Catalog 137, E-G
79. EGGERS, Dave. The Unforbidden is Compulsory Or, Optimism. (San Francisco): (McSweeney's) (2004). A "self-contained portion of a larger work." 61 pages. Fine in wrappers.
80. ELIOT, T.S. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. (NY): Harcourt, Brace (1939). A review copy (so stamped on the front flyleaf) of the first American edition, which had a first printing of only 2000 copies. Owner label front pastedown of Herbert Boyce Satcher, vicar of St. Aidan's Parish mission to Trinity Church of Oxford, on front pastedown; fine in a near fine, mildly spine-darkened dust jacket with a small tear at the crown. A nice copy, scarce as a review copy, and with interesting provenance.
81. ELLROY, James. Destination: Morgue! NY: Vintage (2004). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of three novellas, which was published in the U.S. as a paperback original. Fine in wrappers. Proofs of softcover publications are generally considerably scarcer than those for hardcover publications.
82. ERDRICH, Louise. Jacklight. NY: Holt Rinehart Winston (1984). Her first book of poetry, which was only issued in wrappers. According to a letter she wrote shortly after publication, the book was declined by 19 publishers before Holt Rinehart Winston decided to give it a chance, together with her first novel, Love Medicine. Fine in wrappers. After the critical and commercial success of Love Medicine, Erdrich's books became bestsellers upon publication, as well as continuing to receive extraordinary critical praise.
83. ERDRICH, Louise. Love Medicine. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1984). A review copy of her first novel, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the L.A. Times Award for Best Novel of the Year. Critical acclaim for this novel was instantaneous and unanimous, and it went through several printings soon after publication. Love Medicine was the first in an ongoing sequence of novels, each of which has been well-received, and each has had a larger first printing than the last: Erdrich has come to be one of the most commercially successful literary authors writing in America today. As with the best Native American writing, Erdrich's writing is infused with a rich sense of myth derived from American Indian traditions, even as it uses the Western forms of poetry and the novel to contain and shape the images. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
84. ERDRICH, Louise. Autograph Postcard Signed. October, 1986 or 1988. Brief card to a then-unpublished novelist, thanking him for his kind words and stating that Jacklight had been reprinted and should be readily available. Signed in full by Erdrich. The photo on the front of the card depicts the Minnesota sugar beet harvest, the locale of Erdrich's second novel, The Beet Queen. Fine.
85. ERDRICH, Louise and DORRIS, Michael. Route 2. Northridge: Lord John Press, 1991. Her first limited edition, a travel essay co-written with Dorris, her husband. Illustrated with drawings by Erdrich. Of a total edition of 301 copies, this is one of 275 numbered copies signed by both authors. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
86. ERDRICH, Louise. "Z" in Matters of Fact: A Nonfiction Medley. (n.p.): (Viking) (1991). An eight-page pamphlet printing Erdrich's essay as an advance excerpt of the book The Movie That Changed My Life. In a sometime humorous and self-deprecating essay, Erdrich chronicles her awakening political awareness as a result of the Costa Gavras film about a Greek leftist leader who is assassinated by a secret death squad. Erdrich's novels, while consistently praised for their lyrical and luminous writing, also reflect an understanding of the hard edge of social and political oppression that has afflicted her Native American characters, and their forbears, through the years. Fine in stapled wrappers.
87. ERDRICH, Louise. The Bingo Palace. Northridge: Lord John, 1994. The limited edition of the fourth novel in the series that began with Love Medicine. One of 150 numbered copies, signed by the author. Clothbound; fine in a fine slipcase.
88. -. Same title, the deluxe edition. One of 26 lettered copies, bound in quarter leather and marbled paper-covered boards, and signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase. This is the letter "U."
89. (FOER, Jonathan Safran). A Convergence of Birds. (NY): Distributed Art Publishers (2001). A collection of original writings inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and edited by Foer. Contributors include Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Diane Ackerman, Siri Hustvedt, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, Bradford Morrow, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Joanna Scott and others, including Foer, who contributes both a chapter and the introduction. There was a limited edition and a trade edition; this is the trade edition. Fine, with tipped-in photographs of Cornell's work, in a fine dust jacket. Signed by Foer.
90. (FOER, Jonathan Safran). Dark Laughter. (Annandale-on-Hudson): Bard College (2001). Issued as Conjunctions 36 and co-edited by Foer and Bradford Morrow. This issue is partially devoted to black comedy, with contributions by George Saunders, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Robert Coover, Alexander Theroux, William Vollmann and many others. Introduced by the editors and signed by Foer. The contributors notes list Foer's then-upcoming first novel, Everything is Illuminated, and state he is at work on his second, The Permanent Collection. His second novel was eventually titled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Fine in wrappers.
91. FRAZIER, Charles. Cold Mountain. NY: Atlantic Monthly (1997). His first book, a Civil War novel and a publishing phenomenon: after a modest 25,000 copy first printing, the book went into dozens of additional printings, eventually selling more than a million copies in hardcover and winning the National Book Award -- a rare combination of literary and commercial success for any work of fiction, let alone a first novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with the John Berendt blurb attached on a label to the front panel (not exactly an issue point, as some copies had this affixed on publication day, while others didn't).
92. FUENTES, Carlos. The Good Conscience. NY: Ivan Obolensky (1961). The first American edition of the second novel by the Mexican writer-statesman, one of the leading Latin American men of letters of the 20th century. Small bookstore label front pastedown; fine in a near fine dust jacket with a thin corner stain on the rear panel.
93. GARDNER, John. The Sunlight Dialogues. NY: Knopf, 1972. Gardner's fourth novel and the one which is considered by many his magnum opus. Inscribed by the author. Illustrated by John Napper; Gardner believed strongly in the importance of illustrations in his novels -- an uncommon practice these days which harkens back to an earlier era of publishing -- and he was able to persuade his publishers to allow him to indulge this preference. Half-title through page xiv cut short at the foredge, a binding error; this is otherwise a fine copy in a fine dust jacket of a title that was printed on paper that is slightly too heavy for the binding, such that the signatures tend to sag. Overall a very attractive copy of a book that is seldom found this way and even less often found signed.
94. GARDNER, John. On Moral Fiction. NY: Basic Books (1978). Arguably Gardner's most important book, a controversial polemic that took the unpopular position that artists bear a moral responsibility that they ignore at the risk of rendering their work irrelevant. The controversy around this essay beset Gardner beyond all expectations, and he was painted by some as a fascist and throwback to a time when Art only served the prevailing moral, social, and political order. The author's untimely death in a motorcycle accident in 1982 short-circuited the debate, which has been picked up since by others who have, like Gardner, argued for meaning and relevance in art, not just expression. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
John Gardner's Copies
95. (GARDNER, John). STEINBECK, John. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. NY: FSG (1976). Two copies of the uncorrected proof, each sent to John Gardner, one from the publisher and one from the New York Times. The first copy, sent from the publisher, has Gardner's notes in the text and a list of possible publications to send the review to on the cover. The second copy, from the New York Times, has a transmittal slip laid in with Gardner's name on it. Gardner's review was published in the Times. Both copies are very good in tall wrappers. For both:
96. (GARDNER, John). FOWLES, John. Daniel Martin. Boston: Little Brown (1977). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of Fowles' "defence and illustration of an unfashionable philosophy, humanism, and also...an exploration of what it is to be English." This copy belonged to John Gardner, and this title was Gardner's favorite example of "moral fiction," as explored in his book On Moral Fiction. His glowing review of it appeared in The Saturday Review. A truly worn copy, cocked and handled, with Gardner's marginal markings and a page of his notes on the inner rear cover. Provenance on request.
97. (GARDNER, John). MSS, Spring 1981. Dallas: Press Works Publishing (1981). A literary magazine edited by Gardner and L.M. Rosenberg and with an introduction by Gardner, resurrecting a magazine that Gardner began publishing in 1962, several years before his first novel was published. The magazine featured young and mostly relatively unknown (at the time) writers. This is the hardcover limited edition. Of a total edition of 276 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies reserved for use of the editors and publishers. Signed by Gardner and Rosenberg. Fine in acetate dust jacket. The lettered issue of this short-lived magazine is quite uncommon. From the library of John Gardner; provenance upon request.
Inscribed to the Dedicatee of The Power and the Glory
98. GREENE, Graham. The Heart of the Matter. London: Heinemann (1948). The first edition of what is widely considered one of Greene's greatest novels, if not his greatest; this was the only book by Greene to be included on the Modern Library's list of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century. The Heart of the Matter is considered by some to be part of a "Catholic trilogy" that includes Brighton Rock, published in 1938, and The Power and the Glory, published in 1940. This copy is inscribed by Greene to Gervase Mathews, a Jesuit priest who was the dedicatee of The Power and the Glory, "with love" -- a significant association copy. Crease to spine; very near fine in a very near fine dust jacket. Books signed by Greene are somewhat uncommon; association copies of his major works are decidedly scarce.
The Dedication Copy
99. GREENE, Graham. The Comedians. London: Bodley Head (1966). A novel set in Haiti in the mid-1960s, during the violence and bloodshed that prevailed under the dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier, that deals with a theme that permeates much of Greene's writing -- the importance of courage in the face of evil. This is the dedication copy, or at least one of them: Inscribed by Greene to A.S. Frere, the dedicatee, in 1981 on the occasion of a meeting; the date of the inscription begs the question of whether there was also a contemporaneous dedication copy; no such copy has turned up on the market, however, to the best of our knowledge. Spine slanted; else fine in a very near fine, slightly sunned dust jacket.
100. GREENE, Graham. Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party. London: Bodley Head (1980). A short "entertainment," as Greene called his lighter novels, although this is also, according to the publisher, "a profound study in human greed." Inscribed by the author to John and Gillian [Sutro], dedicatees of A Sense of Reality. A nice association copy: John Sutro was friends with Henry Green and Evelyn Waugh at Oxford; he later became a film producer, which is how he met Greene. Sutro and Greene established a friendship in the early 1950s and remained close friends until Greene's death. They were jointly responsible, among any number of other exploits together, for establishing the Anglo-Texan Society. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
101. (GUTHRIE, Woody). KRONICK, William and HAILEY, Oliver. Bound for Glory. (n.p.): (n.p.) (n.d.) [c. late 1960s]. An unproduced screenplay on the life and times of Woody Guthrie, taken from his 1942 autobiography. Kronick was a TV writer and director, Hailey a playwright. The two collaborated on this script, of which this is at least a second draft: no explicit indication of the draft is given, but several of the pages are marked as replacements for the originals. (The Academy Award-winning film of the same title was written by Robert Getchell, who was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay.) Mimeographed sheets, bradbound in pictorial covers; title written on spine. Very good.