Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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Thursday, June 19, 2008

UBC #25 The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

The Rum Diary
by Hunter S. Thompson
Simon & Schuster
c1998 Hardcover, 1st Edition/Printing

Everyone with a beard and/or rent under $300/month loves H.S. Thompson. He is a god in some circles. He is The Dude to all Lebowskis. This is his one novel [i think] and [so i've heard] it is not dissimilar to his legendary non-fiction. Thompson wraps you up in a blanket of pessimistic optimism and leaves you on the side of a highway, wet, and a bit gimpy. Read what William Kennedy described as "...the narrative of the wounded meritorious ego, and the indiopathic anger of the righteous outlaw..." ...Dude!

$25.00


please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Saturday, April 26, 2008

UBC #24 - Baseball Diamonds

Baseball Diamonds
Tales, Traces, Visions &Voodoo From A Native American Rite
by Kevine Kerrane & Richard Grossinger
Anchor Press / Doubleday
c1980 paperback

T.S. Eliot once said that April is the cruelest month. Sounds like T.S. didn't care much for baseball, eh? In every corner of the country (and even in some parts of the National Attic a.k.a. Canada) baseball fever is spreading like brush fires and body odor. in Baseball Diamonds, Kerrane has assembled an anthology of baseball writing from those you'd least expect. You get a few usual culprits in Kerouac and Updike -- both noted baseball fanatics. But Richard Hugo? Donald Hall? Bernadette Mayer? Philip Roth? All are baseball psychopaths, nut-bars, and humdingers. Be it in prose or poetics, baseball once again transcends its obvious borders. A great collection!

I couldn't find any images of this book online and since the scanner is back home, I decided to google search a couple classic baseball cards. first we have Gorman Thomas. He looks angry. He looks like he's swinging a stack of child support papers. He lead the league in DUI-RBI's in 1977 (not really). And Ross Grimsley. That is a sweet look. I saw one of those hats at the mall once. Its the one bald dudes buy to mask the fact that they're bald. Its a hat with a lot of hair attached. Usually in a mullet form. and sometimes these.


$6.50


please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Thursday, April 17, 2008

UBC #23 - Ralph Eugene Meatyard Photo Book

Ralph Eugene Meatyard
by Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Steidl/International Center of Photography
c2004 Hardcover / 1st Edition
w/ Intro by Guy Davenport

Meatyard's style: a marriage between a devil and a comic with impeccable timing. Each photo in this collection represents misfortune in its most fragmented, and sometimes illuminating form. There're folks lying unconscious. There're innocent kids in grotesque masks. There're dilapidated homes, rambling fields, post-industrial decay, and blurred tree branches. This is the stuff (and last names) that makes amateurish hacks like me drool with envy. HOORAY! MEATYARD!

you can view more of R.E. Meatyard's photos | here and here
while you're at it, feel free to post links to your flickr accounts in the comments
field. i'll start with mine


$75.00
[you read that correctly. if you think that exorbitant, check out what this puppy is going for on eBay! Yar! Show us some love!]


please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Sunday, April 13, 2008

UBC #22 - The Owl Papers!

The Owl Papers
by Jonathan Evan Maslow
w/ Drawings by Leonard Baskin
Dutton, INC c1983 Hardcover
1st Edition & Printing


Jonathan Evan Maslow really likes owls. Leonard Baskin really likes Maslow for really liking owls. Broken up into four sections, one each for the season, this book is the meeting of these two kindred spirits-- filled with the poetic voice of an avid owl admirer and the beautiful black and white drawings of the inimitable Leonard Baskin. Throughout much of this collection, Maslow is a man possessed. He hunts down the birds of wisdom and doom like an old english detective, with Baskin serving as his Watson. While flipping through the pages, I [its always about me in the end] hark back to the time an owl flew into our attic space, sending our cats into a blood-hungry rage. It eventually left out of sheer boredom, without me having to climb a ladder and give it the bum's rush. This book reminds me of that relief. Hooray for owls. Plus, Leonard Baskin, he's the guy from that ice cream chain, no? Baskin-Robbins? Robins? Owls?* Is this thing even on?

*It was either this, or a Who joke. I took the easy route, so sue me.


SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

UBC #21 Eros The Bittersweet by Anne Carson

Eros: The Bittersweet
by Anne Carson
Princeton University Press c1986 Paperback


Though I dig Anne Carson's poetry, my shameful lack of knowledge of ancient history and literature will not do this book justice. So I will just flip this book over and pick a quote from the back while I wait for my water to boil on the stove. Bernard Knox lovingly exudes: "This is an extraordinary book -- the book of a poet, a subtle critic, and a scholar. It is also a brilliant piece of writing: flawlessly phrased throughout, constantly surprising but never disappointing, and laced with a wit that is all the more effective because it is perfectly disciplined." Sounds great, Bernie. Also, here's a link to an Anne Carson poem. Or if perhaps you don't like that one, you might like this in its stead.


$15.00

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Sunday, April 6, 2008

UBC #20 The Penguin Dorothy Parker 1978 PB

The Penguin Dorothy Parker
by Dorothy Parker
Penguin Publishing c1978
UK Edition

So what if i'm only posting this because it happens to be one of my all-time favorite book covers? This illustration is by Michael Farrell. Perhaps the same Michael Farrell that starred on M*A*S*H? That's more of a rhetorical question. I tried doing a google search to no avail. I will just blatantly assume the two are one in the same. As an added bonus, whoever buys this book gets a free helicopter ride over the store where you can watch me spell out "GOODBYE" on the roof in used books! Oh, and Dorothy Parker is ok too, I guess. Sorry for the crummy scan.

[the helicopter ride will pretty much never happen, but the other part...].

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

UBC #19 Explorers On The Moon - A TinTin Pop-Up Book

Explorers On The Moon
Herge, TINTIN Pop-Up Books
Joy Street/Little Brown c1992 Hardcover
STILL WRAPPED!

I am tempted to peel the wrapping on this book and crack this bad boy open. But the toy collector geek in me (a very, very, very small man, simply named Dave) says not to, as i'd decrease its value by %50 (or whatever). So I can't really describe this book in too great a detail without A: making some stuff up and B: see A. If i was a betting man [i'm not] i'd guess that book is all about Professor Calculus's terrible sense of direction and Tintin's imminent bout with a crippled sense of self-worth. And i'm guessing there's some sort of curious schnauzer along for the ride as well. Apparently there aren't any laws pertaining to cleaning up after your pooch on the moon. That is cool. That law demeans us both. All kidding aside, this book is stunning in its illustrated beauty. I just stole that last line from a Hallmark card. Did I mention this one has never been opened? Who buys a Tintin pop-up book and doesn't open it? Oh right, that would be Dave.

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Saturday, April 5, 2008

UBC #18 - Mcsweeney's #13 (The Comics Issue) 2004 HC


Mcsweeney's #13
Chris Ware ed.
Mcsweeney's 2004 Hardcover

For any serious comics/alternative illustration collector, this book is an absolute must. This is as close to a historical document as a modern trendy publisher can get. This beast has everyone, R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Jim Woodring, Ivan Brunetti, David Collier, Adrian Tomine, Joe Sacco, Chester & Jeffrey Brown... I could go on but why spoil the surprise. There's a few modern classics as well as a few rare unpublished works; some in color and some accompanied by an essay penned by some pretty important writers. The only work of art I can accurately compare it to is Peter Wolf's intro to the live version of Musta Got Lost. And at the price we're offering, I hereby use my legal authority to declare this book a steal.


SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Monday, March 31, 2008

UBC #17 The World of Science Fiction by Lester Del Rey

The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976
by Lester Del Rey
Del Rey Press 1979 Paperback

From the back cover: "Lester Del Rey has lived through all of science-fiction's history-and, as a fan, an agent, and one of the field's major writers and editors, he's contributed to a lot of it. In his absorbing and authoritative account of SF's first half century, del Rey analyzes its booms and busts;...From Amazing Stories to Star Wars, from space opera to works that rank with the best, here is the full story of science fiction as it's never been told before."

I've never heard of space operas. The glossary states that space operas are "analogous to horse operas in Westerns." There is nothing in the glossary about "horse operas". there is an entry for FIAWOL: Fandom Is A Way Of Life--"A somewhat exaggerated statement used by those who take fandom seriously." Somewhat?. This book is nuts. I'm going to go eat a burrito and ponder all this.

$3.50

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

German Maps!

doing some spring cleaning down here in the UBC and in doing so, I came across a stack of beautifully illustrated German maps. Not sure of the age but they are all in excellent condition. There are a handful of maps in color but most are in black & white. They are of various places in and around Germany. Or at least what I think might be Germany. I was never very good at foreign languages. If I remember correctly, these maps came as part of a set. We're keeping these down in the basement so if you're interested, just swing by. We're selling em for $2.00

Saturday, March 29, 2008

UBC #16 The Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet


The Ambonese Curiousity Cabinet
by Georgius Everhardus Rumphius
translated by E.M. Beekman
Yale University Press 1999 1st ed/pr
oversized hardcover

"This is the first great natural history of tropical marine life. Remarkable for its detailed observations of living animals, habitats, and fisheries, as well as the accuracy of its morphological descriptions and classifications, the entire work reflects Rumphius's practical talents as engineer, merchant, and student of local cultures, as well as pioneer naturalist. Rumphius provides an invaluable window on the richness of tropical nature as it used to be." -- Jeremy Bradford Cook Jackson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

To paraphrase, this book is about marine life. It has a lot of interesting illustrations and diagrams as well a wide variety of information dealing with said marine life. Rumphius is the man.

$30.00

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Friday, March 28, 2008

UBC #15 Harry Potter 1st Editions/Printings!



Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows
By J.K. Rowling
Scholastic Press

Your eyes do not lie! Three first edition, first printing copies of Harry Potter #4,#5, and #7. I know, I know. We don't have the first book. If we did we'd sell it and use the money to buy some smokes and deep dish pizzas. I must be honest and admit that i've never read any of the books in this series. Maybe someday. I do know that in the last book Harry grows a big bushy moustache, like Nietsche's, and acts like he's God's gift to facial hair... These books are in very good condition (some slight edge wear and folded corners) and all three have their dust jackets. Think of these as a very affordable investment!

$45.00 each

If you'd like to jump on the Potter train we do carry paperback versions of the first six books ($4-$6), as well as a few of the seventh book in hardcover ($15-$18)!

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Monday, March 24, 2008

UBC #14 - First Diasporist Manifsto by R.B. Kitaj

First Diasporist Manifesto
By R.B. Kitaj
Thames And Hudson Press c1989 Softcover

From the back cover: "Kitaj, one of the most important painters working today, declares here his credo on art and life, in a manifesto equal in power and intent to those- like the Surrealists', the Futurists' or the Constructivists' - which have signalled a radical change in the course and perception of art and life."

Kitaj's opening statement speaks volumes: "Painting is not my life. My life is my life. Painting is a great idea i carry from place to place." With over 60 black and white illustrations and lucid aesthetic hallucinations, The First Diasporist Manifesto ranks high on the list of all-time greatest manifestos. Right up there with Karl Marx, Malcolm Gladwell's Talent Myth, and the one by that guy who lived in the woods and set beard-cred back fifteen years.

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Sunday, March 23, 2008

a message from Carl

i was going to start this post off with some sort of "dear diary, what a wild weekend!" zinger but thought against it at the last minute. instead i will simply say, "what a wild weekend, diary!" saturday saw the mothership make its way to brookline and drop nearly 400 new titles on our shelves. a few highlights:

    lots of r. crumb books
    three kara walker monographs
    the re-emergence of our bat-man phone
    someone's eric ambler collection
    ditto for agatha christie
    fifteen plane ticket stubs
    william gaddis's agape agape
    several books on bookbinding
    a book on the history of prison escapes
    five krazy kat collections

huge high fives go out to all who came out this weekend to sell or buy. especially which ever one of you bought the huge oprah book we had on display. man, that beast weighed a ton. that's like lugging a spare tire home with you. kudos to you for pulling the trigger on that purchase. i hope your loved ones appreciate you.

nonetheless, we've got plenty left in the tank for the rest of you. throughout the week i'll be throwing some of the more eclectic items up here on the blog for all to enjoy. so stay tuned!

also...

[ WARNING shameless self-promotion content ]
in the news, i'll be reading some of my poems here at the booksmith on june 8th as i open up for the great zach schomburg (who co-runs octopus books). come watch me attempt to warm up a crowd with ten minutes of inside jokes! plus, the first three people to mention the blog will be given a chance to rifle through our classic rock cds. it'll be a great afternoon as i've long admired zach/mathias/Octopus Book's aesthetic and quality control. i'll be making up some chapbooks to sell, too. and if there are any copies left, i'll be selling some greying ghost titles.


that's all for today.
more books to follow!

-c

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

UBC #13 - National Poetry Month Hype!

In a two weeks (or so) April will be upon us. April, if you didn't know, happens to be National Poetry Month. T.S. Eliot used to tell the boys that April was the cruelest month. Nuts to that, I say! He was probably loathing having to do his taxes. At any rate, we here in the basement are, as the kids say, stoked for next month. It gives us a chance to dust off our throwback "Pumped 4 Poetry" jerseys and start throwing down A-B-A-B rhyme schemes and reciting Fibonacci poems like they're going out of style. Wait, they have? Gabunza! Let me share a couple titles with you:

The Apple That Astonished Paris
by Billy Collins
Arkansas Univ. Press c1988 Trade Paperback

This collection of poems by one of the genre's most readable and easily accessible craftsmen is sixty-one page romp through the disturbingly comedic fields of everyday life. Barking dogs. Bars. Reading Anna Karenina. Lowell, MA. Hart Crane. Gun Control. They're all here. I must profess that i've never been a HUGE Collins fan. That being said, I can appreciate his comedic genius and the niche he's built for himself in seemingly everyone's collection. Or was that Phil? Did Billy Collins record "Sussudio"? That was a hilarious tome.

SOLD







The Nude Formalism
by Charles Bernstein and Susan Bee
20 Pages Press c1989 Chapbook

I was an english major in college. The best part about being an english major was being able to say to a professor, "Yeah, these poems by this T.S. Eliot guy are dandy and all, but i'm more of a devout Charles Bernstein follower." At the time it seemed like a badass thing to say. The moral of the story is that I was and still am a HUGE Bernstein fan:
    Man with no clothes trapped
    in a zoo with a bird
    trapped in a zoo with no
    clothes. A fire engine hrt
    the man's head in the
    engine.
    A wave broke on the man's head.
    Red red
    wave with circle, mirror, little
    green purple washing face.

Also, I apparently dislike T.S. Eliot on a deeply subconscious level. I had no idea I knocked the man twice in one post. My apologies to the Eliot estate.

SOLD
[if nobody buys this by the 25th of March, I will!]

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Friday, March 14, 2008

UBC #12 - The Book of Jones by Ralph Steadman

The Book of Jones
By Ralph Steadman
Harcourt Brace c1997 1st Edition HC

Ralph Steadman was the maverick who frequently collaborated with Hunter S. Thompson. In this book, Steadman collaborates with a highly neurotic, temperamental feline named Mr. Jones [note: i added the "Mr."]. here's my favorite passage:
    "I have never met a cat more insolent and yet more appealing than Jones. He never needed to judge a situation; he was the situation. God knows, i'm not much of an animal person - at home i try to cope with three sheep and one tiny rabbit, and so far I have three bags of wool and a ton of rabbit [expletive]."
this is a first edition, first printing copy!

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

The suggestion box works!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

UBC #11 Painting as a Pastime by Winston Churchill

Painting as a Pastime
By Winston Churchill
Cornerstone Library c1965 Softcover

this is billed as "an instructive and inspiring invitation to the joy of painting by Winston S. Churchill." it is true that once the great war ended Winston had some time on his hands. it is during this stretch the big guy discovered a little thing called "joy." here, in a thirty-two page essay, Churchill recounts his fondness for one such joy: painting...oh, and golf. and carpentry. card games. certain vaudeville acts. he was also very fond of animals. puppies in particular. but mostly painting. and what a cover! look at the unbridled joy! the passion that exudes from his brow! this one is for the serious Churchill fanatics (heretofore referred as "churchies") who like nothing better than having a bored curmudgeon write about his feelings. i meant that in a good way. contains 18 reproductions of his paintings!

$8.50

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

UBC #10 - The Man Who Sang The Sillies

The Man Who Sang The Sillies
By John Ciardi, Illustrated by Edward Gorey
Lippincott Company c1961 Softcover

published in 1961, this is a collection of poems for children (and adults for that matter) written by John Ciardi and illustrated by the then hardest working man in showbiz, Edward Gorey. my favorite triplet: "I'll tell you a lie, and it's almost true:/ I met an oyster as big as you./ and boy-size oysters are very few." there's also one about an old man who jumps out a well and scares off a little boy, but that one hit a little too close to home for me to recite. nonetheless The Man Who Sang The Sillies is a great book especially for those of you with small children and/or elderly-infested wells. did i mention Edward Gorey's illustrations accompany every poem? was there anything published in the 50's and 60's that didn't feature a gorey-illustrated cover?

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

UBC #9 - I Was Elvis Presley's Bastard Love Child, pb

I Was Elvis Presley's Bastard Love-Child
by Andrew Darlington
Critical Vision/ Headpress c2001 Softcover

Aptly subtitled "& other stories of rock'n'roll excess," this dashing gent of a read is a collection of interviews which center around two basic themes: how a band can slowly rise to greatness, and how quickly a band can fall. case in point, led zeppelin: arguably one of the best r'n'r bands ever (behind the who) and led by one of the most mesmerizing frontman ever (second behind roger daltry). together, they were dynamite. but honestly, how many of us back in the 90's bought the robert plant solo albums or for that matter, the coverdale-page collaborations and openly hoped that it was all some sort of ha-ha joke? whenever i hear a song off of "Manic Nirvana" in the car, my immediate reaction is to get out of the car, pronto. anyways, despite the title, Darlington has a playfully critical eye and his conversations with the likes of fleetwood mac, kraftwerk, the fall, the kinks, stone roses, jefferson airplane et al, are both entrapping and entertaining. yes, i said entrapping.


$10.50


please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

UBC #8 - The Bruins In Black and White 1924-1966 PB

The Bruins In Black and White 1924-1966 by Richard A. Johnston
Arcadia Publishing c2003 Softcover

since the hometown team has won five of their last six contests (all on the road) now would be the perfect time to jump back on that frozen bandwagonzamboni and show your bruin pride. The Bruins in Black and White 1924-1966 makes for an exciting refresher course on the early days of our causeway street brethren. this book's got plenty of game photos, media clippings, and off the ice pictures to encapsulate the rich early history of beantown's hockey franchise. from the days of eddie shore to the "uke line" and the first years of the bobby orr lovefest, you learn all about it. though if you move the book around a bit it sort of (not really, actually doesn't) feels like you're watching it on the tele. also, as the title suggests, this book has all bacl and white photos. i presume this to be so because color wasn't invented until '67 by the space program. that's why all the kids started getting high and dancing in the streets. hooray for hockey!


SOLD
(that's cheaper than a beer at the garden)

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

UBC #7 - The Future Dictionary of America by McSweeney's

The Future Dictionary of America
McSweeney's c2004 First Edition Hardcover

with the help of such diverse literary talent as paul auster, charles baxter, dave eggers, jim shephard, chris ware, diane ackerman, michael chabon, as well as [insert your favorite author here ________ ], this definitive collection of definitions is sure to have you whelping waves of laughter in no time flat. and if anyone can make me whelp, it sure as sheep is diane ackerman. for example: bookmonster babs: babs is a five-foot tall, purple-furred, eggplant-shaped monster with magical yellow boots who travels around the world on a spherical silver hovercraft dispersing her endless library of books to good boys and girls every year on the anniversary of their first read word."i think my first word was something rather blase--like ball or buns. this, i believe, is the norm with children. if you say your child's first word was either doritos, omnivore or lovely schenectady, you are a liar. also, bookmonster babs is a noun.

a very funny
SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Friday, February 22, 2008

UBC #6 Black Moutain: AN Exploration In Community by Martin Duberman PB

Black Mountain: An Exploration In Community by Martin Duberman
W.W. Norton c1993 First Edition Paperback

from the back cover: "In its relatively brief existense (1933-56) Black Mountain College served as the refuge or seedbed for some of the most singular literary and artistic talents of our time, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Joseph Albers, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Goodman, and Robert Rauschenberg. It was an experiment in community that proved the forerunner of a wide range of innovations in art and education." i remember i'd checked this book out of the college library at umass and ended up skipping class for three days while i hid and read Maximus Poems [second olson reference in this blog], stared at rauschenberg collages, and wrote dissertations on how creeley lost his eye. this book is a great lesson on how a community can come together to create change and challenge its members to grow not just as artists but as people.

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

UBC #5 Crack Up At The Race Riots by Harmony Korine PB

Crack Up At The Race Riots by Harmony Korine
Doubleday c1998 First Edition Paperback

i've never heard of this one before, but upon reading reviews online and seeing how sought-after this bad boy is, i figured it was blogable [new word. i made it.]. though i wasn't willing to completely commit to reading this one, i did flip through it rather briskly and determined that i'd liken it to a cross between mark danielewski and david shrigley. think of a series of lucid vignettes mirroring life's luculent absurdity and postmodern poverty. here's Korine's bio: "Harmony Korine is the self-educated twenty-three-year-old who wrote the screenplay for the controversial film Kids. Korine was raised in the carnival and currently resides in West Virginia." this explains a lot. i mean, i've actually been to and lived in [well, for two months, but still...] west virginia. how else would you explain this?

my apologies to west virginians for my sweeping generalizations.

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

UBC #4 - Elizabeth Gilbert

The Last American Man + Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin, Houghton Mifflin Paperbacks

some of you may recognize elizabeth gilbert as the author of the wildly successful "Eat, Pray, Love" which came out of nowhere to become one of our best bestsellers (i'd be more specific but the list eludes me, but trust me, its up there). down here in the basement we've come across a couple of her lesser known books that we feel you should read. published back in 2002, The Last American Man is the story of eustace conway who makes his home in the appalachian mountains where he lives the edward-abbey-lifestyle. this memoir recounts the trials and tribulations of having to hunt for dinner and snacks, making fire, and trying to mend a decent pair of slacks from leaves and animal skins. though not for the faint of heart, this is still a riveting read that nearly won the national book award. likewise, Stern Men is gilbert's foray into the sexy world of novel writing. set off the coast of maine, a lobsterman's daughter seeks to prove herself in the rough and tumble world of, you guessed it, lobster fishing. or lobster trapping. whatever lobstermen do. according to the seattle times, "Stern Men" captures a feisty american spirit through the unforgettable heroine who is destined for greatness despite herself."



$7.00
update 2/27: Last American Man has been sold.

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Monday, February 18, 2008

UBC #3 - Eater's Digest by Lorraine Bodger - hardcover

Eater's Digest by Lorraine Bodger
Stewart, Tabori & Chang c2006 Hardcover

from the back cover: "love food? love trivia? Eaters Digest is the best of both: a smorgasbord of food, fun, and trivia served up in perfect snack-sized portions." so if you've ever wondered why beans give you gas or what to serve at a luau, this handy encycopedia will give you the straight-up facts. it'll also inform you about the different types of sushi, which states have the most restaurants, and which foods were named after real people (re: veal oscar, named after king oscar II of sweden). however, it still doesn't provide a clear scientific explanation as to why a circle of bologna once took the paint off my friend jimmy's '88 ford taurus. regardless...

$10.50

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Shakespeare Daze!

i feel bad for our drama section. its hidden behind a row of spinners. overshadowed by poetry. reduced to being perpendicular to the fiction wall. quite sad, it is. but before you begin weeping into a frilly pillow, let me tell you that help has arrived. tell your sadness to kindly exeunt! stage left 'cause this week the drama section opened up its mouth and took a bite out of poetry forcing Auden and company to shift one shelf down. why? because Shakespeare is back and he's hootin' and hollerin' all the way to Cash Town. you asked for it (well, one guy. Bobby Riles.) and we delivered. a whole shelf of Mr. Shakes. $3.00 per book! grab one or grab em all. you'd finally be able to put some shakespearean insults into some sort of context...

[now, if you hate poetry, you might think it a funny gag to keep people from buying these books thereby keeping the poetry section shrunken by one shelf. i can assure you that this would not really be all that funny. we could always move woody allen to humor and the screenplays to film. so don't even try it, thou caluminous fen-sucked strumpet!]

now that's funny.

UBC #2 - Evergreen Review #8 (Spring 1959)


Evergreen Review #8
Spring Issue/1959 Grove Press Paperback


The Evergreen Review/Grove Press along with City Lights and New Directions, arguably three of the most influential literary outputs of the last fifty years, are an obsession of mine. I used to collect any New Directions titles i'd find while rummaging through thrift shops. I had bookshelves devoted to moderately priced books with black and white covers--books with gnarly looking bearded, bespectacled, downtrodden dudes forcing smiles [re kerouac's Scattered Poems] . a couple cross-country relocations later and i'd been forced to dwindle down the collection. i'm hoping this is the same reason this Evergreen Review copy landed in our laps a few months back. hidden away in the stacks was issue #8. published in the spring of 1959. the rise of beat literature was rising steadily and this issue captures a few on the cusp of greatness. Kerouac, Corso, Ginsberg, Ashberry, Charles Olson, as well as a few other greats: Cummings, Derek Walcott, Alex Trocci, and James Merrill. not to mention one creepy ad with the floating head of Bernard Malamud gazing lovingly into space as only Bernard Malamud could. the Olson poem is worth the price alone:
    ...the catch
    repeats but the generosity
    can come only
    from those
    who have fish

this is an absolute gem of a book. plus it's in great condition for being nearly half a century old. let me roll the price-dice and say....

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Saturday, February 16, 2008

UBC #1 - Frank by Jim Woodring - Signed!


Frank by Jim Woodring
Fantagraphics c2000 SIGNED! Paperback

what better way to kick off the blog than with Woodring's Frank. Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead put it best when he described Woodring as "patroling the perimer between cuteness and terror." I remember a few years back I attened a Dan Clowes/Kim Deitch "reading" in which a half dozen times the name "Jim Woodring" came up as "essential." Me, being the blind follower I am, immediately sought out some of his titles, notably Book of Jim and a few Star Wars related books. Frank though takes the cake. beautifully illustrated to give it an old-time feel--visually, like old Tom and Jerry cartoons. plus this beast is signed by Jim himself. double-plus for having the name Woodring which goes into the pantheon of bad ass names (along with ex-St. Louis outfielder Enos Slaughter and musician Mr. Quintron to name a few...well, two). this paperback book is in excellent condition and is a stated third edition from june 2000. did I mention IT'S SIGNED?!

SOLD

please call or email to hold or purchase. only one copy, so its first come first serve. please note that we will only keep books on hold at the store for three days (including weekends).

Welcome!

welcome to the official blog of brookline's best used book basement! we've just completed out fourth and most successful year so right off the bat we'd like to thank you, our valued customers (with books to sell and money to burn!) for allowing us to serve you for the last four years. sure, 2003 seems like a lifetime ago. the sox were still cursed and I hadn't yet morphed into a slightly-balding dude with a beer gut. but like those commercials pitching "solid gold disco" and "summer of love boxsets" let me just say: "man, what a magical year that was for books." here's a list of titles published in 2k3 currently in stock here in the cellar (along with our prices):



    time traveller's wife - a. niffenegger ($7.50 )

    shutter island - d. lehane ($4.50)

    devil in the white city - e. larson ($8.00)

    da vinci code - d. brown ($4.50)

    random family - a. leblanc ($8.50)

    reading lolita in tehran - a. nafisi ($8.00)

    stiff - m. roach ($7.50)

    harry potter order of the phoenix - j. rowling ($5.50)

    kite runner - k. hosseini ($8.00)

    living to tell the tale - g. garcia-marquez ($8.00)

    [all books listed are paperbacks]

now then, lets get back to the present. here at the "official UBC blog" we'll be keeping you posted on recent arrivals, noteworthy books, and interesting tidbits from the world of used bookselling. all books listed in this blog are available at the store on a first come first serve basis. you can call or email us to put a book on hold, and you can even pay for books over the phone if you are so inclined, again, on a first come first serve basis. so if you see something you like, act fast.

stay tuned!