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  • LYRICS ALLEY. by Aboulela, Leila.
    Aboulela, Leila.
    LYRICS ALLEY.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Grove Press, (2010). First edition - Novel set in 1950s Sudan, as British rule is coming to an end, by this award winning author, the story of a powerful dynasty trying to reconcile the pull of tradition and the need to move forward in a rapidly changing country. 308 pp plus author's note.

    Condition: Very near fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 64304
    View cart More details Price: $18.50
  • THE HUNT. by Aczel, Thomas.
    Aczel, Thomas.
    THE HUNT.

    Edition: First US printing.

    Boston: Little Brown, (1991) dj. Hardcover first edition - Author's third novel to be published in English, set in the mid-1950s, two years after the death of Stalin "in an unnamed East European country (strikingly similar to Hungary) on the eve of revolution, [it] portrays one of the great, intricate conflicts of modern history at the most human level." 422 pp. ISBN: 0-316008966.

    Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket (slight sunning to spine of dj)

    Book ID: 76282
    View cart More details Price: $16.50
  • THE FLOOD. by Ascher, Carol.
    Ascher, Carol.
    THE FLOOD.

    Edition: First printing.

    Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, (1987) dj. Hardcover first edition - The uncommon hardcover edition of the author's first novel (preceded by short stories and a biography of Simone de Beauvoir), this is the story of "ten-year-old Eva Hoffman's family, Austrian refugees, who have found precarious safety in Topeka, Kansas. It is 1951, the year of the landmark desegregation case. As the rising river inundates the town, the Hoffmans open their home to refugees from the flood, and Eva learns the complexities of prejudice and courage both within and outside her family." Rosellen Brown described this as "sensitively observed, full of affection and life, and . . . passionately concerned with crucial moral questions." 191 pp. ISBN: 0-895942275.

    Condition: Very near fine in pale gray boards in a very good dustjacket with significant rubbing.

    Book ID: 83666
    View cart More details Price: $25.00
  • THE LAST OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS. by Birstein, Ann.
    Birstein, Ann.
    THE LAST OF THE TRUE BELIEVERS.

    Edition: 2nd printing.

    New York: W. W. Norton & Company, (1988) dj. Hardcover - Sunny is 22, her first novel just published, when she meets noted poet David Harvey, who's divorced, Jewish, and 15 years her senior. Instant attraction is followed by a marriage typical of the early 1950s, with Sunny a supportive wife and mother following where David's work takes them - and thru it all, despite his philandering, Sunny remains a "true believer." But when interest in his work wanes, and hers begins to catch the public interest, the 2 decade long relationship is in trouble. "While Birstein pokes fun at everyone involved in producing literature - writers, editors, critics - this is primarily a rueful story about the loss of passion." 315 pp. ISBN: 0-39302587X.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 85869
    View cart More details Price: $15.00
  • A DEATH IN SUMMER. by Black, Benjamin (pseudonym for John Banville)
    Black, Benjamin (pseudonym for John Banville)
    A DEATH IN SUMMER.

    Edition: First US printing.

    New York: Henry Holt, (2011.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Fourth mystery published under this pseudonym by Man Booker-award winning writer, John Banville. Set in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s when the Catholic Church controlled the lives of nearly everyone, it features Detective Inspector Hackett and pathologist Malachy Quirke and his ambitious assistant in the pathology lab, David Sinclair. 308 pp. ISBN: 978-0805090925.

    Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.

    Book ID: 71537
    View cart More details Price: $17.50
  • HOLY ORDERS: A Quirke Novel. by Black, Benjamin (pseudonym for John Banville)
    Black, Benjamin (pseudonym for John Banville)
    HOLY ORDERS: A Quirke Novel.

    Edition: First US printing.

    New York: Henry Holt, (2013.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Sixth mystery published under this pseudonym by Man Booker-award winning writer, John Banville. Set in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s when the Catholic Church controlled the lives of nearly everyone, it features Detective Inspector Hackett and pathologist Malachy Quirke. 304 pp. ISBN: 9780805094398.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 62038
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • CAPE MAY. by Cheek, Chip.
    Cheek, Chip.
    CAPE MAY.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Celadon Books, (2019). SIGNED first edition - The author's first novel. "Late September 1957. Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon only to find the town is deserted. Feeling shy of each other and isolated, they decide to cut the trip short. But before they leave, they meet a glamorous set of people who sweep them up into their drama. . . a novel about marriage, love and sexuality, and the lifelong repercussions that meeting a group of debauched cosmopolitans has on a new marriage." SIGNED on the title page and dated in 2018, that is, before publication. 243 pp.

    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 78082
    View cart More details Price: $30.00
  • A YEAR OF RHYMES. by Cooper, Bernard.
    Cooper, Bernard.
    A YEAR OF RHYMES.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Viking, (1993). SIGNED hardcover first edition - Award-winning author's first novel, second book, set in 1950s southern California. A coming of age story in which Burt has to come to terms both with his own attraction to men and his older brother's slow death from leukemia. SIGNED on the title page. Dust jacket praise from Annie Dillard, Amy Hempel, Paul Monette and others. 228 pp. ISBN: 0-670847321.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 82583
    View cart More details Price: $30.00
  • THE MORTICIAN'S APPRENTICE by DeMarinis, Rick
    DeMarinis, Rick
    THE MORTICIAN'S APPRENTICE

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Norton, (1994) dj. Hardcover first edition - Among the praise that this novel received are these comments by Lewis Nordan: "this book is about sex and death and the 1950s, comic and tragic and moving..." 303 pp. ISBN: 0-393-036626.

    Condition: Very near fine in a like dust jacket (an apparently unread copy but with some slight signs of handling or shelfwear.)

    Book ID: 7140
    View cart More details Price: $17.50
  • DeMarinis, Rick
    THE MORTICIAN'S APPRENTICE

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Norton, 1994. dj. Hardcover first edition - Among the praise that this novel received are these comments by Lewis Nordan: "this book is about sex and death and the 1950s, comic and tragic and moving..." what more could one want? Review copy with publisher's material laid in. ISBN: 0-393-036626.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 21593
    View cart More details Price: $21.50
  • THE BURNING WOMEN OF FAR CRY. by DeMarinis, Rick (1934-2019)
    DeMarinis, Rick (1934-2019)
    THE BURNING WOMEN OF FAR CRY.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Arbor House, (1986) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The fitfh novel, sixth book, by this award-winning writer. A "coming-of-age story about Jack, a shiftless young man in a very odd family," set in the small town of Far Cry in the 1950s. SIGNED on the title page. 315 pp . ISBN: 0-877958157.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 78829
    View cart More details Price: $30.00
  • TRAIN. by Dexter, Pete.
    Dexter, Pete.
    TRAIN.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: Doubleday, (2003.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Selected as one of the best books of 2003 by the San Francisco Chronicle which said this about it: ' National Book Award- winner Dexter returns with his first novel in eight years in "Train," a dark, violent story set in '50s Los Angeles and tracing the life of a young black caddy who gets tangled up with one of his "totes," a police sergeant. Robert Stone, Nathanael West, even Joseph Conrad come to mind when reading this bleak, grimly funny, unexpectedly poignant and masterful book.' 280 pp,. ISBN: 0-385-505914.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.

    Book ID: 57188
    View cart More details Price: $16.50
  • BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION. by Fate, Robert.
    Fate, Robert.
    BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    Fort Collins, CO: Capital Crime Press, (2008). SIGNED first edition - Set in Texas and Oklahoma, this is the third novel in this hard-boiled 1950s thriller series, featuring poolshark-turned-PI Kristin Van Dijk (aka Baby Shark.) SIGNED on the title page. 287 pp. ISBN: 978-0979996023.

    Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 82584
    View cart More details Price: $24.50
  • BABY SHARK. by Fate, Robert (pseudonym of Robert F. Bealmear)
    Fate, Robert (pseudonym of Robert F. Bealmear)
    BABY SHARK.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    Fort Collins, CO: Capital Crime Press, (2006). SIGNED first edition - The first novel by this screenwriter, and the first in this hard-boiled 1950s thriller series, introducing 17 year old Kristin Van Dijk (aka Baby Shark) for whom revenge for the murder of her father and a brutal sexual assault by a motorcycle gang who left her for dead is the only alternative to a lifetime of hiding and fear . SIGNED on the title page. 287 pp. ISBN: 978-0979996023.

    Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 82586
    View cart More details Price: $24.50
  • ACE BOON COON: Tales of Elliot Caprice. by Gardner, Danny.
    Gardner, Danny.
    ACE BOON COON: Tales of Elliot Caprice.

    Edition: First printing.

    Beverly Hills, CA: Bronzeville Books, (2000) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The second book featuring Elliot Caprice, set in 1950s Chicago area. Caprice, a "former Chicago cop and World War II veteran, has returned to his rural childhood hometown of Southville, Illinois. to help his uncle with the family farm which is tottering on failure due to drought. Hoping for rain to bring in the string beans, Elliot takes a quick job to serve a summons in Chicago for a divorce case. His half-day job turns into weeks of murders, revelations of family secrets and old grudges, squabbles with the Irish mob," and more. One of the themes - the politics involved in how people were compensated for…

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    Beverly Hills, CA: Bronzeville Books, (2000) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The second book featuring Elliot Caprice, set in 1950s Chicago area. Caprice, a "former Chicago cop and World War II veteran, has returned to his rural childhood hometown of Southville, Illinois. to help his uncle with the family farm which is tottering on failure due to drought. Hoping for rain to bring in the string beans, Elliot takes a quick job to serve a summons in Chicago for a divorce case. His half-day job turns into weeks of murders, revelations of family secrets and old grudges, squabbles with the Irish mob," and more. One of the themes - the politics involved in how people were compensated for their land when it was acquired for the University of IllinoisÕ Chicago Campus - is still relevant today, and an area where there is growing awareness of the extent of past injustices and especially how it affected Black families for generations to come. Gardner has commented that he hopes writing about wrongs can help right some wrongs. INSCRIBED on the title page. 284 pp. ISBN: 97-1952427060.

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    Condition: Fine in a fine dust jacket (as new.) Uncommon in the hardcover edition, and especially so signed by the author.

    Book ID: 88708
    View cart More details Price: $75.00
  • KEWPIE DOLL. by Hanrahan, Barbara.
    Hanrahan, Barbara.
    KEWPIE DOLL.

    Edition: 1st trade paperback printing.

    London: Chatto & Windus / Hogarth Press (1984). A novel which tells of one girl's childhood and adolescence in 1950s Australia. 156 pp. Cover art by the author/artist. ISBN: 0-701127597.

    Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 85901
    View cart More details Price: $15.00
  • THE OUTCAST. by Jones, Sadie.
    Jones, Sadie.
    THE OUTCAST.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Harper Collins, (2008). First edition - The author's debut novel, a "devastating portrait of 1950s hypocrisy and unexpected love." 347 pp.

    Condition: Very near fine in illustrated wrappers (crease to upper corner of front cover, but appears unread).

    Book ID: 59624
    View cart More details Price: $17.50
  • TELEX FROM CUBA. by Kushner, Rachel.
    Kushner, Rachel.
    TELEX FROM CUBA.

    Edition: 3rd printing.

    New York: Scribner, (2008.) dj. SIGNED hardcover - Her first novel, set in the American community in Cuba - the 300,000 acres of United Fruit Company sugarcane - in the years leading up to Castro's revolution. SIGNED on the title page. Nominated for the National Book Award. 322 pp. ISBN: 141656103x.

    Condition: Near fine in a fine dust jacket (toning to edges of textblock).

    Book ID: 74753
    View cart More details Price: $40.00
  • TELEX FROM CUBA. by Kushner, Rachel.
    Kushner, Rachel.
    TELEX FROM CUBA.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Scribner, (2008.). First edition - Her first novel, set in the American community in Cuba - the 300,000 acres of United Fruit Company sugarcane - in the years leading up to Castro's revolution. Nominated for the National Book Award. 322 pp.

    Condition: Very good in illustrated wrappers (lower corner of back corner torn off, some toning to edges of textblock) An uncommon advance issue. .

    Book ID: 73189
    View cart More details Price: $25.00
  • THE ORCHARD ON FIRE. by Mackay, Shena.
    Mackay, Shena.
    THE ORCHARD ON FIRE.

    Edition: First edition, as stated

    Wakefield, Rhode Island & London: Moyer Bell, (1996.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Set in a small English village in the 1950s, this is the story of 8 year old April Harlency's coming of age, despite encountering prejudice, gossip and child abuse. The third novel by this New Zealand writer, 215 pp. ISBN: 155921-175X.

    Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket (appears unread.)

    Book ID: 59497
    View cart More details Price: $20.00
  • GLORIA. by Maillard, Keith.
    Maillard, Keith.
    GLORIA.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: SOHO Press, (1999). First edition - Set in the 1950s. this is the story of a girl who had it all - except what she wanted. She is "a prom queen, a popular sorority girl-class of '57. Her father is vice president of a steel company and her mother is a society matron. Gloria is attractive, popular, and pinned-engaged to be engaged. So why is she so dissatisfied?" Although the author is from West Virginia, he was teaching in British Columbia when this was published and it was short-listed for the Governor General's Award. 643 pp.

    Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 66834
    View cart More details Price: $18.00
  • HER. by Muhanji, Cherry.
    Muhanji, Cherry.
    HER.

    Edition: Original edition, the trade paperback issue.

    San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, (1990). Novel set in Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s, where many Black men and women have come north to work the line at the Ford Motor plant. This focuses on the many and varied relationships between these Black women, their struggles and how the support each other. 179 pp plus a 2 pp glossary. ISBN: 1-879960028.

    Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 83389
    View cart More details Price: $14.50
  • ON SWIFT HORSES. by Pufahl, Shannon.
    Pufahl, Shannon.
    ON SWIFT HORSES.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Riverhead Books, 2019. SIGNED first edition - The author's very highly praised first book, set mostly in San Diego in the 1950s. Among the comments praising it - "It is suffused with hazard and touched by grace, furnished with the longevity of a postwar classic and the immediacy of the present tense. It is, simply put, a masterpiece. (Anthony Marra) and "On Swift Horses is a marvel, a beautifully written novel that traces its raw, guarded characters from California to Las Vegas to Mexico with grace and inevitability. Shannon Pufahls mid-century West is dead-on right, as recognizable as a box of old photos and yet completely original in voice and scope." (Jess Walter). SIGNED on the title page. 306 pp.

    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 81828
    View cart More details Price: $35.00
  • Rayner, Richard.
    THE DEVIL'S WIND.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Harper Collins, (2005.) dj. First edition - A novel set in 1950s Las Vegas and Hollywood - the title refers, in part, to the wind after the testing of an atomic bomb - a spectacle that was considered entertainment in that era. 324 pp.

    Condition: Very good in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 72758
    View cart More details Price: $18.50
  • THE MULLIGANS OF MT. JEFFERSON. by Reid, Don.
    Reid, Don.
    THE MULLIGANS OF MT. JEFFERSON.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    Colorado Springs: David C Cook, (2012). SIGNED first edition - A novel by a member of country musics Grammy award-winning Statler Brothers - the story of three boys growing up together in a small Virginia town. "Now its 1959, and police lieutenant Buddy receives an early-morning phone call: his friend Harlan, a store owner, has been shot in a break-in. Cal, now a preacher, meets Buddy at the hospital, and together, as professionals and as friends, they begin to unravel what might have happened to Harlan." SIGNED by author on the half title page. 326 pp plus a reading guide and an interview with the author. ISBN: 978-1434764942.

    Condition: Very near fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 86201
    View cart More details Price: $23.50
  • 5 GOOD BOYS. by Rutman, Leo.
    Rutman, Leo.
    5 GOOD BOYS.

    Edition: First printing.

    New York: The Viking Press, (1982) dj. Hardcover first edition - The first novel by this New York playwright and author, based on a point-shaving scandal from the 1950s, a compassionate story of five street-smart kids from the ghetto who play for a city college basketball team, driven by their coach to become champions. Even though they faced greatness they lacked the wisdom to resist the "easy money" that came from winning, but not by too much - A book which is an indictment of the greed behind sports, and sees the boys as victims as much as they are guilty themselves. 280 pp. ISBN: 0-670317047.

    Condition: Very good in very good dust jacket (corners slightly bumped, some edgewear to dj, short tear at foot of spine)

    Book ID: 88177
    View cart More details Price: $19.50
  • THE KING OF BILLY GOAT HILL. by Stanleigh, Mark.
    Stanleigh, Mark.
    THE KING OF BILLY GOAT HILL.

    Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.

    Sunriver, Oregon: Fallbrook Publishing Group, (1996). SIGNED first edition - Author's first novel. "Life is a plunge through the dark. Only a few have the courage to survive." The story opens in 1958 in a post-war Los Angeles torn by corruption and social upheaveal, when a school yard dare sends 8 year old Wade Parker and his younger brother on a late night adventure that will change their lives. INSCRIBED on the half title page and dated in 1997. ISBN: 0-965288803.

    Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 86963
    View cart More details Price: $16.50
  • THE SUFFOCATING NIGHT. by Taylor, Andrew.
    Taylor, Andrew.
    THE SUFFOCATING NIGHT.

    Edition: First printing.

    London: Hodder & Stoughton, (1998) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - His fourth mystery set in Lydmouth and featuring Detective Inspector Richard Thornhill and reporter Jill Francis, both outsiders in the village. Set against the backdrop of the Korean War and the fears of Communism, this opens with a group of squatters who have taken over a disused military base from World War II. SIGNED on the title page. 371 pp. ISBN: 0-340695978.

    Condition: Very near fine in a fine dustjacket (usual toning to the pages).

    Book ID: 72671
    View cart More details Price: $45.00
  • NIGHT LIFE. by Taylor, David C.
    Taylor, David C.
    NIGHT LIFE.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Forge / TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (2015). SIGNED first edition - Historical mystery introducing New York cop Michael Cassidy - who has an unusual background for a cop: his father, an Eastern Europe refugee, is a successful Broadway producer, and his godfather is a Mafia boss. Set in New York City in 1954, when "the Cold War is heating up. Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for Communists in America. The newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who will be the primary US intelligence agency. And the bodies of murdered young men are turning up in the city." SIGNED on the title page and dated in the…

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    New York: Forge / TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (2015). SIGNED first edition - Historical mystery introducing New York cop Michael Cassidy - who has an unusual background for a cop: his father, an Eastern Europe refugee, is a successful Broadway producer, and his godfather is a Mafia boss. Set in New York City in 1954, when "the Cold War is heating up. Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for Communists in America. The newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who will be the primary US intelligence agency. And the bodies of murdered young men are turning up in the city." SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. Nominated for the Edgar Award and winner of the 2016 Nero Wolfe Award for Best American Mystery. 332 pp.

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    Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.

    Book ID: 82113
    View cart More details Price: $35.00
  • NIGHT WORK. by Taylor, David C.
    Taylor, David C.
    NIGHT WORK.

    Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )

    New York: Forge / TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (2016). SIGNED first edition - Second in this award-winning series of historical thrillers featuring New York City cop Michael Cassidy. He "escorts a prisoner accused of murder to Havana on the cusp of Fidel Castro's successful revolution against the Batista dictatorship. After delivering the man to La Caba–a prison and rescuing Dylan McCue, a Russian KGB agent and his now-married former lover, from her scheduled execution, Cassidy returns to New York and retreats into the comforts of alcohol and sex." But when Castro arrives in New York three months later, he is assigned to his protective detail - and Castro has many enemies. SIGNED on the title page and dated…

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    New York: Forge / TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (2016). SIGNED first edition - Second in this award-winning series of historical thrillers featuring New York City cop Michael Cassidy. He "escorts a prisoner accused of murder to Havana on the cusp of Fidel Castro's successful revolution against the Batista dictatorship. After delivering the man to La Caba–a prison and rescuing Dylan McCue, a Russian KGB agent and his now-married former lover, from her scheduled execution, Cassidy returns to New York and retreats into the comforts of alcohol and sex." But when Castro arrives in New York three months later, he is assigned to his protective detail - and Castro has many enemies. SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. Publisher's promotional flyer laid in. 318 pp.

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    Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (lower corners very slightly bumped).

    Book ID: 82114
    View cart More details Price: $35.00