printed of this book of poetry by one of the significant writers of the San Francisco poetry renaissance of the 1950s. Illustrations by "Jess" -- i.e., Jess Collins, longtime friend of Spicer and partner of poet Robert Duncan. A bit of edge wear to the front cover; else fine in stapled wrappers.
364. STAFFORD, Jean. The Catherine Wheel. NY: Harcourt Brace (1952). Her third novel. Inscribed by the author in 1974. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. A very nice copy of this book which, because of its soft paper dust jacket, usually shows up frayed and well-worn. Stafford's Collected Stories won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1970. Books signed or inscribed by her are relatively uncommon.
365. STAFFORD, Jean. A Mother in History. NY: FSG (1966). A review copy of this nonfiction account of the author's meeting with Lee Harvey Oswald's mother. Inscribed by the author, in part, "...who suffered longer than the Warren Commission." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a sticker removal mark on the front panel.
366. STEGNER, Wallace. A Shooting Star. NY: Viking, 1961. One of 750 advance copies of this novel by the author of The Big Rock Candy Mountain, Angle of Repose and others. For over four decades Stegner was one of the leading voices in developing a regional literature of the West that was specific to place but transcendent in its concerns, both moral and literary. As a teacher at Stanford University, he was also influential in helping educate a generation of writers; his students included such now-prominent authors as Wendell Berry, Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, Ken Kesey, Tillie Olsen, Ed McClanahan, and many others. This advance edition was printed for friends of the author and publisher and was not offered for sale. Small tears to two lower page edges; else fine in a very good, modestly edgeworn dust jacket that differs in design from the dust jacket of the trade edition.
367. SWENSON, May. Half Sun Half Sleep. NY: Scribner (1967). A review copy of the hardcover edition of this collection of poems. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip and promotional material laid in.