Rare Book Spot

Generally considered Steinbeck’s most important and most successful novel, Grapes of Wrath was awarded the Pulitzer for 1939 and was the leading best seller of that year

“It is a long novel, the longest that Steinbeck has written, and yet it reads as if it had been composed in a flash, ripped off the typewriter and delivered to the public as an ultimatum… Steinbeck has written a novel from the depths of his heart with a sincerity seldom equaled” ( Books of the Century , 118).

An unsigned first edition could reach up to $12,000. A signed copy with original dust jacket in fine condition could reach up to $35,000.

A Movable Feast is a set of memoirs by Ernest Hemingway offering anecdotes of his stay in Paris during the ’20’s. He provides the detail of specific addresses of cafes, bars, hotels, and apartments that still can be found in modern day Paris. The book was edited by Ernest’s fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, and published posthumously in 1964 and contains appearances by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce and Aleister Crowley.

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899–July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His distinctive writing style is characterized by economy and understatement and had a significant influence on the development of twentieth century fiction. Hemingway’s protagonists are typically stoics, often seen as projections of his own character–men who must show “grace under pressure.” Many of his works are considered classics in the canon of American literature.

Hemingway, nicknamed “Papa,” was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, as described in his novel A Moveable Feast. Known as part of “the Lost Generation,” a name coined and popularized by Gertrude Stein, he led a turbulent social life, was married four times, and allegedly had various romantic relationships during his lifetime.

First editions in good condition can reach $450.