Loot of the Week 03 August 2016

For this week's loot, we have work by four distinguished American female writers, all signed, and a copy of Saul Bellow's classic.

Marilynne Robinson's "Home" was published in 2008 by FSG, and was finalist of the year's National Book Award that eventually went to Peter Mathiessen's "Shadow Country". I already have a copy of the first edition, but this is a signed copy to complete my collection of Robinson's signed first edition novels.

Joyce Carol Oates' "Them" won her a National Book Award in 1970, beating, amongst formidable finalists, Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" and Jean Stafford's Collected Stories, that year's Pulitzer winner. Surprisingly this was also the only major American literary award that this prolific and acclaimed writer garnered, although her work were losing finalists at the Pulitzer four times (1970, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2015), the National Book Award five times (1968, 1969, 1972, 1990, 2000) and the National Book Critics Circle Award twice (1992, 2007). This is a signed limited edition published by the Franklin Library that I got on the cheap as a reading copy.

Then there are C.E. Morgan's "The Sport of Kings", which is a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer, and Annie Proulx's "Barkskins", a Powell Indiespensable selection. Saul Bellow's "Henderson the Rain King" is an upgrade copy I got over the current one I own.