ModernRare (Over 1,800 results)

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 417 pages. Published in 2014. New Special Edition of the author's masterpiece. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The 2014 First Deluxe Slipcased Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent printings, of which there are innumerable. Published in a small and limited first print run as a Slipcased Facsimile Edition that sold out upon publication. The First Edition Thus is now itself rare. Re-presents, in a lovely Deluxe Edition, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Cien Anos de Soledad" in the magisterial English translation by Gregory Rabassa. A touchstone of English translation of Latin-American literature that the author himself hailed, effusively and gratefully, as superior to his original. "The greatest revelation in the Spanish language since 'Don Quixote' of Cervantes" (Pablo Neruda). "The first piece of literature since the 'Book of Genesis' that should be required reading for the entire human race. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life" (William Kennedy). An absolute "must-have" title for Gabriel Garcia Marquez collectors. This title is one of the greatest novels ever written. This is one of very few copies of the 2014 First Deluxe Slipcased Edition/First Printing still available online, is still in the publisher's original shrinkwrap, and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with all other subsequent printings. Copies of the 1970 First Hardcover Edition command several thousands of dollars, regardless of condition, rightly so. Copies of this Special Edition available online have serious flaws (because of shoddy handling on the publisher's part or because they were read) yet command between $300 and $400. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0062380443. no.

Seller Inventory # 23808

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 260 pages. Published in 2019. The author's fifth novel. The eagerly-anticipated sequel to Andre Aciman's "Call Me By Your Name" (2007). The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly copies that are signed on a tipped-in page. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Andre Aciman's "Find Me". "Rebound" love, the marital "placebo"/"I really care about you" love, and the elusive Real Thing, true love, described in ecstatic yet elegiac prose, as the only serious American novelist on romantic love of our time could pull it off. Despite its expansive range, it is about the same length (260 pages) as "Call Me By Your Name", quickened even more by substantial dialogue. The novel is in four intertwined set pieces of unequal length, inspired by and patterned after Aciman's beloved Bach and Classical music: "Tempo", the longest section, about Elio's father, who was un-named - and who died - in the original novel, but is resurrected and is known here as Samuel/Sami; "Cadenza", about a more mature yet no less vulnerable Elio, embarked on a new, accelerated romance that also opens him up to his Jewish roots; "Capriccio", about married, domesticated Oliver wrestling with his irrepressible bisexual longings; and a brief, perfect coda, "Da Capo". The theme of each section is The Search, for one's true love, for personal redemption, and for the truth about one's life: I need you to find me, but I also need to find myself. "Da Capo" is demanding because it represents Aciman's attempt to emulate music, the music of Bach no less, as it is written in two contrapuntal voices, Oliver's and Elio's, weaving in and out of each other, without breaks, with no crutch afforded the reader whatsoever, who must read each and every music-like line carefully to follow it. A tour-de-force, it contains Aciman's most thrilling virtuoso-writing ever about the bliss and exalted state of romantic love when, at last, it too is found. If you loved "Call Me By Your Name", whether the novel or its great film adaptation, you have to read "Find Me", which is even more challenging and rewarding. An absolute "must-have" title for Andre Aciman collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in blue ink-pen on the half-title page by Andre Aciman. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as copies available online are. It comes with a rare copy of the lovely, page-long Souvenir Excerpt from "Find Me" (that was issued by 92nd Street NYC to celebrate the novel's release). This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy (with Souvenir Material) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. Andre Aciman's "Call Me By Your Name" is regarded as a classic by Colm Toibin. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ANDRE ACIMAN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0374155011. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23805

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 147 pages. Published in 1995. The author's seventh novel to be translated into English. One of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's finest achievements. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United Kingdom. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, of which there are many. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Del amor y otros demonios" in a felicitous English translation by Edith Grossman. An unsettling and indelible account of a doomed love affair between a seductive young woman and a priest, a coupling that seems to be something of a Latin-American specialty, pointing to the larger theme of the encounter and collision between Indigenous sensuality and erotic desire versus oppressive European refinement and restraint. The American Edition has a different DJ design (by the legendary and infallible Chip Kidd) from the British, and comes in a format that is considerably larger than the latter. However, it should also be noted that this British Edition has a dazzling DJ design, showcasing "La Rosa" by Luis Gonzalez Palma, one of the greatest contemporary portrait-photographs of our time, and as such, is possibly superior to the American despite its slightly smaller dimensions - and more important, is Garcia Marquez's preferred Cover Image. "The agelessness of the human story is told by one of this century's most evocative writers" (Anne Tyler). After many years of various physical illnesses and dementia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez died on April 17, 2014 at the age of 87. "A great man has died, one whose works gave the literature of our language great reach and prestige" (Mario Vargas Llosa). An absolute "must-have" title for Gabriel Garcia Marquez collectors. This title is a great book. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (British) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are in multiple subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 039428108X. no.

Seller Inventory # 23807

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 265 pages. Published in 2008. Retrospective collection of photographs. The most sumptuously beautiful book on the photographic art and achievement of Cy Twombly. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover edition only. A magnificent production by Schirmer/Mosel: Oversize-volume format. A tall and thick book. Pictorial silk cloth boards with titles on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Cy Twombly. Essay by Laszlo Glozer, which is brilliant. Printed on pristine-white, thick uncoated ("matte") stock paper by EBS in Verona, Italy to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is outstanding in every respect. In matching pictorial DJ, with titles on the cover and spine, and very large flaps, as issued. Presents Cy Twombly's "Photographs 1951-2007". The one indispensable retrospective volume on his five-decade-plus yet determinedly intimate photographic oeuvre: The essential fulfillment, not merely a continuation or revival, of the great, meditative Pictorialist tradition. The latter's immanent strength is given renewed energy and relevance by the artist's sheer grit and genius for our restless, unhappy time. His work is unlike the outward-looking tendency of even the most introspective professional photographers, which Twombly is decidedly not. He is a painter and does not - could simply not - take photographs like Robert Frank, Avedon, Irving Penn, or Martin Parr today, all of whom, despite their wildly divergent personal styles, deliver crisp, sharp, even hard-edged imagery that have developed, defined, and perfected photography's lapidary "look" aesthetic. Instead, Twombly's photographic images - shots of his chaotic working studio, details of statuary, unfinished sculptures from his collection, blurred landscapes, vaguely erotic flowers - are esoteric, in the most uncompromising, even elitist sense. A special dry-print process (the legendary Atelier Fresson patented technique) bathes these images with a velvety-soft, velvety-smooth, translucent quality. The effect: "They resonate with echoes of the glorious past at the same time that they are contemporary, and make use of the best techniques that the present has to offer, resulting in works of the most luminous and delicate beauty. On the stage of today's art, they touch long-lost chords" (Publisher's blurb). Twombly is an iconic yet profoundly anomalous figure, an artist who is both somehow engaged in and imperturbably detached from contemporary, so-called "urgent issues and concerns": "He wants to produce an effect, but at the same time, he couldn't care less" (Roland Barthes). "If I try to imagine the art of our time without his exceedingly human presence in it, I feel a global chill" (Peter Schjeldahl). An absolute "must-have" title for Cy Twombly collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on top of the title page by Cy Twombly. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great art and photography book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Signed Cy Twomblys are rare because he had lived in Rome since 1957, coming to Lexington, Virginia for occasional visits only as his health and schedule permitted. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. One of the greatest artists of the 20th century and our time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 3829603681. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23804

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 208 pages. Published in 1956. Full Screenplay of the author's film adaptation. The most controversial film of Tennessee Williams' controversial career. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, of which there are several. Published in a small and limited first print run by New Directions as a hardcover original only. There is no ISBN. The First Edition is now rare. Presents, in its true First Edition format, Tennessee Williams' "Baby Doll". Condemned, and eventually banned in many states, as NO other Tennessee Williams outing ever was. The right-wing hysteria was over both implied and perceived pedophilia. Specifically, that the sexualized, "barely legal" Baby Doll - who is never given a proper name - is permanently caged in a crib while asleep ostensibly because her bankrupt husband has no other furniture. Which begs the question, How did he come to own a crib? Baby Doll dutifully explains in due course. Second, that the scenes between his rival, "The Sicilian" cotton gin owner, and Baby Doll, were framed and filmed in such a way that he appears to be caressing and fondling her "below what's visible on screen". If you can trust the Roman Catholic Church's luridly over-active imagination on that. Giving credit where credit is due, Elia Kazan was indeed mainly responsible for the immense critical and financial success of Tennessee Williams' theatre and film careers. He prodded - and worked closely with - Williams to adapt for film two of the playwright's promising one-act plays, "27 Wagons Full of Cotton" and "The Long Stay Cut Short, Or The Unsatisfactory Supper". The texts of both plays appear in their entirety in this volume, inviting - and rewarding - comparison and contrast with their inspired, transcendent adaptation as "Baby Doll". The role of Silva Vaccaro ("The Sicilian") marks Eli Wallach's brilliant film debut. At first, Wallach hesitated, as he felt that his training for dramatic stage acting was incompatible with film. He went on to have a long and distinguished career as a great film character actor. Carroll Baker's career-defining performance was nominated for an Oscar, vindicating Williams' risk-taking decision to choose her over Marilyn Monroe. She will be remembered as "Baby Doll" for posterity. An absolute "must-have" title for Tennessee Williams collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on top of the title page by Tennessee Williams. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This was Charles John Muto's personal copy, whose elegant bookplate is neatly pasted on the inside front cover, discreetly hidden from view by the front DJ flap. Muto was one of Tennessee Williams' earliest and most steadfast supporters, and obtained the signature in person. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and despite its imperfection (slight wear and one scrape on the DJ corner) is still in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. Worth noting is that this copy is NOT price-clipped, which most copies available online are. Please note: Tennessee Williams did NOT tour to promote the book. So signed copies will always be rare. Copies available online have very serious flaws, not just price-clipped, or are in multiple subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. The greatest American playwright of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TENNESSEE WILLIAMS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23803

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 1 pages. Published in 1966. Rare Truman Capote collectible piece. A fine copy of the original, actual advertisement, NOT a contemporary digital copy print, of the author appearing on behalf of U. S. News And World Report, signed by Truman Capote. The advertisement is "blow-up" oversize, at 10 X 14 inches. Features the author in a closeup portrait-photograph: A pensive-looking Truman Capote, post-"In Cold Blood" triumph, at the height of his global renown. There is very minimal text printed at the bottom. As such, it is designed for and is eminently suitable for framing. Printed on archival stock paper in the United States. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect: It has lost almost none of its sepia-toned clarity and warmth when it first appeared. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "Truman Capote: U. S. New And World Report Advertisement". Marks the very first appearance of Truman Capote on behalf of the legendary publication. The text underneath Capote's vast portrait simply states: "We spare our readers unimportant news. We spare our advertisers unimportant readers". Meaning, the publication and Capote matter as serious subjects. Furthermore, that Truman Capote is an important reader himself, worth reaching by advertisers. For all of his private and public troubles, Truman Capote mattered throughout his literary and public life - and posthumously, too. ALL of his books, not just "In Cold Blood", are in innumerable subsequent printings, and have remained in print uninterruptedly. This is surely and mainly because "In Cold Blood" is the most important and influential book of its kind ever written in the 20th century. Capote himself called it the "first nonfiction novel". Norman Mailer, on the one hand, and Joan Didion, on the other, emulated its ground-breaking techniques to write their own masterpieces. An absolute "must-have" collectible, not just memorabilia, piece for Truman Capote collectors. This copy of the U. S. News And World Report Advertisement is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in blue fountain pen on recto (underneath his portrait) by Truman Capote. It is signed directly on the advertisement itself, not on a tipped-in page or bookplate. This piece is highly collectible. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of it available online and is in remarkably well-preserved condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Keep in mind that this is ephemera, most copies of which have vanished. It is the only signed copy we have ever found or will ever find. A rare, one-of-a-kind signed copy thus. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is regarded by Harold Bloom as the author's canonical masterpiece. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRUMAN CAPOTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23802

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 665 pages. Published in 2010. The author's breakthrough second novel. One of the best novels of and for our time. The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, including the single-volume edition that was originally intended for the British Export Market only. Published in a small and limited first print run as a slipcased three-volume softcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. The book is ingeniously conceived and produced as such, mimicking children's and young adult's serialized novels, in keeping with its subject. Presents, in its true First Edition format, Paul Murray's "Skippy Dies". With each consecutive volume individually subtitled: Volume One, "Hopeland"; Volume Two, "Heartland"; and Volume Three, "Ghostland And Afterland". Murray daringly abolishes conventional suspense starting with his very title. Now, death is NOT a suitable subject for teenagers, much less grownups, these days. But here it is, Paul Murray's challenge to established narrative formulas - not just in books, but in ALL other media, especially film - whose underlying "message" is, and will always be: "The Hero Never Dies". Instead: "Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop? Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, an overweight genius who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory? Could it involve Carl, the teenage drug dealer and borderline psychotic, who is Skippy's rival in love? Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the subject of this dazzling and uproarious novel. A heartfelt, hilarious portrait of the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of adolescence, and a tragic depiction of a world always happy to sacrifice its weakest members" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for Paul Murray collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page of Volume One by Paul Murray. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great book. This is one of few such signed copies of the Slipcased First Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the single-volume edition. A rare signed copy thus. Longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2010 for "Skippy Dies". One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 0241141826. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23800

Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 256 pages. Published in 2017. Archive of the author's private diaries, presented as an Artist Book. One of the most brilliantly conceived and realized Artist Books of our time: A portrait of David Sedaris as Surrealist collage artist and collector. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Edited and assembled by Jeffrey Jenkins in close collaboration with David Sedaris. The production values are outstanding in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "David Sedaris Diaries: A Visual Compendium". In effect, the corollary volume/art book to his literary collections. "A remarkable illustrated volume of artwork and images selected from the diaries David Sedaris has been creating for four decades. In this richly illustrated book, readers will for the first time experience the diaries David Sedaris has kept for nearly 40 years in the elaborate, three-dimensional, collaged style of the originals. A celebration of the unexpected in the everyday, the beautiful, and the grotesque, this visual compendium offers unique insight into the author's view of the world and stands as a striking and collectible volume in itself. Compiled and edited by Sedaris' longtime friend Jeffrey Jenkins, and including interactive components, postcards, and never-before-seen photos and artwork, this is a necessary addition to any Sedaris collection, and will enthrall the author's fans for many years to come" (Publisher's blurb). That should be the case, of course, and will happen eventually, with the help of this beautifully produced and sumptuous volume. But it is also probably going to be a challenge to some Sedaris fans, who are primarily reader/listeners, of a very specific kind: Satire, humor, family lore. Literary types are not necessarily artist types, and vice versa. This volume, however, will richly reward those who keep an open mind. An absolute "must-have" title for David Sedaris collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the title page by David Sedaris. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. He also added an uncannily realistic rendition of Snoopy, the iconic Peanuts thinking dog, above his signature. This title is a great Artist Book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy (with Original Drawing) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws (due to the publisher mishandling and poor packing of a weighty book) or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with a cornucopia of visual materials. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DAVID SEDARIS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0316431710. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23799

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 375 pages. Published in 2002. The author's "Dante" novel. Nick Tosches' finest achievement as a literary novelist and obsessive Dante scholar. Review Copy. Review Material laid-in. It is lavish, at ten pages long, making it one of the most detailed Review Materials we have ever seen. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Nick Tosches' "In The Hand of Dante". His version of the irresolvable tension between The Sacred and The Profane. "Tosches boldly casts himself as the protagonist in his novel, an outrageously ambitious book in which he procures a purloined version of the original manuscript of 'The Divine Comedy' while tracing Dante's journey as Dante struggled to complete his penultimate work. The initial chapters find Tosches looking back and questioning the results of his own fascinating life and career, with a brief but devastating aside about the decline of publishing. But Tosches suddenly emerges from his nostalgia when a former character named Louie (a gangster from 'Cut Numbers') gets his hands on a stolen copy of Dante's manuscript and asks Tosches to authenticate it. That sends the author on a whirlwind tour to Arizona, Chicago, Paris, and London as he tries to verify the work and determine its worth on the open market. The author's admiration for Dante as a creative force results in a number of compelling passages" (Publishers Weekly). "Synthesizing history and biography with contemporary murder and mayhem to create an exotic meal of a book, albeit one for strong stomachs, the book alternates between two different worlds: 14th-century Italy, where Dante Alighieri searches for the perfect inspiration to complete his masterwork, and 21st-century New York, where murderous thugs seek to profit from the recently unearthed manuscript, thought to be lost to the ages. What makes the novel special is Tosches himself, who examines his own life, weary philosophy, and creative inspiration. As with every Tosches book, a reader's willingness to embrace the Dark Side, and all that it entails, is essential. Behind the grunge lies a fascinating study of the power of writing" (Marc Kloszewski). As a true believer in the novel - as a "barge" that can load up and keep afloat anything and everything within its pages - but direly depends upon the particular novelist's grit and genius, Nick Tosches' contemporary kindred spirit and practitioner is the former poet Michael Ondaatje, who abandoned his original calling in favor of the novel for precisely the genre's comprehensive reach, weight, and depth. An absolute "must-have" title for Nick Tosches collectors. This is a Review Copy. The lavish, ten-page-long Review Material is laid-in. It is very prominently and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (shortly after publication) in purple pen-marker on the title page by the author: "Nick Tosches Boston 9/02". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great cult classic, and will become canonical. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, post-publication dated, and placed Review Copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful signed copy we have ever seen. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century and our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER NICK TOSCHES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0316895245. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23801

Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 86 pages. Published in 2018. Exhibition Catalog. One of the most beautiful books on the painterly art and achievement of Stanley Whitney. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. A brilliant production by Lisson Gallery NYC: Oversize-volume format. Pristine-white softer cloth boards with red titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Art by Stanley Whitney. Text by Andrianna Campbell, which is illuminating. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United Kingdom to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark retrospective exhibition of the same name held at Lisson Gallery New York City in 2018. Presents Stanley Whitney's "In The Color". Beguiling, vivid, and sensuous work that adapts the Mondrian Grid to suit his singular purpose and to stunning, iridescent effect. "An investigation into Stanley Whitney's profound relationship to color and its spatial effects throughout his career. Color inspires and informs the work of New York artist Stanley Whitney, whose paintings explore the many possibilities created by the tessellation and juxtaposition of irregular rectangles in varying shades of strength and subtlety. Within the composition of these adjacent nodes, a structure that fluctuates between freedom and constraint, between endless open fields and controlled boundaries is ultimately a play between complementing and competing areas of color" (Publisher's blurb). Stanley Whitney works at the rigorous, high standard and level of execution that are worthy of comparison with the greatest colorists in the Western tradition: Matisse, on the one hand, and Howard Hodgkin, on the other, to name only two of his great predecessors. Still, while Whitney himself emphasizes his artistic debt and intimate connection to Western painting, it is surely not accidental that his passionate engagement with color - as well as form, that is to say, "in the color", not merely in color - also owes to his African-American heritage, immanently accessible to him as a given strength: His is "lively" art refined and elevated to an exalted, near-pure abstraction. An absolute "must-have" title for Stanley Whitney collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the title page by Stanley Whitney. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Exhibition Catalog available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. One of the most brilliant artists of our time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 0947830723. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23798

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 225 pages. Published in 1999. The author's "Apocalypse" novel. One of David Plante's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents David Plante's "The Age of Terror". His most ambitious, and fittingly, most openly Catholic, novel. Dedicated to fellow novelist, Mary Gordon. "Set in the seamy world of the Russian sex slave trade, this is the harrowing story of Joe, a disillusioned young American expatriate and lapsed Catholic, who searches for life's meaning in the Soviet Union on the eve of its disintegration. Plante plays brilliantly with our assumptions of both the United States and Russia, and ultimately proclaims a universal theme of sacredness and redemption" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for David Plante collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated (shortly after publication), and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "With all bright wishes on [followed by arrow pointing to the title] The Age of Terror [followed by another arrow pointing to] from the, alas, grownup David Plante April 2001". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, who is named, was one of the author's close personal friends. This title is a contemporary classic. This is the only such signed, post-publication dated, and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: David Plante is an anomalous character: An expatriate most of his adult writing life, he was both reclusive and sociable at the same time. He did NOT do public signings. Signed copies of his books come pre-signed from his publishers or signed and inscribed for friends, colleagues, and fellow artists and writers. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century and our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DAVID PLANTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0312198248. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23795

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 320 pages. Published in 2016. The author's breakthrough novel, and masterpiece. One of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United Kingdom. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition, which was published one year later. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents, in its First Edition format, Gerard Reve's "De Avonden" in a felicitous and acclaimed translation by Sam Garrett. Better (very) late than never: First published in 1947, during the bleak postwar years, or about seventy years ago (as of 2016 release date), here, at long last, the masterwork that the Dutch have been telling us about. "Twenty-three-year-old Frits - office worker, daydreamer, teller of inappropriate jokes - finds life absurd and inexplicable. He lives with his parents, who drive him mad. He has terrible, disturbing dreams of death and destruction. Sometimes, he talks to a toy rabbit. This is the story of ten evenings in Frits' life at the end of December, as he drinks, smokes, sees friends, aimlessly wanders the gloomy city street, and tries to make sense of the minutes, hours, and days that stretch before him. Takes the tiny, quotidian triumphs and heartbreaks of our everyday lives and turns them into a work of profound beauty" (Publisher's blurb). Complements, even expands upon - but does not surpass - the somewhat brighter, wittier, and heartbreakingly beautiful "Amsterdam Stories" of Nescio, the Dutch Master who likewise proposed that the only substantial and appropriate response to modern life is dedicated non-conformism, as a vocation in and of itself. An absolute "must-have" title for Gerard Reve collectors. This title is a great book. It comes with a fine copy of Gerard Reve's "Childhood: Two Novellas" as a bonus and necessary supplement. This is one of very few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (British) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the American Edition, which was published one year later. A rare copy thus. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine set. ISBN 1782271783. no.

Seller Inventory # 23797

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 244 pages. Published in 2005. The author's concise biography on subject. One of the best books on Ludwig Van Beethoven ever written in and for our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only, and as part of the indispensable "Eminent Lives" Series. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Edmund Morris' "Beethoven: The Universal Composer". That is, the very first composer in the history of Western civilization to compose with all of Mankind, with all of his fellow human beings, in mind. For layman and professional musician alike, this is one of the most engaging, moving, and simply brilliant books ever written on its monumental subject - and succinctly at that, not a word wasted. "Above all, a study of genius in action, of one of the few giants of Western culture" (Publisher's blurb). "His book is a perfect marriage - or should one say, duet - of subject and author, every word as masterly as the notes of the artist it illuminates" (Christopher Buckley). "This is not just criticism, but poetry in itself, with the additional, and inestimable, merit of being true" (Washington Post). An absolute "must-have" title for Ludwig Van Beethoven and Edmund Morris collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated (in the month and year of publication), and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "With best wishes, Edmund Morris. Oct. 2005". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, who is named, is personally known to the author and cannot be named here at their request. This copy comes with a lovely 4 X 6 inch Bookplate (that is neatly pasted on the front free endpaper), also very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker by Jonas Kauffmann, the greatest tenor of our time, and a Beethoven specialist. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, publication-month dated, and inscribed copy (with Signed Bookplate) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws (because they were avidly read) or are in multiple subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare double-signed copy thus. One of the finest writers of our time on the second greatest composer of all time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 0060759747. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23796

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 140 pages. Published in 1984. Full text of the author/playwright's play. One of Reynolds Price's finest achievements. Review Copy. Review Materials laid-in. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Reynolds Price's "Private Contentment: A Play". Which title is ironic: Severe public and private traumas collide in the life of a young man about to be dispatched to war. Premiered by American Playhouse on April 27, 1982, and broadcast live on television by PBS, it marks the auspicious and acclaimed performance of the young Peter Gallagher in the lead role of Logan Melton. The extraordinarily handsome and gifted actor is shown on the DJ Cover, which reproduces the official portrait-photograph by Stathis Orphanos, the legendary photographer and private-label literary publisher. "The present text will provide a parallel experience. With the added advantage of a chance to consider the strength of Price's dramatic architecture and dialogue" (Publisher's blurb). The recording of the PBS broadcast is obtainable, with some difficulty, on VHS tape online, and is collectible in its own right for obvious reasons. An absolute "must-have" title for Reynolds Price and Peter Gallagher collectors. This is a Review Copy. The lovely and elaborate Review Materials are all laid-in. It is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Reynolds Price. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It comes with a pale-yellow 6 X 4 inch Souvenir Card (that is neatly pasted on the front free endpaper), also very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen by Peter Gallagher. This title is a late-modern classic. As far as we know, this is the only such double-signed Review Copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century and our time. A fine copy. ISBN 0689114559. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23794

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 120 pages. Published in 1980. Rare Truman Capote, Edmund White, and Robert Mapplethorpe collectible item. A near-fine copy of the After Dark Magazine September 1980 Landmark Issue, signed by Edmund White. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. There is no ISBN. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Edmund White's "Truman Capote: Sweating Mirrors". Marks the very first - and only - appearance of the Essay in published form. As such, it is the precursor to Edmund White's full-fledged Essay on Truman Capote, published in 2011 as part of "Sacred Monsters", forty-one years later. The immediate subject at hand is the publication of Capote's "Music For Chameleons", which belied, albeit temporarily, the author's "writer's block" as a result of the ostracism he endured from the "Answered Prayers/La Cote Basque" scandal. As "Music For Chameleons" abundanty established, Capote continued to write, often very well, although he never finished "Answered Prayers". White's Essay-Profile is elegantly poised: Respectful, admiring, and almost deferential yet never obsequious to the (difficult and erratic) Capote, the older, great gay writer to White's considerably younger self. There is a magnificent and memorable portrait-photograph of the two writers seated - tellingly, a bit apart from each other - in Capote's luxurious UN Plaza living room apartment, by the young Robert Mapplethorpe. The portrait has not re-appeared in any other published form. An absolute "must-have" title for Truman Capote, Edmund White, and Robert Mapplethorpe collectors. This copy of After Dark Magazine is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on his Contribution by Edmund White. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This Magazine Issue is now highly collectible. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Issue available online and is in fine condition overall. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet: A Biography". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest writers of our time. A near-fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE AND TRUMAN CAPOTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23792

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 130 pages. Published in 1986. Rare Jean Genet and Edmund White collectible item. A near-fine copy of the Advocate Magazine November 25, 1986 Landmark Issue, signed by Edmund White. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. There is no ISBN. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Edmund White's "Jean Genet: Literature's Dark Angel Occupied A World Where The Perverse Became The Rule". Marks the very first - and only - appearance of the Essay in published form. As such, it is the precursor to Edmund White's full-fledged biography of Jean Genet, published in 1993, seven years later. As one will glean from this lucent piece, Edmund White's most notable accomplishment on Genet is that he has written a meticulous, even dense yet readable account, a refreshing antidote to Jean-Paul Sartre's profoundly philosophical but truly unreadable biography, "Saint Genet". According to many critics, there is no 20th-century writer whose prose style is as commanding, as authoritative, and as original as Jean Genet's, with the exception of Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka. That Genet was largely self-taught makes his achievement all the more astonishing. It is just as fascinating that he and Proust, the unparalleled French literary artists of the 20th century, should both be homosexual. White, also homosexual, examines this seeming coincidence, its continuity and discontinuity in the constellation of such great French prose stylists as Andre Gide, Jean Cocteau, and Michel Tournier, the philosopher Michel Foucault, and the cultural critic Roland Barthes, all truly seminal figures, all gay. Homosexuals are dominant in a major European culture, and yet there are never more than 5% to 10% of them, if that, in any given society, including France, according to social scientists. The odds would seem to be against them, and therein lies the paradox that became Jean Genet's unique place in literature, as he was much more openly "gay" than any of his compatriot geniuses. An absolute "must-have" title for Jean Genet and Edmund White collectors. This copy of Advocate Magazine is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on his Contribution by Edmund White. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This Magazine Issue is now highly collectible. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Issue available online and is in fine condition overall. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet: A Biography". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest writers of our time. A near-fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE AND JEAN GENET TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23791

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 72 pages. Published in 2005. Rare Milton Babbitt collectible item. A fine copy of the Souvenir Program of the Boston Symphony Orchestra 2004/2005 Season Souvenir Program, signed by Milton Babbitt. Pictorial softcovers, as issued. Without DJ, as issued. A rare signature by the late great American composer, obtained on the occasion of the world premiere performance of his "Concerti For Orchestra" by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Commissioned by BSO, conducted by Music Director James Levine, with the composer in attendance on January 13, 2005. There is a brilliant and illuminating five-page Essay by musicologist Robert Kirzinger - written in consultation with the composer - on the piece and Milton Babbitt's place in contemporary music, if he may deservedly say so himself, accompanied with illustrations. Plus, a lovely group portrait of Babbitt with James Levine and fellow greats Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, and Leon Kirchner, some of whose works were also commissioned and first performed by BSO. A great memento/souvenir of a magnificent historic performance. An absolute "must-have" collectible, not just memorabilia, item for Milton Babbitt collectors. This copy of the Souvenir Program is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and inscribed in black ink-pen on the Program Schedule page by Milton Babbitt. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, who is named, attended the performance, is a lifelong BSO patron, and cannot be named here at his request. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of this historic program available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Milton Babbitt did NOT do public signings. He signed for private individuals only. A very rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest composers of the 20th century and our time. A fine collectible copy. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23793

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 288 pages. Published in 2000. Landmark collection of male nudes. Now considered a contemporary erotic art photography classic. Advance Signed Copy of the First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with the regular trade edition and the Second Edition. Published in a tiny first print run as a hardcover original only. It was never revealed how many copies Greg Gorman signed in advance for the publisher as part of the latter's trade promotional campaign. It is clear nevertheless that very few ended up in private collectors' hands. The First Edition is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Greg Gorman and Daniel Power: Dark-brown ribbed cloth boards with titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Rock musician Abdias Marin photographic reproduction pasted in front. Photographs and Introduction by Greg Gorman. Preface by Sir Elton John, the world's greatest private collector of erotic art photography. Afterword by John Hurt. Acknowledgments, Biography, and List of Exhibitions appended at the end. Printed on sepia-toned, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is outstanding in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents Greg Gorman's "As I See It". The photographer's "summing-up" collection on the male nude. Almost ALL of the portraits are full-frontal, and include such celebrities as Christopher Atkins, David Sojka, Nicholas Gonzalez, Josh Duhamel, Aaron Long, Tony Ward, Jack Welsh, and Jeff Clark, among many others. Also has the celebrated sequence featuring the seemingly shy but extremely well-endowed model, "Speedy". Greg Gorman has said that what he wanted to capture permanently ("freeze", as it were, as only photographs do) is the boy/man, not the muscular, overdeveloped gym-type nor the pubescent, scrawny kid, but someone in-between, with a lean, supple, and clean-shaven body, regardless of his chronological age. Many of the boy/men in this collection are in their late-teens or early twenties. But someone like Christopher Atkins was already in his forties yet still had the "Blue Lagoon" good looks and physique that catapulted him to global stardom. Because for Gorman, the boy/man is the epitome of everything that makes the male specimen irresistible. All in all, his best book. An absolute "must-have" title for Greg Gorman collectors. This Advance Signed Copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the half-title page by Greg Gorman. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page or bookplate. Gorman's signature fills up the page. This title is a great erotic art photography book. As far as we know, this is the only such Advance Signed Copy (of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing) available online and is in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws or are the Second Edition. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 212 sepia-toned plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. Some of the most beautiful and sexiest models and actors of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER GREG GORMAN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1576870863. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23787

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 320 pages. Published in 2004. Rare Martin Amis and Granta Magazine collectible item. A fine copy of Granta Magazine's 25th Anniversary "Jubilee" 2004 Issue, signed by Martin Amis. The First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent printings. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only that went into several subsequent printings. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Granta Magazine's "Jubilee" Issue. Notably features the very first and only appearance in published form of a longish Excerpt of Martin Amis' screenplay adaptation of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey". The novel, first published in 1818, was commissioned by Miramax Films, the screenplay approved (more or less), and production planned to commence in 2001. It was eventually overtaken by an inexorable sequence of man-made events with "force majeure" magnitude, shelved, and remains un-produced as of 2024, more than twenty years later. Meanwhile, Martin Amis' brilliant adaptation is complete, and judging from the Excerpt, is elaborately imagined and written, with remarkable literary quality, by the great film buff/writer. It is also worth noting that Martin Amis once imagined a parallel career as a character film actor, as more than a few great British and American writers succeeded in doing, Sam Shepard being the most acclaimed. The Issue also includes now-classic pieces by contributing writers, notably Paul Auster's "Brooklyn Follies", an excerpt from his novel of the same name. "Amis is a force unto himself. There is, quite simply, no one else like him" (The Washington Post). An absolute "must-have" title for Martin Amis collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen upon his Contribution by Martin Amis. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This Granta Magazine Issue is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Magazine "Jubilee" Issue available online and is in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. Some of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MARTIN AMIS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1929001177. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23789

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 245 pages. Published in 2014. Retrospective collection of short fiction. One of Tony Earley's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. "Autographed Copy" round white sticker pasted in front. Presents Tony Earley's "Mr. Tall: A Novella And Stories". Significanlty expands the author's already considerable range as principally a writer of compact fiction. Even his full-fledged novels, notably the "Jim" Series, are a lot shorter ("succinct") when compared to his peers' massive, unruly efforts. Which is genuine praise, not criticism, overwriting and overwrought prose being well-known American literary vices. "Jack And The Mad Dog", the concluding novella, is one of the outstanding American novellas of our time, worthy to rank alongside other celebrated masterpieces of the form yet remains underrated since its first appearance in published form in The New Yorker Magazine. Tony Earley's mastery of the English language, written to suit his singular purpose, is sublime, not just impressive. An absolute "must-have" title for Tony Earley collectors. This Autographed Copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Tony Earley. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great collection. This is one of very few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Tony Earley was selected by The New Yorker Magazine as one of "Twenty Writers for the 21st Century". One of the finest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TONY EARLEY TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0316246123. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23788

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 400 pages. Published in 1993. Retrospective collection of essays on subject. One of the absolute best books on the art and achievement of film-making of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Terrence Rafferty's "The Thing Happens: Ten Years of Writing About The Movies". His first, and thus far, only collection of indispensable film criticism. Brilliantly conceived and eloquently written, with probing insight, encyclopedic knowledge, and exacting (yet always fair) judgment. The title comes from James Agee, the pioneering film critic, who compared and contrasted (as he often did) the difference between "laborious" writing, which is descriptive at best, and a film's "immediate" impact, that is, the visceral sensation one experiences while watching - and then "reliving" - a film: The thing happens, "before our eyes", as Stanley Kauffmann once observed, and made the title of HIS own greatest book of film criticism. Incidentally, this central insight about the film medium derives originally, and famously, from Walter Benjamin. Rafferty's sumptuous, 400-page book is served in three courses, beginning with a great Essay on Jean Renoir, surely THE filmmaker of life's sensuous, creative, and intellectual appetites, followed by a (much more measured) section on "Directors", and concludes with scintillating "Movies", piquant reviews of films from the last quarter of the 20th century, Renoir's "successors" when they are at their best. Rafferty is a "hedonist/humanist" of a critic, who loves life, and has little patience for narrowly "aesthete", nihilistic film directors like Peter Greenaway, whom he feels obligated to write about in order to demolish the self-referring, closed-circuit film-making Greenaway epitomizes. "Agee, Farber, and Kael are his peers" (Guillermo Cabrera Infante). An absolute "must-have" title for Terrence Rafferty collectors. What a find: This was the personal copy of Clay Felker, the late great magazine and literary editor of several major American magazines, notably Esquire, which he helped make more literate and literary. As was his custom, he signed his name in black ink-pen on the inside front cover, discreetly hidden from view by the front DJ flap. This title is a great collection. This is the only such signed association copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Terrence Rafferty did NOT tour to promote his book. Copies available online have very serious flaws (because they were avidly read) or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant film critics of the 20th century and our time. Some of the greatest film artists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO STANLEY KAUFFMANN AND PAULINE KAEL TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0802114857. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23790

Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 260 pages. Published in 2012. Retrospective collection of stories in graphic-novel form. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Presented as a Hardboard Boxed Set, which weighs 7 pounds and whose contents amount cumulatively to "Building Stories". Published in a small and limited first print run that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Chris Ware's "Building Stories". A classic on the day it was released. The publisher's blurb sounds very much like Chris Ware himself - it's written in his inimitable voice if he did not actually write it himself - and as such, cannot be improved upon: "14 distinctively discrete Books, Booklets, Magazines, Newspapers, and Pamphlets. With the increasing electronic incorporeality of existence, sometimes it's reassuring, perhaps even necessary, to have something to hold on to. Thus, within this colorful keepsake box, the purchaser will find a fully-apportioned variety of reading material ready to address virtually any imaginable artistic or poetic taste, from the corrosive sarcasm of youth to the sickening earnestness of maturity while discovering a protagonist wondering if she'll ever move from the rented close quarters of lonely young adulthood to the mortgaged expanse of love and marriage". An absolute "must-have" title for Chris Ware collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the box cover by the artist: "C. Ware". It is signed directly on the cover itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Be Ware! Copies available online have serious flaws or are in multiple subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of The London Guardian Fiction Award in 2001 for "Jimmy Corrigan, Or The Smartest Kid On Earth", the very first graphic novelist to win the award. One of the most brilliant writer/graphic artists of our time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 0375424334. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23786

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Pachter, Charles (illustrator). 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Unpaginated. Published in 1997. New Facsimile Edition of the collaborators' 1980 Artist Book, with previously unpublished new material. A brilliant collaboration between two great Canadian artists. Now considered a late-modern classic. The first appearance of the title in this edition in the United States and Canada. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by Charles Pachter and Gordon Robertson: Oversize-volume format. Pictorial hard boards with titles embossed on the cover and spine and blue cloth overboards, as issued. Poems by Margaret Atwood. Art by Charles Pachter. The Memoirs by Charles Pachter and Foreword by David Staines appear in this Edition for the first time, and are supplemented with vintage black-and-white photographic reproductions. Matching blue-dominant pictorial paper slipcase with white titles in front and text on the back. Printed on pristine-white, glossy stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Re-presents, in a lovely Slipcased Format, Margaret Atwood's and Charles Pachter's "The Journals of Susanna Moodie". A dazzling New Edition of one of the landmark poetic cycles by possibly the greatest Canadian novelist and poet of our time. Artist Charles Pachter's vivid, intense, and broodingly original serigraphs are faithfully reproduced and illuminate the poems, making every page scrupulously, meticulously, and breathtakingly beautiful. The poems by Margaret Atwood are based on the journals of the Canadian pioneer Susanna Moodie, and explore what it means to find oneself thrown into a hostile natural environment (what it means to be a pioneer and a woman, which is the same thing, in many ways). The setting allows Atwood to write relentlessly cutting lines about the tension between creating and defining a self against the backdrop of a harsh landscape. The assertion of one's agency on the world as well as oneself, set against the tribulations of loneliness and despair, is especially electrifying. The basis of Atwood's "Alias Grace", one of her greatest novels. An absolute "must-have" title for Margaret Atwood and Charles Pachter collectors. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few copies of the New Facsimile Edition still available online, is still in the publisher's original shrinkwrap, and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. 32 serigraph reproductions. Winner of the Booker Prize in 2000 for "The Blind Assassin". Two of Canada's national treasures. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MARGARET ATWOOD TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0395880432. no.

Seller Inventory # 8855

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 220 pages. Published in 2024. The author's second novel. One of Tommy Orange's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly copies that are signed on a tipped-in page. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Tommy Orange's "Wandering Stars". His acclaimed follow-up to "There There" (2018), his now-classic debut novel. "Extending his constellation of narratives into the past and future, Tommy Orange traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of a family in a story that is by turns shattering and wondrous. For the sake of knowing, of understanding, 'Wandering Stars' blew my heart into a thousand pieces and put it all back together again. A masterwork that will not be forgotten, a masterwork that will forever be a part of you" (Morgan Talty). An absolute "must-have" title for Tommy Orange collectors. This copy is very boldly, beautifully, and elaborately signed and dated (shortly after publication) in black pen-marker on the title page by the author: "Tommy Orange 3.5.24". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as many copies available online are. His signature is an elaborate version of the mere T/O initials (with which he signed copies of "There There" during its launch, in response to enormous public demand). The result is a magnificent, one-of-a-kind signature. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of very few such signed and post-publication dated copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is, quite simply, the most beautiful signed copy we have ever seen. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are in subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the American Center For Fiction's "First Novel Award" in 2018 for "There There". One of the most brilliant American novelists of our time. A fine copy. ISBN 0593318250. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23785

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 80 pages. Published in 2011. The author's eleventh collection of poems. One of Rae Armantrout's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Softcover Edition, which was published simultaneously with it. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original that sold out shortly after publication. The First Hardcover Edition is now scarce. Presents Rae Armantrout's "Money Shot". Otherwise known as the "cum shot", as metaphor for poetic liberation and release. "The charged openness of language is itself enough to power these poems. What makes 'Money Shot' such a success is Armantrout's ability to distill this linguistic energy without compromising the ability of these poems to make lucid associative connections. Let's play a game, Armantrout seems to say. This game has to do with language, and either it will destroy us or leave us alone on a sunny day. Take your pick" (Nick Sturm). An absolute "must-have" title for Rae Armantrout collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Rae Armantrout. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great collection. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are subsequent printings and the Softcover Edition. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for "Versed". One of the greatest American poets of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER RAE ARMANTROUT TITLE IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 081957130X. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23784

Soft cover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 245 pages. Published in 2018. The 25th Anniversary Edition of the author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most sensational literary debuts of the late-20th century. The 2018 Picador 25th Anniversary Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent printings, of which there are many. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. Without DJ, as issued. The First Edition is now scarce. "Signed Edition" red oval sticker pasted in front. Re-presents, in a lovely New Edition, Jeffrey Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides". Unsurpassed in its evocation of the mystery of sibling suicide and family melancholy. With a New Appreciation by Emma Cline, the brilliant young American novelist, which appears in this Edition only. The unforgettable story of the multiple suicides of the radiantly beautiful, precocious, and self-destructive Lisbon sisters, based on a true story, is recounted by one of their adoring boy-witnesses. "A rare first novel that ends, wondrously, on a note of the profoundest grief" (John Hawkes). Jeffrey Eugenides was once complacently labeled as yet another writer of the American-immigrant experience, a label he successfully resisted because he completely transcends it. As a stylist, there are few writers among Eugenides' generation whose mastery of the English language is complete and whose poetic sensibility makes his novels exquisite: "Middlesex" is his second novel, after a long hiatus. "The Marriage Plot" only his third, after another long hiatus. The basis of the very fine film debut by Sofia Coppola, with Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett. An absolute "must-have" title for Jeffrey Eugenides collectors. This Autographed Copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on top of the title page by the author: "Eugenides". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The author signs like his Greek ancestors, with his family name only. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Picador 25th Anniversary Edition/First Printing (2018) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful signed copy we have ever seen. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction in 1991 and the Ingram Merrill Foundation Fellowship in 1992 for "The Virgin Suicides". Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for "Middlesex". The author was selected as one of "Twenty Writers for the 21st Century" on the basis of his first published work of fiction. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JEFFREY EUGENIDES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1250303540. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23782

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. 529 pages. Published in 2002. The author's second novel. One of Jeffrey Eugenides' finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex". His masterpiece, and best book thus far. Nine years after his breakthrough debut novel, "The Virgin Suicides" (1993), immediately established Eugenides as one of the most promising writers of his generation, he finally published a different and richer novel. Traditionally, the second novel is much harder to write, especially when the debut is so successful. The result is often at best, a disappointment or at worst, an abject failure. Eugenides completely acquits himself: This prescient novel about sexuality and personal identity, nature and technology, biology and gender, and ultimately, culture and destiny, set against the epic background of the Greek-immigrant experience, is stunning. Eugenides poetically anticipates contemporary prosaic concerns and studies on the relation between sexuality and identity. Among his peers, Eugenides has the most poetic sensibility. His mastery of the formal possibilities of the novel and the linguistic intricacies of the English language is unequalled among all other American writers today. An absolute "must-have" title for Jeffrey Eugenides collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the title page by the author: "Eugenides". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The author signs like his Greek ancestors, with his family name only. This title is a great book. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful signed copy we have ever seen. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are in innumerable subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction in 1991 and the Ingram Merrill Foundation Fellowship in 1992 for "The Virgin Suicides". Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for "Middlesex". The author was selected as one of "Twenty Writers for the 21st Century" on the basis of his first published work of fiction. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JEFFREY EUGENIDES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0374199698. Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 23781

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 105 pages. Published in 2015. Retrospective collection of personal essays, with accompanying vintage photographs. One of Truman Capote's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run by The Little Bookroom as a not-so-little, full-fledged hardcover original only. It is a significant expansion of the publisher's previous pocket volume, "A House On The Heights" (2002), and incorporates the original essay George Plimpton wrote for the latter. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Truman Capote's "Brooklyn: A Personal Memoir". Interspersed with the re-discovered photographs of Brooklyn by David Attie, which rank with the work of Helen Levitt. "The tranquil life Truman Capote led in the quiet enclave of Brooklyn Heights in the 1950's and 1960's stood in sharp contrast to the glittering scene he adored in Manhattan. Vividly evokes the neighborhood that Capote came to know well and described as Brooklyn's 'splendid contradictions'. Its denizens, including a celebrated Russian spy, a globe-trotting antiquarian, and a cat-rescuing dowager with a pointed social agenda, bring to life the Brooklyn that cast its spell over Capote. He meanders through a special time and place still recognizable today" (Publisher's blurb). Brooklyn is cool again, for good. As it was for the young Capote, it is home to some of the most celebrated writers and cutting-edge artists, photographers, and filmmakers of our time. Capote's reminiscenses are some of his finest work. For the sheer beauty of his prose, they are gems of American "portrait" writing. An absolute "must-have" title for Truman Capote collectors. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen. Please note: ALL copies available online have very serious flaws or are in multiple subsequent printings even if their dealers don't say so. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with splendid black-and-white vintage photographs. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is widely regarded as one of the greatest books of the 20th century. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRUMAN CAPOTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1936941112. no.

Seller Inventory # 23779

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 165 pages. Published in 2023. The 28th Anniversary Edition of the author's classic and masterpiece. The First Hardcover Facsimile Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent printings, of which there are many. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition Thus is now rare. Re-presents, in a lovely Facsimile Edition format, Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49". His Surrealist-inspired, at first delicious, and finally despairing satire of America. First published in 1965, its prescience - and nihilism - about contemporary America is downright scary. While all great novels are written retrospectively, about The Past, perhaps such is their greatness that they also reveal The Present, as no social scientist has, and foretell The Future, as no prophet can. "California housewife Oedipa Maas is thrust into a paranoid mystery of metaphors, symbols, and the United States Postal Service. Traveling across Southern California, she meets some extremely interesting characters - a teenage rock band called The Paranoids, a right-wing historian and critic of the postal system, and a former child actor with whom she has an affair, and begins to unravel conspiracies she suddenly sees all around her. Demonstrates the piquant wit and power of invention that are the hallmarks of Pynchon's acclaimed works" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for Thomas Pynchon collectors. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition Thus/First Printing (2023) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is a most beautiful copy indeed. Please note: ALL other copies available online are in multiple subsequent printings even if their dealers don't say so. Copies of the 1965 First Edition available online command many hundreds to thousands of dollars, rightly so. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Hailed by Harold Bloom as the greatest, not just one of the best, of Thomas Pynchon's novels, surpassing in his estimation critical favorites like "Gravity's Rainbow". One of the greatest writers of the 20th century and our time. A fine collectible copy. ISBN 0063289520. no.

Seller Inventory # 23780

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 143 pages. Published in 2006. The author's debut novel. Now considered a late-modern classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Modern Library Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Truman Capote's "Summer Crossing". His first novel, an inchoate yet startling achievement nevertheless that anticipates his later work. "Shows the promise of a future Master. Capote told everyone he had destroyed his earliest effort (produced at age 19), but it turned up at Sotheby's, handwritten in four ruled school notebooks. With her Fifth Avenue Protestant parents off in Europe, 17-year-old Grady rebels by intensifying an affair with and quickly marrying a parking lot attendant from a dysfunctional Brooklyn Jewish family. There are glimpses of Capote's signature style that emerged only four years later in 'Other Voices, Other Rooms', and a hint of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' " (Publishers Weekly). The bit about the parking lot attendant is vintage Tennessee Williams, reflecting the latter's considerable, perhaps even decisive, influence on the young Capote. Includes an illuminating Afterword by Allan U. Schwartz, Truman Capote's literary executor. An absolute "must-have" title for Truman Capote collectors. This title is a late-modern classic. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen. Please note: Almost ALL other copies available online have serious flaws, are in multiple subsequent printings, or are the subsequent Modern Library Edition, which does not have the same collectible value. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is widely regarded as one of the greatest books of the 20th century. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRUMAN CAPOTE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1400065224. no.

Seller Inventory # 23778