Hardcover. NY, Grossman Publishers, 1st, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, lightly worn dust jacket, 272 pages. Discussion of Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, Georges Simenon, Raymond Chandler and Alfred Hitchcock. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Hill & Wang, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 544 pages. A bold new history of the Deng years by a leading China scholar. Unlike the former Soviet Union and the once "socialist" countries of Eastern Europe, China's current economy is now the world's second largest and most rapidly growing. Remarkably, today's problems in China are spiritual in nature-"a crisis of faith"-stemming from the clash between capitalist realities and lingering socialist values and ideas. "The Deng Xiaoping Era "is the story of that crisis and of Deng Xiaoping's promise of socialist democracy that has degenerated into bureaucratic capitalism. Maurice Meisner shows how the social contract between the Chinese Communist Party and the people was grossly violated by the Deng regime, and why capitalism has emerged as the dynamic force in today's socioeconomic and cultural life. Now, after more than a decade of capitalist reforms, he argues that Chinese spiritual malaise is deepening with the brutal suppression of the 1989 Democracy Movement and its politically repressive aftermath. This is an indispensable study of contemporary Chinese history-from the Chinese Revolution and the founding of the Maoist state to the establishment of the Deng regime and the social consequences of Deng's reforms-as well as a formidable analysis of the failure of the world's greatest socialist experiment. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Chicago, Chicago Review Press, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 322 pages, b&w photos. An essential piece of Disney history has been largely unreported for eighty years. Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across Hollywood. Disney fought the unions while Babbitt embraced them. Soon, angry Disney cartoon characters graced picket signs as hundreds of animation artists went out on strike. Adding fuel to the fire was Willie Bioff, one of Al Capone's wiseguys who was seizing control of Hollywood workers and vied for the animators' union. Using never-before-seen research from previously lost records, including conversation transcriptions from within the studio walls, author and historian Jake S. Friedman reveals the details behind the labor dispute that changed animation and Hollywood forever. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 297 pages, b&w illustrations. Based on interviews and oral histories conducted by Stewart Stern. Compiled and edited by David Rosenthal. Foreword by Melissa Newman; afterword by Clea Newman Soderlund. The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan and many others. Clean copy.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 468 pages. Closely knit Colombian siblings' internal rifts threaten to tear apart the hard-won legacy their father fought to establish against guerilla and paramilitary violence. An intimate and transgressive novel that confirms Hector Abad as one of the great writers of Latin American literature today. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Viking Press, 2nd pr., 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 430 pages. Immediately after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to restore the honor of the United States with a dramatic act of a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, eighty brave young men, led by the famous daredevil Jimmy Doolittle, took off from a navy carrier in the mid-Pacific on what everyone regarded as a suicide mission but instead became a resounding American victory and helped turn the tide of the war. The First Heroes is the story of that mission. Meticulously researched and based on interviews with twenty of the surviving Tokyo Raiders, this is a true account that almost defies belief, a tremendous human drama of great personal courage, and a powerful reminder that ordinary people, when faced with extraordinary circumstances, can rise to the challenge of history. Clean copy.
Hardcover. University of Chicago Press, 1st, 1991, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 307 pages. This book analyzes the thought behind practices of government and argues that criticism represents a true force for change in attitudes and actions, and that extending the limits of some practices allows the invention of others. This unique and extraordinarily useful collection of articles and primary materials will open the way for a whole new set of discussions of the work of Michel Foucault as well as the status of liberalism, social policy, and insurance. Some yellow high-lighting in the first 50 pages.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 425 pages. Macabre and fantastical, Hoffmann's wildly imaginative tales offer an unflinching view of human nature and sing clearer than ever in a masterful new translation. Whether a surrealist exploration of the anxieties surrounding automation, or a mystery concerning a goldsmith, missing jewels, and a spate of murders, each tale in this collection reveals the complexities of human desire and fear. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Oakland CA, Pacific Press, reprint, 1888, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, leather bound with gilt lettering on spine and front cover. 704 pages, b&w illustrations. The book explores the ongoing spiritual conflict between good and evil from a Christian perspective, focusing on the consequences of humanity's choices throughout history. It seeks to illuminate the relationship between divine providence and human agency, ultimately aiming to provide readers with understanding and hope in the face of moral struggles and cosmic battles. The opening of this work introduces the foundational themes of the great controversy, beginning with a poignant depiction of Jesus' sorrow over Jerusalem's future destruction due to its rejection of Him. White emphasizes the spiritual blindness and rebellion of the people, reflecting on the historical and prophetic significance of Jerusalem as the chosen city of God. The author sets the stage for exploring the broader themes of persecution, apostasy, and the eventual triumph of good over evil, indicating that the narrative will trace historical events and divine truths that shape the ongoing struggle between Christ and Satan. Covers worn, short split to spine at top. Copyright page states 1888 with no other printings but one of the illustrated plates has a 1891 date, so assumed a reprint edition. The endpapers, front and back, are frayed, wrinkled. All edges gilt. Interior clean. Due to size and weight, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Hardcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st thus, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 450 pages. The Great Weaver from Kashmir is Laxness' first major novel, the book that propelled Icelandic literature into the modern world. Shortly after World War One, Steinn Ellidi, a young philosopher-poet dandy, leaves the physical and cultural confines of Iceland's shores for mainland Europe, seeking to become "the most perfect man on earth." His journey leads us through a wide range of moral, philosophical, religious, political, and social realms, from hedonism to socialism to aestheticism to Benedictine monasticism. Upon his return to Iceland, Steinn finds himself more conflicted than before, torn between love of the beauty and traditions of his homeland, longing and regret for his great adolescent love, Dilja, and his newfound monastic ideal, forcing him to make choices with fateful consequences. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Viking Press, 2nd pr., 1968, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in an unpriced ($3.50) dust jacket that has chipping and edgewear. The Guard Mouse tells the story of Clyde, a mouse who works as a King's Guard outside Buckingham Palace. Upon stepping down from his position one day, the Guard Mouse hears his name being called - his long-lost cousins from abroad have come to visit him. The story follows the mice on the adventures they get up to in the night, including a detour to Covent Garden Market and a ride on the top of a double-decker tour bus, before duty calls the Guard Mouse back to his sentry box in front of Buckingham Palace the next morning. Inscription on front fly leaf otherwise clean.
Hardcover. NY, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1st, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 617 pages. A very nice copy in dust jacket. Some light toning to the jacket. Stated first printing. Original price of $15.00 present on front flap. An illuminating self portrait of the artist as a remarkable young woman whose lineaments, guessed at from a distance, have often been forbiddingly misdrawn. Includes warm and funny personal letters to literary friends: Caroline Gordon, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick, J. F. Powers, Walker Percy, Elizabeth Bishop, Granville Hicks, etc. Red lettering on spine with light fading. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Random House, 1st, 1963, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket with a chip out of bottom edge front panel. Contains Agatha, Aunt Anna, The Golden, The Locomobile, The Major, and many other stories. Embossed stamp on prelim page, otherwise clean.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 275 pages. Tarjei Vesaas's final work, The Hills Reply, is a flow of intensely lyrical autobiographical scenes. The vivid beauty of the wilds of Norway grounds the narrator's interior flashes. The first sketch finds a boy, his father, and their packhorse clearing a logging road buried in snow as their surroundings give way to a crisis. Profound insights into human behavior, solitude, and nonverbal communication stand up to the power and immensity of the natural world. The land speaks to (and at times almost swallows) the central character, as he is pushed to the edge of what a body and mind can endure. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. Lexington KY, John Bradford Press, 1980, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 246 pages. Color photographs and B&W illustrations. Pictorial dust jacket with light wear, price-clipped. Green cloth with gilt title to spine. Previous owner's inscription. Overall, a clean, tight copy.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 2nd pr., 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 305 pages. The Last Days of Terranova tells of Vicenzo Fontana, the elderly owner of the long-standing Terranova Bookstore, on the day it's set to close due to the greed of real-estate speculators. On this final day, Vincenzo spends the night in his beloved store filled with more than seventy years of fugitive histories. Jumping from the present to various points in the past, the novel ferries us back to Vicenzo's childhood, when his father opened the store in 1935, to the years that the store was run by his Uncle Eliseo, and to the years in the lead-up to the democratic transition, which Vicenzo spent as far away from the bookstore as possible, in Madrid. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 408 pages. A book that casts new light on the history of China and the West at the turn of the nineteenth century. George Macartney's disastrous 1793 mission to China plays a central role in the prevailing narrative of modern Sino-European relations. Summarily dismissed by the Qing court, Macartney failed in nearly all of his objectives, perhaps setting the stage for the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and the mistrust that still marks the relationship today. But not all European encounters with China were disastrous. The Last Embassy tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Tonio Andrade paints a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of an age marked by intrigues and war. China was on the brink of rebellion. In Europe, French armies were invading Holland. Enduring a harrowing voyage, the Dutch mission was to be the last European diplomatic delegation ever received in the traditional Chinese court. Andrade shows how, in contrast to the British emissaries, the Dutch were men with deep knowledge of Asia who respected regional diplomatic norms and were committed to understanding China on its own terms.
Hardcover. Boston, Little, Brown, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 422 pages. Moving their family to a safe and tranquil suburb, Lynn and Barry Schulman are horrified to discover the town's sinister side, which is revealed after an old friend is murdered and an old boyfriend begins to stalk Lynn. Clean copy.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st , 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 315 pages. An extraordinary chronicle of war and an occult story of love between a father and his son from one of Iraq's most celebrated contemporary writers. "Whenever he told lies, the birds would fly away. It had been that way since he was a child. Whenever he told a lie, something strange would happen." So begins Bachtyar Ali's The Last Pomegranate, a phantasmagoric warren of fact, fabrication, and mystical allegory, set in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's rule and Iraq's Kurdish conflict. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Taschen, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards, large format, 63 pages illustrated in color. Story sketches, cell setups, behind-the-scene photographs, and other exclusive material from the Walt Disney Archives and private collections. Includes Alice In Wonderland Blue-Ray DVD with a copy of the film's original poster. Clean, bright copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Hardcover. Taschen, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards, large format, 63 pages illustrated in color. Story sketches, cell setups, behind-the-scene photographs, and other exclusive material from the Walt Disney Archives and private collections. Includes Cinderella Blue-Ray DVD with a copy of the film's original poster. Clean, bright copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Softcover. Bloomington IN, Indiana University Press, 2nd Ed., 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 418 pages. Like the other republics floating free after the demise of the Soviet empire, the independent republic of Georgia is reinventing its past, recovering what had been forgotten or distorted during the long years of Russian and Soviet rule. Whether Georgia can successfully be transformed from a society rent by conflict into a pluralistic democratic nation will depend on Georgians rethinking their history. This is the first comprehensive treatment of Georgian history, from the ethnogenesis of the Georgians in the first millennium B.C., through the period of Russian and Soviet rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the emergence of an independent republic in 1991, the ethnic and civil warfare that has ensued, and perspectives for Georgia's future.
Hardcover. Milwaukie OR, Dark Horse Books, 1st, 2026, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards. Presents a chronological collection of his Marvel Comics cover art in an oversized hardcover edition. The second volume in this series showcases over 200 of Kirby's legendary covers from 1965 to 1968, including from The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Thor, Captain America, and The X-Men. Includes a new essay featuring original art and an introduction by Kevin Eastman. Due to size and weight, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 79 pages. The first full flowering of Chinese poetry occurred in the illustrious T'ang Dynasty, and at the beginning of this renaissance stands Meng Hao-jan (689-740 c.e.), esteemed elder to a long line of China's greatest poets. Deeply influenced by Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, Meng was the first to make poetry from the Ch'an insight that deep understanding lies beyond words. The result was a strikingly distilled language that opened new inner depths, non-verbal insights, and outright enigma. This made Meng Hao-jan China's first master of the short imagistic landscape poem that came to typify ancient Chinese poetry. And as a lifelong intimacy with mountains dominates Meng's work, such innovative poetics made him a preeminent figure in the wilderness (literally rivers-and-mountains) tradition, and that tradition is the very heart of Chinese poetry. This is the first English translation devoted to the work of Meng Hao-jan. Meng's poetic descendents revered the wisdom he cultivated as a mountain recluse, and now we too can witness the sagacity they considered almost indistinguishable from that of rivers and mountains themselves. Clean, bright copy.