Cheapies but Goodies

Someone recently gave me the good advice to look more carefully at the racks of one-dollar books outside The Strand each time I visit. The only downside is that you'll occasionally buy something you don't really want or need just because it's a dollar, but the upside is finding both bargains and books you would have never otherwise known about, like this one:


I was drawn to it by the jacket, and then I learned that Knopf published it, that Hunt wrote for The New Yorker, among others, and that this is a first edition from 1959. In other words, here was a beautiful object that I also wanted to read. For a dollar. Done deal. (One acquaintance said he's found books in these stacks, once or twice, that go for $80 or $90 online. Alas, copies of this first edition can be found for little more than what I paid.)

I haven't seen the show Mad Men yet, but I imagine that Hunt's author photo alone does nearly as much to sum up its era. In this post, as in most, clicking to enlarge photos is recommended: