Uncorrected Proofs/Advance Copies, P-R
496. PARETSKY, Sara. Tunnel Vision. (NY): Delacorte (1994). Uncorrected proof copy of the new V.I. Warshawski mystery. Fine in wrappers.
497. PARKER, Robert. Thin Air. NY: Putnam's (1995). A special advance reading copy in pictorial wrappers of the latest novel in Parker's Spenser series. Signed by the author. A fine copy.
498. PASTERNAK, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. London: Harvill Press and Collins, 1958. Uncorrected proof copy of the first English edition of the Russian Nobel Prize winner's greatest book, a huge bestseller in this country and basis for a powerful and award- winning Hollywood epic. Very near fine in plain brown wrappers with publisher's label on front cover.
499. PATTERSON, Richard North. The Final Judgment. NY: Knopf, 1995. Advance reading copy of this bestselling thriller. Fine in wrappers.
500. PERRY, Thomas. Vanishing Act. NY: Random House (1995). Uncorrected proof copy of this unusual thriller, which features a Native American heroine, by the Edgar Award-winning author of The Butcher Boy and Metzger's Dog. Fine in wrappers.
501. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
502. PETRUSHEVSKAYA, Ludmilla. Immortal Love. NY: Pantheon (1996). Uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this collection of stories by a Russian writer whose first book to be translated, The Time: Night, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
503. PHILLIPS, Caryl. Crossing the River. NY: Knopf, 1994. Uncorrected proof copy. A novel of the after-effects of the slave trade, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Fine in wrappers.
504. PHILLIPS, Jayne Anne. Black Tickets. (NY): (Dell) (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of her well-received first collection of stories. This is a fine copy in wrappers.
505. PHILLIPS, Jayne Anne. Shelter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Advance reading copy of her well-received second novel. Fine in wrappers.
506. PIERCY, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. NY: Knopf, 1976. Science fiction novel by this poet/feminist/political activist, and her first book for Knopf. This is an uncorrected proof copy and is the first issue proof, in green wrappers, with pagination to 352 reproduced from holograph. Fine copy.
507. -. Same title, second issue proof in grey wrappers, with pagination partially typeset and running to 369 pages. Publisher's info sheet taped to front cover; near fine in wrappers.
First Issue Proof of a "Counterculture" Classic
508. PIRSIG, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. NY: Morrow, 1974. The first issue proof of this surprise bestseller and counterculture classic--a treatise on the idea of "quality" and, as the subtitle says, "an inquiry into values." This proof is in red wrappers and reproduces holograph page numbers; a later proof in tan wrappers had typeset pagination; still later, an advance reading copy was done which reproduced the dust jacket artwork on the wrappers. This is a fine copy in wrappers.
509. (PLATH, Sylvia). MALCOLM, Janet. The Silent Woman. NY: Knopf, 1994. Uncorrected proof copy of the controversial biography/analysis of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. As much a biography of the Plath myth, it is thus a critique of the biographies that have come before, and an explication of their various ideological arguments. Fine in wrappers.
510. POUND, Ezra and LAUGHLIN, James. Selected Letters. NY: Norton, 1994. Uncorrected proof copy of this collection of letters between Pound and his longtime publisher, Laughlin, who founded New Directions; their relationship is described in the Introduction as "the most important publisher-author alliance of the twentieth century," a position that would be hard to argue with. Fine.
511. POWELL, Anthony. The Fisher King. London: Heinemann (1986). The uncorrected proof copy of what the jacket bills as "the first full-length novel since the completion of A Dance to the Music of Time." Near fine in wrappers, in a jacket that is wrinkled purely from overlying the edges of the proof. Signed by the author.
512. POWER, Susan. The Grass Dancer. NY: Putnam (1994). Well-received first novel by this Native American author, this being the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
513. -. Same title, advance reading copy of the U.K. edition (london: Picador, 1994). Fine in wraps.
514. POWERS, Richard. Prisoner's Dilemma. NY: Morrow (1988). Uncorrected proof copy of the author's well-received second novel. Powers is a prodigiously talented writer, whose five works to date have received literary awards and near-awestruck praise. His writing has earned comparison with that of Pynchon and Gaddis. Fine in wrappers.
515. PRICE, Reynolds. A Generous Man. NY: Atheneum, 1966. Third book, second novel by this North Carolina writer. This is the advance reading copy. Light dust soiling; else fine in self- wraps and inscribed by the author: "____ - generous/ from Reynolds - grateful" and dated in 1975.
516. PRICE, Reynolds. Good Hearts. NY: Atheneum, 1988. Uncorrected proof copy of this novel which picks up the lives of the main characters of his first novel, A Long and Happy Life, thirty years later. Light crease at upper corner of pages, otherwise fine in wrappers.
517. PRICE, Reynolds. A Whole New Life. NY: Atheneum, 1994. Proof copy of this memoir of Price's bout with cancer 10 years ago, which left him partially paralyzed but from which he emerged to have the most productive period of his life, writing 14 books in less than a decade. Fine in wrappers.
518. PRICE, Reynolds. The Promise of Rest. NY: Scribner (1995). Advance reading copy. The third book in a sequence that began with The Surface of Earth and continued with The Source of Light. Fine in pictorial wrappers.
519. PRICE, Richard. The Wanderers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. Uncorrected proof copy of the author's first book, basis for the well-received Walter Hill movie. Small scuff on front cover; diagonal creasing on back cover; very good in wrappers.
520. PRICE, Richard. Ladies' Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. Uncorrected proof copy of his third book, a darkly comic novel of sexual obsession. Reviewer's comments and small tear on the first leaf (the half-title); otherwise fine in wrappers. Uncommon.
521. PRICE, Richard. Clockers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. A novel of drug dealers and street life in a contemporary urban housing project; basis for the recent Spike Lee movie. This is the advance reading copy. Near fine in wrappers.
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Winner
522. PROULX, E. Annie. The Shipping News. NY: Scribner's (1993). Uncorrected proof copy of her second novel, a dark horse candidate and surprise winner of the National Book Award which then doubly surprised the literary world by also winning the Pulitzer Prize. This book also won the Irish Times International Fiction Prize. Fine in wrappers with promotional material laid in.
523. -. Same title, an advance reading excerpt, consisting of the first four chapters of the novel. Fine in pictorial wrappers.
524. PYNCHON, Thomas. Gravity's Rainbow. NY: Viking (1973). Uncorrected proof copy of Pynchon's landmark third novel, winner of the National Book Award as well as the William Dean Howells Medal for the best work of fiction by an American over a five-year span. Gravity's Rainbow became the benchmark for postmodern American fiction upon publication and secured its mysterious and reclusive author's place in the postwar American literary pantheon. Not only have Pynchon's identity and whereabouts remained mysterious, but his publications have increasingly tended to be well-guarded secrets up to the moment of publication. For a number of years it was reported that no proofs of Gravity's Rainbow had been done, with Viking itself reportedly having confirmed that; however, in the last decade a dozen or so example of this massive (760 pages) proof have shown up on the market. This copy has been read, bears a small previous owner's name on the first blank, and shows overall modest wear; a very good copy. In a custom clamshell case.
One of "About 10" Copies
525. PYNCHON, Thomas. Slow Learner. Boston: Little, Brown (1984). Collects five early Pynchon stories, with a new introduction by him. Each of these stories was being offered for sale in unauthorized, bootleg editions at this time and this volume was Pynchon's attempt to take the bottom out of the market for piracies of his own writings. In keeping with his secretive approach, he reportedly requested that no proofs be printed of this book prior to publication; instead, a very small number of folded and gathered signatures were prepared and laid into proof dust jackets and issued as advance copies; the usual number cited for such copies is "about 10." This is one of those sets of sheets, "f&g's" laid into the dust jacket. Near fine. Rare.
526. PYNCHON, Thomas. Vineland. Boston: Little Brown (1990). Not a proof, but one of the review copies sent out by the publisher, after Pynchon reportedly requested again that there be no bound proofs prepared for this novel--his first in 17 years, since the publication of the award-winning Gravity's Rainbow. Thus, this constitutes the only advance state of the book that received any kind of general release. Fine in fine dust jacket, with promotional sheet laid in.
527. RAMUS, David. Thief of Light. NY: HarperCollins (1995). Advance reading copy of this controversial novel about--and by--a corrupt New York City art dealer with a heroin addiction. Fine in self-wraps.
528. REMARQUE, Erích María. Im Westen Níchts Neues. Berlin: Im Propylaen-Verlag (1928). Uncorrected proof copy of what is widely considered to be the greatest war novel of the twentieth century--an era that has had its share of wars and of great novels written about them. Remarque was a German soldier in World War I, wounded several times, and his novel draws on those experiences in blunt and unsparing terms. His writing was banned in Germany in the '30s, as the Nazis came to power, and he went into exile, first in Switzerland and later in the United States. The first edition of this book--which sold 2½ million copies in 25 languages in 18 months, is very scarce; the proof is many times more so. Fine in wrappers.
529. RICE, Anne. The Witching Hour. NY: Knopf, 1990. Advance reading excerpt, consisting of Chapter One of the novel. Fine in stapled pictorial wrappers.
Two States, with Varying Text, Ending
530. RICE, Anne. Memnoch the Devil. New York: Knopf, 1995. The fifth book in her acclaimed Vampire Chronicles, which began with Interview With the Vampire. Uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
531. -. Same title, an earlier version of the uncorrected proof which differs in pagination from the above, does not give the day of publication, is dated "1996" on the title page, and gives a projected list price as $27.50, rather than $25. Casual inspection of the text indicates substantive textual changes, particularly at the ending of the story, including the last line of the book, which is absent in this version. A bibliographically interesting state.
532. RILKE, Rainer Maria. The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. NY: Random House (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of this translation by Stephen Mitchell of Rilke's only novel. Spine- darkened; very good in wrappers.
533. ROBBINS, Tom. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976. The uncorrected proof copy of his irrepressible second novel, inscribed by the author: "To _____ and ____, with joy + fond memories." Very good in wrappers.
534. ROBINSON, Marilynne. Housekeeping. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1980). Uncorrected proof copy of her first and, to date, only novel. A subtle story of keeping what matters and escaping from the weight of the rest, made into a moving film with Christine Lahti. Spine slightly faded; a near fine copy and inscribed by the author.
535. -. Another copy. Very good in wrappers.
536. ROPER, Robert. Cuervo Tales. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1993. Advance reading copy of this collection of ten interlinked stories set in California in the 1960s. Fine in wrappers.
537. ROSSI, Agnes. Split Skirt. NY: Random House (1994). Uncorrected proof copy of the author's second novel, about two very different women who find themselves sharing a cell in jail. Fine in wrappers.
538. ROTH, Philip. Sabbath's Theater. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Advance reading copy of his latest novel, winner of the National Book Award. Cocked from reading, and a few pages wrinkled. Still about near fine in wrappers, and signed by the author.
539. RUSHDIE, Salman. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. NY: Granta (1991). Uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the first book published after he went into hiding as a result of the death sentence imposed on him by Moslem fundamentalists in response to his novel, The Satanic Verses. Fine in wrappers, and signed by Rushdie on a bookplate pasted to the half-title.
540. RUSHDIE, Salman. East, West. NY: Pantheon, 1995. His first collection of stories. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. Fine in wrappers.
541. RUSHDIE, Salman. The Moor's Last Sigh. NY: Pantheon (1996). Uncorrected proof copy of the American edition of his latest book, just published in this country. Fine in wrappers.
542. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
543. (RUSHDIE, Salman). For Rushdie. NY: Braziller (1994). Uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this collection of essays by Arab and Muslim writers. Fine in wrappers.