Catalog 153, C
45. CAPOTE, Truman. Music for Chameleons. NY: Random House (1980). A review copy of this collection of short essays and journalistic pieces. Signed by Capote on the front free endpaper and also signed by Tennessee Williams, the dedicatee of the book, who has signed it on the dedication page. Fine in a fine dust jacket with author photo (no review slip) laid in.
46. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine slipcase with a strip of bleedthrough from the binder's glue.
47. (CARSON, Rachel). HARRISON, Ruth. Animal Machines. (London): Vincent Stuart, 1964. Harrison's seminal work, which exposed factory farming in the U.K. the way Carson's Silent Spring exposed pesticide use in the U.S. With a two-page foreword by Carson which begins: "The modern world worships the gods of speed and quantity, and of the quick and easy profit, and out of this idolatry mysterious evils have arisen. Yet the evils go long unrecognised...until some public-spirited person, with patient scholarship and steadfast courage, presents facts that can no longer be ignored." An uncommon book in the first edition, with most hardcover copies having gone to libraries. A hint of foredge foxing, else a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with several small chips including one at the crown, and a small patch of dampstaining at the top edge of the rear panel. Published the year of Carson's death from cancer, and predating by nearly half a century the alarms sounded by such books as Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.
48. CARVER, Raymond. Winter Insomnia. (Santa Cruz): (Kayak)(1970). Carver's first regularly published book, a collection of poems, issued in an attractive edition of 1000 copies designed and printed by George Hitchcock and illustrated with prints by Robert McChesney. This is the issue in the rare white wrappers, the overwhelming majority having been issued in yellow wrappers. William Stull's Carver checklist said that three copies were known in the white wrappers. Since that checklist was published, we have seen three more copies in white wrappers, including this one, bringing the total number of known copies to six. Without knowing exactly how many white copies there were, we can say with assurance that this issue is exceedingly scarce; we've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of the issue in yellow wrappers. This copy is inscribed by Carver: "For Rush - with good wishes. Ray Carver. 3-3-83." Spine and edge sunning to covers; near fine.
49. CARVER, Raymond. Put Yourself in My Shoes. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1974. Carver's first book of fiction, a single short story published in the Capra Chapbooks series in an edition of only 500 copies, according to William Stull's checklist. This is the hardcover issue. One of 75 numbered copies signed by the author. A correction has also been made to the text on the page facing the colophon; the correction is possibly in Carver's hand. Fine. "Put Yourself in My Shoes" was later included in Carver's first story collection, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
50. CARVER, Raymond. Furious Seasons and Other Stories. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1977. Carver's second collection of stories, and his third publication for Capra Press. Like the previous two Capra books, this was published in two states -- a hardcover, numbered and signed limited edition, and a softcover issue. There were 100 hardcovers and reportedly 1200 softcovers. In addition to the title piece, this collection also contains one of Carver's most memorable stories -- "So Much Water, So Close to Home" -- one of the stories that formed the basis for Robert Altman's acclaimed film, Short Cuts, based on Carver's writings. This is a hardcover copy signed by Carver. Not one of the 100 numbered hardcover copies, but instead an "Author's Copy." Fine without jacket, as issued. An extremely uncommon issue of an important book in the Carver canon.
51. CARVER, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. NY: Knopf, 1981. Carver's second major story collection, and his first significant commercial success: the first of his books to be published by a mainstream literary publishing house, Knopf, and the first to go into multiple printings immediately after publication. It is also the central volume in the ongoing controversy about the extent to which editor Gordon Lish was responsible for the writing style that earned Carver the label "minimalist" -- a designation he stridently rejected throughout his career. Lish was Carver's editor at Knopf when this volume was published and there is evidence that he rewrote much of Carver's work -- in one case removing almost 70% of what Carver wrote -- in this collection. Two of the stories had been published earlier in the collection Furious Seasons but here are shorter and more spare (one of them also having been re-titled). Carver began to break with Lish after this volume was published, and asked that if he were to edit his next collection (Cathedral) he work "as a good editor... not as my ghost." Signed by the author. A bit of spotting to the top page edges; near fine in a like dust jacket with one tiny spot of rubbing to the upper edge.
52. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy, which reproduces holograph corrections to the text, including a number of small word changes, excisions, and in one case the addition of a line to the end of a story. A remarkable glimpse of the stories as works-in-progress, up to and even after they had been typeset for publication. Signed by Carver and by Tess Gallagher, the dedicatee. Fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, and especially scarce signed.
53. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: Collins, 1982. Signed by Carver and additionally inscribed by him to his British editor & publisher, Peter Straus in London in 1987: "To Peter,/ with kindest regards./ Ray Carver/ June 1987/ London!" Straus was editor and publisher at Picador, which published The Stories of Raymond Carver in 1985 -- a volume that included all the stories from Carver's first three major collections, and was the first appearance in the UK of the stories from Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? Carver's inscription hints at how pleased he was to have become successful enough to be traveling to England and meeting with his publisher there. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with two edge tears and a crease at the upper front flap fold. Good association copies of Carver's books seldom turn up on the market.
54. CARVER, Raymond. The Pheasant. Worcester: Metacom Press, 1982. A single story by Carver published as a limited edition. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 26 lettered hardcover copies, none of which were offered for sale -- half having been reserved for the publisher and the other half for the author. This is copy "M." Signed by the author. Fine.
55. CARVER, Raymond. Cathedral. NY: Knopf, 1983. His third collection of stories to be published by a major trade publisher, and a major literary event that confirmed Carver's preeminent place among American short story writers of the day, and signaled a full-fledged resuscitation of the short story in American literature. Inscribed by Carver to his British editor and publisher, Peter Straus in London in 1987: "To Peter,/ with great good wishes -- / Raymond Carver/ London/ June 1987." A good association copy: Straus, an important figure in British literary publishing and an especially strong supporter and advocate of younger writers, had published a volume of Carver's collected stories in 1985. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
56. CARVER, Raymond. The Window. Concord: Ewert, 1985. A small broadside poem on heavy, textured card stock, measuring 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Like My Crow a year earlier, these were printed "for private distribution" as a holiday greeting. Of a total edition of 136 copies, this is one of 36 numbered copies signed by Carver and issued as part of a set of seven cards by seven different poets: Carver, Donald Hall, Galway Kinnell, William Heyen, W.D. Snodgrass, William Bronk and May Sarton. Each card is signed by its author, and fine. In the original envelope, printed with the title "Seven Holiday Greetings for 1985." Very uncommon to find the set intact at this point.
57. CARVER, Raymond. Those Days. Elmwood: Raven Editions, 1987. A presentation copy of this collection of early pieces by Carver that were written prior to the publication of his first book, Near Klamath. William Stull turned these up in the course of bibliographic research, and he edited them and provided notes and an Afterword. Carver himself wrote an introduction. Perhaps the most attractive of the many limited editions that Carver did: it was designed and printed by Carol Blinn of Warwick Press, whose work is prized by collectors of contemporary fine printing; the marbled paper used in the binding was done by Faith Harrison, whose work is also highly admired in fine press circles; and the quarter-leather binding was done by Gray Parrot Letterpress. There were three issues, two of which were offered for sale: 100 numbered copies in wrappers, 26 lettered copies in marbled paper boards; and 14 "presentation" copies, never offered for sale, bound in quarter-leather and marbled paper boards, of which this is one. Signed by Carver. One of the scarcest items in the Carver oeuvre. Fine in acetate dustwrapper, with publisher's prospectus laid in.
58. -. Same title. One of 26 lettered copies, bound in marbled paper boards with paper spine label. Signed by the author. Fine in acetate dustwrapper, with publisher's prospectus laid in.
59. CASTANEDA, Carlos. Tales of Power. NY: Simon & Schuster (1974). The uncorrected proof copy of Castaneda's fourth book in the influential series that began with The Teachings of Don Juan. Castaneda's books were published as nonfiction -- first person accounts of his extraordinary experiences with a Yaqui Indian shaman in Sonora, in northern Mexico. Later they were shown to have been largely or wholly fictional accounts derived from the author's readings and, presumably, his own use of hallucinogenic drugs similar to the ones he ascribes to Don Juan. Notwithstanding their fictional nature, they were and continue to be influential for having initiated a dialogue not only about cultural authenticity but also about the coherence of spiritual and mystical traditions in Native American and Mesoamerican cultures; in effect the books comprised, at the least, a critique of the cultural bias in traditional anthropology and helped usher a new degree of critical thinking about such issues, a new sensitivity to cultural diversity grounded in that critical thinking, and also what is now known as the New Age movement. Padbound proof; fine in tall wrappers. Scarce.
60. CHEVALIER, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring. (London): HarperCollins (1999). A well-received novel based on the subject of the Vermeer painting of the same name, and the basis for a 2004 movie with Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson that was nominated for three Academy Awards. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket, with the misspelling "Earing" on the rear panel.
61. CISNEROS, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1983/1984. The highly praised and award-winning first novel by one of the leading figures of Chicana literature, and a winner of a MacArthur Foundation "genius award" in 1995. This book won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, and the author has continued to garner praise and awards for her writing since. Only published in softcover by a small pres associated with a Chicano magazine at the University of Houston. Extravagantly signed by the author on the title page. Slight rubbing to the folds; the hint of a corner crease; very near fine in wrappers.
62. CLANCY, Tom. The Hunt for Red October. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press (1984). His acclaimed first book, a surprise bestseller that initiated an entire genre -- the "techno-thriller." Clancy's novels, beginning with this one, have been praised for their authenticity, especially with regard to the technology of the intelligence establishment. The subject of this book, which was made into a successful movie, is a submarine hunt, and the state-of-the-art details of contemporary submarine stealth and warfare are drawn with impressive authority, and without bogging down the plot. According to published reports, this was the first book of fiction ever published by the Naval Institute Press, and it is safe to guess that they did not anticipate its huge success. This copy is signed by the author, who has added "First Edition!" to the inscription. Fine in a fine dust jacket -- the correct first issue, with no price on the flap and six blurbs on the rear panel. Seldom found in fine condition because the text block is too heavy for the binding, and copies deteriorate with handling very quickly.
63. CONROY, Pat. The Water is Wide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. His second book, a nonfiction account of the author's experience as a teacher on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, with a class of students who, although ostensibly in the fifth through eighth grades, were in the earliest stages of their education, and largely illiterate. Made into a well-received movie, Conrack, in 1974 with Jon Voigt playing the Conroy character. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with no fading to the orange and green spine lettering, and with the top edge stain still bright orange. As nice a copy as we have ever seen of this title.
64. CUSSLER, Clive. Iceberg. NY: Dodd, Mead (1975). The author's second book and first hardcover publication. Inscribed by the author: "Dear Rick, Pacific Vortex and Med. Caper never made it into hardcover. They were original paperbacks. Have a rare one on me. Clive Cussler/ 9-82." Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with light wear to the spine extremities. A nice inscription in an uncommon early book by an author whose books are now bestsellers upon publication.