Vietnam/The Sixties 2, Vietnam Literature 1
377. (ABC News). A Year in a New Kind of War. (n.p.): ABC Records (1966). An LP recording of portions of the news magazine "ABC Scope," which focused on Vietnam throughout 1966. Includes Howard K. Smith and Peter Jennings. Among the excerpts: Smith talks with his son, who was severely wounded in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, and expected to die. Fine in a rubbed, otherwise near fine sleeve. An early, unusual record of the war, and of media coverage of it.
378. ADAMS, Sam. War of Numbers. South Royalton: Steerforth Press (1994). Personal account of a CIA officer's attempt to expose the numbers-rigging being done by the intelligence community and politicians in the late Sixties, in an attempt to persuade the public (and each other) that the Vietnam war was being won. Adams' documents were the basis of the famous CBS TV documentary that led to a suit for libel against the network by Gen. William Westmoreland, who had commanded American troops in Vietnam. The author died before he finished the book, and it is introduced by Col. David Hackworth. Slight corner bump; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
379. (Agency for International Development). The Other War in South Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: Agency for International Development (n.d.)(c. 1965). A recruiting brochure for AID, seeking volunteers to fight the "other war"--against "poverty, disease and ignorance." The brochure details the "hardship differential" as well as the opportunity for volunteers' families to be placed in "safe haven" cities and receive a sizable monthly housing allowance, etc. Also reprints various articles from the press about AID efforts in Vietnam. Stamped "Library of Congress Surplus/Duplicate" on front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
380. ALVAREZ, Everett, Jr. Code of Conduct. NY: Donald Fine (1991). POW memoir. Remainder stripes; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
381. AMOS, James. The Memorial. NY: Crown (1989). A novel of the war by a former Marine, who frames his character's recollection of his experience with a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial years later. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
382. ANDERSON, Robert A. Service for the Dead. NY: Arbor House (1986). A novel of the war told from the perspective of a wounded vet having dreams and flashbacks after returning home. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
383. ANDERSON, William C. BAT-21. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall (1980). Account of an Air Force colonel shot down near the DMZ and the manhunt for him, by U.S. and North Vietnamese forces. Fine in a very good dust jacket with very slight staining to the front panel and a couple very small edge chips. Basis for the film, and by the author of The Gooney Bird.
384. ANSON, Robert Sam. War News. NY: Simon & Schuster (1989). Personal account of "A Young Reporter in Indochina" by one of the so-called "young turks" who brought an irreverent perspective to the reporting of the war. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
385. (Anthology). Vietnam. History, Documents, and Opinions on a Major World Crisis. Greenwich: Fawcett (1965). A relatively early look at the Vietnam war from the U.S. perspective. A paperback original. Very good in wrappers.
386. (Anthology). In the Name of America. (NY): Clergy & Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, 1968. A collection of excerpts of published reports, first-hand accounts for the most part, on various aspects of U.S. policy and tactics in Vietnam, compared to principles and laws of war considered binding on all Americans. An extensive compilation of published reports, mostly from 1966 and 1967, describing various weapons, battlefield tactics and large-scale strategies which the compilers apparently feel may violate one or more of the binding conventions on the conduct of warfare, as elaborated in The Hague, Geneva and Nuremburg. An interesting look at the antiwar effort, and clearly the product of a massive amount of effort. In retrospect, it looks to this reader like much of this material fits not into the category of "American war crimes" but rather supports the military's perennial complaint about civilian overseers attempting to "tie their hands": much of what the compilers choose to publicize sounds simply like the pursuit of a military campaign, and not a particularly dirty one. This is a softcover issue, with no indication of whether there was a hardcover. Covers rubbed; front cover corner creased; one small spot on foredge; very good.
387. (Anthology). Free Fire Zone. Short Stories By Vietnam Veterans. Coventry: 1st Casualty (1973). An important anthology, the first such collection of fiction by Vietnam vets, published by a small press run by vets and associated with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. This book provided early or debut appearances for such writers as George Davis (Coming Home), Loyd Little (Parthian Shot), William Pelfrey (The Big V), and David Huddle, among others. This is the true first edition, only issued in wrappers. Later there was a hardcover edition (and another softcover edition) published by McGraw-Hill, but this is the true first. Previous owner's bookplate (with a Peace symbol) otherwise near fine.
388. -. Another copy. Covers slightly rubbed; near fine.
389. -. Same title, the softcover issue of the reprint (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1973). Owner name on the dedication page; rubbed; near fine.
390. (Anthology). Writing Under Fire. (NY): Delta (1978). An important anthology, one of the first to be published by a mainstream press and to get wide distribution in the book trade. Includes a bibliography: "Vietnam in American Fiction: A Bibliography of Works Published During Our Active Engagement in the War," one of the earliest attempts to do a bibliography of Vietnam literature. Edited and introduced by Jerome Klinkowitz and John Somer. This is a second printing, but is inscribed by Klinkowitz. With reviews laid in. Trace rubbing, still fine in wrappers.
391. (Anthology). TriQuarterly 45. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, 1979. An issue devoted to war stories. Vietnam stories include pieces by Kent Anderson ("Sympathy for the Devil"), Asa Baber ("Ambush: Laos, 1960"), Larry Heinemann and W. D. Ehrhart, among others. Near fine in wrappers.
392. (Anthology). Phoenix Country. London/West Nyack: Journeyman (1980). A reissue of this collection, first published as a Fireweed Special Issue in 1976. With pieces by Robert Bly, Tim O'Brien, John Sack, Ron Kovic, Nhat Hanh, Denise Levertov, Kurt Vonnegut, and others. Spine-creased; near fine in wrappers.
393. (Anthology). The Short-Timer's Journal: Soldiering in Vietnam, No. 1. (Berkeley): Winter Soldier Archive, 1980. A journal dedicated to printing personal accounts by veterans of the Vietnam war in hopes of keeping their stories from being lost in the "official" analyses and summaries of the war and, in particular, in hopes of helping avoid "another Vietnam." Fine in wrappers.
394. (Anthology). The Short-Timer's Journal: Soldiering in Vietnam, No. 2. (Berkeley): Winter Soldier Archive, 1981. Near fine in wrappers.
395. -. Another copy. Staining to covers; very good.
396. (Anthology). The Short-Timer's Journal: Soldiering in Vietnam, Nos. 1 and 2. (Berkeley): Winter Soldier Archive (n.d.)[c.1981]. A combined volume. Fine in wrappers.
397. (Anti-Communist Literature). The Fight Against the Subversive Communist Activities in Vietnam. Its Origins, Its Aims, Its Significance. (n.p.: n.p., .n.d.)[c. 1956]. An unattributed offprint--essentially anti-communist propaganda about the Viet Minh and, as such, an interesting glimpse at an early expression of the issues and differences that were to divide Vietnam for the next 20 years. 20 pages, stapled; slight creasing; very near fine.
398. (Architecture). Indo-Chine Pittoresque & Monumentale Ruines d'Angkor Cambodge. Hanoi: P. Dieulefils (1909). 15" x 11" volume of photographs of Cambodia and the ruins of Angkor Wat, bound in three-quarter leather. Of a total edition of 500 copies, this is one of 200 numbered copies on Hollande. 67 plates, complete, each with a tissue overlay giving an elaboration of the caption in three languages--French, German, and English. While many of the photographs are of the ruins, a number are of other Cambodian scenes, both rural and in Phnom Penh, including pagodas, royal dancers, house servants and studies of physiognomy. A remarkable look at Southeast Asia at the turn of the century. Leather moderately scuffed and one tissue overlay is beginning to detach, otherwise very good.
399. (Architecture). BEZACIER, Louis. RelevÉs de Monuments Anciens du Nord Vietnam. Paris: Ecole Francaise D'Extreme-Orient, 1959. Brochure of text (in French). Dozens of architectural floor plans and elevations of ancient shrines and temples in North Vietnam, along with a map of the country and a map of Hanoi. 10 1/4" x 14 1/4". All fine in a folding chemise that is substantially edge-tattered and worn, but has done its job protecting its contents.
400. (Art). VINH AN. Vietnamese Paintings. (n.p.): (Unicorn Press) (1969). A pamphlet of ten reproductions in black-and-white from a series of paintings, several of which bear a resemblance to the work of Paul Klee--and one of which alludes to Klee in the title of the painting. Unicorn Press, a small North Carolina press, did a number of interesting and important Vietnam-related poetry and art titles in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Near fine in saddle-stitched wrappers.
401. ATKINSON, Hugh. The Most Savage Animal. NY: Simon & Schuster (1972). A novel of the Red Cross in Vietnam. Tape shadows to boards. Label removal residue rear free endpaper. Possible ex-library copy. Very good in a very good dust jacket.
402. BABER, Asa. The Land of a Million Elephants. NY: Morrow, 1970. The author's first book, set in a fictional Southeast Asian country during the Vietnam war. The author served with the Marines in Southeast Asia in 1961, before the escalation of the conflict. Slight crown bump; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with stripes of peeling to the lamination on the front panel.
403. BAKER, Mark. Nam. The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Fought There. NY: Morrow, 1981. An "oral history" of the war made more powerful by the anonymity of the contributors. Reprinted many times, the first edition is scarce. Harry Crews blurb. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a "compliments of the publisher" card laid in.
404. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
405. -. Another copy. Owner name; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
406. BANCOFF, Carl. A Forgotten Man. Ardmore: Seth Press, 1987. A first novel, of a doctor in Vietnam; the author himself served as a flight surgeon there. Corners bumped; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
407. BARANIK, Rudolf. Napalm Elegy. (NY): (Lerner-Heller) (1973). A monograph of this Lithuanian artist, his various works representing a political statement that links Vietnam with the destruction of Pompeii. Near fine in wrappers and inscribed by the artist, and with a short autograph note signed by the author laid in.
408. BARRON, John. Murder of a Gentle Land. The Untold Story of Communist Genocide in Cambodia. NY: Reader's Digest, 1977. Based on interviews with 300 Cambodian refugees and other sources. An early "exposÉ" of the Khmer Rouge policies in postwar Cambodia. Glue residue on pastedowns and front flyleaf; thus only good in a near fine dust jacket that has glue residue on the verso of the flaps.
409. BARTECCHI, Carl E., M.D. Soc Trang. A Vietnamese Odyssey. (Boulder): Rocky Mountain Writers Guild (1980). A personal account of a doctor in Vietnam, with an introduction by General William Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. troops in Vietnam. An uncommon book, published by a small press and issued within a few years of the war's end. Illustrated with photographs by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
410. BATAILLE, Christophe. Annam. (NY): New Directions (1996). Bound galleys of the first American edition of this French novel of French missionaries to Vietnam in the 18th century, translated by Richard Howard. Approximately 5 1/2" x 7", printed on rectos only; velo-bound, with cover art tipped to front page. Fine.
411. BERENT, Mark. Storm Flight. NY: Putnam (1993). A novel of the Air Force in Vietnam, the fourth in a series, by an author who served three tours as a pilot there. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
412. (Bibliography). To End War. An Annotated Bibliography and 1968 Literature Catalogue. Berkeley: World Without War Council (1968). A bibliography issued by the World Without War Council at the height of the war to purvey information about antiwar books and pamphlets that were currently available. Light dust soiling; else fine in stapled wrappers.
413. BLOODWORTH, Dennis. An Eye for the Dragon. NY: FSG (1970). An overview of Southeast Asia from the time of the Geneva convention of 1954 to 1970, by a writer who was the Far East correspondent for The Observer of London. Previous owner's gift inscription; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
414. BODEY, Donald. F.N.G. NY: Viking (1985). A well-received first novel of the war, providing a grunt's-eye view starting from the perspective of an F.N.G. (fucking new guy). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
415. BOSSE, M.J. The Journey of Tao Kim Nam. Garden City: Doubleday, 1959. The author's first novel, about Vietnam just after the partition, and one former landowner's attempt to escape the North and reach freedom in the South. Very good in a very good dust jacket. An uncommon early novel.
416. -. Another copy. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket.
417. BOZEK, D.A. Artillery Medic in Vietnam. NY: Vantage (1971). Short, vanity press publication, published while the war was ongoing. A personal account by a medic in Vietnam: intermingled with the author's accounts of and reflections on the war are a number of his poems. While there is no explicit limitation for this title indicated, Vantage Press is one of the handful of "subsidy" or "vanity" press publishers that were determined, in a class-action case brought in the early 1980s, to have effectively cheated their authors by charging them for printing their books but never taking any formal steps to actually distribute them, instead pulping them after a designated period of time had passed. Thus, titles published by these presses tend to be extremely scarce--most of the copies that were distributed having been the ones the authors themselves gave away or sold. Fine in a near fine, internally tape-mended dust jacket. Signed by the author.
418. BRASS, Alister. Bleeding Earth. A Doctor Looks at Vietnam. Melbourne: Heinemann (1968). Personal account of an Australian-born doctor who visited South Vietnam at the height of the war and wrote a series of articles for an Australian medical journal. The Australian presence and experience in Vietnam has been little-known in this country, and few of the books published there about it have migrated here. Owner name front endpaper. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket chipped at the top edge of the front panel. Uncommon.
419. BRILEY, Jonathan. The Traitors. NY: Putnam (1969). A novel of a group of U.S. soldiers captured in Vietnam and indoctrinated by a defector. Fine in a rubbed, near fine dust jacket.
420. BROOKE, Dinah. Death Games. NY: HBJ (1976). First published in England as Games of Love and War. In our experience, one of the scarcest novels of the war: this book follows a young woman around war-torn Vietnam during the years between the American withdrawal and the final fall of Saigon, a period during which all of the society was in confusion and upheaval. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
421. BROSSARD, Chandler. Wake Up, We're Almost There. NY: Baron, 1970. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel, which takes place partly in Vietnam. Brossard is a stylist who is most well-known for his seminal Beat novel Who Walk in Darkness. Spine-creased; near fine in tall wrappers.
422. -. Same title, a review copy of the trade edition. Fine in a rubbed, near fine dust jacket with minor edgewear.
423. BROUGHTON, Colonel Jack. Thud Ridge. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott (1969). Important personal account of the air war in Vietnam, seldom found in the first edition. One of the few flyers' accounts to come out of the war, and also one of the earlier critiques of U.S. strategy and policy from within the military establishment. Broughton followed this book up almost two decades later with Going Downtown, another account of the air war. Very good in a very good dust jacket with some edgewear, particularly at the extremities of the spine.
424. BOTTOMLY, Colonel Heath. Prodigal Father. A Fighter Pilot Finds Peace in the Wake of his Destruction. Glendale: Regal (1975). Personal account of a maverick fighter pilot who converts to born-again Christianity. Fine in a rubbed, very good dust jacket. Uncommon title published by a religious publishing house. Introduction by General George S. Brown, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
425. BRYAN, C.D.B. Friendly Fire. NY: Putnam (1976). An advance review copy of this nonfiction work, which was made into a television miniseries. Friendly Fire chronicles the radicalization of a patriotic Midwestern family after their son is killed by "friendly" (i.e., U.S.) fire and they try to get the details from a balky government seemingly more interested in protecting those responsible, but still living, than in honoring the dead. An important book, which chronicles the process by which opposition to the war filtered from the "radical fringes" of society into the middle class mainstream. Spine heavily cocked; otherwise near fine in a near fine dust jacket with one open edge tear at the base of the spine.
426. BUNTING, Josiah. The Lionheads. NY: Braziller (1972). An important novel, being one of the first to be critical of the U.S. conduct of the war and written by a ranking officer in the military: the author was an infantry Major at the time of publication, and an instructor at West Point. This copy is inscribed by the author to Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Joseph Ellis. Fine in a near fine jacket.
427. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Owner name above signature. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
428. BUTLER, Robert Olen. The Alleys of Eden. NY: Horizon (1981). His first book, a novel set in Saigon at the fall of South Vietnam and then later in the U.S. after the war. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of a book that is notorious for its dust jacket showing wear.
429. BUTLER, Robert Olen. On Distant Ground. NY: Knopf, 1985. His fourth book, a moving novel of the Vietnam war that bears the characteristics of a Grail quest, and was one of our choices as among the ten best literary works on the Vietnam war. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with one edge tear on the front panel.
430. -. Another copy. Remainder mark; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a tiny chip at the upper rear spine fold.
431. -. Another copy. Remainder mark and a small patch of dampstaining; very good in a very good dust jacket.
432. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. "Press copy" and publication information written on wrappers and first blank; else fine.
433. BUTLER, Robert Olen. The Deuce. NY: Simon & Schuster (1989). His fifth novel, the book just prior to his winning the Pulitzer Prize, about a half-Vietnamese boy growing up in the streets of New York in the '80s. With a warm and lengthy inscription by Butler to his editor in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
434. - . Same title, uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
435. BUTTERWORTH, W.E. Orders to Vietnam. A Novel of Helicopter Warfare. Boston: Little Brown (1968). A young adult book, by an author who served in Korea during that war. The flaps were once glued to the pastedowns; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Very scarce, as virtually all copies of these titles appear to have gone to libraries rather than into the retail book trade.