- Keyword = satire
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KANGAROO.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, (1986). Hardcover first edition - Russian author's first novel to appear in English - one which takes the term "kangaroo trial" to extremes - set in 1949, this is a savage satire confronting the hypocrisy and cruelty of the Stalinist regime. Translated by Tamara Glenny. 278 pp. ISBN: 0-374180687.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 72932More details Price: $20.00 -
THE INFORMATION.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
New York: Harmony, (1995.). SIGNED first edition - Critically aclaimed and savagely satiric tale of a failed novelist, who wants to hurt his best friend because he is successful in all the things Richard is failing at. Ironically, considering the theme of the book, Amis caused a storm of controversy when he demanded a large advance for this novel. SIGNED on the title page. 386 pp.
Condition: Fine in glossy wrappers.
Book ID: 80773More details Price: $35.00 -
THE FAITHFUL NARRATIVE OF A PASTOR'S DISAPPEARANCE.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2001). SIGNED first edition - The author's second book, a satire of adultery, real estate, religion and intrigue in suburban Boston. SIGNED on the title page. 277 pp.
Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 81339More details Price: $25.00 -
THE FAITHFUL NARRATIVE OF A PASTOR'S DISAPPEARANCE.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2001) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's second book, a satire of adultery, real estate, religion and intrigue in suburban Boston. SIGNED on the title page. 277 pp. ISBN: 0-374152144.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 84171More details Price: $30.00 -
AN UNDERACHIEVER'S DIARY.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Dial Press, (1998) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's first book, a novella "grounded in a very slim conceit. Of two brothers born into a trendy Cambridge, Massachusetts, household, one twin is set for success, the other for chronic failure. Although ill-fated William actually beat Clive into the world by seven minutes, it's straight downhill from there." Author Thomas Mallon comments that "His witty, sorrowful hero speaks in a voice that snares the listener as fully as Salinger's Seymour Glass once did. An Underachiever's Diary - the cleverest literary monologue in a long while - is in fact an extremely precocious debut." SIGNED on the title page. 147 pp. ISBN: 0-385319983.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 80676More details Price: $25.00 -
THE PROPHETEERS.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
New York: Harper & Row, (1987). First edition - The author's fourth book - "a mock-epic fantasy and satire of entrepreneurial capitalism and popular culture" pitting Howard Johnson against Walt Disney, fighting over the same piece of land in Orlando, Florida, as the site for their versions of the American dream -land owned by Marjorie Post Merriweather, the cereal heiress. 308 pp.
Condition: Very near fine in illustrated wrappers (some creasing to the spine, usual toning to pages)
Book ID: 86503More details Price: $17.50 -
THE BUSINESS.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. First edition - Kate Telman is a 3rd level senior executive officer in The Business, a powerful and massively discreet transglobal organisation, predating the Christian Church, with a base in the Antarctica, fortified headquarters in Switzerland, and plans to buy its own country. 393 pp
Condition: Fine in black glossy illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 75617More details Price: $21.50 -
POLITICAL SUICIDE
Edition: First printing.
London: Collins, (1986) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A stand-alone novel by this British master of crime fiction. A member of Parliament has supposedly committed suicide by throwing himself into the Thames. Or has he? The police are not sure, so Superintendent Sutcliffe, on the verge of retirement, uses his accumulated leave to check into it. A satirical look at British politics and the furor engendered when there is a by-election to fill an unexpectedly vacant seat. 181 pp. ISBN: 0-00231441x.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 86806More details Price: $30.00 -
POLITICAL SUICIDE
Edition: First US edition.
New York: Scribners, (1986.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A standalone novel by this British master of crime fiction. A member of Parliament has supposedly committed suicide by throwing himself into the Thames. Or has he? The police are not sure, so Superintendent Sutcliffe, on the verge of retirement, uses his accumulated leave to check into it. A satirical look at British politics and the furor engendered when there is a by-election to fill an unexpectedly vacant seat. 218 pp. ISBN: 0-68418625X.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 3507More details Price: $17.50 -
THE WHITE BOY SHUFFLE.
Edition: Trade paperback.
New York: Picador, (1997). First novel by this African American poet - a funny and moving satire on issues of race, life in Los Angeles, and the coming of age story of Gunnar Kaufman, who is not typical in any way. Praise from such writers as Walter Mosley, Clarence Major and Jessica Hagedorn. 225 pp. ISBN: 0-312-28019X.
Condition: Good only (notes inside front cover and on last page, usual toning to the pages)
Book ID: 65781More details Price: $11.50 -
DODO: Detail of the Day.
Edition: Early reprint.
Chicago: Conkey and Co., nd. (ca 1910). Hardcover - Benson's first novel, a satirical look at society. 192 pp.
Condition: Good only in tan cloth with red and black illustration and lettering (lettering rubbed on spine, hinges cracking, rather severe toning to the pages, but still an uncommon and relatively early reprint.)
Book ID: 58390More details Price: $25.00 -
L'AFFAIRE JONES.
Edition: Book club edition.
New York: The Literary Guild, (1933) dj. Hardcover - A humorous novel about a meek American who goes to France and becomes part of an international incident. It begins "For three days I have been a political prisoner in the Sante Prison. All Paris is in uproar. The newspapers denounce me . . . But in spite of everything I cling tenaciously to two facts: I am Henry Jones from Windfall, Georgia, and that I came to France to write a cook book. A two-color frontispiece drawing by the cartoonist Otto Soglow, and three-color cartoon illustrations on the endpapers. 257 pp.
Condition: Near fine in blue cloth boards with a little illustration blocked in gilt, with a beige cloth spine with gilt lettering, top edge tinted red in a very good dust jacket with the usual stylized art deco design used by the Literary Guild (previous owner's name, a few small chips to the upper edge of the dj)
Book ID: 86381More details Price: $21.50 -
THE GAY DESERTERS.
Edition: First American edition.
New York: Creative Age Press (1945). Hardcover first edition - A later satirical novel by this British Army officer, author and journalist who spent 7 years living in the Sahara Desert among the Arabs in the 1920s and who was considered one of the best British writers on the Sahara. This novel was reportedly inspired by his flight from the German army after they occupied France in World War II. 296 pp.
Condition: Fair condition only in light gray cloth with gold lettering - slight spine slant, some rubbing and wear to the covers, discoloration to edges of textblock, no dust jacket.
Book ID: 85294More details Price: $14.50 -
STEPPING WESTWARD.
Edition: First US printing.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's 2nd novel (fifth book), a satire on academia, the liberal arts and those who teach writing, published as Bradbury himself was finishing a year teaching in the United States. In this fictional version, a provincial British writer, barely eking out a livelihood, is offered the appointment of Creative Literary Fellow at Benedict Arnold University in the American heartland. 390 pp.
Condition: Near fine in orange cloth in a fair only dust jacket with creasing, rubbing, chip to lower corner.
Book ID: 85431More details Price: $19.50 -
CUTS.
Edition: First US printing.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 89305More details Price: $17.50 -
ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS EVERYTHING.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2008. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's first novel, described as a "withering Silicon Valley satire." SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. 401 pp. ISBN: 9780385524018.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket. (remainder dot.)
Book ID: 53044More details Price: $28.50 -
ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS EVERYTHING.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2008. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's first novel, described as a "withering Silicon Valley satire." SIGNED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. 401 pp. ISBN: 978-0385524018.
Condition: Near fine in a fine dust jacket (an unread copy, but a few spots to the outer edge of the text block.)
Book ID: 48172More details Price: $30.00 -
BOOMSDAY.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Twelve/ Warner, (2007). Hardcover first edition - A satirical suggestion for solving the problems of social security and more by this author who has been described as "the quintessential political novelist of his time" (according to Fortune magazine) winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and as "one of the funniest writers in the English language." (Tom Wolfe). A popular blogger proposes that the government provide incentives for the Baby Boomers - everyone over 75 - to commit suicide. 318 pp. ISBN: 978-0446579810.
Condition: Very near fine in glossy illustrated boards with cutout on front cover, no dust jacket as issued. (light toning to pages)
Book ID: 84694More details Price: $18.00 -
WENDAL, HIS CAT AND THE PROGRESS OF MAN.
Edition: 2nd printing.
Atlanta: Longstreet Press, (1994) dj. Hardcover - A fable about the modern condition told in just a few words, and simple drawings. Small square format.100 pp. ISBN: 1563521288.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 66835More details Price: $12.50 -
SWEETNESS #9.
Edition: 3rd printing.
New York & Boston: Little Brown, (2014) dj. Hardcover - The author's first novel, the story of a chemist working in the secretive food industry where flavors are developed, who notices disturbing side effects in the animals used to test one sweetener, but fails to blow the whistle - only to see the same side effects in his family years later. "The energetic mixture of laughter and revulsion, outrage and dismay, fact and fiction, skewer a food industry that provides neither food nor sustenance and damages us in ways we are just beginning to fathom." (Library Journal) 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0316278751.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket (toning to edges of textblock).
Book ID: 79450More details Price: $14.50 -
THE GODS, THE LITTLE GUYS AND THE POLICE.
Edition: First US printing.
Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket. (small tears to bottom edge of dj, creasing to front flap)
Book ID: 89832More details Price: $24.50 -
DODGE ROSE.
Edition: First printing.
Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 88974More details Price: $24.50 -
THE WORD OF GOD: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten.
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback, issued simultaneously with a hardcover.
Condition: Fine (a new copy) in glossy illustrated wrappers (promotiional postcard with a photograph of Disch laid in.
Book ID: 45448More details Price: $15.00 -
MAIDEN VOYAGE.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Dutton, (1950.) dj. Hardcover first edition - The 3rd humorous novel written under this pseudonym ("of a respectable professor of pharmacology and a cat-fancier") - the chronicles of a bumbling professor to a post-war England. 320 pp.
Condition: Very near fine in a near fine dustjacket. Rather uncommon in this condition.
Book ID: 33992More details Price: $20.00 -
DE ALFONCE TENNIS: The Superlative Game of Eccentric Champions Its History, Accoutrements, Rules, Conduct and Regimen.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: Dutton / Seymour Lawrence, (1984.) dj. Hardcover first edition - "Tells the extraordinary story of the Thirteen who vanished when the luxury motor-yacht Hiyathere disappeared off Long Island on the eve of Pearl Harbor; of the long, lonely battle of the 'Fourteenth', Horatio Josiah De Alfonce Adams IV, to save the game now known as De Alfonce Tennis for posterity." Glossary, 219 pp. Illustrated endpapers. ISBN: 0-525-243240.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 53891More details Price: $15.00 -
THE LONG NAKED DESCENT INTO BOSTON.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Viking, (1977) dj. Hardcover first edition - His seventh and last published novel, a "farcical look at the events leading up to the Revolutionary War as experienced by an oddball group of journalists working for the New Boston Times newspaper. The book pokes fun at both British and American icons and institutions, past and present, and was intended by Eastlake to have been released in time for the Bicentennial, though Viking did not publish it until the following year." (thefreelibrary) 291 pp. ISBN: 0-670438529.
Condition: Very good in very good dust jacket (very good in a very good dust jacket - some bleeding from the red cloth boards to the interior of the dj)
Book ID: 89660More details Price: $18.50 -
SKIRT AND THE FIDDLE.
Edition: 1st trade paperback printing.
New York: Grove Press, (2002). The author's second novel - a love story filled with humor featuring a violinist embittered by a truly horrific gig. . Kirkus Review called it a novel of "bite and raging intellect . . from a mean and lean fabulist." 199 pp. ISBN: 0-802140424.
Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 85805More details Price: $14.50 -
THE FLOATING ISLAND: A Tale of Washington.
Edition: First printing.
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1985. dj. Hardcover first edition - A satirical novel about government bureaucracy, involving a "treacherous journalist, a bumptiously brilliant grant seeker, representatives from the mysterious Temple of Ray, and the hapless organizers of a presidential campaign who interfere with the back stabbing and status-seeking antics at Washington's Division of Evaluation, Training, and Morale." Annie Dillard called this "wonderfully, howlingly funny.. . a tour de force that sends up not only Washington politics but all contemporary culture." 286 pp. ISBN: 0-395-377021.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 21680More details Price: $21.50 -
THE FLOATING ISLAND: A Tale of Washington.
Edition: First printing.
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1985. dj. Hardcover first edition - A satirical novel about government bureaucracy, involving a "treacherous journalist, a bumptiously brilliant grant seeker, representatives from the mysterious Temple of Ray, and the hapless organizers of a presidential campaign who interfere with the back stabbing and status-seeking antics at Washington's Division of Evaluation, Training, and Morale." Annie Dillard called this "wonderfully, howlingly funny.. . a tour de force that sends up not only Washington politics but all contemporary culture." 286 pp. ISBN: 0-395-377021.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 86352More details Price: $21.50 -
THE FLOATING ISLAND: A Tale of Washington.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1985. First edition - A satirical novel about government bureaucracy, involving a "treacherous journalist, a bumptiously brilliant grant seeker, representatives from the mysterious Temple of Ray, and the hapless organizers of a presidential campaign who interfere with the back stabbing and status-seeking antics at Washington's Division of Evaluation, Training, and Morale." Annie Dillard called this "wonderfully, howlingly funny.. . a tour de force that sends up not only Washington politics but all contemporary culture." 286 pp.
Condition: Near fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 86353More details Price: $16.50