Catalog 157, S-U
203. (SENDAK, Maurice). Worlds of Childhood. The Art and Craft of Writing for Children. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of essays by Sendak, Jill Krementz and several others. Sendak contributes "Visions from My Boyhood," which discusses the influence on him of The Wizard of Oz, his rude relatives, Mozart, the Lindbergh baby, and his terrier, Jennie. Fine in wrappers.
204. SEXTON, Anne. To Bedlam and Part Way Back. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. Her first book, a collection of poems that derive from her having had a nervous breakdown. After a relatively short, illustrious career as a poet -- she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966, and her books were generally received with much praise -- Sexton committed suicide in 1974. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Short ink mark to front cover of the book; a touch of wear to the spine ends; very near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with tiny chips to the tips and corners and a label removal scar to the spine affecting the last to letters of the title there. Laid in is a gift card that relates the circumstances of having the book inscribed, in part, "She took four years to get over a nervous breakdown, but you would never know it to meet her..."
205. SHACOCHIS, Bob. Typed Letter Signed. Dated August 20, 1990, one page. A brief cover letter written to James Harmon, the editor of a volume of essays entitled Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two. Shacochis contributed the essay "Surviving Bad Advice," which opens the book. This letter transmits that piece [not present] and comments on it briefly: "It doesn't have the sex appeal I wanted it to, but that's the breaks. I gave it my best shot. Wished I could have been light-hearted, but it's not the season." He also comments on a couple of others' pieces, and shares information about other writers, apparently in response to Harmon's queries. One corner folded; one small stain, a bit of edge wear. Very good. An glimpse behind the scenes of an interesting project.
206. SHARPE, Tom. Porterhouse Blue. London: Secker & Warburg (1974). The uncorrected proof copy of his third novel, a satirical tale set in a fictional college at Cambridge University. Sharpe's first two satires were set in South Africa, where Sharpe worked prior to being deported for sedition in 1961. This novel was made into a TV series in 1987; a sequel was published in 1989. Near fine in plain yellow wrappers, with publisher's label affixed to front cover. A scarce proof.
207. SIMPSON, Mona. Anywhere But Here. NY: Knopf, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of her well-received first novel. One shallow corner crease, else fine in wrappers. Simpson was in the news quite a bit following the death of Steve Jobs, who turned out to be her brother but whom she did not know about or meet until she was 25 years old, a couple of years before this book was published.
208. (Sixties). The Living Theatre Repertory 1960-61. NY: Living Theatre, 1960. Season program for the experimental theater group, which was founded in 1947 and still exists today. From the start the group had a political edge: it was the first American troupe to produce plays by a number of the European avant garde playwrights such as Brecht and Ionesco, and it had as an explicit political goal the intent to reshape the social relationships of a capitalist and hierarchical society into one more in keeping with communal and egalitarian values. The attempt to bridge the gap between audience and performers, another staple of the group, was part of that effort. The group became extremely popular and relevant in the 1960s, when it provided a bridge from the nascent counterculture to both the European avant garde and to political critiques of an existing social order with a well-established heritage. Mild edge sunning; near fine in stapled wrappers. Laid in is a Cue article on Judith Malina and Julian Beck, the co-founders of the group.
209. (Sixties). (Anarchism). BOOKCHIN, Murray. Post-Scarcity Anarchy. (NY): Anarchos (n.d.)[c. late 1968]. Offprint from Anarchos #3. The first separate edition of Bookchin's influential essay, which envisioned a utopian society growing out of the material abundance of the postwar era. Bookchin was an important anarchist theorist and exponent, who traced his lineage to the anarchism proposed by Peter Kropotkin, the Russian "anarchist prince" of the late 19th century whose major work -- Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution -- posited a contrast to both Darwin's "survival of the fittest" (and its "social Darwinist" implications) and also to the "statist" interpretation of Marx's economic critique of capitalist society. Bookchin, like Kropotkin, was a utopian. The novelist Ursula LeGuin used the ideas from Bookchin's essay (which was later expanded into a full-length book) for her description of a utopian society in her award-winning novel The Dispossessed. Fine in stapled wrappers. A small but important pamphlet.
210. (Sixties). MAX, Peter. Peter Max Paints America. Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books (1976). A bicentennial celebration, with a painting for each of the fifty states by the artist whose work became emblematic of the psychedelic revolution in the 1960s and was much-imitated thereafter. Max went from being associated early on with the avant garde and the counterculture, to being considered a mainstream and accepted artist to the point that he was commissioned by the U.S. Post Office to create a stamp in 1974 and by ASEA, a large Swedish industrial firm, to create this series of paintings and collages in honor of the 200th anniversary of the United States. This is a review copy of the trade edition, inscribed by Max with "love." Light spine bumping and a couple of small spots there; else fine without dust jacket, as issued. With the original, illustrated mailing box, somewhat crushed but present.
211. STEINBECK, John. East of Eden. NY: Viking Press, 1952. The limited edition of perhaps his most famous novel after The Grapes of Wrath, an ambitious family saga that was the basis for a Hollywood movie starring James Dean. One of 1500 copies signed by the author. Slight loss to title block on spine, much less than often found; else a fine copy, with original acetate (heavily chipped) and slipcase (repaired) present. The acetate jacket, as intended, protected the book, and especially the spine, from the wear and tear of handling and use, and absorbed the damage itself. A better copy than is frequently found, as the cheaply made slipcase is often not present at all after all these years.
212. STRAUB, Peter. Marriages. NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan (1973). The first American edition of his first novel. Inscribed by the author to horror writer Stanley Wiater: "I'm pleased to be one of your Dark Dreamers -- sounds like an accurate description to me!" With Wiater's bookplate. A nice association copy: Wiater has been called "the world's leading authority on horror filmmakers and authors" and has published two books of interviews with masters of horror fiction in the Dark Dreamers series, as well as hosting a television interview series with the same title. He has won the Horror Writers of America's Bram Stoker Award three times; Straub has also been a multiple winner of the Stoker Award. Sunning and foxing to top edge; near fine in a very good, rubbed and edgeworn dust jacket with a small abrasion to the front panel and a chip to the upper rear panel. With Wiater's Gahan Wilson-designed bookplate on the front free endpaper (reportedly the only bookplate Wilson ever designed).
213. STRAUB, Peter. Julia. NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan (1975). His second novel. Inscribed by the author to Stanley Wiater and his wife: "Thanks for another good interview and a good talk -- good luck with your writing." With Wiater's bookplate. Again, a nice association. Foxing to top edge, slight spine roll; near fine in a very good, internally tape-mended dust jacket with wear to the edges and spine.
214. STRAUB, Peter. Ghost Story. NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan (1979). His fourth novel, his breakthrough book and, according to some, the best ghost story ever written. Inscribed by the author to Stanley Wiater. With Wiater's bookplate. Spine pushed; a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. Filmed in 1981, with Fred Astaire and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., in their final roles, and also starring Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman and Patricia Neal. A nice association copy of a landmark book.
215. (Surveillance). The City State Reader. (Melbourne): (UTS Community Law and Legal Research Centre)(2002). A critical reader on surveillance and social control in the post-9/11 age, published in Australia in conjunction with two public events, in Sydney and Melbourne, designed to provoke discussion and debate about the subject. Heavily illustrated, with drawings, photographs (including surveillance photographs), collages, cartoons, and including essays, articles, skits, dialogues and political statements. Oblong wrappers. Rubbed; near fine.
216. SWIERCZYNSKI, Duane. Severance Package. NY: St. Martin's Minotaur (2007). The advance reading copy of this hilarious noir fiction by the author of The Blonde, The Wheelman, and others. Swierczynski is one of the most compelling of the generation of post-9/11 writers in the noir genre. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon in an advance issue, especially signed.
217. TAYLOR, Peter. A Stand in the Mountains. NY: Frederic C. Beil (1985). A play, a version of which first appeared in The Kenyon Review. Here published in an edition of 1500 copies, with a preface by the author. Inscribed by Taylor to Elizabeth Hardwick, "with affection," on New Year's Day, 1986. An excellent literary association copy: Hardwick was one of the major literary figures of her time, a co-founder of the New York Review of Books, a highly respected author and intellectual in her own right and married for many years to the award-winning poet Robert Lowell; Taylor was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, among many other awards. Fine, in a sunned cardboard slipcase with lifting at one joint.
218. (Television). BEAUMONT, Charles. The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont. Volume One. (Colorado Springs): Gauntlet Publications (2004). Copy #421 of an unspecified limited edition of nine of Beaumont's Twilight Zone scripts, which are reproduced in facsimile, edited by Roger Anker. Beaumont wrote 22 episodes for the acclaimed series and is considered, along with Richard Matheson and the series creator Rod Serling, one of the important figures in establishing it as a benchmark in television history for the caliber of the writing and the quality of the ideas explored. This edition has a preface by the author's son, Christopher Beaumont, and a foreword by Matheson, as well as a prologue by the editor and an afterword by Earl Hamner, another writer for the series, among his many other writing credits. Signed by Christopher Beaumont and Roger Anker. Bookplate of horror writer Stanley Wiater. Pencil smudge to top edge, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight creasing to the spine ends.
219. (Television). MATHESON, Richard. The Twilight Zone Scripts. (Abingdon): Cemetery Dance Publications (1998). Fourteen Matheson Twilight Zone scripts, edited and with commentary by Stanley Wiater. Matheson, the author of such novels as Bid Time Return and I Am Legend, was one of the two authors -- Charles Beaumont being the other -- whose scriptwriting set The Twilight Zone apart from other television series of its time and made it a standard against which much television since has been measured. Several of Matheson's scripts have come to be considered classic shows, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Night Call," adapted from one of the author's own short stories. Wiater's commentary puts the scripts in context, as well as locating Rod Serling's show within the ongoing history of classic horror fiction and film. 52 lettered copies were done of the deluxe edition, this copy is lettered "PC" and is from Wiater's personal library. Signed by Matheson and Wiater. Fine in a fine folding box. Five extra copies of the collage that serves at frontispiece laid in.
220. (Theater). STRASBERG, Lee. Strasberg at the Actors Studio. NY: Viking (1965). A compilation, edited by Robert Hethmon, of tape-recorded sessions by Strasberg at the Actors Studio, spanning nearly a decade. This copy is inscribed by Strasberg to Actors Studio co-founder and director, Cheryl Crawford: "To Cheryl - who made this possible by starting the Actors Studio and who I hope will find part of herself in it. Love, Lee Strasberg. September 8, 1965." Crawford's photograph is the first in the book (opposite page 206, with a summary of her role in the Studio). She co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947, and Strasberg became its director in 1951. Several notes to rear free flyleaf, presumably Crawford's as the book is from her library; a near fine copy in a very good, lightly edgeworn dust jacket with a mildly sunned spine and a small chip to the spine base. A wonderful association copy between Strasberg and Crawford, two of the leading figures in theater and acting of the 20th century: the alumni of the Actors Studio comprise a virtual Who's Who of 20th century American actors; Strasberg's and Crawford's relationship went back many years: in 1931 the two had co-founded, with Harold Clurman, the Group Theatre, which was called by The New York Times "America's first true theatrical collective."
221. THOMPSON, Hunter. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. NY: Random House (1971). Thompson's second and most famous book, which launched the "Gonzo journalism" style that the author invented and which, by a surprisingly universal consensus, he elevated to the status of art. A classic of the freewheeling, drug-ingesting Sixties era, illustrated with hilarious and scary pen-and-ink drawings by Ralph Steadman. Boards lightly edge-sunned, as usual; else fine in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author in 1976: "____/ - fuck careful;/ kick out the/ jams!/ HS Thompson." Thompson's signature is scarce and inscriptions even more so: normally, he signs with his initials only, without any further inscription. This copy of what is generally considered his best book -- with a vehement inscription, characteristic of his writings and the book's attitude -- is especially unusual, and rare thus. A beautiful copy, with a great and fairly early inscription.
222. - Another copy, this being a review copy with the publisher's review slip laid in giving the date of publication (June 26, 1972) and with a bookplate laid in signed by Ralph Steadman, who did the dust jacket art and the book's illustrations. Boards lightly edge-sunned, as usual; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket, with mild fading to the red spine lettering. Basis for an award-winning Terry Gilliam film, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. One of the key books of its era, and scarce in any sort of advance copy.
223. THOMPSON, Hunter. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. (San Francisco): Straight Arrow (1973). Thompson's third book and the second of his "Fear & Loathing" accounts. In this, Thompson covers the Nixon/McGovern race for the Presidency, bringing to the campaign a sense of humor and horror that is simultaneously both off-the-wall and entirely appropriate to its subject. Illustrated throughout with photographs and with pen-and-ink drawings by Ralph Steadman, who also illustrated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This was one of the early books to be published by Straight Arrow Press, the book publishing arm of Rolling Stone magazine, where Thompson's pieces first appeared in print, during the Presidential campaign he was covering. Although Thompson savages George McGovern in the book along with pretty much everything and everyone else, the two got to be good friends during their time together on the campaign trail. Inscribed by the author to a well-known New York City bookseller in 1976: "____/ be careful/ HST." Lower corners lightly bumped; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with light wear at the spine extremities. The dust jacket is the presumed second state, without the white border on the rear panel photograph and with the price of $7.95, although "presumed" should be considered the operative word here: Dan Gregory of Between the Covers has identified the variants of the bindings and dust jackets for this title, and the priority among them is by no means conclusive. A beautiful copy, one of the nicest we have ever seen, with a nice inscription.
224. THOMPSON, Hunter. Generation of Swine. Gonzo Papers Vol. 2. NY: Summit Books (1988). "Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s." Signed twice by Thompson, once on the front flyleaf with a slightly more elaborate signature than just his initials -- his last name spelled out in a stylized manner -- and then inscribed by Thompson (upside down) on the rear flyleaf "To Dave," with a swastika in a heart and signed with his initials "HST." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Books signed by Thompson are moderately uncommon; we've never seen one with the kind of image that he drew in the inscription in this copy.
225. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "Fear and Loathing at the Watergate" in Rolling Stone, September 27, 1973. (San Francisco): (Straight Arrow Press), 1973. Thompson has the cover story in this issue, which features illustrations by Ralph Steadman. Signed by Thompson on the front cover over a Steadman drawing of Richard Nixon. Address label front cover; paper yellowing; near fine.
226. (THOMPSON, Hunter).
227. (THOMPSON, Hunter and Ralph Steadman). Rolling Stone, November 11, 1971 and August 17, 1972. (London): Straight Arrow Publishers, 1971-72. Two editions of the British issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Each contains an article by Hunter Thompson with illustrations by Steadman, including cover illustrations, for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" -- credited to "Raoul Duke" -- and "Fear and Loathing in Miami Beach." Each issue is inscribed by Steadman on the cover, embellishing his illustrations. Spine-sunned and edge-worn copies; very good. The earlier issue includes the now-iconic Steadman drawing that appeared on the dust jacket of the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. For both:
228. TWAIN, Mark. The Oxford Mark Twain. NY/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. The signed limited edition of this 29-volume set: one of 300 sets printed. These volumes were created as facsimiles of the first editions, at least in their pages, presenting Twain to the contemporary world with the same look that he first appeared in his own time. The publisher did not try to reproduce the elaborately decorated covers, however, reportedly because of the cost involved in doing so. Signed by series editor Shelley Fisher Fishkin and also signed by the 58 people who provided introductions and afterwords to each volume, including Kurt Vonnegut, E.L. Doctorow, Toni Morrison, Arthur Miller, Gore Vidal, Cynthia Ozick, George Plimpton, Ward Just, Erica Jong, Ursula LeGuin, Bobbie Ann Mason, Russell Banks, Frederick Busch, Walter Mosley, Erica Jong, and many others, both literary figures (who provided the introductions) and Twain scholars (who provided the afterwords). The set is fine in fine jackets, in original shipping carton. A massive production, and beautifully executed, with original contributions by some of the best writers of our time and signed by them; scarce now.
229. UPDIKE, John. Typed Letter Signed. August 25, 1979. Written by Updike to a long-term fan. "Dear Mr. Lord. Thank you for your kind and jolly letter. I'm pleased to have had you on board since The Poorhouse Fair - now over 20 years old, and to which I wrote an introduction for an anniversary edition. As for the Rabbit sequels, don't give up. I hope to have a third out before too long." Signed, "Yours sincerely, John Updike." This letter dates from the time of Problems and Other Stories: at this point, Mr. Lord would have been waiting eight years since Rabbit Redux; Rabbit is Rich would come out in 1981. Written on notebook paper that has been folded in sixths for mailing. Small stain above the sign-off; near fine with hand-addressed mailing envelope with a return address of Georgetown, MA. Both the letter and envelope are matted and framed to approximately 13" x 15".
230. UPDIKE, John. Higher Gossip. NY: Knopf, 2011. A large, 500-page posthumously published collection of essays and criticisms. Fine in a fine dust jacket. List price: