Complete Inventory Listing for Memorial Branch Library

Adelson, Leone. All ready for summer. New York. David McKay,. 1956. 20 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. good copy with no dust jacket. blue picture cover hardback, retired from children's library, expected imperfections, still a clean, tight attractive copy Illustrated by Kathleen Elgin. $15.00 Book #37 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Ashley, Mike (ed). The Mammoth Book Of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits. New York. Carroll & Graf Pub. 2004. 534 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Library copy $10.00 Book #17 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Black, Walter J. Detective Book Club. New York. Detective Book Club. 1956. 168 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. LOT OF 6 DIFFERENT DETECTIVE BOOK CLUB ISSUES VG-MINT Description Specifics - Antiquarian/Collectible THE DETECTIVE BOOK CLUB series published in the 1950s & 1960s. Three books in one. Some of the authors include: A. A. Fair, Edna Sherry, Van Wyck Mason, John Creasey, Doris Miles Disney, Margaret Millar, Roy Vickers, Robert Martin, Andrew Garve, Frank Gruber, Ivan T. Ross, Georges Simenon, Hugh Pentecost, Whit Masterson, E. X. Ferrars, Erle Stanley Gardner, Collin Wilcox, Henry Kane, Jeremy York, Patricia Wentworth, Don Tracy, and many, many more. $35.00 Book #41 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Blew, Mary Clearman. All but the Waltz: A Memoir of Five Generations in the Life of a Montana Family. New York. Viking Press. 1991. 223 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. very good copy in fine dust jacket. Blew continues in the excellent tradition of Lambing Out (Univ. of Missouri Pr., 1977) and Runaway (Confluence Pr., 1990), recipient of a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. This collection of 11 stories centers on life along the cut banks of the Judith River in the Great Plains of central Montana. The river, little more than an alkali creek, is the locus for four generations. These stories spin cycles of hardship, bitterness, and death. Most are in the first person, revealing a unique woman's perspective of ranching life and expectations. Blew's style reflects the oral tradition of the tale. Yet her accounts never lapse into sentimentality, though some are clearly painful to tell. Similar in scope to Ivan Doig's Ride with Me, Mariah Montana ( LJ 9/15/90) and English Creek ( LJ 10/1/84) or William Kittredge's We Are Not in This Together (Graywolf, 1984), this is a haunting account of life in the West. Highly recommended. - Daniel Liestman, Seattle Pacific Univ. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $3.00 Book #24 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Bronson, Po. Bombardiers. New York. Random House. 1995. 319 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. very good copy in fine dust jacket. The "bombardiers" are the bond traders for the San Francisco-based Atlantic Pacific Corporation, a madcap crew shrewdly observed in Bronson's bitingly satiric first novel. Chief among these cynical, inbred, often self-loathing but highly paid white-collar worker ants is anti-hero Sid Geeder, an "old man" at 34, enraged at his meaningless work and existence. Snapping at Sid's heels is the puppy-like Eggs Igino, the trader of the future, boyish, seemingly dependable, sneakily ruthless (in one amusing spar, Eggs tries to get Sid to swap insider information in exchange for clues to the procurement of an elusive strawberry danish). Around them whirl the others, including hard-bitten Coyote Jack, gorgeous Lisa Lisa, pathetic Nickel Sansome, all of them driven relentlessly and absurdly by the cocaine-like high of easy money. Around their frantic and inconclusive relationships, which Bronson delineates with verve, are woven an episodic plot concerning the bombardiers' manipulation of Eastern European and Caribbean affairs and a quiltwork of trenchant observations about the financial world: "The financial markets had replaced elections as the barometer of the country's mood"; "the information economy was a Ponzi scheme spiralling out of control." These clever and abundant maxims, however, fail to compensate for a lack of subtlety in the evolution of the characters, who often seem more marionettes of the author's satire than living entities. Still, Bronson writes with panache, and while his novel finally lacks the depth of feeling that can distinguish a great satire like Catch-22, it's a witty and cutting send-up that marks him as a writer with a likely big and bright future. Author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $2.00 Book #23 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Brooks , Walter R.. Freddy Goes to Florida. New York. Overlook Pr. 1998. 197 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. This is a New book with Dust Jacket. Freddy and the other barnyard animals decide to escape the cold winter by vacationing in sunny Florida. Freddy and the other barnyard animals have many adventures when they decide to escape the cold winter by vacationing in sunny Florida. In the first of a series of books about Freddy the Pig, Freddy and his animal pals from Bean Farm decide to head south for the winter, but their trip to Florida is fraught with bumbling robbers and hungry alligators. Illustrated with b&w line drawings. Details Illustrator: Kurt Wiese $10.00 Book #2 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Brooks , Walter R.. Freddy the Detective. New York. The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, INc. 1998. 264 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. The intrigue of Freddy the Detective begins on the Bean Farm (Freddy's upstate New York abode), when a toy train is discovered missing from young Everett Bean's room. Freddy jumps at the chance to prove his sleuth skills: "I'll find that train, you bet! There are a lot of mysteries on a farm like this and I'll solve 'em all!" he proclaims. The pig can't gracefully outfox the rats (and they sing derisive songs about him), but eventually he does solve cases from "The Mystery of Egbert" (about a bunny who'd wandered off from his family) to "The Case of Prinny's Dinner" (about a white woolly dog's missing food). The shenanigans all sound innocent enough, but Brooks is hilariously tongue-in-cheek; his insightful descriptions of animal characters are always compassionate; and his subtle appeal to a child's instinct for justice is no less than masterful. As Adam Hochschild of the New York Times Book Review writes, "The moral center of my childhood universe, the place where good and evil, friendship and treachery, honesty and humbug were defined most clearly, was not church, not school, and not the Boy Scouts. It was the Bean Farm." Welcome back, Freddy! (Ages 9 to 12, but great for reading aloud to younger children.) --Karin Snelson $10.00 Book #3 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Brunk, Terence. Literacies: Reading, Writing, Interpretation, Second Edition. New York. W. W. Norton. 2002. 813 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Literacies provides students with engaging selections on complex issues that resist easy answers. This impressively diverse collection contains 44 selections from both academic and nonacademic sources. Coupled with thoughtfully crafted pedagogy, these readings ask students to examine the knowledge, experience, and assumptions they bring to their reading, to interpret the selections in conversations with other readings, and to respond in writing. With the Second Edition, the editors have strengthened the book's emphasis on literacy as a theme, incorporating more cross-disciplinary selections, and enriched the apparatus. These revisions reflect the editors' commitment to making Litreacies the ideal choice for composition courses that emphasize academic discourse. $7.00 Book #31 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

by Nancy Larson Shapiro, Ron Padgett. The Point: Where Teaching & Writing Intersect. New York. Teachers & Writers Collaborative. 1983. 137 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. $10.00 Book #7 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Cameron, Peter. Explore this item. New York. Farrar, Straus. May 1, 1994. 241 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Poor Robert. A young painter, he's invited to the country by his new love, Lyle, a middle-aged art critic and a bit of a prig. They are off to stay with the useless John and the unappealing Marian, a rich married couple and Lyle's best friends. Their house is also where Lyle's lover Tony died, exactly one year ago, as we creepily learn. And not only was Tony Lyle's lover, he was also John's half-brother. Get off the train!, you want to yell to Robert. But by the time all the pieces are in place it's too late, and the beautifully controlled horror of the novel has begun. Tensions develop rapidly on all fronts: between the generations, between the new lovers, between the past and the present, between those with hope and those without. And just when you think that the story of this weekend is all memory and conversation, things start to happen. This brief novel confirms what readers of Far-Flung Stories (LJ 9/15/91) and Leap Year (LJ 3/1/90) have long suspected: Cameron is one of our very best writers. For all fiction collections. Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $3.00 Book #16 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Davenport-Hines, Richard (Editor). Vice an Anthology. New York. Viking Press. 1993. 560 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. A wonderful anthology, with selections that cover virtually every "vice" attached to man. Each one is celebrated in its way, and you are taken from the forbidden lust/love of adultery, and the guilty pleasure of voyeurism. A must have for any library $10.00 Book #15 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

George , Milo (Editor). The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby. Seattle, Washington. Fantagraphics Books. May 2002. 120 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Jack Kirby launches, in oversize format, the Comics Journal Library, meant to collect interviews and essays from throughout the magazine's 25-year run. Kirby (1917-93), perhaps the most influential of all comic-book artists, is best known for his lengthy stint at Marvel Comics, where, with scripter Stan Lee, he defined the modern superhero with such creations as the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. His career began in the early 1940s, when he co-created Captain America. It has been estimated that he drew some 25,000 pages over the course of half a century. In addition to three sizable interviews with Kirby and his wife, the volume includes critical assessments and four pieces covering Kirby's battle with Marvel over creative rights and ownership of his original drawings. His distinctively dynamic artwork appears on nearly every page of this overdue tribute that, like the latest special edition, demonstrates that comics can sustain the same sort of critical and historical treatment as other art forms. Gordon Flagg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved $10.00 Book #6 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Halperin, James. The Truth Machine. New York. Random House. 1996. 332 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. Signed by Author. fine copy in very good dust jacket. What would the world be like if scientists developed the perfect lie detector? How would it change our criminal justice system? Psychiatric practice? International diplomacy? In his first novel, Halperin argues that such an invention could lead humanity into an era of unequaled prosperity, one in which crime is virtually unknown and true democracy is possible. A professional numismatist and a member of the World Future Society, Halperin is a relatively unskilled novelist. His prose is at best workmanlike, and his plotting and character development tend toward the simplistic. Nearly all of his major characters, from millionaire-genius protagonist Pete Armstrong on down, seem to be either the smartest, the richest, the most respected or the most influential people in the world. The traditional qualities of fiction are apparently of only secondary interest to the author, however. As a futurist, Halperin seems primarily concerned with suggesting innovations and then working out their implications over half a century. Heavily didactic, but supporting positions across the political spectrum, the book argues in favor of mandatory capital punishment for certain crimes, the privatization of schools, strict limits on insurance settlements, the elimination of the FAA, the legalization of assisted suicide, parental licensing and the establishment of a world government. Although crude from a literary point of view, Halperin's novel is not without strengths. His speculations about the next 50 years are fascinating, and the consequences of the truth machine are well worked out. In the final analysis, it's hard to believe that Halperin's near-utopian future could be so easily attained, but it would be nice to live there. 150,000 first printing; six-figure ad/promo; author tour; U.K. rights sold. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. $10.00 Book #4 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Hemon, Aleksandar. Nowhere Man. New York. Nan A. Talese. 2002. 256 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Jozef Pronek, the quirky Sarajevan who captured the imagination of readers in Hemon's acclaimed story collection (The Question of Bruno), gets full-length treatment in this acutely self-aware and tender first novel. Hemon plunges into the inner world of the observant Pronek, making ordinary events seem extraordinary through the sheer power of his detailed descriptions as his protagonist navigates the war-torn land that was once Marshal Tito's Yugoslavia and the wilds of Chicago in the 1990s. Death is a constant companion for Pronek, as is a mysterious man who shadows him wherever he goes, and their lockstep journey is at the heart of a book that wanders back and forth through time and space. Hemon is stingingly accurate in his portrayal of the small, pivotal moments of youth: Pronek resorting to sliced onions to make himself cry at his grandmother's funeral, his first bungling effort at sex, his noisy rock band and his humiliating stint as a soldier. When Pronek goes to Kiev to visit his grandfather, Hemon effectively spells out his need to make sense of his life and his frustrated nationalism, his love for a country that seems to no longer love itself. The weight of such reflections are counterbalanced by zany scenes like Pronek's encounter with President G.H.W. Bush at a ceremony on the site of the Babi Yar massacre. As a "nowhere man," Pronek travels to Chicago, where he is out of step with the alienated youth culture, a person with a dubious identity and past that is not fully explained until the final chapter. Pronek's constantly reconfiguring life makes the novel a wild, twisty read, and Hemon's inimitable voice and the wry urgency of his storytelling should cement his reputation as a talented young writer. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. $5.00 Book #30 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Hoffman, Alice. Blue Diary. New York. G. P. Putnams. 2001. 303 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Hyperbole is the hallmark of Hoffman's prose. As her 14th novel begins, readers meet Ethan Ford, reliable master carpenter, fire department volunteer and life-saving hero, perfect husband and all-round hunk. In a crescendo of overkill, Hoffman (The River King) identifies Ethan as "truly an extraordinary person." Readers may mutter "enough already," even while recognizing that such a glorious buildup means that Ethan is riding for a fall. But in this case, Hoffman's strategy is effective, because Ethan is suddenly arrested on suspicion of the rape and murder of teenager Rachel Morris 15 years earlier in Maryland. Ethan confesses to the crime, but says that he is now "a different man,'' who has redeemed himself through exemplary behavior. What this revelation means to his beautiful wife of 13 years, Jorie; his 12-year old son, Collie; his friends and admirers in the small community of Monroe, Mass.; and especially to Collie's friend, Kat Williams, who tipped off the police after she saw Ethan's photo on a TV crime blotter, allows the novel to investigate the themes of devotion, betrayal, guilt and forgiveness in trenchantly effective ways. Hoffman avoids the temptation of a feel-good ending, at the same time providing a sensitive assessment of the moral qualities constituting a good life. Throughout, her observations of the natural world are conveyed with gorgeous clarity and the supporting characters are roundly drawn. If the source of Ethan's monumental selfishness is never adequately explained, perhaps this is Hoffman's intention; evil exists, she suggests, and repentance is often not sufficient to earn true absolution. Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate and Mystery Guild alternate; 14-city author tour. (July 23)Forecast: Hoffman's books always lure a large audience, and since this novel, with issues worth pondering, is superior to some of her more whimsical efforts, it should do well right out of the gate. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. $1.00 Book #14 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Hubbard, W L. The American history and encyclopedia of music Vol. I Essentials of Music. New York. Irving Squire. 1910. 401 pps. 8vo. First edition. Leatherbound. good copy with no dust jacket. 1910. 6 Volume Set. Contains a comprehensive collection of descriptions and sketches of operas. Essentials of Music , Operas Vols. I & II, Theory, Musical Biographies & Foreign Music $300.00 Book #38 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

J. E. , Mansion. Mansion's Shorter French and English Dictionary. New York. Heath,. 1934. 940 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. ex-libris copy with no dust jacket. Great for someone that collects old dictionaries. $5.00 Book #39 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

JONNIE , JACOBS. Murder Among Neighbors. New York. Random House. 1995. 299 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. This entertaining debut introduces Kate Austen, a resilient young northern California mom. When her husband sets off to "find himself" in Europe, Kate is pregnant and jobless, and their daughter is only five. Then her next-door neighbor is murdered. Kate doubts that the killer was an intruder-nothing of value was stolen, and it wasn't like the orderly Pepper Livingston to have left a window open. Along with her acerbic best friend, Kate begins to look at her neighbors in a new light, especially Pepper's cool husband, Robert. Searching through Pepper's things at the request of nearly divorced homicide Lt. Michael Stone, Kate finds a matchbook in an old purse of Pepper's and a hidden diaphragm; she is also shown an earring the police have found in the hallway. Later, after she and Michael have become more intimate, she uses these clues to come up with the culprit and motive. Jacobs tops off this slice of suburban life off with a dollop of romance and a twist of suspense. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. $4.00 Book #13 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Kael, Pauline. For Keeps. New York. Penguin. 1994. 1291 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. In this mammoth anthology, former New Yorker film critic Kael skims the cream from 10 of her previous review compilations published between 1965 and 1991, adding a generous excerpt from The Citizen Kane Book (1971). In more than 275 pointed, wisecracking, sometimes maddening, always engaging reviews, Kael deflates pretensions, skewers schlock and zeroes in on what makes good movies work. She files opinionated, often politically incorrect put-downs of Dances with Wolves, Platoon, Rain Man, Fellini Satyricon, West Side Story, The Color Purple and Lenny, while revealing her eclectic, unpredictable taste in plaudits for Lolita, Prizzi's Honor, Tootsie, Z, The Magic Flute and My Beautiful Laundrette. Kael resolutely approaches film as an art form that must be understood on its own terms, yet her reviews depict precisely how movies interact with life, popular culture and the collective psyche, making this a treasure trove of some of the best film criticism available. First serial to the New Yorker. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. $45.00 Book #29 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Kramer, Peter D.. Listening to Prozac: The Landmark Book About Antidepressants and the Remaking of the Self. New York. Viking Press. 1993. 409 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Kramer, a practicing psychiatrist, finds that the antidepressant Prozac is a powerful drug that lifts the veil of depression from most patients without significant side effects. While he unquestionably supports the use of medication to alleviate illness, he questions using drugs to make a person feel "better than well." It is the remarkable ability of Prozac to create personality changes that he finds disturbing. Is it ethical to prescribe a drug that increases a person's self-confidence, resilience, and energy level without any ill effect, when there is no underlying manifestation of illness? What is the essence of personhood and what are the philosophical implications of using drugs to alter personality? Both Kramer's unequivocal endorsement of Prozac for the treatment of depression and the questions he raises about the use of drugs for mood alteration are controversial. A glossary would have been a useful addition for lay readers. Recommended. - Carol R. Glatt, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Philadelphia Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $5.00 Book #21 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Lafferty, James R. Ben Messic. Redlands, CA. Rifleman Publ. 1993. 0 pps. Paper. First edition. Softcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. In plastic wrap. From one of his exhibits. $60.00 Book #46 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Lee, Gus. China Boy. New York. Penguin Group. 1991. 322 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. When we first meet Kai Ting, the seven-year-old hero of this compelling, autobiographical first novel, he has just been ground into the pavement by the neighborhood bully--the most recent incident in a long series of calamities. Kai Ting is the youngest child but the only son of high-born Chinese parents who, before his birth, fled China's Communist revolution, leaving their wealth behind. Kai Ting was born in the San Francisco ghetto where his family had relocated in the mid-1940s. Survival in this urban jungle is made all the more difficult for him by severely impaired eyesight and "a body that made Tinker Bell look ruthless." His mother, once his sole refuge from the ruffians on the street, has died of cancer, and his father has married a WASP who cannot abide anything Chinese--especially her husband's children. Their father turns a blind eye as his wife locks the children out of the house during the day; Kai Ting's return at night with bruises and torn clothes becomes an excuse for a second beating, this time at home. Redemption does come, after a fashion, but it is hard-fought and painfully won. This is the Chinese-American experience as Dickens might have described it, peopled by many rogues and a few saints. Lee's characters--blacks, Hispanics, whites and Asians--tend to extremes of good and evil, but, vividly drawn and intensely human, they are never stereotypes. His story is a primer on how to keep body and soul together in a world that is as gritty as the streets of his hero's neighborhood and seems often dangerously out of control. 50,000 first printing; Literary Guild selection; author tour. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $6.00 Book #28 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

McClelland, Gordon T. Emil Kosa, Jr. Beverly Hills. Hillcrest. 1990. 71 pps. Folio. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Excellent! $31.00 Book #43 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

McIntyre, Peter. Peter McIntyre's West. Menlo Park, CA.. Lane Magazine & Book Co. 1970. 81 pps. Folio. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in poor jacket. $10.00 Book #18 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Mettger, Zak. Till Victory Is Won: Black Soldiers in the Civil War. New York. Dutton Books. April 1994. 128 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Grade 5-8?Two additions to one of the best series on the Civil War in recent years. In Reconstruction, Mettger faces the daunting task of explaining the confusing post-Civil War era, a time she defines as "a period of great hope and crushing disappointment." She accomplishes her goal with a clearly written, well-explained history. Unflinching in the details about lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, and corrupt governments, she manages to put a human face on the times. In Till Victory Is Won, the author reports on the many ways African Americans participated in the Civil War. Of course, the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment is covered. But the little-knowns are not neglected?people like ex-slave Robert Smalls, who stole a steam ship from the middle of Charleston harbor and "defected" to the North; or Lt. Robert Isabelle of the Louisiana Native Guards. Both books have many good-quality photographs and reproductions. As with the rest of the books in this series, these two volumes should be in heavy demand by report writers and history buffs.?Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. $4.00 Book #34 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Monroe, Mary. Gonna Lay Down My Burdens. New York. Bobbs-Merrill. 2002. 295 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. very good copy with no dust jacket. Mary Monroe's Gonna Lay Down My Burdens opens with a bang, when Carmen Taylor intervenes in a violent lovers' quarrel between her friends Chester and Desiree, and Chester winds up dead. Most of the novel is told in flashback, following Carmen and Chester's ill-fated attraction to one another, which began when they were teenagers. It traces the friendship between Carmen and troubled Desiree, as well as Carmen's relationship with Burl, a boy she tried to use to make Chester jealous, with disastrous and long-lasting results. Monroe (God Don't Like Ugly) will surely return to the Blackboard bestseller list with this title, a standout among similar offerings. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.5 $5.00 Book #25 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Naipaul, V.S.. India: A Million Mutinies Now. Los Angeles. Viking Press. 1991. 520 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Trinidadian journalist-novelist Naipaul stresses that much has changed since his 1962 trip to India, which yielded his darkly pessimistic book India: A Wounded Civilization. In this kaleidoscopic, layered travelogue, he portrays "a country of a million little mutinies," reeling with "rage and revolt," as percolating ideas of freedom shake loose the old moral ethos rooted in caste and class. Despite what he terms regional, religious and sectarian excesses, Naipaul sees possibilities for regeneration in the new freedoms, yet this skewed essay is fraught with bewilderment and sorrow as he reels off a familiar litany of problems--terrible poverty, shoddy manufactured goods, ugly neo-modern architecture, etc.--and comes to terms with his own past: his ancestors were indentured servants of Indian descent. Most interesting here are the dozens of first-person stories by Indians themselves, ranging from a wealthy young stockbroker to anti-religionists to a publisher of women's magazines. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $40.00 Book #32 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Newcombe , Jack (Editor). A New Christmas Treasury. New York. Random House. 1991. 532 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Revised and Expanded From Publishers Weekly This eclectic mix of 89 short stories, essays, excerpts and poems highlights the religious and secular elements of the Christmas season. Traditional Yuletide tales include two selections from Dickens, four from Thomas Hardy, Edna Lewis's fond childhood memories of rich holiday food and Laura Ingalls Wilder's description of a frontier Christmas fraught with hardship but redeemed by an improvised, cheerful celebration. Less conventional offerings appear as well: George Plimpton contributes a delightful piece about intensely competitive birdwatchers who hold an annual Christmas "bird count"; Arthur C. Clarke contends that the portentous Star of Bethlehem may have been a supernova; P. D. James introduces a conniving, potentially lethal family who spend Christmas Eve at the home of a wealthy, unlovable uncle. Such notables as John Cheever, M.F.K. Fisher, Shirley Jackson and Peter Matthiessen are also represented here. Newcombe, who edited Viking's original A Christmas Treasury , juxtaposes the contemporary and the old-fashioned, the heartwarming and the unsentimental in a collection suitable for virtually all literary tastes. A BOMC joint publication. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. $10.00 Book #22 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Newhouse, Victoria. Towards a New Museum. New York. Monacelli Press. May 1, 1998. 288 pps. Folio. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. This copy is still in the plastic wrap from the museum. Should art museums be designed to surprise and delight or to instruct and uplift? Should the museum building be a temple of art or an entertainment complex? Architectural historian Victoria Newhouse considers these and other questions about museums in her book Towards a New Museum. Newhouse examines dozens of art museums built during the 1980s and 1990s and describes how the buildings fit into the history of ideas about the proper function of museums. Some museums are like cabinets of curiosities, a hodgepodge of items the collector assembles to delight viewers. Other designers of museums strive to provide a neutral environment that does not distract viewers from the art. However, some architects believe that hanging paintings on white walls in galleries separates the art from its context. Architects and artists have grappled with these ideas and created some stunning and outlandish museums in recent years. Newhouse describes the sinuous, titanium-coated new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the fractured forms of the Fredrick R. Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis. She writes about the artist Donald Judd, who bought most of Marfa, Texas, and made it a museum. These are bold and sometimes beautiful museums. Newhouse wisely includes plenty of good pictures and diagrams of each building. In different segments of the book, Newhouse discusses: private museums, museums that function as temples of art, museums devoted to one artist, and museums designed by artists. She also devotes a chapter to the unfortunate impact of museum politics on design. This chapter, "Wings That Don't Fly," illustrates some of the more vivid design disasters in recent history, including the "toilet tank" addition to the Guggenheim in New York. Art historians, architects, and people who are connected to museums will find this book an instructive, thoughtful overview of what's going on with museums today. --Jill Marquis $25.00 Book #11 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Oates, Joyce Carol. We Were the Mulvaneys. New York. Dutton Books. 2001. 454 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Elegiac and urgent in tone, Oates's wrenching 26th novel (after Zombie) is a profound and darkly realistic chronicle of one family's hubristic heyday and its fall from grace. The wealthy, socially elite Mulvaneys live on historic High Point Farm, near the small upstate town of Mt. Ephraim, N.Y. Before the act of violence that forever destroys it, an idyllic incandescence bathes life on the farm. Hard-working and proud, Michael Mulvaney owns a successful roofing company. His wife, Corinne, who makes a halfhearted attempt at running an antique business, adores her husband and four children, feeling "privileged by God." Narrator Judd looks up to his older brothers, athletic Mike Jr. ("Mule") and intellectual Patrick ("Pinch"), and his sister, radiant Marianne, a popular cheerleader who is 17 in 1976 when she is raped by a classmate after a prom. Though the incident is hushed up, everyone in the family becomes a casualty. Guilty and shamed by his reaction to his daughter's defilement, Mike Sr. can't bear to look at Marianne, and she is banished from her home, sent to live with a distant relative. The family begins to disintegrate. Mike loses his business and, later, the homestead. The boys and Corinne register their frustration and sadness in different, destructive ways. Valiant, tainted Marianne runs from love and commitment. More than a decade later, there is a surprising denouement, in which Oates accommodates a guardedly optimistic vision of the future. Each family member is complexly rendered and seen against the background of social and cultural conditioning. As with much of Oates's work, the prose is sometimes prolix, but the very rush of narrative, in which flashbacks capture the same urgency of tone as the present, gives this moving tale its emotional power. 75,000 first printing; author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. $3.00 Book #35 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Piet, Susanne. Een Park Voor De 21ste Eeuw: Vijf Visies Voor De Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. Amsterdam. Thoth. 1998. 95 pps. Folio. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Great book to check out the new development of Amsterdam Parks. $5.00 Book #10 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Prochnik, Leon. You Can't Make Love If You're Dead : Curing Prostate Cancer and Keeping My Sexuality. Los Angeles. Ari Press. 2000. 208 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. There are very few books that touch the heart in a profound way and this one falls into that catagory. "You Can't Make Love If You're Dead" approaches the scarey subject of Prostate Cancer with compassion and insight; I highly recommend this book to any- one dealing with Prostate Cancer, or for that matter, any life threatening desease. David Jordan Williams - Graphic Designer-Owner of Williams Studio $10.00 Book #8 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Pye, Michael. The Drowning Room. New York. Viking Press. 1995. 252 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. From Publishers Weekly From a sketchy but provocative set of facts, Pye has constructed a chilling, unforgettably haunting story set in Manhattan in the 1600s. The facts, which the author found in 17th-century New Amsterdam legal ledgers when researching his Maximum City: The Biography of New York, concern a woman named Gretje Reyniers: that she arrived from Amsterdam on a ship called the Soutberg; that she was married to a sailor named Anthony "the Turk" Janssen; that she publicly declared herself tired of being the nobility's whore; that on the waterfront she measured on a broomstick the genitalia of three sailors; that she owned various tracts of land and did some moneylending; that, five years after being banished from the settlement, she was again living there. The novel opens during a severe winter that has closed the harbor and made Gretje a widow?a tooth infection has led to the Turk's death. The frozen ground makes burial impossible, and so the Turk lies in a coffin in Gretje's backyard, amplifying her loneliness. When the elusive Pieter, an apparently orphaned adolescent, intrudes upon her grief, Gretje suspects him of being either an angel or a demon ("more tart than angel" she thinks). Through subtle proddings, Pieter prompts Gretje to revisit her life?a grim and nearly loveless catalogue of legal wrangles, prostitution, abandoned infants and flight from the plague. The sole bright spot is her strained, but lifelong, relationship with the Turk. In prose so terse it's almost rude, Pye endows his 17th century with a brutal physicality and casual violence. (The title refers to a method of execution the Turk particularly fears, in which the victim is put in a cell and water poured in.) The author's paramount accomplishment, though, is taking a woman whose character reflects this barbarity and making her life a fascinating tale of grim beauty. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. $9.00 Book #27 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

RESCH, Wiltraud. Kulturführer Graz. Kunst, Architektur, Wissenschaft u. Literatur. Wien, Böhlau. Andreas schnider verlagsatelier. 2003. 204 pps. Folio. First edition. Softcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Perfect Prize! $15.00 Book #45 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Rushdie, Salman. The Satanic Verses. Dover, Delaware. Picador USA. 1992. 547 pps. 8vo. Reprint. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Banned in India before publication, this immense novel by Booker Prize-winner Rushdie ( Midnight's Children ) pits Good against Evil in a whimsical and fantastic tale. Two actors from India, "prancing" Gibreel Farishta and "buttony, pursed" Saladin Chamcha, are flying across the English Channel when the first of many implausible events occurs: the jet explodes. As the two men plummet to the earth, "like titbits of tobacco from a broken old cigar," they argue, sing and are transformed. When they are found on an English beach, the only survivors of the blast, Gibreel has sprouted a halo while Saladin has developed hooves, hairy legs and the beginnings of what seem like horns. What follows is a series of allegorical tales that challenges assumptions about both human and divine nature. Rushdie's fanciful language is as concentrated and overwhelming as a paisley pattern. Angels are demonic and demons are angelic as we are propelled through one illuminating episode after another. The narrative is somewhat burdened by self-consciousness that borders on preciosity, but for Rushdie fans this is a splendid feast. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; first serial to Harper's; BOMC alternate; QPBC alternate; author tour. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. $6.00 Book #9 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Schine , Cathleen. The Love Letter. New York. Houghton Mifflin. 1995. 257 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. Signed by Author. fine copy with no dust jacket. Overtones of a postmodern fairy tale give added resonance to what is otherwise a very contemporary?and totally enchanting? love story. One summer morning in her 41st year, Helen MacFarquhar, the divorced owner of an audaciously pink bookstore in an exclusive Connecticut shore town, finds a mysterious letter in her mail. Addressed "Dear Goat," and signed "As Ever, Ram," it is a love letter of such intensity and passion that she becomes obsessed by its urgently suggestive message. The effect of that letter on Helen's orderly life is the burden of this comedy of manners, which in Schine's capable hands also becomes a witty send-up of cultural hypocrisies and modern relationships. The letter is next read by Johnny Howell, 20-year-old college student and part-time help at Helen's store. Magic strikes; like some characters in Shakespeare's comedies, Johnny immediately falls in love with Helen, and, after a series of misunderstandings, they consummate what has become a mutual passion. Subterfuge is necessary, of course, especially when Helen's 11-year-old daughter returns from camp and Helen's ditsy globe-trotting mother and grande-dame grandmother also decide to spend some weeks in Helen's large old house. Schine's prose is as light and delicate as gossamer and as earthy as colloquial slang and sex. A natural with epigrams and humorous apercus, Schine has an antic imagination that conjurs arresting images. Her fine satiric eye and sophisticated intelligence, displayed previously in Rameau's Niece, To the Birdhouse and Alice in Bed are here equally evident. Helen is a captivating, complex character: demanding, flirtatious, whimsical, capricious, bossy, independent?and suddenly vulnerable. The twist ending is nicely foreshadowed and quite delicious in its implications. Like the love letter of the title, this book enchants and seduces. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. $5.00 Book #26 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Segawa (Editor), Setsuko. New Wave Quilt Collections II (Excellence of Excellences). Japan. Nippon. 1992. 93 pps. Folio. First edition. Softcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Fantastic book $30.00 Book #12 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Shouler,, Kenneth A.. The Real 100 Best Baseball Players of All Time...and Why!. Lenexa, Kansas. Addax Publishing Group. 1998. 318 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Who is the best baseball player of all-time? Why everyone knows it was Babe Ruth, he built Yankee Stadium and only rescued the game after the infamous 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Or was it Ted Williams? He was the last batter to hit .400 in a season and wrote books on the art of hitting. What about Willie Mays or Ty Cobb. Or even Pete Rose the all-time hits leader? Think the argument is moot? Well author Ken Shouler doesn't. In his book The Real 100 Best Baseball Players of All-Time...and Why! all of the above players are considered, but only one can be considered as the best. Statistics are the groundwork. The criteria is accomplishments not lifestyle and this isn't some tepid alphabetical list either. Williams or DiMaggio, Ruth or Aaron, Mays or Mantle, the arguement of who was better has gone on for generations. Shouler makes his case that one player is better than another and why. Each of the top 100 players are ranked and evaluated by looking not only at their numbers but at their impact on the game as well. The Real 100 Best Baseball Players of All-Time...and Why! is a combination of facts, quotes and anecdotes, with complete statistics on all the top 100 players as well as black and white photos throughout. You may be surprised at who is at the top, who is on the list and who got left off, but if you do disagree we'll welcome your argument, but be prepared, the burden of proof falls on your shoulders. About the Author Ken Shouler, author of City University of New York philosophy professor, writes regularly for Cigar Aficionado, Inside Sports and Biography Magazine. He lives in White Plains, New York with his wife Rose Marie. $2.00 Book #19 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Standard Education Society. The Standard Reference Work. Chicago. Standard Education Society. 1928. 63 pps. 8vo. First edition. Leatherbound. good copy with no dust jacket. in complete set Volumes II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII & X $70.00 Book #40 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Stein M., Gerald. Caviar! Caviar! Caviar!. Secaucus, NJ. Lyle Stuart. 1981. 220 pps. Folio. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. This book is still in it's protective mylar wrapper! It's great! Every aspect of caviar from its history & lore to the mystery of its processing. $190.00 Book #44 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Theo , Colborn,. Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival? a Scientific D. New York. Penguin. 1996. 306 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Two leading environmental scientists, writing with an award-winning journalist, provide an investigative account that dramatically explores the causes and implications of chemical pollutants on human fertility and general health. Relying on decades of research, the authors have traced the cause of disruptions in the breeding cycles of numerous animals, increases in birth defects, sexual abnormalities, and reproductive failure. The authors suggest ways individuals can minimize their own risk, and present important guidelines for further scientific research and government intervention. $7.00 Book #33 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Titus, Eve. Anatole. New York. McGraw Hill. 1956. 32 pps. 8vo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in poor jacket. ex library, 1956, no isbn, hardcover with jacket, other than ex library, in very good shape!! pictures by paul galdone $13.00 Book #36 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Twitchell, Kenaston. Regeneration in the Ruhr: The Unknown Story of a Decisive Answer to Communism in Postwar Europe. NJ. Princeton University Press Princeton. 1981. 88 pps. 8vo.. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Out of Print. No signs of use Item should be new, unread, and unused with no creases, bent pages, shelf damage, or cracked bindings. $30.00 Book #1 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Vial , Veronique. Wings: Backstage With Cirque Du Soleil!!!. New Mexico. None. July 1, 1999. 151 pps. 4to. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. Wings presents the work of Veronique Vial, Parisian-born photographer who, for years, has been candidly documenting Cirque du Soleil, the world renowned circus of mystery and illusion. Cirque du Soleil is dedicated to bravely reinventing the circus and to introducing popular audiences to the rich history of this medieval performance medium. Over the previous decade the company has performed for millions of people throughout the world. Taken while on tour and behind the scenes, Vial's photographs show a more personal side of the circus performers as they prepare themselves for the "big top." Vial's photographs reveal all the pageantry and spirit for which this band of performers has come to be recognized, while giving us an intimate view of the diverse personalities that have made this troupe so famous. Eighty-three photographs are sumptuously reproduced in this superbly illustrated and beautifully designed book. $40.00 Book #5 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Walsh, Michael. Andrew Lloyed Webber His LIfe and Works. New York. Harry N. Abrams Inc.. 1989. 240 pps. 12mo. First edition. Hardcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. There is very limited published information about Andrew Lloyd Webber, although there is plenty about his shows, there is little about the man himself. This is why this book is a great buy $30.00 Book #48 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Wilkens, Lenny. NBA Power Conditioning. New York. Human Kinetics Publishers. 1997. 205 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. fine copy with no dust jacket. Book Description Put more power, strength, and quickness into your game! Now you can, with expert training information from 10 top NBA conditioning coaches—the same people who get Penny Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Gary Payton, and many other all-stars into great shape. The book’s 122 exercises and drills are designed specifically to improve basketball performance. Coaches and players can use the special Basketball Conditioning Power Rating System to test conditioning levels for • power, • agility, • conditioning, • muscle strength and endurance, • flexibility, and • percentage of body fat. Work out like the pros and play at the highest level possible. NBA Power Conditioning will help you reach your potential. $10.00 Book #20 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

Wurman, Richard Saul. 1984 Olympic Access: Los Angeles Olympic Games: TV viewer's guide. Los Angeles. AccessPress. 1984. 96 pps. 8vo. First edition. Softcover. fine copy in fine dust jacket. This something really special. Collection for all. $12.50 Book #42 from Friends of the Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA

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