Search Results: Authors starting with F from ReadInk

New York: Sears Publishing Company, Inc.. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1930). First Edition. Hardcover. [modest shelfwear, light age-toning to edges of text block, vintage price sticker (from San Francisco department store The White House) on rear pastedown; jacket has a bit of paper loss at most corners, a few other random tiny chips and small tears]. Novel about a "little Irish beauty" who is "too innocent to know what all these men want from her," but manages to string a bunch of them along "through the bewildering whirl of modern high society, in night clubs and cocktail parties, threading her way amongst the pitfalls in the houses of the fastest sets." (The jacket blurb, with its reference to "these days of flaming youth," strongly suggests that the Twenties were still Roaring in the author's (or at least publisher's) mind, even though the book was published about a year after the stock market crash.) This was the fifth of seven… Read More

Garden City NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.. Near Fine in Very Good dj. 1958. First Edition. Hardcover. [small star stamped on ffep, else a flawless copy; DJ soiled, chipped/dog-eared at spine extremities, spine a bit discolored]. Novel about a big-time TV star, the enormously popular host of a daytime network talk/variety show, who had once been an ambitious young writer. Flashback chapters show how he went wrong. .

Los Angeles: Wilshire House. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (c.1988). First Edition. Hardcover. 1557130434 . [nice copy, with just a slight bump to the bottom rear corner; faint wear to jacket at a couple of corners]. "...a moral fable set in a slyly portrayed amoral world, peopled with the archetypes beloved in Hollywood. This wicket romp through the machinations of ambition is set in a skewed Los Angeles circa 1963. Judd Haber, the agent's agent, a far-from-perfect Everyman, is estranged from his past (his name used to be Jacob Haber), from his wife and his family. His adopted son is a porn star, his daughter is seeing a man he's never met, and his wife is drifting into a tepid affair with her university extension professor." The author was a longtime story editor at MGM and other studios, and served at various times as assistant to Dore Schary and Howard Hughes. .

New York: Lincoln MacVeagh/The Dial Press. Good. 1928. First Edition. Hardcover. NOISBN . (no dust jacket) [front hinge a little weak, otherwise a decent moderately worn reading copy; board slightly exposed along bottom edge of front cover, gilt spine lettering a little rubbed but still readable, faint bookseller's rubber-stamped name on front pastedown (Bertrand Smith's Book Store, Long Beach, Calif.)]. First-person narrative of a girl growing to adulthood in Victorian and Edwardian England. Much of the latter half of the book is set in India, where the protagonist goes to visit a longtime friend, who is subsequently accused of murdering her abusive husband and put on trial; when she's acquitted the two women return to England and get involved in the suffrage movement. The author, described in a contemporary news account as "a collateral descendant of George Eliot," was a well-known actress on the London stage, who also appeared in America under the name… Read More

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. (c.1973). First Edition. Hardcover. NOISBN . [no significant wear to book, but some fading to cloth at spine and around edges of covers (apparently the gray-background jacket didn't keep out the sun); jacket has a one-inch closed tear and associated minor creasing at bottom of front panel, a bit of wear along top edge and rubbing and tiny tears at several upper corners and at top of spine]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the half-title page. Historical thriller centering around the assassinations of the King and Queen of Serbia in 1903. Signed books by this Hungarian-born author are exceedingly uncommon; the wife of playwright and screenwriter Ladislaus (aka Leslie) Bush-Fekete, she was also known by her married name, Maria Bush-Fekete. The inscription in this book, to screenwriter Daniel Taradash and his wife, is signed "Marika." Signed by Author .

New York: Simon and Schuster. Near Fine in Fine dj. (c.1997). First Edition. Hardcover. [covers bowed slightly outward, top front corner bumped]. A mystery novel set in 1950's Hollywood, in which "Carson Drury" (read Orson Welles) attempts to buy back the rights to his failed second film, " The Imperial Albertsons," in order to re-shoot the original ending and restore his tarnished reputation. .

New York: Robin Wilder and Company. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1932). First Edition. Hardcover. [light wear to extremities, pages somewhat age-toned; jacket somewhat browned and slightly mottled along spine, a bit of paper loss at top of spine and upper corners, a couple of tiny tears at base of spine]. The author's first (and apparently only) novel, a "desert story" set in the American Southwest. There's not much geographical specificity, and although some early action in the book takes place in Needles, California, the presence of a number of Navajo characters in the book is more suggestive of an Arizona or New Mexico locale. (There is constant reference throughout the book to "the valley," which is never named, but which is apparently not Death Valley.) The jacket blurb states that the author "lives in Gardner, Massachusetts, where this novel was written. Mrs. Fairbanks is the author of many published stories, but this is her first novel which,… Read More

New York: Exposition Press. Good in Good dj. (c.1956). First Edition. Hardcover. NOISBN . [considerable shelfwear to bottom edge, fading to cloth at top edge; jacket is edgeworn, with a tiny chip at the top front hinge, and had apparently gotten wet along the spine at some time, with some resulting dampstaining along the left edge of the front panel (obscured a bit by the jacket design) and some internal staining at and adjacent to the spine]. Obscure vanity-press novel, "narrated against the background of the rebellion of Riffian tribesmen in Spanish Morocco," which "captures the suspense and adventure of colonial warfare and the exotic atmosphere in Morocco." The British-born author was a retired Methodist minister, who (per the jacket blurb) held "the honor of having had four poems accepted in Poets of America (1940-41)." And really, seriously: how many Methodist ministers can make that claim? OCLC records only five copies, all in American libraries. .

Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Fine in Near Fine dj. (c.1994). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice clean as-new copy, with no discernible wear to book and just a touch of scuffing to the rear panel of the dust jacket]. (B&W photographs) "In this spirited memoir, [the author] tells of a life lived on the edge, and offers a unique woman's look inside the male-dominated rock 'n' roll world. She reveals the shattering contradictions of life as a 'star,' first as the pop confection she was initially packaged as, and later as the hard-edged artist who coauthored 'Sister Morphine' and shocked the world with 'Broken English.' She describes life with Mick Jagger in all its early bliss and later complexity, from making love during the breaks in recording 'Between the Buttons,' through the horrors of the Redlands drug bust and her subsequent infamy as the 'girl in the fur rug,' and down to the final parting as her attachment to drugs… Read More

New York: The McCall Publishing Company. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1970). First Edition. Hardcover. 0841500479 . [slight bump/crack to upper front corner, otherwise a clean tight book with no significant wear; jacket shows some uneven fading to both front and rear panels (not too pronounced), small tear at upper right corner of front panel]. Novel set in Oklahoma in the early 1900s, about a Kiowa Indian who passes for white: "he becomes Joe Standing and cynically joins the conniving whites -- hoping to beat them at their own game." .

New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 1992. First Edition. Hardcover. 0385419872 . [beautiful copy, the slightest trace of dust-soiling to top edge, otherwise appears unread; jacket bright and attractive, with only very slight wrinkling at spine ends]. "Oriana Fallaci's great achievement, a twentieth-century epic about the catastrophic civil war in Lebanon." Jacket blurb quotes critical comparisons with Hemingway and Malraux. (Originally published in Italy in 1990; the translation is by Fallaci herself, "from a translation by James Marcus.") .

Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Very Good in Very Good dj. 1950. 2nd printing. Hardcover. (price-clipped) [slight bumping to all corners, very slight fraying to a couple, otherwise a nice clean copy with only minor shelfwear; the jacket has several old internal tape repairs along the top and bottom edges, shallow chipping and some wrinkling at both ends of spine, a few tiny tears and associated creasing along both top and bottom edges]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the front endpaper: "To Henny / with affectionate / regards / Carlos Fallon." Uncommon memoir by a man who was a popular and well-known lecturer in his day, but who has subsequently faded into near-total obscurity. The author was born in Colombia, to a prominent family with Irish and Castilian roots; his early childhood was spent in Bogotá, but as an adolescent and teenager he lived in New Orleans, where his father was the Colombian consul. Returning to Colombia as an adult, he served for ten… Read More

Tenerife, Canary Islands: Universidad de La Laguna. Near Fine. 1993. (No. 3-4). Softcover. [short diagonal creases at bottom corners of both covers, slight dog-earing along top edge of front cover, otherwise a nice clean copy with no significant wear]. Spanish-language critical/historical film journal, published under the auspices of the Universidad de La Laguna, in the Canary Islands. This issue focuses on horror and fantastic filmsl, and includes: interviews with Miquel Barcelo, Juan Mariné, and Juan Luis Goas; an article on horror/fantasy films shot or set in the Canary Islands; a "Dossier" of nine articles on various aspects of fantasy in films; essays on Val Lewton's RKO horror films, the Hammer horror films, and Troma Films; articles on Dracula and Frankenstein films; short pieces on 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, ALIEN, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL and other films; and a piece by Ray Harryhausen, "El simulacro de la vida." All text is… Read More

Boulder CO: The Aspen Press. Near Fine in Fine dj. 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. [nice clean book with no discernible wear, but with a previous owner's name plus date & place of purchase written in ink at the top of the front endpaper; the jacket is flawless]. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet Tarzan in this imaginative pastiche, set during World War I. When the duo undertake a perilous mission to British East Africa to recover a deadly secret formula that's been stolen from the Allies, and are captured by and then escape from the Germans, and then get lost, it's Lord Greystoke who comes to their rescue. .

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1955). First Edition. Hardcover. NOISBN . (price-clipped) [minor wear evident at spine ends, a couple of tiny dents/nicks in bottom edges of covers; jacket has a couple of tiny chips and additional shallow chipping along top edge, small tears and slight paper loss at several corners, some wear along spine joints]. Novel set during the 1920s, with locations ranging from Florida to Minnesota, about a family man (wife and six children) who takes up cross-border bootlegging to make ends meet. The author's first and apparently only published book, although she seems to have later enjoyed a bit of a local reputation as a playwright in Tucson, Arizona; a scholarship in her name was established posthumously at the University of Arizona School of Education. (The jacket bio claims that she'd spent four years in Hollywood, "first as a writers' secretary and then as a continuity writer," although I've found… Read More

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. Very Good+ in Good dj. 1937. First Edition. Hardcover. [book is lightly shelfworn, spine slightly turned, a bit of soiling to edges of text block; jacket is worn at spine and along edges, spine a bit faded, a couple of small tears and associated short creasing along bottom edge, some random staining on front panel]. Novel that presents "a searching commentary on modern divorce," by way of an expose of the alimony racket. The plot involves a woman who gratuitiously divorces her husband and demands a large alimony settlement -- but even that's not good enough for her, OH no: even though she herself is well-off, she "bitterly resents [her ex's] second marriage and when [his] business fails she revenges herself by insisting that he continue to pay the exorbitant alimony." The author, the daughter of Kansas editor/novelist Edgar W. Howe, scored a big hit with her autobiographical first novel, "Rebellion" (1927). In… Read More

Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press. Very Good+. 1946. (Vol. I, No. 3). Journal. NOISBN . [nice copy, binding fully intact, some uneven fading to rear cover]. Early issue of the one of the earlier American academic film journals, "published under the joint sponsorship of the University of California and the Hollywood Writers Mobilization," the latter represented on the editorial board by John Howard Lawson. Feature articles in this issue: "Early Film Production in England" by Georges Sadoul; "Acting and Behaving" by Alexander Knox; "They Stopped at Nothing" by John Elliot Williams (about the history and practice of movie advertising); "Advanced Training for Film Workers: Russia" by Jay Leyda; and "Advanced Training for Film Workers: France" by Charles Boyer. (Listed as members of the Motion Picture Advisory Committee are quite a few filmmakers of left/progressive orientation (some of them future blacklistees),… Read More

Garden City NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. [beautiful copy, the tiniest bump/nick to cloth at rear bottom corner of spine; jacket has the teensiest trace of soiling to the front panel, but essentially appears almost brand-new]. (A Double D Western) Series "It was an ironic twist of fate that put the life of Walsh Camden in Del Kittridge's hands. Camden had been a good friend of Del's father until a bitter quarrel turned friendship to hate. Everyone in the community took sides in the feud that followed, and the elder Kittridge had been murdered, his ranch burned, and his son run out of town. Now a Mexican bandit was holding Camden for ransom, and only Del knew the way to the outlaw's camp. Should he deliver the ransom -- and save the man he suspected of killing his father and destroying his birthright?" .

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. 1924. 3rd printing. Hardcover. NOISBN . [bottom corners lightly bumped, a bit of soiling and minor discoloration to top page edges, otherwise a solid clean copy, with a vintage price-sticker from the famous San Francisco deparment story City of Paris on the rear pastedown; jacket has a 1-1/2" tear at the top front hinge with some minor paper loss, minor edgewear, light soiling]. Historical adventure novel, set in the 17th century, about "a dashing and famous French privateer, who under the evil guidance of a beautiful and reckless woman, turned pirate and came to disaster. [This] is no milk-and-water chronicle. It is warm with tropic suns and salt with blown sea-spray, red with battle and bloodshed, alive with fierce love and fiercer hate." Originally published in France as "Thomas l'Agnelet" in 1911, this being the "authorized translation." (The jacket blurb describes the book as… Read More

New York: The Blue Heron Press, Inc.. Very Good. (c.1954). First Edition. Hardcover. (quarter black cloth over patterned paper-covered boards; no dust jacket) [light wear to book at extremities, spine slightly turned, spine cloth slightly faded, some uneven browning to front cover; ownership signature at upper left corner of front pastedown]. SIGNED by the author (no inscription) on the front endpaper, where "#593" is also written. (Was this a numbered/limited edition? It's not specified anywhere within the book itself.) Drama, set in Washington DC in 1948, dealing with the effects of the anti-Communist witch hunts on a young government employee, his wife, and their African-American maid. The author details, in his Introduction, how the play, originally written in 1947, was impossible to produce in the U.S. due to its political content and the author's own left-wing politics, and was staged first in Australia and later in Prague and other European cities. (He… Read More