Catalog 138, T-Z
175. TAYLOR, Peter. A Summons to Memphis. NY: Knopf, 1986. The second novel, and first in 36 years, by this Southern writer who was renowned as a master of the short story. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with trace shelf wear.
176. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Hell's Angels. London: Allen Lane/Penguin, 1967. The first British edition of Thompson's first book, which he wrote after spending a year hanging out with members of the famous motorcycle gang, and ended up getting beaten up by several of them. One of the first examples of the participatory journalism that Thompson perfected (and later named gonzo journalism). Signed by the author ("H.S. Thompson") on the contents page, with his rubber stamp "Sexually Explicit Material" above the signature. With a full-page multi-color drawing of Thompson by Ralph Steadman on the title page, with the caption "Don't Draw Hunter, Aspen Chapter [of the Hell's Angels]." A near fine copy in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with wear to the crown and a creased tear at the upper rear spine fold. Thompson at one point thought that the British edition had only been issued in paperback, as he had never seen a hardcover of it. In our experience it is much scarcer than the American edition, and we suspect the hardcovers represent some sort of edition for libraries or a trial publication and not an edition that was distributed to the book trade in general. In custom clamshell case.
177. -. Same title, the first British paperback edition. (London): Penguin (1967). Spine creased; edges rubbed; very good in wrappers. No indication of the hardcover edition. Remarkably scarce, even in this paperback edition.
178. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. NY: Random House (1971). Thompson's hilarious, drug-saturated memoir of a trip to Vegas -- the book that defined "gonzo journalism" and was eventually the basis for a psychedelic film adaptation by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Illustrated by Ralph Steadman, with his bizarre and unforgettable ink drawings, the perfect complement to Thompson's bizarre and unforgettable prose. Boards a bit edge-sunned, as is usual for this title; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small area of surface soil on the front panel. A very nice copy, with no spine fading.
179. TOOLE, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980. One of the most elusive of recent Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction titles, this book had a small first printing, reported to be 2500 copies. Initially, it was turned down for publication by dozens of publishers, and the author committed suicide in 1969. Years later, his mother brought the manuscript to Walker Percy, insisting that he read it. Percy, who was inclined to dismiss it for lack of time, succumbed to her persistence, loved the book, and arranged to get it published, contributing an introduction. Excellent reviews and word-of-mouth led to numerous printings and its becoming a bestseller. It then won one of the most prestigious literary prizes given in this country and, when it came out in paperback, became a million-copy seller and a fixture on college campuses. Fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket. A beautiful copy, and very scarce thus.
180. TUCK, Lily. Limbo and Other Places I Have Lived. (NY): HarperCollins (2002). A collection of stories by the 2004 winner of the National Book Award (The News From Paraguay). Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a "compliments of the author" card laid in. Uncommon.
181. TYLER, Anne. If Morning Ever Comes. NY: Knopf, 1964. The first novel by the author of The Accidental Tourist and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons. Written when she was just 22 years old, and published with a small first printing of only 4000 copies. Tyler's books today have first printings that run into the hundreds of thousands of copies. This copy has a rich top stain and spine gilt; slight pull to text block; very near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with slight wear to the corners. In custom clamshell case.
182. (TYLER, Anne). American Fiction. (NY): Carol Publishing (1990). The uncorrected proof copy of this anthology of the "Best Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Writers," as judged by and introduced by Tyler. Fine in wrappers.
183. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit, Run. NY: Knopf, 1960. Updike's second novel, which introduced Rabbit Angstrom and began the sequence of novels that will likely stand as his major work, a four-volume series spanning 30+ years. The chronicle of Rabbit Angstrom is a chronicle of America in the postwar era, and Updike has become without question -- in large part on the basis of this series -- the most collected living American author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with just a hint of spine fading to the yellow. A beautiful copy, and extremely scarce thus. $1500
184. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket with just a hint of wear to the spine tips and front joint. Still, an exceptional copy.
185. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit Redux. NY: Knopf, 1971. The limited edition of the second book in his Rabbit Angstrom sequence, one of the most acclaimed fictional series of our time. This book was nominated for the National Book Award, and other titles in the four-book sequence garnered two Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in acetate dustwrapper and a very near fine slipcase with trace rubbing at the corners.
186. UPDIKE, John. Too Far to Go. NY: Fawcett (1974). A paperback original; a collection of related stories that was turned into a made-for-television movie. Signed by the author and with a foreword by him. Seven of the seventeen stories had never been collected in book form prior to this publication. Very near fine in wrappers. A very nice copy, and seldom found signed.
187. UPDIKE, John. Domestic Life in America. NY: The New Yorker, 1976. Updike's story, reprinted from the New Yorker; its first separate appearance. Tall thin stapled wrappers; strip of sunning to the top edge; near fine.
188. UPDIKE, John. Tossing and Turning. NY: Knopf, 1977. Poetry. Signed by the author. A hint of sunning to the spine ends; still fine in a very near fine dust jacket that may have some slight, even sunning.
189. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit is Rich. NY: Knopf, 1981. The limited edition of the third of his Rabbit Angstrom books, winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, a rare literary double. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket and slipcase.
190. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket, in a slipcase with a thin strip of edge-sunning.
191. UPDIKE, John. Appointment in Samarra. A New Introduction. [Camp Hill]: [BOMC] (1988). Introduction by Updike to the BOMC edition of O'Hara's first book, laid in as a separate 8-page stapled insert, and thus an Updike "A" item. This introduction was eventually included in the 2003 Vintage paperback edition, although it was shortened slightly there. Paperclip dents top edge; else fine. Included is the BOMC edition of Appointment in Samarra, which is a facsimile of the first edition. The book has an owner name and is near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
192. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit at Rest. NY: Knopf, 1990. The trade publisher's limited edition of the concluding volume in the Rabbit series. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
193. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine slipcase with wear to corners.
194. UPDIKE, John. Basic Bech. (London): Penguin Books (1999). First thus, the first printing of this paperback collecting Bech: A Book and Bech is Back, with a foreword by Updike (writing as Bech). There was an earlier Penguin collection, The Complete Henry Bech, which also included the story "Bech in Czech." Remainder stamping lower page edges; else fine in wrappers.
195. (UPDIKE, John). TALLENT, Elizabeth. Married Men and Magic Tricks: John Updike's Erotic Heroes. (Berkeley): Creative Arts Book Co. (1982). A study of sexuality in the novels and stories of John Updike, which precedes Tallent's own novel and story collections. There was both a hardcover and a simultaneous softcover issue of this book; this is the uncommon hardcover issue. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
196. (UPDIKE, John). "Television Golf" in U.S. Open 1988. (Far Hills): (USGA), 1988. The magazine/program of the 1988 U.S. Open held at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Updike's piece was later collected in Golf Dreams. Corner creasing, with one short tear to upper spine fold; near fine.
197. (UPDIKE, John). GREENE, Graham. The Power and the Glory. (NY): Viking (1990). The fiftieth anniversary edition of one of Greene's first classics, with an introduction by Updike. Fine in a fine dust jacket. An attractive and uncommon edition, with endpapers that reproduce in facsimile two pages of Greene's manuscript of the novel.
198. (UPDIKE, John). Saul Steinberg. (n.p.): (Jeffrey H. Loria) (1995). Fifty Steinberg works from the collection of Jeffrey and Sylvia Loria. With an introduction by Updike. Quarto. Hint of a spine bump; still fine in wrappers.
199. (UPDIKE, John). WHARTON, Edith. The Age of Innocence. NY: Ivy Classics (1996). First thus, a paperback reprint of Wharton's 1920 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. With a new 8-page introduction by John Updike. Fine in wrappers.
200. (UPDIKE, John). MARSHALL, Robert. The Haunted Major. (Hopewell): Ecco Press (1999). The first American edition of Marshall's 1902 golfing classic, published here with a ten-page introduction by Updike. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by Updike.
201. (UPDIKE, John). TWAIN, Mark. The Diary of Adam and Eve. (London): (Hesperus) (2002). First thus, with an introduction by Updike. Fine in self-wraps.
202. (UPDIKE, John). O'HARA, John. Appointment in Samarra. NY: Vintage (2003). First thus, a paperback edition of O'Hara's first book, for which Updike contributes an introduction. The introduction is approximately two paragraphs shorter than that Updike provided (as a separate insert) to the BOMC edition in 1988, and at least one paragraph has been altered. Fine.
203. (UPDIKE, John). THURBER, James and WHITE, E.B. Is Sex Necessary? (NY): Perennial (2004). First thus, the 75th anniversary edition of Thurber and White's classic, here issued with an introduction by Updike. This edition only published in wrappers. Fine.
204. URQUHART, Jane. The Whirlpool. Boston: Godine (1990). The first American edition of this Canadian author's first novel. Inscribed by the author to a well-known American novelist in the year of publication: "For ___/ Some grim Canadiana/ bracketed by/ Browning/ Jane/ November 1990." Fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket.
205. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Player Piano. NY: Scribner, 1952. Vonnegut's first book, a satire on automation and the Electronics Age, on the order of Orwell's 1984. Mild sunning to top board edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with even sunning to the front panel and spine, even dusting to full jacket, and three light, small spots to the front panel. A crisp, attractive copy.
206. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. NY: HRW (1963). One of his greatest novels, which manages to both condemn and celebrate science, religion and the human race in general. "A quietly satirical consideration of mankind and its need for sympathy and compassion, proposing that we live by foma, lies that make for human happiness." One of Pringle's 100 best science fiction novels. Also nominated for the Hugo Award, and chosen by the Modern Library as one of the best 100 novels of the 20th century. Extremely slight bump to crown; still fine in a fine dust jacket with a nearly imperceptible edge crease. One of the nicest copies we've seen.
207. -. Another copy. Boldly signed by the author with a self-caricature on the half-title page. Faint spot to front board and top stain; near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with tiny chips and tears to top edge. An attractive copy, and one of the nicest examples of Vonnegut's signature and self-caricature that we've seen. In custom clamshell case.
208. -. Same title. London: Gollancz, 1965. Contemporary Fiction edition. Signed by the author with a self-caricature and dated on his 79th birthday. Fine in a very good, somewhat foxed dust jacket. In custom slipcase.
209. VONNEGUT, Kurt. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. NY: HRW (1965). Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. Very near fine in a very good dust jacket with tiny edge chips. In custom clamshell case.
210. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Mother Night. London: Jonathan Cape (1968). The first British edition, published six years after the American paperback and two years after the American hardcover. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. A bit of offsetting to the hinges and foxing to the page edges; near fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket. In custom slipcase. Uncommon, especially signed.
211. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. (NY): Delacorte (1969). His masterwork, a powerful fictional memoir of his experiences during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut's philosophical reflections on the tragic absurdity of humankind are embedded in an impressionistic, pessimistic yet comic science fiction tale that is a high spot of the literature of the 1960s and since. The first printing was 10,000 copies and the book eventually sold more than 60,000 copies in hardcover and innumerable in paperback, becoming a classic of its era and a standard on college campuses -- at first by word-of-mouth and later as part of the canon. On all three major lists of the top books of the 20th century. Spine slanted; slight edge sunning to cloth; owner signature; else near fine in a near fine, evenly sunned dust jacket with a faint blended splot on the front panel.
212. -. Another copy. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. Boards a tiny bit splayed; very slight foxing to foredge and top edge; still near fine in a near fine, modestly foxed dust jacket. In custom clamshell slipcase. A key title, seldom found signed and rarely in this condition.
213. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Breakfast of Champions. (NY): Delacorte Press (1973). Vonnegut's fiftieth birthday present to himself and his characters: the author uses this novel to grant many of his previous characters their freedom (most notably Kilgore Trout who, unable to make it on the outside, returns in later books). Signed by the author. Fine in a spine-faded, price-clipped dust jacket, about near fine.
214. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Deadeye Dick. (NY): Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (1982). The limited edition of this novel, about which the author once wrote, "It, too, fails to explain anything." One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
215. VONNEGUT, Kurt. On Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather. (Nottingham): (Spokeman Books) (2004). Vonnegut's 2003 remarks given at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, in which he speaks well of Twain and Lincoln and less well of American Conservatives. Slight corner turns; still fine in illustrated stapled wrappers. Uncommon.
216. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Free at Last! Lexington: Petro III Graphics, 2004. The "Freedom Portfolio," hand printed by Joe Petro and featuring text and artwork by Vonnegut: one print of Vonnegut himself, one print of the story of Trout's birdcage, and ten prints, in ten separate colors, of the birdcage. Signed by Vonnegut with a self-caricature under the printed line "Free at Last." Issued in an edition of only 15 numbered copies. In printed folding chemise, wraparound birdcage band and clamshell case. Fine. A whimsical, elegant production, suitable for mounting and framing, and produced in a tiny limitation.
217. WALBERT, Kate. Where She Went. Louisville: Sarabande (1998). The author's first book, a New York Times Notable Book of the year. Her second book was a National Book Award finalist. Inscribed by the author to a well-known, award-winning novelist and his wife and dated 1998. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
218. WELTY, Eudora. The Bride of Innisfallen. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). A collection of stories. This is the first edition, second issue (with multiple copyright dates). Inscribed by Welty: "For Sandy and Gail/ with best wishes and affection/ Eudora Welty." Trace corner wear to boards; still fine in a near fine dust jacket with very modest edge wear. A nice copy of this collection by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
219. WHITE, Randy Wayne. Tampa Burn. NY: Putnam (2004). The advance reading copy of the latest title in his popular and acclaimed South Florida mystery series featuring Doc Ford, a marine biologist. Fine in wrappers.
220. WILLIAMS, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. (NY): New Directions (1947). Williams' most famous play, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama and made into an Oscar-winning film by Elia Kazan. Slight corner bumps and a touch of shelf wear to boards; near fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears, a couple tiny chips and a closed slit mid-spine, but hardly any of the usual sunning.
221. WILLIAMS, Terry Tempest and MAJOR, Ted. The Secret Language of Snow. (San Francisco): Sierra Club/Pantheon Books (1984). Williams' first book, a nonfiction children's book, which draws on poetry and tribal sources as well as science to expand one's sense of snow. Illustrated by Jennifer Dewey. Scarce, particularly in the trade edition (an edition in pictorial boards went to libraries). Fine in a near fine dust jacket with fading to the small bit of green on the spine and a touch of wear to the ends.
222. WINTERSON, Jeanette. Two Stories. (Hay): Hay Festival Press, 2005. Two stories, "The Night Sea Voyage" and "The White Room," printed in an edition of 1000 copies. Fine in purple cloth boards without dust jacket, as issued.