First Edition Friday: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
“In the end we had the pieces of the puzzle, but no matter how we put them together, gaps remained, oddly shaped emptinesses mapped by what surrounded them, like countries we couldn't name.”
Looking back on their adolescence in suburbian America, a Greek chorus of unnamed men reminisce on a time when one by one, 5 local sisters ended their lives. This however is not just a story of death, but also speaks to love, loss, memory and tragedy all while reminding us of the horror that can be found in the mundane.
This book has gained a huge cult following over the 17 years since it was published (thanks, in part to Sophia Coppola's 1999 film); it's general feeling of eerie nostalgia seems to speak to people in a way which is almost hypnotic.
Pictured is a FIRST EDITION, UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY which is available online for NZ$125.00
First Edition Friday: Isis Unveilled Vol.II - Madame Helena P. Blavatsky
“REALITY in an illusionary universe of ever-passing forms.”
H. P Blavatsky was a Russian Occultist in the early 19th Century whose works where the inspiration of the forming of the Theosophical society. She was highly controversial but remains to this day the one of the most revered figures of western esotericism.
Published in 1877, Isis Unveilled was Blavatsky's magnum opus. In it she discusses the similarity of Christian scripture to several Eastern religions and uses this to argue the notion of prisca theologia: that all religions descend from a common source; the ancient "Wisdom-Religion.
This book is a very important piece of literature and it changed the face of society as we know it.
And we have a First Edition!
This is a hugely important book to have in a first edition and will set you back NZ$1275.00
As you can see from the photos - the binding is a bit worn and stained... but it is almost 150 years old so I think we can give her a break!
Spring & Summer Hours!
WE ARE BACK!
Spring is ready to spring into action and so are we!
As of the 1st of September we are back to being open everyday.
Come in and pay us a visit!
First Edition Friday: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Well.. where do we start with this one!?
This one is extremely polarising - some say it is a avant garde tour-de-force which will challenge you, scare you and leave you questioning the world you live in. Others however think it a work which will have you uttering profanities under your breath and wishing you weren't against the idea of burning books.
The general premise is that a family move into a house they soon nightmarishly discover to be bigger on the inside. Now complicate that plot summary by x800000 and you might be getting close to what is going on.
Originally distributed in parts, the author shared printed copies to friends and family and local establishments throughout Los Angeles, mostly tattoo parlors and such, had copies floating around in the mid-to-late 90's. It wasn't until 2000 that it was published in its entirety.
The book plays with font, narrative structure and footnotes(...upon footnotes...upon footnotes), which has been said to create an agoraphobic and claustrobic experience for the reader.
It is disturbing, innovative, wierd and intimidating. It is a book your conquer before it conquers you.
Somehow, we have ended up with several different First Edition copies of this book.
We have:
- The very scarce UK hardcover (one of only 50 copies) with the golden 'Z' embossed on the front. It is SIGNED 'Z' and dated by the author and in MINT condition! $309.83NZD (pictured)
- Another scarce UK hardcover (one of 200). This has no letter embossed to the front. $125.00NZD
- First Edition, First Impression Trade Paperback. This is SIGNED and dated from the authors trip to NZ. $100.00NZD
- First UK Edition Trade Paperback, also SIGNED and dated from his trip to NZ. $90.00NZD
This book has a huge cult following and once people know they are here, they generally rush out the door!
Folio Society Showcase!
We have many of them here at Hard to Find Books so we thought we should now would be great time to do a bit of a showcase!
The Folio Society started publishing books in 1947 with the aim to "produce editions of the world's great literature, in a format worthy of the contents, at a price within the reach of everyman".
It originally started as a membership club and it wasn't until 2011 that non-members where able to purchase these editions! Now you know.
Pictured are some of our favourite editions that we have in stock at Hard to Find Books and are all available online.
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien (1977): $225NZD SOLD!
The Plague by Albert Camus (1987): $120NZD
Paradise Lost by John Milton (1991): $100NZD SOLD!
Bhagavad Gita (2011): $50NZD
The Black Death by Philip Ziegler (1997): $20NZD
Seeds of Change by Henry Hobhouse (2007): $40NZD
The Great Plague of London by Walter George Bell (2001): $24.50NZD
London Characters and Crooks by Henry Mayhew (1996): $32.50NZD
If you are wanting a more indepth description along with some more fun facts on each book, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @hardtofindbooksdunedin or @hardtofindbooks
First Edition: The Wild Boys - A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs
First Edition Friday Presents: The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs
"The young are an alien species. They won't replace us by revolution. They will forget and ignore us out of existence."
The Wild Boys' dystopian future sets the scene for a feral gang of young gay revolutionaries whose objective is the downfall of western civilisation.
It is gruesome, twisted and completey on-brand for the infamous Burroughs.
This book is not for everyone...it's probably not even for most people to be honest, but those fans of Willam S. Burroughs, the Beat Generation or gruesome confronting literature will feel right at home.
Fun fact: David Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust was based off the descriptions of the boys in this book! He said "it was a cross between that and Clockwork Orange that really started to put together the shape and the look of what Ziggy and the Spiders were going to become. They were both powerful pieces of work, especially the marauding boy gangs of Burroughs's Wild Boys with their bowie knives."
This First Edition copy is NZ$75.
SOLD! First Edition Friday: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”
This book took the world by storm when it came out, and continues to be one of the most requested books in the shop.
It tells the story of Offred, a woman who lives in a time where extremist Judeo-Christian beliefs have won America's culture war. Her, like many other women, have lost all of their rights and become slaves to a brutal patriarchal society which allows them no autonomy nor hope.
It has been 35 years since this book was written and it is just as relevant now as it was when it was first published. It is harrowing, terrifying brutal and necessary.
And here is the First Edition!
This is a First Edition, First Impression published by Jonathan Cape in 1986. It is an Ex-Library and is missing its FEP (front end page), aside from this, it is a suprisingly tidy copy for its age and history and for only NZ$100.00 is an absolute bargain!
This will not last long so snatch it up before someone else does!
If you are interested we also have First Edition Copies of many other Atwood favourites:
Oryx and Crake $20NZD
Alias Grace $27.50NZD
The Blind Assasin $18.59NZD (1st Aus. Edition)
The Robber Bride $15.30NZD
SOLD! First Edition Friday: Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez
You may already be familiar with Gabriel García Márquez, the nobel prize winning Colombian powerhouse - he wrote 'Love in a Time of Cholera', 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and 'Autumn of the Patriarch' to name a few. He is the father of magical realism, weaving the mystery of the unknown, the magic of myth, and the familiarity of real life.
This is particularly true of 'Of Love and Other Demons'. It tells the story of a young girl bitten by a rabies infected dog whom shows then shows no signs of illness. When strange occurances begin to happen around the town she is believed to be possessed. After being shipped off to convent to be exorcised, she meets a priest who adds love to her list of ailments.
We have first editions from both England and America available.
The American version (pictured first) is only $11.15 NZD
The English version (second with no dust jacket) is $12.00NZD
