Customer Reviews

20th Century First Edition Fiction: A Price and Identification Guide--The Complete Guide for Collectors of Used Books

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Mr. Lee, at least in the brand new 2001 Edition (and I can only assume that this edition would be an improvement over the 2000 edition), pays little or no attention to British Editions, especially when he's considering British authors.

The first three entries in this new edition are Douglas Adams, Eric Ambler and Jeffrey Archer, all British, and in each case he either disregards the TRUE First Edition (British) or lists the American Edition first. By listing the American Edition before the correct British Edition he implies that the US is the true first. THAT is not only dispensing inaccurate information, but for beginning collectors, misleading information.

I am not certain if this was an oversight, or if it was done deliberately. The reason I say that is that perhaps Mr. Lee wants to sell his own American Editions and by listing them first in the guide, he fools neophyte collectors into believing that a Simon and Schuster Edition of Jeffrey Archer's best book, "Kane and Abel" is the only appearance of that book. That the Hodder and Stoughton TRUE First Edition doesn't exist.

That attitude is irresponsible.

Some useful info but it's absurd that this is a "2000 edition" and covers books up to about 1993! What did he do when he updated this book, close his door and stay inside from 1993 to 1999 writing this book, ignoring any books written after 1993? Weird.

What boggles my mind is how few books there are on pricing and grading first edition books, and the ones that do exist are not very good, including Aherns. Why can't someone come out with a decent one like they do for comic books (Overstreet, etc)?

I'm not sure exactly how this guy came up with his criteria for what to include in this book and what to leave out. There is no Kurt Vonnegut, no Toni Morrison, no Saul Bellow, and no J.D. Salinger. Morrison and Bellow are both Nobel laureates in "20th century fiction"! And Salinger's first edition of Catcher in the Rye is probably one of the most sought-after books in this category. On top of this, the book is full of editorial errors. Not worth the trouble.

In spite of the negative reviews, this book is just what I was looking for regarding first editions. I have an earlier edition of the Ahearn's book and that was a waste of money.

I disagree with the reviewer who negatively compared this book to Ahearns. Unlike Ahearns, Lee's book provides complete descriptions and points for the books he covers, enabling you to feel very comfortable that you have correctly identified the first edition. I do mourn the limited list of authors and books and would appreciate a guide that combined Ahearns comprehensive list with Lee's descriptions, but at least Lee provides me with some guidance to the most popular 20th-century collectibles

a very shoddy and error-filled attempt at a reference manual for modern firsts. has peter benchley, but not james ellroy, dean koontz, but not dennis lehane, micheal dorris, but not robert crais. a waste of money.

It's criminal what this book sells for. In my opinion it's barely worth the paper it's printed on. Author list is very limited. Identification and grading information is elementary and can be found in any of the far superior guides such as Ahearns or even Book Finds. I intend to stay clear of this author AND publisher.

This book is exactly what I have been looking for. There are so many price guides for other collectibles, but I have never been able to find a guide to fit my book collecting needs. All the titles that I have been wondering about are included.