[book just moderately worn, small tear in cloth at top of spine; jacket somewhat tattered, separated at front hinge (held together by Brodart cover), large piece missing at lower left of front panel]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the ffep. Novel about an idealistic young American physician who goes to Israel to participate in "the birth pangs of a new nation." Since the author himself was a young American physician, who like his protagonist studied at the University of Pittsburgh, one might speculate that this book was at least semi-autobiographical (which of course is not u... View More...
[minimal shelfwear, light dust-soiling to top edge; jacket heavily rubbed/scuffed, but no tears]. Brief fantasy tale (71 pages) about a small-town girl, Jane, who comes to New York City and is picked up at the bus terminal by "a friendly visitor from the spirit world who lives, of all places, in Central Park! Little by little Jane gets to know the handful of New Yorkers who still 'believe.' Included in this select group is a wealthy widow, two aged brothers (particularly well portrayed), and a middle-aged couple who live near Coney Island, and who still maintain the tender affection tow... View More...
[moderate soft creasing in front cover, a little wear to extremities, spine tight and uncreased]. Mass Market PB First-person narrative by a lovestruck adolescent, one Clarence Bascomb, likened in the cover blurbs to Holden Caulfield and Booth Tarkington's Penrod. There's something about this book that I can't quite put my finger on, e.g.: although the narrator and all the primary characters are white, the cover illustrator seems to have somehow had the idea that Clarence was African-American. There's also an odd scene, about halfway through the book, in which our hero, telling his mother ab... View More...
[spine a little turned, moderate wear at corners and spine ends, light dust-soiling to top edge; jacket is edgeworn, one tiny chip at top of rear panel, very minor chipping (no loss of text) at spine ends, light rubbing/soiling to rear panel]. A satirical novel of life under Soviet rule. Great jacket illustration of a giant shrimp looming over the Moscow skyline while playing the balalaika (and whistling, of course). (No, really!) View More...
[light wear to extremities, a little browning to page edges; jacket shows a little wear along top and bottom edges, a few tiny nicks and tears, one itty-bitty chip at top of front panel, fading to spine]. "A challenging social critique of our times," couched as a tale of an American newspaperman who is sent to a small (fictional) Pacific island ruled by the eponymous dictator. Hitro, an "inspiring orator with the eyes of a saint," promises his people that their island nation will become "a model of kindness in action" -- but at the same time, he uses the threat of ... View More...
[moderate overall wear]. Trade PB Satirical novel about a day in the life of an IRS agent -- the cover design has "IRS" crossed out and "Incredibly Ridiculous System" scrawled in its place. The book is described as "a stream-of-unconsciousness satirical view of our country's most unloved bureaucracy," with a protagonist who is "a sort of pathetic Americanized Cloisseau [I think they mean "Clouseau," as in Inspector] [who] stumbles in and out of one moronic misadventure after another." (Someday somebody should do a bibliography of self-published angry-man... View More...
"The Funniest Thing That Ever Happened to Fabulous Las Vegas!" The author was "a construction Civil Engineer and General Manager of one of Nevada's leading construction firms [and] is recognized throughout the West as a structural concrete authority" -- all of which, I suppose, made him uniquely qualified to pen this "zany yarn" about Charlie Leid, "the Big Boss of Slam Bango Construction Corp. Watch him blaze a trail of planned confusion as he moves his unorthodox operations from Los Angeles into Fabulous Las Vegas! All Hell breaks loose!" (Laid in is a card promoting the author as a candidat... View More...
[book lightly shelfworn, miniscule bumping to top front corner; jacket is a bit of a mess, with the striking front panel illustration intact but otherwise some wear and paper loss to the spine (which has also been clumsily tape-repaired along the front hinge), light soiling, a bit of paper loss at corners of rear panel]. Somewhat louche French novel (translation uncredited), "a poem in prose to the eternal beauty and ecstasy of the flesh, a romantic celebration of that physical love which approaches and merges with the sublime." The book was left unfinished at the time of the author's... View More...
[mild wear to book; jacket has numerous small tears/creases at edges and corners, tiny bit of tape residue on flaps]. 'An authentic novel about the sexual conflicts of Catholic priests,' the book traces the tragic downfall of a young priest who breaks his vow of celibacy, from 'his first philandering with a notorious coquette at the university he was attending in Switzerland [through his] seeking assuagement of his illicit lusts in red-light districts of Washington, D.C.And, finally, we witness the disintegration of his personality in an affair that will interest even the most blase reader.' (... View More...
[tight clean copy, mildly edgeworn]. Trade PB Everything about the design of this book -- the clip-arty cover graphic, the author photo, just the whole feel of it -- screams "Fifties"! Imagine my surprise to discover that it was published in the late 1970s; go figure. Like so many vanity-press comic novels -- please, will somebody write the definitive history of this sub-literary sub-genre already? -- it wears its wackiness on its sleeve, with character names like Adelaide Aida, Lord Lox, Foreman Fastidious Forelock, Ramshar Baga Vita, and so on. It's all hilarious, good clean innoc... View More...
(price-clipped) [solid copy, a bit of wear at spine ends and bottom corners, tiny tear in cloth at top of spine, top corner of one page has been bent/scrunched/torn (no loss of text); jacket lightly edgeworn, a bit of surface scuffing, a couple of tiny nicks at spine ends]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED on the ffep: "Frances / with fond memories / of the organ class / Dollie Clare." "This haunting story, with a Welsh background, tells of the strange patterns of life that followed the slighting remark of a bigot to a sensitive young girl. It is a tale that takes you to Tenby, on the west ... View More...
[some fading to book covers at top/bottom edges, pages browned at edges; mostly-white jacket shows overall soiling & edgewear, a few small tears]. Utopian literature, of sorts, set in a mythical South American country -- "What happens when a country's censors forbid all talk of money -- and sex becomes the national pastime!" "The narrative of a very moral young man from Iowa. He finds himself in an undiscovered country in South America full of busty, shapely, friendly women and tolerant, generous friendly men. But there is something especially different about the country. Its inhab... View More...
[top of book a little soiled/dusty; jacket just mildly worn, rear panel rubbed/soiled]. Tacky, cartoon-y jacket illustration. "To what depths can a virgin fall?" View More...
[good sound copy, light soiling/age-toning to edges of text block; jacket edgeworn, soiled, with various small nicks and tears, moderate fading to spine]. I don't know if there's a genre into which one can comfortably plug this little oddity from an otherwise unknown author, but for present purposes let's just call it "Ruminative Fiction." It's the interior monologue of a modern woman in love -- or not -- with several different men, yet too troubled (in some vague undefined female way) to make up her mind just what she wants out of love, or life, or anything. Even the poor jacket-blu... View More...
[nice clean copy, light wear at spine ends and bottom corners, bookplate on front pastedown; jacket bright and attractive, minor wear at extremities, one itsy-bitsy tear at top of spine, light rubbing/soiling to rear panel]. "Exclusive Hardcover Edition for Members Only"; originally issued as a paperback original, with this printing being the only hardcover edition. Novel about a construction worker who survives a 24-story fall and finds himself with Christ-like powers; apparently has something of a cult following. An exceptionally nice copy of a book that generally does not wear we... View More...
[one small scuffed spot on front cover, otherwise clean/tight/unread]. Trade PB Novel set in a boardinghouse in Post-WWII Los Angeles, whose occupants are "hungering for identity and finding it through love, wealth, sex, bizarre escapades and violence." View More...
[nice clean tight copy, slight edgewear to covers only]. Trade PB "Beads, DRUGS, and non-violence -- The culture that wrecked China a century ago now turned on the U.S. -- Sensuous, ANTI-MACHINE INDIA -- its famines and 100,000,000 sacred cows." As cover blurbs go, this one seems almost wilfully obscure. Is this oddball novel really about India plotting some kind assault-by-cows on the American homeland? Are we in danger of being methaned into subjugation, like China was, a century ago? (And what the hell is THAT a reference to, anyway?) In an online obituary of the author (1921-1... View More...
[nice solid copy, light browning to page edges, minor shelfwear; jacket shows a little wear at extremities, small sticker-peel spot on spine (no text affected)]. "A story of adventure, love and strange experiences, finally culminating in Initiation in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Together with Nameno, you go forth upon the greatest adventure of life. You invade weird, gloomy depths, brave conflict and danger, and emerge with renewed hope. You walk with him in green valleys of serenity and sit down with him in quiet contemplation. You peer into the beauty and meaning of religion and phi... View More...
[a little edgewear to covers, light surface-scratching to front cover]. Trade PB "Combining his knowledge of weightlifting, strength training, and martial arts with a solid foundation of philosophy, [the author] sets out to right wrongs and foil evildoers as The Ninjew, an exceptional Jewish warrior. In this exciting half-biography, half-fictional account, [the author] spins a compelling tale of foiling a complex plan of terrorist actions in his native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and neighboring Youngstown, Ohio, with his strength-training and clean-living sidekick and student, Barry. Skil... View More...
[a bit of soiling at top/bottom edges, minor shelfwear; jacket worn at corners, torn/wrinkled at lower right front panel, back panel soiled, chipping & a little paper loss at both ends of spine]. "A comedy of our times," sez the jacket blurb. "Aubrey Beardsley Mafeking Potts, in the Spring of 1944, feels that his self-chosen war task as Director of Army Morale Building is concluded, and not unsuccessfully. What next? [His] final choice falls on the creation of a new town. He brings in his friend Lord Llanfair, who in his turn introduces his nephew Llewellyn, formerly a sergeant in ... View More...
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