Catalog 158, T-U
196. (Theater). SKREBNESKI, Victor. Steppenwolf at 25. Naperville: Sourcebooks (2000). Portraits by Skrebneski of actors and others involved with the influential Steppenwolf Theatre Company, at its 25th anniversary. With commentary by Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Sam Shepard, Richard Christiansen, Terry Johnson and Charles L. Mee. Signed by Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise, two of the company's founders. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
197. 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 one, 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. Blended stain to rear free flyleaf, lower corners a bit bumped; near fine in a near fine, presumed first issue dust jacket with a bit of internal foxing, mild edge wear and some fading to the red of the spine. Still one of the nicest copies we have seen of this title, the predominantly black dust jacket of which shows wear readily.
198. -. Another copy. This is an advance review copy with author photo, five pages of publicity material, review slip (which also states that the frequent faintness of the type will be corrected in the first edition), and a McGovern promissory note laid in. Interestingly, in the promotional material the publisher describes this book as "the last volume in a strange trilogy that began with Hell's Angels... and continued through Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," the only time we have heard of these three books being explicitly described as a trilogy. This copy is signed by Ralph Steadman and Kurt Vonnegut. Steadman, who contributed a number of illustrations to the book, has added devil's horns, a jester's cap, and a cigarette holder to the title page illustration and has written "Part Devil, Part Jester," dating his signature on August 20, 2005 at Owl Farm, Woody Creek, the day of Hunter Thompson's memorial blastoff. Vonnegut has written, on July 28 of that year: "Hunter Thompson is the most creatively crazy of the New Journalists. His ideas are brilliant, and honorable and valuable -- the literary equivalent of cubism. All rules are broken." In addition to his signature, Vonnegut has added a signed self-caricature. Fine in a near fine, presumed first issue, price-clipped dust jacket with slight edge wear. The bibliographic history of this title is unusual, and this advance copy provides some clues to a number of the questions that surround it. In particular, the price-clipped jacket is telling: originally the price of the book was to be $7.95, as is indicated on the review slip, but the price was lowered prior to publication so that the first copies issued to the trade had a $6.95 price. The price was later raised back to $7.95. As the publisher indicates, early copies of the book were printed poorly, and the printing was to be improved upon actual publication. Straight Arrow Press was the newly created publishing arm of Rolling Stone magazine, which was still a small counterculture journal at the time, and the vagaries of the publication process were apparently still new to them, resulting in a confusing series of changes to this book. This is a beautiful copy of an early issue of this book, and a bibliographically significant one with the publisher's statements about the forthcoming issues; probably the nicest copy we have seen. In custom clamshell case.
199. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "Burial at Sea" in Rogue, December, 1961. (Evanston): (Greenleaf Publishing), 1961. A 4-page short story by Thompson, preceding his first book by six years, in this magazine "designed for men." Other contributors to this Playboy-wannabe include Alfred Bester and Robert Bloch, and there is an article about the making of Roger Corman's movie adaptation of Charles Beaumont's novel The Intruder, about racial hatred in the deep South in the 1950s. Fine in stapled wrappers. An extremely early appearance in print for Thompson, and an impressive array of genre and "pulp" writers included in a "girly" magazine.
200. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "The Nonstudent Left" in The Nation, September 27, 1965. NY: The Nation Company, 1965. A five-page article by Thompson. Signed by Thompson on the front cover. Mild age-toning, one edge tear and a corner turn; a very faint, small stain; still about near fine in stapled wrappers.
201. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "Life Styles: The Cyclist" in Esquire, January, 1967. (NY): Esquire, 1967. An article on the Hell's Angels: a prepublication excerpt from Thompson's first book, illustrated with photographs. Perfectbound, with chipping to the spine ends; near fine.
202. (THOMPSON, Hunter; STEADMAN, Ralph; and WOLFE, Tom). The New Journalism. NY: Harper & Row (1973). An anthology of the movement in the 1960s toward a "new journalism" that gave up pretensions of objectivity in favor of engagement with the subject matter of the writing -- from Terry Southern's humorous pieces to Hunter Thompson's "gonzo" journalism and various other now-classic manifestations of this new trend in nonfiction. Includes "Khesanh" by Michael Herr, four years before its publication in his Vietnam war classic Dispatches, and "Slouching Towards Bethlehem," the title piece of Joan Didion's landmark 1968 collection. Also includes excerpts from Truman Capote's classic In Cold Blood and George Plimpton's seminal Paper Lion. An important anthology, edited by Tom Wolfe, including two pieces by him, and also including "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" by Thompson. Signed (initialed) by Thompson at his contribution, and inscribed by Ralph Steadman with a drawing in the section called "Waiting for Steadman." Also inscribed by Wolfe on the title page. Slight foredge sunning, a few marks to the edges of the text block; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few small edge nicks. An excellent copy of an important anthology of new writing from the Sixties, much of which is now viewed as classic. Seldom found signed, and this is the only copy we have ever encountered signed by Thompson and Steadman.
203. (THOMPSON, Hunter). X-Ray Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4. San Francisco: Pneumatic Press, 1995. The fourth issue of this artist book/magazine, produced by Johnny Brewton. This issue features a cover photo shot by Thompson with a .45 (so stamped inside the front cover). There is also a Thompson contribution on the inside rear cover. Hand-assembled and velobound; fine. An extravagant production; the entire run of X-Ray Magazine consisted of ten issues.
204. TOIBIN, Colm. Brooklyn. (Dublin): Tuskar Rock Press (2009). The first Irish edition of this award-winning novel by one of the most highly praised Irish writers of recent years. One of only 75 numbered copies of this novel , signed and dated by the author. Full cloth, fine in a fine cloth slipcase. A beautiful production by a press that Toibin and former publisher now agent Peter Straus have created; Straus is the dedicatee of this volume. The publishers' love of literature is amply in evidence in this volume, and they have apparently produced similar volumes of other writers' works, although we have not yet seen any others on this side of the Atlantic.
205. UPDIKE, John. Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories. NY: Knopf, 1962. Updike's fifth book, and second collection of stories. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, slightly spine-tanned dust jacket with a tiny edge tear at the lower rear flap fold. A very nice copy of this early book by Updike.
206. UPDIKE, John. Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu. John Updike on Ted Williams. (NY): Library of America (2010). The advance reading copy of the commemorative edition of Hub Fans, prepared by Updike before his death to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ted Williams' last at-bat, a solo home run that Updike witnessed from the stands at Fenway Park. Includes a new afterword and an autobiographical preface. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon in the advance issue.
207. UPDIKE, John. Higher Gossip. NY: Knopf, 2011. The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumously published collection of essays and criticisms. The cover bears the typeset phrase "A late edition [sic] to the Fall 2011 List." Fine in wrappers. The proof contains a poem not in the book; the book contains an essay on Kurt Vonnegut that is not in the proof. A scarce and bibliographically notable proof.