Library of America
If you were a geeky little snot-nosed library worm like myself - you know what these are. Those seductive black slipcover editions with those gnarly pin stripes; each edition crammed as full as full can be with as many of America's masterpieces of literature on paper that never ages, with silk book markers and cloth binding. Yeah, you know what I mean ... Library of America. The non-profit company that releases premier editions of the greatest authors in American history.
I used to adore them but never really thought someone could go out and just buy them. They seemed too officious. That was, until I'd worked my way through three or four sets of the works of Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hurston and Dos Passos. I returned to those uniformed black slip cases and the ever-growing catalog...and I became hooked.
From a financial perspective - it's smart to collect these. The printing and binding is so top-drawer, they're almost impossible to damage. Each volume has numerous works by the same author (so if you're traveling and end your current book - no problem! You can keep reading, whew!) and are printed on the best quality acid-free paper known to man. The prices retail for $40 each but if you shop around online you can find deals and discounts. If you purchase these direct from their site - you do not get the black pin-striped dust jackets but a cream colored slip case. Me, personally - I like the black. The direct site offers better discounts though. That's up to you.
This is a unique post for my blog in that I'm not actually reviewing a specific author, a movie, a director, an actor, a piece of music - but rather; a company. A meaningful, important, imperative company that I could not live without...
This is a unique post for my blog in that I'm not actually reviewing a specific author, a movie, a director, an actor, a piece of music - but rather; a company. A meaningful, important, imperative company that I could not live without...
Here are my top five choices for best Library of America editions. If my house were burning, these would be coming with me in a pillowcase...oh, and maybe the cat.
5) KURT VONNEGUT (2 volumes available) - These are new. LOA is still slowly revealing the edition contents for these but so far they have released two Vonnegut editions. Novels & Stories 1950-1962 hits his earliest classics: Player Piano, The Sirens of Titans, Mother Night and the short stories "Report On The Barnhouse Effect," "EPICAC," "Unready To Wear," "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow," "Harrison Bergeron" and "2BR02B." The companion volume Novels & Stories 1963-1973 is the whoppadoodie. Everyone needs this volume because it contains some of Vonnegut's greatest achievements. Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Breakfast Of Champions (illustrated of course) make up the largest portion of this book. The stories included are: "Welcome To The Monkey House," "Fortitude," and "The Big Space Fuck." There are also two appendices with bonus speeches, essays and goodies for any ravenous Vonnegut fan. No word yet as to which decade LOA will dive into next - but it doesn't really matter when you're talking about a writer like Kurt Vonnegut. These are such welcomed additions to the collection. I actually cheered and teared up when they announced this was happening. No, really!
4) EUGENE O'NEILL (3 volumes available) - One of the things I love about LOA is they satisfy both my compulsive need to posess EVERYTHING an author wrote. A man like O'Neill is something you could study for your entire life and still feel like an amateur...which is why my shelves became so cluttered with all his plays. LOA compiled everything this man wrote into 3 comfortable editions. If you're into theater, acting, plays or just brilliant writing - these are worth owning. Complete Plays 1913-1920 is remarkable. Rather than bore you by listing out the table of contents - I'll leave that to you to discover. This volume is littered with O'Neill's earliest ventures into the art of the stage. One acts, tries, giant award-winning masterpieces ... they're all here. This is the birth of a master, learning his craft one line at a time. Complete Plays 1920-1931 is mandatory reading for any drama student. You'll most likely recognize a lot of titles here. You won't waste a penny on the price of this volume - it's worth ten times the cover price. Rounding out the triptych of deliciousness is Complete Plays 1931-1943. To me personally, I couldn't live without this one. It contains the titles that are synonymous with "Eugene O'Neill" and even includes his unfinished work that was left at the time of his death! Out of the three volumes - the third is the most essential in my opinion...but that's just my opinion. You're welcome to fight me.
3) PHILIP K. DICK (3 volumes available) - This will be a fun entry to write. I came to the Dick party late in life. I didn't know much about Dick other than he was supposed to be a fantastic sci-fi author. His inclusion, when announced, confused me. I realized there must be something about this man that made him worthy to share the shelf with the likes of the greatest authors in American history. So I purchased all three volumes and binged like a junkie. Four Novels of the 1960's is where I began - and this volume contains four complete novels: The Man In High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Ubik. Next up came Five Novels of the 1960's and 70's and the title doesn't lie. Inside are five of Dick's best works - Martian Time-Slip, Dr. Bloodmoney, Now Wait For Last Year, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, and A Scanner Darkly. By this point - I was hooked and flew right into the final volume VALIS and Later Novels. Probably my favorite of the three - this volume sealed forever the fact that I had a new favorite author. I love new favorites. A Maze of Death, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer are essential reading for anyone breathing air. Basically, if you're to take away one subject from this entire post ... it's that Dick is great.
2) JOHN STEINBECK (4 volumes available) - I can't even tell y'all how many copies of East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath or The Wayward Bus I've owned in my life. Not to mention this man's earlier work - some of my all-time favorite writing. I purchase Steinbeck (and Faulkner) compulsively. It doesn't matter if I already own it - I still buy it. I collect covers. I hoard them together in massive stacks in the closet. I don't let anyone near them - because I'm slightly crazy like that. When LOA released the entire body of work from John Steinbeck - I was finally able to stop doing this. I could purchase 4 volumes, own everything and not worry about how hard I read and re-read them, they'd never deteriorate. What smarter purchase could there be? I know, right!? LOA splits Steinbeck's career chronologically - as they are apt to do. Novels and Stories 1932-1937 is really something great for me. These early "novels" are really collections of short stories tied together by shared themes - a format I tend to work in myself, I have read these so much I could probably do a halfway decent job reciting them. This is where you start. Then once you've become grimy with that sexy Steinbeck style, move forward. Grow as the author grew and read The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936-1941 which (honestly) you'd be a fool not to own. You get his best known work. You get The Long Valley (another collection of short fiction), you get Log From The Sea of Cortez (whatever you want to call this - that's what it is...is it nonfiction? is it fiction? is it a fable? I have no idea, but it's included) and you get The Harvest Gypsies - an example of Steinbeck's nonfiction, journalistic training. This is essential as hell. In a way, LOA breaks you in gently with this volume because what comes next will literally slap the teeth right outcha mouth. Novels 1942-1952 is a win/win/win/win. The Moon Is Down, his play. Cannery Row, Lord have mercy, yes. The Pearl - one of the first "real books" I read that made me realize literature can make you cry. And one of my top three books of all time - East of Eden. If you don't own this volume, let me know - I'll buy you a copy. It's just that important. Finishing off the set is Travels With Charley and Later Novels 1947-1962. Some people could probably skip this one - but I really love some of these in an unnatural and addictive manner. Included are The Wayward Bus, Travels With Charley, Sweet Thursday, The Winter of Our Discontent, and Burning Bright. If you can do without these - so be it, just don't tell me about it, okay?
1) WILLIAM FAULKNER (5 volumes available) - There is very little in this life I cherish more than a William Faulkner novel. I have studied this man since I first discovered him at 13. For thirty years I have been a full-time resident of Yoknapatawpha County. I am physically and emotionally addicted to both Sound & The Fury and Absalom! Absalom! and I have no concept of how many times I've read these two novels. I bet its in the hundreds. The ability to own the entire canon of Faulkner's life work - in five beautiful volumes that never age...is just too wonderful to express. This is the reason (to me) that LOA is one of the greatest companies existing today. Let me break it down - sell it, so to speak.
In keeping with the OCD salatiousness of it all, they deliver these in meticulous chronological order (which look so great sitting on a shelf in a row but...enough about that). The first volume tackles the master's first four published novels. Novels 1926-1929 does not have a cover to cover deliciousness like the rest. Soldiers' Pay, Flags In The Dust (Sartoris), and Mosquitoes are not the finest Faulkner hour. He was new. He was learning. The seeds of his genius are there, you just have to dig them out like an Easter Egg hunt. Most people read Faulkner and skip these solely based on the sloppy effort of a struggling new author. I left out one key detail about this volume however; the fourth novel included is Sound & The Fury. So see, now it's worth the $40. Think of it that way. You're purchasing a timeless copy of this novel ... and three others you probably won't enjoy...but you get S&F! That reason alone makes it valid. There is nothing on this earth that is better than this novel. I'm being buried with a copy - seriously. It's The Book for me. But we're just at the beginning of this man's career!
The second volume Novels 1930-1935 is a monster. If I really twist my arm to find one thing that could possibly suck about this edition - it's Pylon. It's the weakest of the four novels contained in these emerald-colored cloth-bound covers. Not everything was a hit, damn. Leave Faulkner alone - he was probably busy drinking and staggering in the yard without pants. Can't the man have his hobbies? Jeez...you also get As I Lay Dying, Light In August and Sanctuary for crying out loud. Solid gold - on all accounts. AILD - the book that defines why novels in first person are phenomenal. LIA - Joe Christmas, OMG - my favorite character in literature! Sanc - Faulkner does rape, incest and bestiality in the most beautiful fashion...so subtle you won't even notice the mooing. This has to be experienced to be understood. So buy it because ... up next the master was in full control of his genius and gave birth to Novels 1936-1940. Every ... single ... title is a hit!
Starting with my #2 favorite book ever written - Absalom! Absalom!, you know - I can't even talk about this book right now. I'll devote reams to it later, next is The Unvanquished, The Wild Palms, and The Hamlet. Every single title is an award winning bestseller. You'll read the hell out of this. Some folks whined that The Hamlet was isolated from the two follow-ups in that trilogy, but I don't think it's an issue. The Hamlet is thematically more similar to the counterparts in this volume - each is like an onion that can be read and re-read hundreds of times, giving the reader a new experience with each return. The two following novels in the Snopes trilogy (The Town, The Mansion) aren't quite as powerful. Yeah, I said it. I'm entitled to my favorites, damn. These two titles don't come again until the final volume but that's the order he wrote them in.
If you'd like the entire Snopes trilogy in one concise volume, Modern Library did an amazing job with it. You know I own this too...I'm not ashamed.
Next for Faulkner comes Novels 1942-1954 which is eh-ish. This is the period in his life where he was getting lots of shame, scorn and persecution - while also winning the Nobel Prize and the Pulizer like nobody's business. I can understand that must be really confusing to deal with while you're still trying to create masterpieces of literature, be a vile husband and finish bottles of bourbon in peace. It's not easy being a writer. There are a lot of internal storms happening and that is somehow reflected in this period of his life. Go Down, Moses, Intruder In The Dust, Requiem For A Nun and A Fable. Each of these won an award for Faulkner. Each of these is considered a masterpiece - but to me, these are painful to read. They make me sad. If you read a lot of Faulkner - you'll know what I mean. All the spices are there, but he seems weary. An arousing side-note to all this - the day-by-day notes for A Fable are still visible on the walls of his home in Oxford, Mississippi. If you tour there to visit Rowan Oaks (his home), you can still see the breakdown of events concealed inside this Pulitzer Prize winning novel...so that's cool.
And then it all had to end... Novels 1957-1962 finds Faulkner completely worn out. This is when he finishes the Snopes trilogy and tosses the world one final Pulitzer Prize winner - The Reivers, his final novel. The Town, The Mansion and The Reivers are fine farewells to a broken man. Not his best writing by any means - these are like saying goodbye to a beloved grandparent after spending a life growing to love them. It's poignant and beautiful and highlighted by being included in LOA's amazing editions. Like I said 10k words ago - if my house were burning, this is what I'd grab. I love these books like children and I think I just blabbed out enough reasons why.
I need to climb a tree in my dirty draws and catch a peek and Granmuddy's funeral now.
5) KURT VONNEGUT (2 volumes available) - These are new. LOA is still slowly revealing the edition contents for these but so far they have released two Vonnegut editions. Novels & Stories 1950-1962 hits his earliest classics: Player Piano, The Sirens of Titans, Mother Night and the short stories "Report On The Barnhouse Effect," "EPICAC," "Unready To Wear," "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow," "Harrison Bergeron" and "2BR02B." The companion volume Novels & Stories 1963-1973 is the whoppadoodie. Everyone needs this volume because it contains some of Vonnegut's greatest achievements. Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Breakfast Of Champions (illustrated of course) make up the largest portion of this book. The stories included are: "Welcome To The Monkey House," "Fortitude," and "The Big Space Fuck." There are also two appendices with bonus speeches, essays and goodies for any ravenous Vonnegut fan. No word yet as to which decade LOA will dive into next - but it doesn't really matter when you're talking about a writer like Kurt Vonnegut. These are such welcomed additions to the collection. I actually cheered and teared up when they announced this was happening. No, really!
4) EUGENE O'NEILL (3 volumes available) - One of the things I love about LOA is they satisfy both my compulsive need to posess EVERYTHING an author wrote. A man like O'Neill is something you could study for your entire life and still feel like an amateur...which is why my shelves became so cluttered with all his plays. LOA compiled everything this man wrote into 3 comfortable editions. If you're into theater, acting, plays or just brilliant writing - these are worth owning. Complete Plays 1913-1920 is remarkable. Rather than bore you by listing out the table of contents - I'll leave that to you to discover. This volume is littered with O'Neill's earliest ventures into the art of the stage. One acts, tries, giant award-winning masterpieces ... they're all here. This is the birth of a master, learning his craft one line at a time. Complete Plays 1920-1931 is mandatory reading for any drama student. You'll most likely recognize a lot of titles here. You won't waste a penny on the price of this volume - it's worth ten times the cover price. Rounding out the triptych of deliciousness is Complete Plays 1931-1943. To me personally, I couldn't live without this one. It contains the titles that are synonymous with "Eugene O'Neill" and even includes his unfinished work that was left at the time of his death! Out of the three volumes - the third is the most essential in my opinion...but that's just my opinion. You're welcome to fight me.
3) PHILIP K. DICK (3 volumes available) - This will be a fun entry to write. I came to the Dick party late in life. I didn't know much about Dick other than he was supposed to be a fantastic sci-fi author. His inclusion, when announced, confused me. I realized there must be something about this man that made him worthy to share the shelf with the likes of the greatest authors in American history. So I purchased all three volumes and binged like a junkie. Four Novels of the 1960's is where I began - and this volume contains four complete novels: The Man In High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Ubik. Next up came Five Novels of the 1960's and 70's and the title doesn't lie. Inside are five of Dick's best works - Martian Time-Slip, Dr. Bloodmoney, Now Wait For Last Year, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, and A Scanner Darkly. By this point - I was hooked and flew right into the final volume VALIS and Later Novels. Probably my favorite of the three - this volume sealed forever the fact that I had a new favorite author. I love new favorites. A Maze of Death, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer are essential reading for anyone breathing air. Basically, if you're to take away one subject from this entire post ... it's that Dick is great.
2) JOHN STEINBECK (4 volumes available) - I can't even tell y'all how many copies of East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath or The Wayward Bus I've owned in my life. Not to mention this man's earlier work - some of my all-time favorite writing. I purchase Steinbeck (and Faulkner) compulsively. It doesn't matter if I already own it - I still buy it. I collect covers. I hoard them together in massive stacks in the closet. I don't let anyone near them - because I'm slightly crazy like that. When LOA released the entire body of work from John Steinbeck - I was finally able to stop doing this. I could purchase 4 volumes, own everything and not worry about how hard I read and re-read them, they'd never deteriorate. What smarter purchase could there be? I know, right!? LOA splits Steinbeck's career chronologically - as they are apt to do. Novels and Stories 1932-1937 is really something great for me. These early "novels" are really collections of short stories tied together by shared themes - a format I tend to work in myself, I have read these so much I could probably do a halfway decent job reciting them. This is where you start. Then once you've become grimy with that sexy Steinbeck style, move forward. Grow as the author grew and read The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936-1941 which (honestly) you'd be a fool not to own. You get his best known work. You get The Long Valley (another collection of short fiction), you get Log From The Sea of Cortez (whatever you want to call this - that's what it is...is it nonfiction? is it fiction? is it a fable? I have no idea, but it's included) and you get The Harvest Gypsies - an example of Steinbeck's nonfiction, journalistic training. This is essential as hell. In a way, LOA breaks you in gently with this volume because what comes next will literally slap the teeth right outcha mouth. Novels 1942-1952 is a win/win/win/win. The Moon Is Down, his play. Cannery Row, Lord have mercy, yes. The Pearl - one of the first "real books" I read that made me realize literature can make you cry. And one of my top three books of all time - East of Eden. If you don't own this volume, let me know - I'll buy you a copy. It's just that important. Finishing off the set is Travels With Charley and Later Novels 1947-1962. Some people could probably skip this one - but I really love some of these in an unnatural and addictive manner. Included are The Wayward Bus, Travels With Charley, Sweet Thursday, The Winter of Our Discontent, and Burning Bright. If you can do without these - so be it, just don't tell me about it, okay?
1) WILLIAM FAULKNER (5 volumes available) - There is very little in this life I cherish more than a William Faulkner novel. I have studied this man since I first discovered him at 13. For thirty years I have been a full-time resident of Yoknapatawpha County. I am physically and emotionally addicted to both Sound & The Fury and Absalom! Absalom! and I have no concept of how many times I've read these two novels. I bet its in the hundreds. The ability to own the entire canon of Faulkner's life work - in five beautiful volumes that never age...is just too wonderful to express. This is the reason (to me) that LOA is one of the greatest companies existing today. Let me break it down - sell it, so to speak. In keeping with the OCD salatiousness of it all, they deliver these in meticulous chronological order (which look so great sitting on a shelf in a row but...enough about that). The first volume tackles the master's first four published novels. Novels 1926-1929 does not have a cover to cover deliciousness like the rest. Soldiers' Pay, Flags In The Dust (Sartoris), and Mosquitoes are not the finest Faulkner hour. He was new. He was learning. The seeds of his genius are there, you just have to dig them out like an Easter Egg hunt. Most people read Faulkner and skip these solely based on the sloppy effort of a struggling new author. I left out one key detail about this volume however; the fourth novel included is Sound & The Fury. So see, now it's worth the $40. Think of it that way. You're purchasing a timeless copy of this novel ... and three others you probably won't enjoy...but you get S&F! That reason alone makes it valid. There is nothing on this earth that is better than this novel. I'm being buried with a copy - seriously. It's The Book for me. But we're just at the beginning of this man's career!
The second volume Novels 1930-1935 is a monster. If I really twist my arm to find one thing that could possibly suck about this edition - it's Pylon. It's the weakest of the four novels contained in these emerald-colored cloth-bound covers. Not everything was a hit, damn. Leave Faulkner alone - he was probably busy drinking and staggering in the yard without pants. Can't the man have his hobbies? Jeez...you also get As I Lay Dying, Light In August and Sanctuary for crying out loud. Solid gold - on all accounts. AILD - the book that defines why novels in first person are phenomenal. LIA - Joe Christmas, OMG - my favorite character in literature! Sanc - Faulkner does rape, incest and bestiality in the most beautiful fashion...so subtle you won't even notice the mooing. This has to be experienced to be understood. So buy it because ... up next the master was in full control of his genius and gave birth to Novels 1936-1940. Every ... single ... title is a hit!
Starting with my #2 favorite book ever written - Absalom! Absalom!, you know - I can't even talk about this book right now. I'll devote reams to it later, next is The Unvanquished, The Wild Palms, and The Hamlet. Every single title is an award winning bestseller. You'll read the hell out of this. Some folks whined that The Hamlet was isolated from the two follow-ups in that trilogy, but I don't think it's an issue. The Hamlet is thematically more similar to the counterparts in this volume - each is like an onion that can be read and re-read hundreds of times, giving the reader a new experience with each return. The two following novels in the Snopes trilogy (The Town, The Mansion) aren't quite as powerful. Yeah, I said it. I'm entitled to my favorites, damn. These two titles don't come again until the final volume but that's the order he wrote them in.
If you'd like the entire Snopes trilogy in one concise volume, Modern Library did an amazing job with it. You know I own this too...I'm not ashamed.
Next for Faulkner comes Novels 1942-1954 which is eh-ish. This is the period in his life where he was getting lots of shame, scorn and persecution - while also winning the Nobel Prize and the Pulizer like nobody's business. I can understand that must be really confusing to deal with while you're still trying to create masterpieces of literature, be a vile husband and finish bottles of bourbon in peace. It's not easy being a writer. There are a lot of internal storms happening and that is somehow reflected in this period of his life. Go Down, Moses, Intruder In The Dust, Requiem For A Nun and A Fable. Each of these won an award for Faulkner. Each of these is considered a masterpiece - but to me, these are painful to read. They make me sad. If you read a lot of Faulkner - you'll know what I mean. All the spices are there, but he seems weary. An arousing side-note to all this - the day-by-day notes for A Fable are still visible on the walls of his home in Oxford, Mississippi. If you tour there to visit Rowan Oaks (his home), you can still see the breakdown of events concealed inside this Pulitzer Prize winning novel...so that's cool.
And then it all had to end... Novels 1957-1962 finds Faulkner completely worn out. This is when he finishes the Snopes trilogy and tosses the world one final Pulitzer Prize winner - The Reivers, his final novel. The Town, The Mansion and The Reivers are fine farewells to a broken man. Not his best writing by any means - these are like saying goodbye to a beloved grandparent after spending a life growing to love them. It's poignant and beautiful and highlighted by being included in LOA's amazing editions. Like I said 10k words ago - if my house were burning, this is what I'd grab. I love these books like children and I think I just blabbed out enough reasons why.
I need to climb a tree in my dirty draws and catch a peek and Granmuddy's funeral now.
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