Catalog 96, K-O
240. KESEY, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. NY: Viking (1962). Kesey's landmark first book, a pivotal novel of the literature of the Sixties, which helped to shape a generation's attitudes on issues of authority, power, madness and, finally, individuality. The early printings of the U.S. edition contain text that was later excised and changed after a lawsuit was brought against Kesey and his publisher by a woman who was a nurse at the institution which Kesey used as a model for the novel. This copy has a bookplate on the front flyleaf and a very slightly faded top stain; otherwise it is a fine copy in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with minor edgewear. A very presentable copy of a scarce book that is difficult to find in nice shape.
241. (KESEY, Ken). "McMurphy and the Machine" in Stanford Short Stories 1962. Stanford: Stanford U. Press, 1962. A collection edited by Wallace Stegner and Richard Scowcroft. Kesey's excerpt is from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Larry McMurtry contributes "Leaving Cheyenne," an excerpt from his second novel, then in progress. Fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with just one tiny spot of rubbing at the lower front flap fold. A beautiful copy of an early book appearance for both Kesey and McMurtry.
242. KIDDER, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine. Boston: Atlantic-Little Brown (1981). His second book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for nonfiction. Kidder spent a year with a design team at Data General, chronicling the process of designing a new minicomputer, and recounted the tale in lucid, accessible prose which opened up this normally invisible aspect of the contemporary world of high technology and industry to a wide readership. He has followed a similar pattern for his more recent books, which have been critical and commercial successes, and have focused on such seemingly mundane subjects as the building of a house, a year in the life of a schoolteacher, and growing old in a nursing home. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A shining example of the kind of "literary journalism" that grew out of the New Journalism of the 1960s, and the breakdown of the stylistic barriers between journalism and the more literary forms. Reprinted many times and something of a bestseller but, in our experience, a surprisingly scarce volume in the first printing.
243. (KINGSOLVER, Barbara). "The University of Arizona's Bioenergy Research Facility" in Arid Lands Newsletter, No. 16. Tucson: U. of Arizona, 1982. A four page article, itself excerpted from "Bioenergy Research Facility (1982)," according to footnotes. Precedes her first book by six years. Quarto; glossy stapled wrappers. Fine.
244. (KINGSOLVER, Barbara). "Quality Time" in The Single Mother's Companion. Essays and Stories by Women. (Seattle): Seal Press, 1994. An advance reading excerpt printing eight of the chapters from the finished book. Anne Lamott contributes "Operating Instructions." Fine in wrappers.
245. KINGSTON, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. NY: Knopf, 1976. Her first book, a highly praised coming of age memoir which was also a substantial commercial success, being reprinted a number of times very quickly and being selected by Book of the Month Club. Subtitled "Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts," it eloquently explored the cultural conflicts faced by Chinese-Americans, a subject that Amy Tan later developed in her bestselling novel, The Joy Luck Club. Inscribed by the author. One corner bumped; near fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
246. KITTREDGE, William and KRAUZER, Steven. "ROUNTREE, Owen." Cord. NY: Ballantine Books (1982). The first in this series of Kittredge's pseudonymous Westerns, issued as paperback originals. The series, reportedly co-written by Kittredge and novelist Steven Krauzer, focuses on an outlaw named Cord and his female partner, Chi, in the latter years of the 19th century. Bookstore stamp on summary page; remainder stripe to top page edges; spine heavily creased; about very good in wrappers.
247. KITTREDGE, William and KRAUZER, Steven. "ROUNTREE, Owen." Cord. Gunman Winter. NY: Ballantine Books (1983). The fourth book in the series. Near fine in wrappers. With an afterword by Kittredge and Krauzer on the history of train robberies in the Old West, and their depiction in popular culture.
248. KITTREDGE, William and KRAUZER, Steven. "ROUNTREE, Owen." Cord. King of Colorado. NY: Ballantine Books (1984). The fifth book in the series, again with an Afterword by Kittredge and Krauzer. Very near fine in wrappers.
249. KITTREDGE, William and KRAUZER, Steven. "ROUNTREE, Owen." Cord. Gunsmoke River. NY: Ballantine Books (1985). As in most of the earlier titles in this series, Krauzer and Kittredge collaborate on an extensive Afterword that puts the events of the novel into historical context. Very near fine in wrappers.
250. KITTREDGE, William and KRAUZER, Steven. "ROUNTREE, Owen." Cord. Paradise Valley. NY: Ballantine Books (1986). Again, with an Afterword by Kittredge and Krauzer. Fine in wrappers.
251. KLEIN, Joe. "Anonymous." Primary Colors. NY: Random House (1996). The pseudonymous, anonymous novel that was closely based on the Presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and caused considerable controversy when it was published, for the somewhat unflattering portraits of the President and First Lady, as well as other members of their contingent. A highly readable, and funny, roman a clef, the question of the identity of the book's author became the hot issue among Washington insiders as soon as the book was published and continued unabated until a sleuthing reporter from the Washington Post identified Klein by the handwriting on a marked set of galleys. The subsequent scandal became an issue of "journalistic ethics" -- Klein was a columnist for Newsweek at the time and had flatly denied writing the book, as had his superiors at the magazine -- and resulted in Klein leaving Newsweek and taking a position at The New Yorker. The first printing, while not small, was immediately sold out and the book was reprinted numerous times, becoming a huge bestseller. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Now the basis for a well-received movie.
252. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. While copies of the first edition are scarce, the proof is decidedly more so, and this is the only copy we have seen that is signed by the author: "Best wishes/ Anonymous/ JK." Fine in wrappers.
253. KRAKAUER, Jon. Into Thin Air. (NY): Villard Books (1997). An advance copy, in the form of bound 8 1/2" x 11" typeset sheets, of his fourth book, a bestseller that was selected as one of The New York Times' eleven best books of the year. Krakauer was sent to Everest by Outside Magazine to report on the repercussions of the growing commercialization of the mountain and became party to the May 10, 1996 summit bid that cost nine climbers their lives. His account of the travails of that ascent was critically well-received and became a huge, somewhat unlikely bestseller. Tapebound in slightly wrinkled cardstock covers; near fine.
254. LANKFORD, Terrill. Shooters. NY: Forge/Doherty (1997). Highly praised first novel, in the noir genre. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in the month prior to publication.
255. LARKIN, Philip. High Windows. London: Faber and Faber (1974). His first collection of new poems since 1964. Fine in a dust jacket with mild edge-sunning; else fine.
256. -. Same title, the first American edition (NY: FSG, 1974). Fine in a fine dust jacket, again with slight edge-sunning.
257. LEAVITT, David. The Page Turner. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of his new novel, just published. Fine in wrappers. The title page states the date as "1997".
258. LETHEM, Jonathan. Girl in Landscape. NY: Doubleday (1998). The advance reading copy of the new book by the author of Gun, With Occasional Music, and others. Fine in wrappers with promotional sheets and author photo laid in.
259. LEWIS, Sinclair. It Can't Happen Here. Garden City: Doubleday Doran, 1935. A novel of fascism coming to America, written by the author of Babbitt and Main Street at a time when Europe was coming under the sway of various fascist dictators. Inscribed by the author: "To Roy Grimmer/ from his friend/ + sometime patient/ Sinclair Lewis." Light flaking to spine gilt; near fine in a very good dust jacket with light edge-chipping.
260. LOCKRIDGE, Ross, Jr. Raintree County. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948. The author's highly praised first and only novel, an ambitious, panoramic look at a fictional Indiana county over the course of the 19th century. Owner name under front flap; a small spot of wear to the cloth at the spine base; still a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with minor edge wear and one small chip. Signed by the author. Lockridge committed suicide shortly after the publication of this book, and signed copies are extremely scarce.
261. LOPEZ, Barry. Lessons from the Wolverine. Athens: U. of Georgia Press (1997). Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author. A short story by Lopez, with illustrations by Tom Pohrt, who also illustrated Lopez's Crow and Weasel.
262. LOPEZ, Barry. About This Life. Journeys Through the Threshold of Memory. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of his new book, to be published in June. A collection of essays together with several previously unpublished memory pieces. Fine in wrappers.
263. MAILER, Norman. The Naked and the Dead. NY: Rinehart (1948). The author's landmark first book, one of the great novels of World War II, which put Mailer on the literary map immediately. Inscribed by the author: "To ____ who has always/ liked this book and whom/ I would always like even/ if she had not./ Norman." The boards are rubbed at the edges and corners, as is common with this title; the black boards are off-black in places; very good in a very good dust jacket with one small edge chip on the rear panel, a couple of closed edge tears and minor rubbing along the folds. A nicer-than-usual copy of a postwar classic.
264. MAILER, Norman. The Time of Our Time. NY: Random House (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of an omnibus collection, published on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Naked and the Dead. "Selections by Mailer of his best work, ingeniously arranged as a literary retrospective." With a foreword by Mailer. Painfully massive, over 1200 pages. Fine in wrappers. Destined to be scarce: few that are read will likely survive.
265. MALAMUD, Bernard. Dubin's Lives. NY: FSG (1979). The first printing, one of approximately 70 copies that were sent out for review with the last five words on page 231 written in by hand. This was later corrected in type when the edition was formally published. Slight splay to boards; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace sunning to edges and spine.
266. MAMET, David. True and False. Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor. NY: Pantheon Books (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's advice to actors: many chapters reminding actors to stay out of the way of the play. Fine in wrappers.
267. MAMET, David. The Old Religion. NY: The Free Press (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of his second work of fiction. One small edge nick, else fine in wrappers.
268. MAMET, David. Three Uses of the Knife. NY: Columbia U. Press (1998). The uncorrected proof copy, subtitled "On the Nature and Purpose of Drama," a collection of three essays. Fine in wrappers.
269. MARON, Margaret. Bootlegger's Mystery. NY: Mysterious Press (1992). The highly praised first Deborah Knott mystery by this multiple award-winning author. Remainder stripe; else fine in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author.
270. MAUGHAM, Somerset. The Razor's Edge. London: Heinemann (1941). Maugham's wartime classic, his last major novel, and one of the important coming-of-age novels of twentieth century English literature. Small bookplate front pastedown; near fine in a fair dust jacket sunned on the spine and with a long thin chip up from the base of the rear spine fold. A fragile and scarce book printed under wartime conditions and seldom found in any sort of dust jacket or in decent condition at all, and one of the high spots of modern literature.
271. McCARTHY, Cormac. Blood Meridian. NY: Random House (1985). His fifth book, a powerful novel of the Old West, based on an actual series of events in 1849-1850 in Texas and Mexico, and rendered with an eye to bringing to life the surreal violence of the time and place. Tiny blue spot top page edges (not a remainder spot); else fine in a fine dust jacket with an equally tiny nick at the rear spine fold.
272. -. Another copy. This copy has a small red dot on the top page edges and a faint small stain on the foredge; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a tiny nick at the spine crown.
273. McCARTHY, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. NY: Knopf, 1992. The first volume of the Border Trilogy, a landmark novel that won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and propelled its author to "instant" literary celebrity -- after nearly three decades of writing well-received literary novels in relative obscurity. All the Pretty Horses sold ten times as many copies in hardcover as all five of his previous novels combined. Fine in a fine dust jacket. This is the reputed second issue dust jacket, with five blurbs on the rear panel and the first letter of the flap copy printed in color; it's not clear whether any copies of the first issue jacket were distributed upon publication, or if they were limited to review copies.
274. McDERMOTT, Alice. Charming Billy. NY: FSG (1997/1998). Two states of the advance reading copy. The first has a publication date of 1997; the second, with differing dust jacket art, has a publication date of 1998 and states that the chapters found on pages 146 through 178 appear in a slightly different order than in the original version. Each is fine in wrappers. For both:
275. McMURTRY, Larry. Comanche Moon. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this massive novel, a prequel to the author's award-winning Lonesome Dove, featuring the same characters, plus some that were introduced in his earlier prequel, Dead Man's Walk. Fine in wrappers.
276. McNAMEE, Eoin. Resurrection Man. NY: Picador (1995). The first American edition of this young Irish writer's first novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
277. McNICKLE, D'Arcy. The Surrounded. NY: Dodd, Mead (1936). McNickle's first book, and a landmark Native American novel, one of the early books to address questions of assimilation and alienation from both the white way of life and traditional tribal culture. It began the process in American Indian literature of looking for value in traditional Native American beliefs even in the face of such alienation. As such, Charles Larson (American Indian Fiction, Albuquerque, 1978) links him with N. Scott Momaday -- thirty years McNickle's junior -- as the two writers who predate the new wave of politically aware Native American writers, such as James Welch and Leslie Marmon Silko. A near fine copy in a very good, spine-faded jacket that is chipped and externally tape-repaired at the spine crown. Although this book dates from the modern era, this is the only copy we have ever seen or heard of with the dust jacket intact. An important novel and a modern rarity in dust jacket.
278. McPHEE, John. Annals of the Former World. NY: FSG (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of a new compilation of his writings on geology, collecting Basin and Range, In Suspect Terrain, Rising from the Plains and Assembling California, and a new essay, "Crossing the Craton." The first two of these titles had been issued in a limited edition also called Annals of the Former World in 1983. One edge nick, else fine in wrappers.
279. McPHERSON, James Alan. Crabcakes. NY: Simon & Schuster (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of the first book in over 20 years by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Elbow Room. Fine in wrappers.
280. MENAKER, Daniel. The Treatment. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this first novel by a writer who was a longtime editor at The New Yorker. Fine in wrappers.
281. -. Another copy. Cover corner creased; near fine.
282. MICHAELS, Anne. Fugitive Pieces. (Toronto): McClelland & Stewart (1996). Highly praised and bestselling first novel by this Canadian author, this being the true first edition, only issued in wrappers. A fine copy.
283. MILLHAUSER, Steven. Little Kingdoms. NY: Poseidon (1993). A collection of three novellas by the recent Pulitzer Prize winner, scheduled to be reissued by Viking this year. Remainder stripe, else fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
284. MILLHAUSER, Steven. The Knife Thrower and Other Stories. (n.p.): Crown, 1998. An advance copy, in the form of bound 8 1/2" x 11" photocopied sheets. Some of the stories are reproduced from typeset pages, some from typescript. There are a few instances of reproduced holograph corrections. Also bound in are three pages of promotional material which say, among other things, that although Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Martin Dressler, he is most comfortable working in this, the short story, form. Tapebound in cardstock covers; fine.
285. MOODY, Rick. The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven. Boston: Little Brown (1995). The third book by the author of The Ice Storm, and his first collection of short fiction, including a novella and short stories. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
286. MORRISON, Toni. Jazz. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1992. The true first edition of this novel, preceding its trade publication. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Signed by the author. With an introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Fine.
287. MORRISON, Toni. Paradise. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the latest novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author, published to near-universal praise, with a first printing announced as 400,000 copies. Fine in wrappers.
288. -. Same title, the "Special Preview Edition," which is a first trade edition with a "Dear Bookseller" note laid in and a "Special Preview Edition" sticker on the rear panel. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
289. MOSLEY, Walter. Devil in a Blue Dress. NY: Norton (1990). The first book in the highly praised Easy Rawlins mystery series -- one of the few detective series by an African-American writer and featuring an African-American detective. Nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery of the year and basis for the successful movie. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
290. MOSLEY, Walter. A Red Death. NY: Norton (1991). The second of the author's acclaimed Easy Rawlins mysteries, this one set in Los Angeles in the early Fifties. Extremely slight bump to an upper board edge; still fine in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author.
291. MURAKAMI, Haruki. South of the Border, West of the Sun. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the new book by the author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, among others. Due to be published here in July. Fine in wrappers.
292. NICOL, Mike. The Ibis Tapestry. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel of South Africa in the aftermath of apartheid, by an acclaimed South African author. Fine in wrappers.
293. NORMAN, Howard. Kiss in the Hotel Joseph Conrad. NY: Summit (1989). The second book of fiction, first collection of stories, by the author of The Northern Lights and The Bird Artist, among others. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
294. NORMAN, Howard. The Bird Artist. NY: FSG (1994). The first American edition of his second novel, and second book to be nominated for the National Book Award. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a tiny surface nick at crown, and bearing the NBA Finalist sticker. Signed by the author.
295. OATES, Joyce Carol. Zombie. (NY): Dutton (1995). A novel in the form of the diary of a serial killer. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
296. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1990. The limited edition and the correct first edition of his fifth book, chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the dozen best books of the year, in all categories. By broad consensus one of the best works of fiction to come out of the Vietnam war, and a book that straddles, or blurs, several usually distinct categories: it resembles a novel -- with characters that recur throughout the individual episodes; a memoir (the main character is named "Tim O'Brien" and bears many similarities to the author); and a collection of short stories, related but essentially independent. Whatever its category, it is a candidate to be considered the Vietnam war's equivalent to The Red Badge of Courage -- a tale told from the perspective of one foot soldier which rings with an authenticity made all the more powerful by appearing not to pretend to much beyond a simple recounting. The whole sequence of episodes, however, is couched in a series of reflections on storytelling, the nature of stories, and their relation to truth, which gives the book its own context: O'Brien writes for a contemporary audience that shares his knowledge of Vietnam but he is also writing for all those who will have only the story to go by, not the experience. This edition has a special introduction written by the author which gives some insight into his vision of the line between fact and fiction, and it is signed by O'Brien. Leatherbound; all edges gilt; with a silk ribbon marker. Fine.
297. O'CONNELL, Carol. The Man Who Lied to Women. London: Hutchinson (1995). The second Mallory novel by the author of the acclaimed Mallory's Oracle. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in 1996.
298. O'HARA, Frank. Poems Retrieved. Bolinas: Grey Fox Press (1977). The hardcover issue of this posthumous collection of O'Hara's poems, edited by Donald Allen. Fine, without dust jacket, presumably as issued.
299. O'HARA, Frank. Early Writing. Bolinas: Grey Fox Press (1977). Again, the hardcover issue, consisting of poetry and other early writings, edited by Donald Allen. Fine, without dust jacket. While we don't have figures for the print runs, the Grey Fox hardcovers of this period are quite scarce and must have had small printings, largely targeted at the library market.
300. OLSEN, Tillie. "Help Her to Believe" in Stanford Short Stories 1956. Stanford: Stanford U. Press (1956). Olsen's first book appearance, in this collection edited by Wallace Stegner and Richard Scowcroft. In addition to the story, Olsen offers an explanatory three pages "On the Writing of a Story" in the Appendix. Other contributors include Hughes Rudd and Luis Harss, the Chilean-Argentine novelist. Small owner name label front pastedown (from the daughter of poet Robert Frost); else fine in a very good dust jacket with light edge-chipping and a split to the front flap fold.
301. OLSON, Charles. The Maximus Poems. (n.p.): Jargon/Corinth Books (1960). Quarto, the first hardcover publication of these poems, first published by Jonathan Williams in 1953 and 1956. One of the most important achievements of American poetry in the postwar era. Olson was influential on an entire generation of poets by virtue of his presence at Black Mountain College in the Fifties, and The Maximus Poems are his major poetic work. Covers slightly splayed, as usual, otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
302. OLSON, Charles. Stocking Cap. San Francisco: Four Seasons, 1966. The first separate appearance of this story. Fine in stapled wrappers.
303. OLSON, Charles. Human Universe and Other Essays. NY: Grove Press, 1967. A review copy of the first trade edition of these influential essays. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
304. OLSON, Charles. Mayan Letters. London: Jonathan Cape (1968). The first British edition of Olson's letters to Robert Creeley written while Olson was in the Yucatan, and published more than a decade earlier in the U.S. Remarkably, this book, in which the letters only hint at the extent to which Olson's experiences and discoveries were shoring up his hypothesis that the escape from "the too-simple westernisms of a 'greek culture'" lay at least partly in a "repossess[ing] ... of the Indian past" of America, is virtually the entire written record of that period, at least insofar as he directly refers to the Mayans and his belief that their sculpture and art provided a kind of "concrete poetry" whose rules were very different from those of Western art, and whose form therefore contained implicit lessons for us, if we could but read them. The last line of the last letter perhaps sums up some of the frustrations he felt: "The trouble is, it is very difficult, to be both a poet and, an historian." A provocative and revealing book by this important member of the avant-garde Black Mountain community. Fine in a dust jacket lightly worn at the crown; else fine.
305. OLSON, Charles. Letters for Origin, 1950-1955. (London)/NY: Cape Goliard/Grossman, [1970]. A review copy of the hardcover issue of this collection of letters for the magazine he co-edited in the 1950s. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
306. OLSON, Charles. The Special View of History. Berkeley: Oyez, 1970. A review copy of the hardcover issue. Edited and with an introduction by Ann Charters. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip and prospectus laid in.
307. -. Same title, the issue in wrappers. Crown bumped; near fine. With publisher's prospectus laid in.
308. OLSON, Charles. Archaeologist of Morning. (London)/NY: Cape Goliard/Grossman (1971). A review copy of this posthumously issued collection of all the poems Olson had authorized for publication during his lifetime. Quarto. Slight cover splaying; else fine in a slightly dusty, else fine dust jacket.