Search Results: Literature/criticism from H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller

New York: Dell, 1969. First Printing, First Paperback Edition. . Mass Market Paperback. Fine to Very Fine. Vintage paperback, Dell Laurel 0083; the late Susan Sontag's first book after her novel, "The Benefactor," is this collection of essays from the 1960s on literature, film, philosophy and society in which she advanced the concept that art is understood first through intuition rather than analysis and criticism; text is clean, tight, square, very lightly age-tanned, appears unread; white pictorial wrappers with photo of Sontag on front cover show some slight tanning at edges, o/w very minimal surface and edgewear. Very Scarce in this edition with cover photo of the author. Collectable.

New York: Bantam Books, 1968. First Printing, First Paperback Edition. . Mass Market Paperback. Near Fine to Fine. Vintage paperback, Bantam Q3811; The Nobel Prize-winning novelist offers his opinions on America and Americans in the 1960's; illustrated with photos by some of the country's best-known photographers; one-reader text is clean, tight and square; wrappers show only very minimal surface and edgewear. Collectable.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Volume Two of Vance's classic study of the influence of Roman culture on American artists and writers over the past two hundred years. Drawing on the work of more than three hundred artists and writers from West and Sargent, and Emerson and Hawthorne to Cadmus and Twombly, and Vidal and Wilbur, Vance examines how Americans reacted to the reality and symbolism of Rome. 496 pages with maps, black & white illustrations, color plates and bibliography and index; boards and text are clean, tight, square; dustjacket shows only very minimal surface and edgewear.

Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1983. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Mailer's historical novel is set in Egypt twelve hundred years before Christ and features a man reborn three times during the course of this 709-page book. Weight may require extra postage.

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1961. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. A collection of correspondence between Durrell and Alfred Perles about Henry Miller, author of "Tropic of Cancer," "Sexus," etc., with "intermissions" by Miller himself; First Printing of the First Edition; boards and text clean and tight; dustjacket slightly soiled, yellowing along edges. Collectable. Scarce.

New York: Random House, 1988. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. The sixth collection of essays from a fine novelist who was also among the best essayists of his time; witty and provocative writing on subjects ranging from Henry James to Nancy Reagan, Oscar Wilde to Oliver North, Hollywood to Mongolia; text is clean, tight, square; bottom of back cover has nearly unnoticeable stain, o/w boards show no significant flaws, little wear; dustjacket has slight crease along spine, inside back panel and flap show same slight stain as back cover; overall, a decent copy of an increasingly hard-to-find book .

New York: Rinehart & Co., 1951. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/Fair. Mailer's first novel after his celebrated "The Naked and the Dead;" boards show some rubbing and edgewear, with minor chipping at top of spine; dustjacket is considerably worn and chipped along edges with fold between back panel and spine worn through in places though basically whole; protected now by mylar.

Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1975. First Printing, First Paperback Edition. . Trade Paperback. Near Fine to Fine. In 1975, Durrell gave a pair of impromptu lectures at Cal Tech and Claremont College in California, reminiscing about Greece as a young writer and later as a diplomat; the lectures became the bases for this book; text illustrated with photos; bookseller's sticker (small green dot) in lower corner of back cover. Wrappers and text clean and bright. An exceptionally nice copy.

New York: Dell, 1967. First Edition Thus. . Mass Market Paperback. Good Plus to Very Good. Vintage Paperback: Dell 1058 -- Mailer is probably best known for his novels, from his best-selling 1948 war novel, "The Naked and the Dead," to his final work in 2007, "The Castle In The Forest," but, arguably, was at his best in his non-fiction and first-person reporting, such as "The Armies of the Night," "The Fight," and his essays, written originally for various national magazines and eventually brought together in four different collections. "Cannibals and Christians" is the third collection of these essays, pulling together work from the early to mid-1960s on politics, the Kennedys, Vietnam, sex, other authors, etc., and even including some poetry. First Printing, First Paperback Edition as stated. Originally issued in hardcover by The Dial Press. Mass Market Paperback, about 4 x 7 inches, 400 pages in white wrappers with blue and black lettering and… Read More

New York: New Directions, 1956. First Printing, First Edition Thus. . Hardcover. Very Good/About Very Good. This work by Purdy was originally privately published in two paperbound volumes: a short novel, "63: Dream Palace," and nine short stories titled, "Don't Call Me by My Right Name." They attracted an extraordinary amount of attention and were then published by Victor Gollancz, London, as a single volume. New Directions added two more stories by Purdy and published this volume titled, "Color Of Darkness." Text and boards are clean, tight, square; dustjacket slightly edgeworn, somewhat soiled. Collectable.

New York: The Noonday Press, 1964. First Printing, First Edition Thus. . Trade Paperback. Good Plus to Very Good. Vintage paperback, N 260; the first collection of literary and social criticism by "Commentary's" editor-at-large (then editor-in-chief) and the first of his ten books, is a selection of essays largely on American literature in the 1950s and early '60s; text is clean, tight, square, very slightly rolled, lightly age-tanned; wrappers show only minimal surface and edgewear. Scarce in paperback.

New York: Knopf, 1977. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Cheever's late career novel has, since its publication, received both high praise and heavy criticism. The story of Farragut, a professor who is a heroin addict and murderer of his brother, and is now imprisoned at Falconer, has been seen as a stand-in for its author's life story of a man addicted to alcohol and tobacco, with a complex sexuality, sentenced by his solitary profession to long periods of lonliness. There are also parallels between the novel and time Cheever spent as a teacher at NY's Sing Sing prison. First Printing, First Edition (as stated). About 6 x 8 1/2 inches, 211 pages in black cloth-covered boards with title stamped in black and grey running vertically along fore edge of cover, and silver lettering on spine. Front panel of dustjacket shows title in silver, author's name in white on blue field, and full panel photo of Cheever on back. A trace of soiling on top edge of text, o/w text and boards… Read More

New York: Random House, 1964. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. In April, 1962, about three months before his death, William Faulkner visited the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, read from his soon-to-be-published novel, "The Reivers," answered questions about his work and the following day attended two advanced literature courses. All were tape recorded and later edited to create this book; previous owner's inscription on fep, o/w text and boards clean, tight; dustjacket shows some yellowing and very minor wear to top and bottom of spine. Collectable. Scarce.

New York: Random House, 1963. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The eighth collection of short stories by this mid-20th century American who became widely popular for his short fiction before his novels, such as "Butterfield 8," "Appointment in Samarra," and "Pal Joey," became best sellers. This copy of "The Hat on the Bed" is first edition, first printing (as stated). About 6 x 8 1/2 inches, 405 pages in blue-green cloth-covered boards with author's name in gold across top of front cover. Author, title and publisher in deep blue boxes on spine in gold lettering. Random House icon also gilded. Top edge of text dyed blue-green, end pages in green. Dustjacket's front panel shows simple graphic design in blue and black on tan background. Back panel contains list of 24 of O'Hara's books. Boards and text are complete, clean and unmarked, without noticeabel flaws or damage such as tears, chipping, creasing or bumped corners. Not ex-library or remaindered.… Read More

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2000. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. A collection of Wolfe's essays on topics ranging from teenage sex to modern art to genetics and neuroscience as well as his novella about sting TV, "Ambush At Fort Bragg;" text and boards are clean, tight, square; bright yellow dustjacket shows very minor edgewear and a trace of soiling. Collectable.

New York: Dell Publishing Co. Inc., 1968. First Printing, First Paperback Edition. . Mass Market Paperback. Good Plus to Very Good. Vintage paperback, Dell 3952; a collection of Mailer's magazine essays on the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Vietnam, sex, the FBI, etc.; slight spine lean, mild age-darkening, o/w text is clean, tight; pictorial wrappers show minimal surface and edgewear. Collectable.

White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper Press, Inc., 1995. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. a collection of quotations on men and women, relationships, life lessons and some simple rules to live by culled from Austen's six novels, including "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice; hardcover, 4 1/2 x 6"; text and boards are clean, tight, square; dustjacket shows only minimal surface and edgewear.

New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. First Printing, First U.S. Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good/Near Fine. A collection of essays, most from the 1980s by one of the best English art critics, poets and novelists, sharing his vision on painting, photography, time and reality. Top end of spine lightly bumped, lettering on spine worn in spots but still legible, some light soiling to boards, o/w boards and text are clean and unmarked, tight and square, not remaindered. Dustjacket shows slight bumping at top of spine and top corners, no tears, not price-clipped. Scarce. Collectable.

New York: The Modern Library, 1950. Hardcover. Very Good/Good Plus. One of Faulkner's masterworks, in which characters such as Joe Christmas and the Rev. Gail Hightower not only address issues of race, sex, religion and class in 1930s Mississippi but, through the author's talent and genius, live them. Introduction by Richard Rovere. The Modern Library No. 88, 1950 edition, a later printing issued between 1950-1970. 444 pages with a list of 318 ML books bound in at end of book. Light grey cloth binding with green title boxes and gold lettering and gold ML logo. Top edge of text stained green. Type "i' dustjacket with black and white lettering and logo on yellow and black background with 405 book titles listed on dj's reverse side and $1.95 price on front flap. A pencil eraser-size light stain on bottom edge of text, o/w boards and text are clean, complete and unmarked; binding tight and square. Dustjacket, now in mylar protector, shows wear at corners and spine ends and along… Read More

New York: Capricorn Books, 1968. First Printing, First Edition Thus. . Mass Market Paperback. Near Fine to Fine. Edited and with an introduction by Bernard DeVoto; Vintage paperback, CAP 149; a collection of Mark Twain's autobiographical writings and reflections on a wide range of topics and people from politics and publishers to writing and civic virtue, from Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Carnegie to Brete Harte and Winston Churchill, full of the distinctive, often caustic wit that makes him America's legendary humorist; one-reader text is clean, square and tight, edges lightly soiled; pictorial wrappers age-browned on spine and around edges, small 1.5 cm stain on back cover near spine, very light reading creases, very minimal surface and edgewear. Collectable.