Catalog 143, O-S
236. OATES, Joyce Carol. The Female of the Species. (London): Quercus (2006). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of this collection of stories. Fine in wrappers.
237. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. A collection of related stories that share a number of characters as well as the narrator -- a "Tim O'Brien" whose experience bears certain similarities to the author's own, as well as a number of differences. Selected as one of the best books of the year in all categories by the editors of The New York Times Book Review and recently named one of the best works of American fiction of the past 25 years in those same pages. A meditation on war and death, and on the place that storytelling has in bringing such unfathomable experiences within our grasp. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket with the spine lettering slightly off-center.
238. (O'CONNOR, Flannery). The Spectrum, 1945. Milledgeville: Georgia State College for Women (1945). O'Connor's senior yearbook, for which she served as feature editor and contributed the illustrated endpapers and the cartoons that appear throughout the volume. She is also listed and/or pictured as editor of The Corinthian; art editor of The Colonnade, the campus newspaper; feature editor of The Spectrum; as a member of "Who's Who;" the Newman Club (for Catholic students); the International Relations Club; the Twon Girls' Club, to foster cooperation and sociability between residents and local girls; and as being on the "Y" Cabinet. This copy belonged to a sophomore, and there are many inscriptions to her throughout, including a half dozen written over O'Connor's endpapers. Wear to spine ends; text block a bit loose; still about near fine. O'Connor worked on the yearbook prior to her senior year, but this is the one to which she contributed the most, primarily in terms of her artwork; her work as "feature editor" of the yearbook is unspecified. A very early appearance in print of anything by the author of Wise Blood and A Good Man is Hard to Find -- two of the books that helped define modern Southern literature in the postwar era.
239. ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. NY: Harcourt Brace (1949). The first American edition of his classic dystopia, a chilling extrapolation of the political tendencies in postwar Great Britain and one of the most influential works of the century -- whose title became a synonym for an oppressive police state, and which introduced to the language such words and concepts as "thought police," "doublethink," and "Big Brother." One of Pringle's hundred best science fiction novels, a Burgess 99 and Connolly 100 title, and also chosen as one of the novels of the century by the Modern Library, Radcliffe, Waterstone's and the New York Public Library. Tape shadows to endpages and jacket flaps where the jacket was previously affixed; otherwise a fine copy in a near fine, red dust jacket with rubbing to the edges and folds and "C.C. Turowski/Auditing Division" stamped to front flap. An attractive copy of one of the defining books of the modern era.
240. (PALEY, Grace). Peacemeal. NY: Greenwich Village Peace Center (1973). A cookbook from the Greenwich Village Peace Center. Introduced by Paley, who is not only a noted author but famous for her social activism. Ringbound in heavy cardstock covers; fine.
241. PARKER, Robert B. The Violent Hero, Wilderness Heritage and Urban Reality: A Study of the Private Eye in the Novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1973. The text of Parker's 1971 Boston University doctoral dissertation, printed in 1973. Ink numbers on flyleaf; slightly spine-faded; else fine in wrappers.
242. PARKER, Robert B. The Godwulf Manuscript. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. His first novel, a bibliomystery that introduced his detective, Spenser, one of the most successful fictional creations of recent years. Inscribed by the author "with love." Parker's books are instant bestsellers upon publication these days, with print runs in six figures, but his first several books had small printings and were already scarce by the time of his commercial "breakthrough" in the 1980s. This title reportedly had a first printing of 7500 copies. Spenser was one of the first "tough guy" detectives to show a sensitive and vulnerable side, a characteristic that has been widely emulated in detective series over the past two decades. Faint spotting to foredge and slight spine lean; a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a bit of dampstaining to the crown and an internally tape-mended tear there.
243. PARKER, Robert B. God Save the Child. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. His second novel, published the same year as his first, and with a first printing of the same size as that book, 7500 copies. Inscribed by the author. Slight spotting to cloth; near fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket.
244. PARKER, Robert B. Mortal Stakes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1975. The third novel in Parker's Spenser mystery series, this title also being a baseball novel. The first printing was 10,000 copies. Inscribed by the author "with love." Sticker shadow to front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, rubbed and price-clipped dust jacket.
245. PARKER, Robert B. Promised Land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976. Another Spenser novel; this book won the Edgar Award for the best novel of 1976. The first printing was 12,500 copies. Inscribed by the author. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
246. PARKER, Robert B. The Judas Goat. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1978). A Spenser novel, from the period when his first printings were still quite small compared to today: this book had a 15,000 copy print run. Inscribed by the author. Faint foxing to top edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a mild fading to the spine lettering.
247. PARKER, Robert B. Wilderness. (NY): Delacorte (1979). A non-Spenser thriller. Page edge foxing; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a paperclip imprint on the front panel and a corner crease to the front flap.
248. PARKER, Robert B. Looking for Rachel Wallace. (NY): Delacorte (1980). Another early Spenser novel, which had a first printing of 10,000 copies. Inscribed by the author. Faint foxing to top edge; still fine in a fine dust jacket.
249. PARKER, Robert B. Double Deuce. NY: Putnam (1992). One of his later Spenser novels, in the larger format they appeared in after he became a bestselling author. Inscribed by the author: "To Gwenn & Sidney, the real-life Susan and Spenser. With love/ R.B. Parker." A wonderful inscription to two close friends, suggesting them as the models for his detective and his girlfriend. While Parker is generous about signing or inscribing books, not many actual association copies of his show up. Small dent to crown; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
250. PORTER, Katherine Anne. The Collected Essays. NY: Delacorte Press (1970). Inscribed by the author to her publisher, Seymour Lawrence, in the month of publication: "It is a lovely book, your part of it, and I thank you forever and a day." A generous inscription, given that Porter reportedly loathed this collection, created without her consent. Some minor dampstaining; very good in a modestly worn, slightly spine-faded dust jacket. A remarkable association copy.
251. -. Same title. The limited edition, bound in quarter green morocco and marbled paper boards, in a slipcase with marbled paper and morocco labels. One of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
252. PYNCHON, Thomas. V. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1963). His first book, winner of the Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year. With elaborate inventiveness, labyrinthine plots and a sometimes paranoid comic sense, Pynchon became the postmodern standard against whom all writers since have been measured. Each of his first three novels won one or more of the major literary awards given out in this country. This is one of two publisher's file copies, with the publisher's stamping and numbering on the front flyleaf. Laid in is a letter of provenance from the bookseller who bought the Lippincott file library in 1981. This is a fine copy in a fine dust jacket, in custom clamshell case. A beautiful copy, the nicest we've ever had (and maybe ever seen), and all the more remarkable for its provenance.
253. RAND, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. NY: Random House (1957). Her last novel, a massive book written as a testament to and explication of her Objectivist philosophy. Faint foredge foxing and a bit of spotting to rear cloth; a very near fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with just a touch of sunning to the spine lettering.
254. ROBBINS, Tom. "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." (Swan's Island): (Saturn Press) (n.d.). A greeting card, reprinting the last line of Still Life with Woodpecker, and illustrated with a dancing elephant for no discernible reason. Signed by Robbins. Fine, with envelope.
255. ROTH, Henry. Nature's First Green. NY: Targ Editions, 1979. The first book published by Targ Editions, bibliophile William Targ's literary fine press. This was the first book, albeit a slight one, published by Henry Roth since his acclaimed novel Call it Sleep in 1934. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a plain yellow dustwrapper.
256. ROTH, Philip. The Counterlife. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1986. The limited first edition, preceding the trade edition. With a special introduction by Roth, consisting mostly of notes he wrote to himself during the time he was working on The Counterlife. Signed by the author. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine. Voted one of the best works of American fiction of the last quarter century in a survey conducted by the New York Times Book Review. Of the 22 titles named in that survey, Roth was the author of six.
257. ROTH, Philip. American Pastoral. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1997. The limited edition of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Roth's four books published in the 1990s collectively won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pen/Faulkner Award, and the National Book Award, an unprecedented accomplishment in American letters. Signed by the author. With a special introduction by Roth for this edition. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine.
258. RUSHDIE, Salman. East, West. London: Cape (1994). The first collection of stories by the author of such epic novels as Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with "signed copy" wraparound band.
259. SALINGER, J.D. Nine Stories. Boston: Little Brown (1953). Salinger's second book and first collection of short fiction, which some consider even more accomplished than his landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and which was issued in an edition only half as large (5000 copies vs. 10,000 for Catcher). These stories helped establish Salinger permanently in the pantheon of American postwar writers, and his continued publication of short stories in The New Yorker over the next decade cemented his reputation. Although not indicated as such, this copy comes from the library of longtime New Yorker editor William Shawn. Typical edge-darkening to the page signatures resulting from the different paper stocks used for different signatures; still a very near fine copy in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with small corner chips.
260. SALINGER, J.D. Franny and Zooey. London: Heinemann (1962). The first British edition of his third book, two novellas that originally appeared in The New Yorker. Endpages and page edges foxed; cocked; a very good copy in a very good, modestly foxed and slightly edgeworn dust jacket.
261. SALLIS, James. A Few Last Words. (NY): Macmillan (1970). The author's uncommon first book, science fiction in the mode of Kurt Vonnegut. Sallis is well-known these days for his hardboiled, neo-noir novels, a genre in which he is considered a contemporary master. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
262. SELBY, Hubert, Jr. Last Exit to Brooklyn. NY: Grove (1964). His classic first novel, a grim story of the urban underbelly of contemporary society. A milestone of the literature of the Sixties, which signaled a new honesty about such subjects as drugs and sex, and did so with a genuine compassion and humor not normally associated with such an exposé. Made into a powerful film nearly 30 years after it was first published. A little foredge foxing, else fine in a near fine dust jacket creased at the lower edge of the rear panel.
263. SHAWN, Wallace. Our Last Night. NY: Targ Editions, 1984. A play by Shawn, published as the 21st book in the Targ Editions series. Printed at the Oliphant Press; the binding has a photograph from the production of the play as the front panel. One of 150 copies signed by the author. Fine in a near fine glassine dustwrapper.
264. SHERWOOD, Robert. The Petrified Forest. NY: Scribner, 1935. A play by a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who later became a speech writer for Franklin Roosevelt. Sherwood won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1936, 1939 and 1941. Foxing to top edge; slight spine lean; else fine in a near fine, mildly rubbed dust jacket.
265. SHIELDS, Carol. The Stone Diaries. (NY): Viking (1994). The first American edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which also won Canada's Governor General's Award -- the highest literary prize given in that country -- as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Orange Prize. Also shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a slight degree of spine fading.
266. SONTAG, Susan. Brother Carl. NY: FSG (1974). The uncorrected proof copy of the screenplay for her second film, which premiered at Cannes in 1971. With an introduction by Sontag about the genesis of the film. Near fine in tall wrappers. Scarce.
267. STEGNER, Wallace. Crossing to Safety. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1987. The limited first edition, preceding the trade edition. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Signed by the author. With a special introduction by Stegner for this edition. Fine.
268. STEINBECK, John. The Grapes of Wrath. NY: Viking (1939). The greatest novel by this Nobel Prize winner, one of the greatest American novels ever, and the great American novel of the Depression era. Steinbeck fused social consciousness with literary artistry in a particularly American and individualistic way, refusing to allow his writing to become doctrinaire the way a large number of the proletarian novelists of the Thirties did; the body of Steinbeck's work has stood the test of time considerably better than that of most of his contemporaries, especially those who tackled the same social issues that he did. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and the basis for an Oscar-winning film in 1940. Mild fading to top stain, else a fine copy in a dust jacket professionally restored along the folds to fine condition, and with none of the fading or darkening to the spine that normally afflicts this title. In custom clamshell case.
269. -. Another copy. Page edges foxed and tanning to spine; very good in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with a few small chips and edge tears.
270. STYRON, William. Lie Down in Darkness. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill (1951). His first book. Inscribed by Styron to the writer Jonathan Carroll: "with best wishes/ William Styron/ 27 September 1971/ (Twenty years, to the month, after publication)." The date is six years before Carroll's first published book. Laid in is a typed note signed by Styron in which he agrees to the signing. The book is unevenly sunned on the cloth and bears a few small stains; very good in a jacket with modest edge wear including one edge tear, and a vertical crease to the spine; still very good. The note is folded, else fine, with a chipped mailing envelope included. A nice association copy of an important first novel.
271. STYRON, William. Set This House on Fire. NY: Random House (1960). An advance copy of Styron's third book, his second full-length novel. Signed by the author. A near fine copy with light bowing to the boards and a hole in one page in the introduction -- by all appearances a production flaw -- in the scarce advance issue dust jacket -- light green paper printed in red -- which has modest corner chipping and a few edge tears; about very good. Extremely scarce: the bibliographer estimated that there were fewer than 12 copies of this issue; whatever the number, it is bound to have been extremely small.