Catalog 158, E-F
55. EGGERS, Dave. What is the What. The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. (San Francisco): (McSweeney's)(2006). The advance reading copy of this highly praised "nonfiction novel" based on the life story of Deng, one of the Sudanese "Lost Boys," as told to Eggers, the author of the acclaimed memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and creator of McSweeney's, the highly regarded literary journal and publisher. With different cover art from the published book and with blurbs by Khaled Hosseini, Philip Gourevitch and John Prendergast on the rear panel. Uncommon in the proof form: McSweeney's is a decidedly small press, with little in the way of marketing dollars: its best advertising tends to be the "buzz" created by its publications, and this book exemplified the process, reaching #25 on The New York Times bestseller list without the benefit of much in the way of advertising or promotional clout. A powerful novelization of a Sudanese survivor's story, which Eggers later followed with Zeitoun, an account of a post-Katrina family in a New Orleans lacking in civil liberties. This is the only advance copy we have encountered. Slight splaying to covers; else fine in wrappers.
56. EISELEY, Loren. The Mind as Nature. NY: Harper & Row (1962). A review copy of this small volume in the John Dewey Lectureship series, which examines how Man's mind reflects the "creative forces and tensions of the universe" -- a subject matter well suited to the author's dual talents as scientist and poet. This is one of the less common Eiseley books from this period, perhaps because it was originally a lecture given at the annual meeting of the National Society of College Teachers of Education, and not intended, or written, as a book for general trade release. This copy is inscribed by Eiseley one month prior to publication: "To Mr. and Mrs. Joseph First with kind regards and best wishes from Loren Eiseley." Laid in is a carbon typescript of Mrs. (Dr. Helen G.) First's full-page review of the book, which she says "brings together [Eiseley's] vast academic knowledge and his deep humanity to support his plea for a more tolerant regard for the unblossomed potential in the human mind." The review is on carbon paper and folded in fourths. The book has offsetting to the endpages (partly from the review laid in) and Mrs. First's underlinings and marginal notes throughout; it is otherwise fine in a very good dust jacket splitting at the rear flap fold and with some faint underlining to the front panel text. A notable copy of one of Eiseley's scarcest books.
57. ELLIS, Bret Easton. Less Than Zero. NY: Simon & Schuster (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of this first book which, together with Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, helped define the literary "Brat Pack" of the 1980s -- considered the representative voices of a new generation. Later made into a movie. Signed by the author. Reviewer's notes in pencil; some faint stains and minor moisture creases to covers; very good in wrappers. An important first book: a transgressive take on the coming-of-age novel, which was later trumped by the author's second book, American Psycho, a novel so defiantly challenging that its publisher gave up on it rather than take on the inevitable controversy that would accompany its release. It was eventually issued as a softcover original by a different publisher -- a small footnote to the American literary and publishing history of the 20th century. A notable first book, and an uncommon proof, especially signed.
58. EUGENIDES, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides. NY: FSG (1993). The advance reading copy (marked "Uncorrected Proof") of the first book by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex. Signed by the author. Eugenides was named one of The New Yorker's best young writers in 1999 on the strength of this book. The film adaptation, also released that year, was done by Sofia Coppola and earned high praise for Coppola and for 17 year-old Kirsten Dunst, who starred in it. An uncommon advance copy of a highly regarded first book, and quite scarce signed. Fine in wrappers.
59. EUGENIDES, Jeffrey. The Marriage Plot. NY: FSG (2011). The advance reading copy of his third novel; this one concerns a love triangle that begins in the early 1980s semiotics and English classes of Brown University, from which the author graduated in 1983. Very near fine in wrappers.
60. FARINA, Richard. Photographs. 1965. Five original photographs of Farina taken by David Gahr, who took the jacket photo for Farina's book Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up to Me. All five photographs included here are from that same New York City photo shoot. One photo is the one used on the cover of Elektra Records Singer/Songwriter Project, 1965. One is the photo of Farina with a bandaid on his neck that was used on the cover of the 1983 Viking re-issue of Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up to Me. Gahr was "among the pre-eminent photographers of American folk, blues, jazz and rock musicians of the 1960s and beyond," according to his 2008 New York Times obituary, written by Bruce Weber. A number of his images are iconic: he had a four-decade relationship with Bob Dylan; his 1968 photograph of Janis Joplin appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1988, in a retrospective on the significance of that year in American history; he shot the photograph of Bruce Springsteen that provides the cover of his second album, "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle." 8" x 10" black and white glossy photos; each is stamped on the verso with Gahr's copyright notice and Brooklyn address, with Farina's name hand-written on four of them and the year handwritten on three of those. An impressive portfolio of an important folk singer and writer of the 1960s, who was married to Joan Baez's sister and was a friend of Thomas Pynchon dating back to their college years together at Cornell, and shot by a legendary photographer. All items are fine.
61. (Film). Cinema Now. (Cincinnati): (University of Cincinnati)(1968). The text of a symposium on American Underground Film, featuring John Cage, Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Stan Vanderbeek, and moderated by Jim McGinniss, a University of Cincinnati film professor. A historic symposium that brought together four of the leading avant garde artists of the time, whose work still resonates. Small marginal notation and stain to one page; near fine in stapled wrappers.
62. (Film). ELMAN, Richard and SCHRADER, Paul. Taxi Driver Typescript. [NY: Bantam, 1976]. Partial typescript for Elman's novelization of the Paul Schrader screenplay for the classic Martin Scorcese film, ranked 52nd on the American Film Institute's top films of all time. Approximately 75 typescript pages total, about evenly split between multiple reworkings of the first eight pages and the final 13 pages, with five drafts of the first page alone. Approximately nine pages from the middle of the book. Most pages are ribbon-copy; some are carbon typescript; only 13 pages are photocopy. The majority of the pages bear extensive holograph corrections in Elman's hand, showing a labored, almost pained attempt to do justice to the Schrader screenplay, a copy of which is also included, with an additional 19 revision pages of its own. Accompanied by a typed letter signed by Paul Schrader to Elman (although apparently after the fact as it is written on "American Gigolo" stationery and dated 1980), transmitting a copy of the 1974 script and saying that he "subsequently did more work on the script, but this is a fair representation of what was intended." Also included is a cassette tape labeled "Taxi 2," on which Elman dictates portions of his novelization. Elman's pages are in a variety of conditions: some are wrinkled and edgeworn; some are on acidifying paper; some are fine. The screenplay is near fine; the revisions are heavily coffee-stained but entirely legible. Elman studied writing at Stanford with Yvor Winters and wrote a number of novels, several books of nonfiction and reportage, and published four poetry collections. His novelization of Taxi Driver, one of the greatest films of the last century, was clearly a more literary undertaking than most such novelizations are. Also included, for reasons unknown to us, is one page of lyrics of an Australian folk song. A unique archive pertaining to a great film. For all:
63. (Film). The Man. NY: Paramount Pictures, 1972. "Handbook of Production Information" for this film about the first black President of the United States (through succession, not election). Written by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling, based on a novel by Irving Wallace, and starring James Earl Jones. Twelve pages, including cast, credits, story synopsis, production notes and bios. Near fine.
64. (Film). SCHICKEL, Richard. The Men Who Made the Movies. NY: Atheneum, 1975. A volume that arose out of the PBS series that Schickel wrote, directed and produced, in which he interviews eight film directors: Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, King Vidor, George Cukor, Raoul Walsh, Vincente Minnelli, William Wellman, and Howard Hawks. Inscribed by Schickel. Quarto, illustrated with photographs from the directors' movies. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a few tiny edge tears.
65. (Film Source). VENDITTI, Robert and WELDELE, Brett. The Surrogates. (Marietta): Top Shelf (2005-2006). The five issue comic book series about a future in which lives are lived remotely, through "surrogates," ostensibly without risk to their human operators. Published as a graphic novel in 2006, this five volume set precedes that edition. First printing of each issue; each is fine in stapled wrappers. With a sheet laid in announcing the paperback edition. The full set is extremely uncommon. Basis for the Bruce Willis film.
66. FOER, Jonathan Safran. Everything is Illuminated. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. The advance reading copy of his first novel, one of the most highly praised literary debuts of the year -- named Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and winner of the Guardian First Book Prize, among other literary awards. A film adaptation, done by Liev Schreiber, won the Laterna Magica Prize at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. Signed by the author. In the first issue, red and cream wrappers. Slight splaying to front cover; near fine.
67. FOER, Jonathan Safran. The Self-Portrait Project. Jackson Heights: Self-Published, [c. 2002]. In 2002, before Foer went on a 38-city book tour for his first book, Everything is Illuminated, he stuffed 5000-7500 ziplock plastic bags with a pencil (stamped "The Self-Portrait Project") and a 4" x 6" pre-printed card and envelope to hand out at his readings. His hope was that people would draw themselves or write about themselves on the cards and mail them back to his post office box. This card has been inscribed by Foer on the verso: "___/ Send this back!!/ Jonathan Safran Foer." At the time Foer inscribed this, he stated it was the first one he had ever been asked to sign: it may remain the only. Fine, with envelope, pencil, and plastic bag. Paragraph of provenance included.
68. FOER, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin (2005). His second novel, about grief, set in the aftermath of 9/11 and basis for an Academy Award-nominated film. Inscribed by Foer, with "thanks." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
69. (FOER, Jonathan Safran). A Convergence of Birds. (NY): Distributed Art Publishers (2001). The limited edition of this collection of original writings inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and edited by Foer, who also contributes both a chapter and the introduction. Precedes the publication of his first novel by a year. One of 225 numbered copies, of a total edition of 300. Signed by Foer and all contributing authors, including Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Diane Ackerman, Siri Hustvedt, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, Bradford Morrow, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Joanna Scott and others. An elaborate and attractive production: each piece of writing in the book is preceded by a tipped-in color photograph of one of Cornell's works, and the sheets signed by the authors are bound in opposite them. Fine in a fine slipcase.
70. FORD, Richard. A Piece of My Heart. NY: Harper & Row (1976). The first book by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Independence Day and the recently published novel Canada. A novel of two drifters whose paths cross in Mississippi with violent consequences, this novel received good critical reviews and was an alternate selection of the Book of the Month Club. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A nice copy of an important first novel, by one of the most highly regarded American writers.
71. FORD, Richard. The Ultimate Good Luck. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981. A French agency copy of Ford's second novel, a hard-boiled thriller involving American expatriates in Mexico. The front flyleaf bears two stamps of the Paris literary agency McKee and Mouche, plus the stamp of the iconic Pari bookstore Shakespeare and Company, and one inked out stamp. Stapled to the first blank is a 4-page photocopy of the typescript of novelist Thomas Cook's review of the book for Atlanta Magazine. Ford was a little known writer at the time, and the regional nature of the review enclosed, by a Southern writer who was at the time more well known than Ford, is indicative of this. The agency stamps are again present on the title page, where Ford has signed this copy with his name and the French exclamation Zut Alors!. Partly because of the weak construction of this book, which tends to crack at the rear hinge, this title has become harder to locate, particularly in fine condition, than his first book. This copy is fine in a near fine dust jacket with a closed tear at the upper front spine fold.
72. FORD, Richard and IMES, Birney. Juke Joint. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi (1990). Color photographs by Imes of "juke joints" -- black taverns and social clubs in the rural South -- with an introductory essay by Ford. Of a total edition of 126 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by Ford and Imes. An attractive book and a scarce limited edition by the Pulitzer Prize winning author. Fine in a fine, illustrated slipcase, as issued.
73. FRAZIER, Charles. Cold Mountain. (n.p.): Twenty-Third Avenue Books/First Choice Books, 1997. A broadside excerpt from Frazier's novel, produced on the occasion of a reading by the author. This is number 3 of five numbered copies designated as a "Publisher's Copy," beyond the designated limitation of 100 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies. The lettered copies were larger in size than the numbered ones, and this publisher's copy has the dimensions of the lettered issue: 9 1/2" x 16 1/2". Signed by the author. Fine.
74. FRAZIER, Charles. Nightwoods. NY: Random House (2011). The advance reading copy of his third novel. Fine in wrappers. Surprisingly uncommon in the advance issue, for a writer whose previous books, Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons had been bestsellers and received considerable critical acclaim.