Catalog 126, N-P
280. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Spine- and edge-darkened; crease and chip to rear cover; very good in wrappers. An exceedingly scarce proof, dating from the period when proofs were not routinely produced, let alone saved and filtered into the rare book market. The only copy we've ever seen.
281. NAIPAUL, V.S. Miguel Street. NY: Vanguard (1959)[1960]. A review copy of the first American edition of his third book, which has a printed copyright date of 1959 although the review slip gives the publication date as May 5, 1960. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket. A nearly immaculate copy, and very scarce thus, let alone signed. In custom slipcase.
282. NAIPAUL, V.S. An Area of Darkness. NY: Macmillan (1965). The first American edition of his second book of nonfiction, and the first of his three books on India. Inscribed by the author, with a photograph of Naipaul and the recipient, the former President of Dartmouth College, laid in. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with light edge wear. In custom slipcase. An important book and uncommon signed: at a 2001 reading, Naipaul declined to sign any books but his latest, and he has seldom made himself available for large-scale book signings.
283. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Mimic Men. NY: Macmillan (1967). The first American edition of this novel, which won the W.H. Smith literary award for an outstanding contribution to English literature. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
284. NAIPAUL, V.S. A Flag on the Island. NY: Macmillan (1967)[actually 1968]. The first American edition of this collection of eleven stories set in England, India and the West Indies. Winner of the Booker Prize. Inscribed by the author, with a photograph of Naipaul and the recipient, the former President of Dartmouth College, laid in. Fine in a fine dust jacket. In custom slipcase.
285. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Loss of El Dorado. NY: Knopf, 1969. The first American edition of this nonfiction book which uses the history of Trinidad as a vehicle for exploring colonialism. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. In custom slipcase. Not an uncommon book, but rare signed.
286. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Overcrowded Barracoon. NY: Knopf, 1973. The first American edition of this collection of short nonfiction pieces, mostly from magazines and newspapers. Many of the pieces deal with his usual subject matter -- colonialism and dislocation in the Third World -- and there are also a number of essays on literary subjects. Inscribed by the author. Remainder mark; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with two short edge tears, one at the crown. In custom slipcase.
287. NAIPAUL, V.S. Among the Believers. NY: Knopf, 1981. The first of Naipaul's two controversial and acclaimed books on Islam and the spread of the religion through the non-Arabic countries of Asia, a movement about which Naipaul has been outspoken and highly critical for over two decades, claiming recently that the effect of Islam on India, the country of his ethnic heritage, has been "calamitous" and comparable to colonialism: "There has been no imperialism like that of Islam and the Arabs," he has written, and his books on Islam have taken pains to understand and explain the political rage that seems to accompany the kind of fundamentalist Islam that has been exported throughout the Third World. Inscribed by the author, with a photo of Naipaul sporting a "Sir Vidia" name tag laid in. Fine in a dust jacket that is also fine but for staining on verso. In custom slipcase. An insightful and, despite its being over 20 years old at this point, timely commentary on compelling contemporary issues.
288. NAIPAUL, V.S. Finding the Center. NY: Knopf, 1984. First American edition. Two narratives: "Prologue to an Autobiography" and "The Crocodiles of Yamoussoukro," a nonfiction account of political change in the Ivory Coast. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
289. NAIPAUL, V.S. A House for Mr. Biswas. NY: Knopf/Everyman's Library (1995). A reissue of his fourth book, set in the Caribbean of his youth, and which anticipated the concerns that were to dominate both his fiction and nonfiction in the coming years and lead to his recognition as one of the great social critics of our time in literature. One of the Modern Library top 100 books of the century. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
290. NICHOLS, John. Dancing on the Stones. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press (2000). The hardcover issue of this collection of essays by the author of The Milagro Beanfield War and other novels. Warmly and lengthily inscribed by the author in the year of publication to a former neighbor and signed "with love always/ John/ (Nichols)" with self-caricature. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
291. O'BRIEN, Tim. From The Nuclear Age. (n.p.): Toothpaste Press (1980). A broadside excerpt beginning, "A Soviet SS-13 whizzed right over the house, barely missing us. I nearly died." Printed in an edition of 150 signed copies, this is one of an unspecified, but very small, number of copies designated as printer's proofs (pp). Signed by the author. 10 1/2" x 7 1/4". Near fine.
292. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Some spotting and edge wear, not affecting text; very good.
293. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. The first trade edition of his fifth book, chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the dozen best books of the year, in all categories. By broad consensus one of the best works of fiction to come out of the Vietnam war, and a book that straddles, or blurs, several usually distinct categories: it resembles a novel -- with characters that recur throughout the individual episodes; a memoir (the main character is named "Tim O'Brien" and bears many similarities to the author); and a collection of short stories, related but essentially independent. Whatever its category, it is a candidate to be considered the Vietnam war's equivalent to The Red Badge of Courage -- a straightforward story told from the perspective of one participant in the fighting, which rings with an authenticity that is made all the more powerful by the book's appearing not to pretend to much beyond a simple recounting. The sequence of episodes, however, is couched in a series of reflections on storytelling, the nature of stories, and their relation to truth, which gives the book its own context: while O'Brien writes for a contemporary audience that shares his knowledge of Vietnam, he is also writing for the ages -- for all those who will have only the story to go by, not the experience. The collection won the Heartland Award from the Chicago Tribune and the title story won a National Magazine Award, among numerous other honors that have been heaped on this volume. Like Michael Herr's Dispatches, this is one title that has become a standard in the canon of the literature of the war. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a mildly spine-faded first issue dust jacket.
294. ONDAATJE, Michael. The Concessions. Blythe: (n.p.), "Summer 1981-2". A broadside poem by the author of The English Patient, among others. Approximately 16 1/2" x 23". Although not called for, this copy inscribed by Ondaatje. Rolled, otherwise fine.
295. ONDAATJE, Michael. What We Lost. (n.p.): McClelland & Stewart, 1998. A broadside poem from Ondaatje's collection Handwriting. 9 1/2" x 13". One of an unknown number of copies issued by the press in conjunction with the publication of that collection. Signed by the author. Fine.
296. PELECANOS, George P. A Firing Offense. NY: St. Martin's (1992). His first book, a mystery novel featuring Nick Stefanos. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with two edge tears on the rear panel. One of the most sought after first mysteries of recent years.
297. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
298. PEREZ-REVERTE, Arturo. The Nautical Chart. NY: Harcourt (2001). The first American edition. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
299. PERRY, Thomas. Metzger's Dog. NY: Scribner (1983). The second book by the author of the Edgar Award-winning The Butcher's Boy, among others. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the base of the spine, disguised with added black color.
300. PLATH, Sylvia. The Colossus and Other Poems. NY: Knopf, 1962. The first American edition of the author's first book, which has nine fewer poems than the British edition of 1960. The Colossus was her only collection of poetry published in her lifetime, and only one other of her books was published before she committed suicide -- the autobiographical novel The Bell Jar. This is a fine copy in a very near fine, slightly spine-sunned dust jacket with trace wear at the crown. Probably the nicest copy we have seen or handled.
301. PLATH, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. London: Faber and Faber (1966). Later edition. First published in 1963 under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas," and here issued under Plath's own name. The Bell Jar is largely autobiographical: Plath published pseudonymously in hopes of avoiding the consequences of being recognized by her friends and neighbors, and their recognizing themselves in her book. The book's clearcut exposition of its heroine's pain and attempted suicide was reinforced by its author's actual suicide (barely a month after publication), lending a mythic dimension to the book. A fine copy in a very near fine, slightly rubbed dust jacket with a small price sticker over the original on the front flap.
302. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Harper & Row (1971). Not published in the U.S. for nearly a decade after the original British publication and the author's subsequent suicide. Owner name on pastedown under front flap; mild fading to top stain; a very near fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with some slight edge nicks.
303. PLATH, Sylvia. Ariel. NY: Harper & Row (1966). The first American edition of this posthumous collection, her greatest poetic achievement. These poems were written during the last months of Plath's life. Introduction by Robert Lowell. Fine in a near fine, mildly sunned dust jacket. A beautiful copy.
304. PLATH, Sylvia. Crossing the Water. NY: Harper & Row (1971). The first American edition of this posthumously published collection of poems from the period between The Colossus and Ariel. Mild edge-sunning to boards; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
305. PROULX, Annie. The Shipping News. NY: Scribner (1993). Her third work of fiction and second novel, which won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize -- a rare literary double. It has since been made into a movie, directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed The Cider House Rules and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, among others. Fine in a fine dust jacket.