Softcover. Seattle WA, Fantagraphics, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 134 pages. Clean, unmarked copy in excellent condition. "They were all there, the pimps, the fags, the whores, the curious, the alcoholic, the weird of the late '50s... blues lovers, Canadian bikers, thrill seekers, junkies, insomniacs, hepcats..." So begins "Down at the Kitty Kat," one of the 20-plus never-before-collected memoirs and yarns by Spain Rodriguez, one of the original gang of Zap Comix provocateurs. Although he's best known for his two-fisted tales of the chopper-riding Trashman, Spain's blunt graphic style and uncompromising gift for caricature, rendered in eye-punishing slabs of black and white, work equally well for more subtle fare -- such as these memoirs of his misspent youth. Cruisin' with the Hound ranges from Spain's days as an innocent young churchgoer to his time as a member of the Road Vultures motorcycle gang, with stops along the way for his discoveries of science fiction and other, more adult pursuits ("The Birth of Porn") -- as well as the "The Education of an Underground Cartoonist," describing his journey from a pimply Captain Marvel-reading scribbler to his arrival as a professional artist. But the heart of this collection is a cycle of stories ) set during Spain's teenage days in the 1950s, often featuring the doomed, dot-eyed Fred Toot.
Softcover. Merrick NY, Cross-Cultural Communications, 1st pbk, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 48 pages. Edited and translated from the Italian by Stanislao G. Pugliese. Ignazio Silone, anti-fascist and founding member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) offers a politically conscious and soul searching memoir which details his own PSI activities and the various factors engendering the "necessity for action on behalf of liberty and democracy among the working classes." Over the course of his political career, Silone wrote a number of fiction and non-fiction works, and was imprisoned in Italy, France, Spain, and finally in Switzerland where he composed this memoir in 1942. Often compared with Andre Malraux and Albert Camus, Silone was awarded an honorary degree by Yale University, was a recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, and was twice considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature. INSCRIBED BY PUGLIESE on the title page. Clean copy.
Softcover. NY, Vintage, reprint, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 256 pages, b&w photos. Clean copy. A provocative memoir from Luis Bunuel, the Academy Award winning creator of some of modern cinema's most important films, from Un Chien Andalou to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.Luis Bunuel's films have the power to shock, inspire, and reinvent our world. Now, in a memoir that carries all the surrealism and subversion of his cinema, Bunuel turns his artistic gaze inward. In swift and generous prose, Bunuel traces the surprising contours of his life, from the Good Friday drumbeats of his childhood to the dreams that inspired his most famous films to his turbulent friendships with Federico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali. His personal narratives also encompass the pressing political issues of his time, many of which still haunt us today--the specter of fascism, the culture wars, the nuclear bomb. Filled with film trivia, framed by Bunuel's intellect and wit, this is essential reading for fans of cinema and for anyone who has ever wanted to see the world through a surrealist's eyes.
Hardcover. Long Beach CA, Safari Press, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 336 pages, color and b/w photographs, b/w sketches by the author. Brown boards, spine titled in gilt. Fine new copy in dust-wrapper. As the longtime editor of Safari magazine, Quimby had the chance to hunt on multiple continents for all the sundry game animals found there. In this book he tells us of hunts across North and South America; South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other parts of Africa; Spain; Mongolia; and New Zealand. Also included is Quimby's successful quest to become one of the very few to take all ten of Arizona's big-game species. Several of his hunts were memorable for what went wrong. A horse panicked and fell off a series of ledges during a hunt for a mountain lion, which led to Quimby and a friend spending a cold New Year's Eve on a ridge without shelter or fire. Then, after he had waited thirty-nine years to draw an Arizona desert sheep tag, Bill is changing a tire on the first day of hunting when a bumper jack slips and breaks his arm. (He shot his ram and completed his "Big Ten" quest twelve days later by firing his rifle one-handed.) Some other stories include the time an Indian guide fell from a boat in the Northwest Territories and drowned on the author's caribou hunt; the time a storm on a Yukon moose hunt kept Quimby and his guide snowbound in a plywood shack for nine days. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap.
Hardcover. NY, The Century Co., 1st, 1925, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 365 pages plus index. This entertaining look at life in Spain written by an Englishwoman was the result of a three year stay during the 1920's. This book covers the major Spanish towns, with b&w photos, history and information on facilities, and transportation in each from the 1920s period for the traveler. Some foxing to top edge otherwise clean in the scarce jacket.
Hardcover. Boston, Chapple Publishing Co., 1st, 1926, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with gold lettering and design on spine and front board. Top edge gilt. Portrait frontispiece, 231 pages. Illustrated with etchings and drawings by Levon West. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR on the front fly leaf. Also many b&w photos. An historical travel guide to Spain by Chapple, a well-known editor, publisher, and author, whose 2 Hollywood credits include writer for "Graft"(1915) and producer for" Annabelle Lee"(1921). Bright, clean copy.