Catalog 129, I-K
276. IRVING, John. The World According to Garp. NY: Dutton (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of the author's fourth novel, his breakthrough book and one of the best-loved novels of recent times, winner of the National Book Award when it was reprinted in paperback the following year. This is the second issue proof, in tall green wrappers. Because there was a widely distributed advance reading copy (reported to have been printed in an edition of 1500 copies -- a huge number, in those days, for a literary novel), copies of the proof are scarce. Spine-sunned, one spine fold crease, and some spotting to covers; very good.
277. IRVING, John. The Hotel New Hampshire. NY: Dutton (1981). An uncorrected proof copy of the author's fifth book. This is a later issue proof, with pages 1A and 1 tipped in, in that order. There is both an earlier typeset state of the proof and a rare, first issue proof shot from typescript. Near fine in wrappers.
278. IRVING, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany. (London): Bloomsbury (1989). The advance reading copy of the first British edition of what may be Irving's best-loved book (a substantial claim for a book by the author of The World According to Garp), and the novel from which the movie Simon Birch was adapted. Read, with light creases; very good in wrappers. Uncommon.
279. IRVING, John. A Son of the Circus. NY: Random House (1994). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. The first page, which contained the Random House catalogue copy describing the book and the author, has been excised, reportedly at the author's request. Fine in wrappers.
280. -. Another copy. The first page has again been excised; otherwise this is a fine, unread copy in wrappers and signed by the author for the Random House sales force, to whom these were given for promotional use. All signed copies that we have seen of this title have had the first page removed.
281. IRVING, John. The Fourth Hand. NY: Random House (2001). An advance state consisting of 8 1/2" x 11" typeset sheets, tapebound in cardstock covers. Covers a bit creased at corners; near fine. With publisher's letter laid in, dated 3/26/01, slightly over three months prior to publication, and thus preceding the more common, smaller-format proof.
282. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers, with the dust jacket art bound in.
283. JANOWITZ, Tama. The Male Cross-Dresser Support Group. NY: Crown (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the author of Slaves of New York, among others. Small nick to front panel; else fine in wrappers and signed by the author on the front cover.
284. JAPRISOT, Sebastien. Goodbye, Friend. NY: Simon & Schuster (1969). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this early novel by the author of the award-winning, A Very Long Engagement. Corner clipped from rear cover; very good in tall, padbound wrappers. Fragile and scarce.
285. JONG, Erica. Half-Lives. NY: HRW (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of the author's second collection of poetry. Inscribed by the author. Fine in tall wrappers. Jong's breakthrough novel, Fear of Flying, redefined the parameters for acceptable commercial fiction in the wake of the newfound freedoms of the Sixties and the women's movement, so much so that its title became a byword, and a part of the vernacular of contemporary political discussion.
286. JONG, Erica. How to Save Your Own Life. NY: HRW (1977). The uncorrected proof copy of her first novel after the phenomenal success of Fear of Flying. Inscribed by the author on the front cover in the year of publication: "For ___ -in the hopes that your life is already saved! affectionately - Erica." A Burgess 99 title. Near fine in tall wrappers.
287. JONG, Erica. At the Edge of the Body. NY: Holt Rinehart Winston (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of the fourth book of poetry by the author of Fear of Flying. Name in marker half blotted out on front cover (presumably the reviewer to whom the book was assigned); overall very good, and inscribed by the author and signed "with love."
288. KAPLAN, Johanna. O My America! NY: Harper & Row (1980). An uncorrected proof copy of the author's second book, first novel. Her first book, Other People's Lives, was a collection of stories that was nominated for the National Book Award. Near fine in wrappers. Inscribed by the author and dated in October of 1979, three months prior to publication.
289. KENNEDY, Raymond. Columbine. NY: FSG (1980). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that covered some of the same territory as Scott Spencer's Endless Love. A touching and well-written adolescent love story. Slight sunning to front cover; else fine in tall wrappers. Inscribed by the author two months prior to publication.
290. KENNEDY, William. The "Albany Trilogy." The uncorrected proof copies of the first three books of the Albany sequence -- Legs (NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan, 1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game (NY: Viking, 1978) and Ironweed (NY: Viking, 1983; Pulitzer Prize winner). Three volumes, all in fine condition, all of them signed by the author. A remarkable set; very scarce proofs to begin with, and exceptionally scarce signed.
291. KENNEDY, William. Legs. NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan (1975). The uncorrected proof copy of Kennedy's second novel, and the first in his acclaimed "Albany sequence," which continued with Billy Phelan's Greatest Game and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ironweed. A scarce, early proof, which predates by several years the literary celebrity that attended the winning of the Pulitzer and, later, the filming of Ironweed as a major Hollywood movie. Spot to rear cover; near fine in wrappers.
292. KENNEDY, William. Billy Phelan's Greatest Game. (n.p.): Penguin (1982). The uncorrected proof copy of the reissue of the second book in his Albany sequence. Sticker residue on the summary page; else fine in wrappers.
293. KENNEDY, William. Quinn's Book. (n.p.): Viking (1988). The uncorrected proof copy of this historical novel by the author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning Ironweed. Near fine in wrappers, and signed by the author.
294. -. Another copy. Fine in wrappers, and inscribed by the author.
295. -. Another copy. Fine in wrappers.
296. KILLENS, John Oliver. The Cotillion. NY: Trident Press (1971). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the African American author who co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild and was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, including for this book. Inscribed by the author in 1972. Tall, fragile, padbound proofs, with covers very near detaching; but holding out at very good.
297. KING, Stephen. Rose Madder. (n.p.): Viking (1995). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the bestselling writer who was recently given an award by the National Book Foundation for his distinguished contribution to American letters. Fine in wrappers.
298. KING, Stephen. Hearts in Atlantis. (NY): Scribner (1999). The advance reading copy of his book of fiction, five interconnected narratives spanning four decades and affected in some way by the Sixties and the Vietnam War. Fine in wrappers.
299. KING, Stephen. Everything's Eventual. NY: Scribner (2002). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of stories, one of which was previously unpublished and three others of which were only available via the internet. One light corner turn to cover; else fine in wrappers.
300. KINNELL, Galway. When One Has Lived A Long Time Alone. NY: Knopf, 1990. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poetry by this winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Inscribed by the author in 1995. Fine in wrappers.
301. KITTREDGE, William. Owning It All. (St. Paul): Graywolf Press, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of the second book by one of the preeminent writers of the contemporary American West, which was only published in softcover. Fine in wrappers, and reproducing several holograph corrections to the text. With a letter of transmittal, dated almost three months prior to publication. A very scarce proof, having been done by a relatively small press, and an important book by one of the writers whose work, over the last two decades, has defined the literature of the "New West" in America.
302. KIZER, Carolyn. Mermaids in the Basement. Port Townsend: Copper Canyon, 1984. The uncommon uncorrected proof copy of poems by a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, from an important small press. Stapled sheets with a black tape spine. A low-tech production, suggesting very few were done. Kizer won the Pulitzer Prize the following year, for her collection Yin. Fine, with publisher's promotional sheet laid in.
303. KLEIN, Joe. Woody Guthrie. A Life. NY: Knopf, 1980. The uncorrected proof copy of the first book, a biography of the legendary folk singer/activist, by the author of Primary Colors. A well-received and well-written biography, which exhibits a flair for drama and characterization that anticipates the author's venture into fiction. Fine in wrappers.
304. KLEIN, Joe. "Anonymous." Primary Colors. NY: Random House (1996). The uncorrected proof copy of the anonymous novel closely based on Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign. The question of the identity of the book's author became the hot issue among Washington insiders as soon as the book was published and continued unabated until a sleuthing reporter from the Washington Post identified Klein by the handwriting on a marked set of galleys. The subsequent scandal became an issue of "journalistic ethics" -- Klein was a columnist for Newsweek at the time and had flatly denied writing the book, as had his superiors at the magazine -- and resulted in Klein leaving Newsweek and taking a position at The New Yorker. The first printing, while not small, was immediately sold out and the book went into numerous printings, becoming a huge bestseller. While copies of the first edition are scarce, the proof is decidedly more so, and this is the only copy we have seen that is signed by the author: "Best wishes/ Anonymous/ JK." The only signed copy of the proof that we have seen. Fine in wrappers.
305. KOVIC, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. NY: McGraw-Hill (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of one of the first and one of the angriest of the personal accounts to come out in the aftermath of the war. Of all the memoirs prompted by experience in Vietnam, this one still resonates with a bitter irony that has not been surpassed, and is a vivid reminder of the human costs of that war. The searing pain of stories of this kind is what makes the notion of reconciliation and recovery meaningful. Kovic was, literally, born on the 4th of July, which makes him a fitting spokesman for all who paid the price of injury and betrayal in Vietnam. Basis for an award-winning film. Creasing to spine and front cover; still near fine in wrappers.
306. KRAKAUER, Jon. Into the Wild. (NY): Villard Books (1996). The advance reading copy of the second book by the author of Into Thin Air. Like his more famous title, this one also recounts a tragedy in the wilderness, albeit not one he was part of or witness to. This account of a young man venturing into the Alaska wilderness armed mostly with hope and a desire for a closeness with nature provided a cautionary antidote to the tendency in our Western, urbanized society to romanticize nature and ignore the struggles and hardships of a life lived in close proximity to the forces of the natural world. Fine in wrappers.
307. KRAMER, Larry. Faggots. NY: Random House (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the screenwriter for D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love, and an important AIDS activist. This copy was sent to film critic Pauline Kael for review. Kael's pencilled notes throughout; near fine in tapebound cardstock covers.