Reckless Abandon

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2004. BC6 - A first edition hardcover book SIGNED by author in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Book has some light smudge on the page edges, dust jacket and book have some light discoloration and shelf wear. A Stone Barrington Novel. 9.5"x6.5", 289 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Stuart Woods is an American novelist. Woods wrote an account of his OSTAR experience, and was introduced to Stanford Maritime, a London-based publishing house specializing in nautical books, by Ron Holland. Blue Water, Green Skipper was published in 1977. The American publishing rights were sold to W.W. Norton. Woods' second book was to be written about the 1977 Round Britain Yacht Race but the book was canceled because of light winds and calms during the race. He persuaded his publishers to allow him to change the scope of the book, and spent the summer driving 12,000 miles around Great Britain and Ireland writing a guidebook to country restaurants, inns and hotels. He visited over 150 establishments, and included one-hundred-thirty-eight in the book; ninety-one establishments in England, thirteen in Scotland, eight in Wales, and twenty-six in Ireland. The two places in the British Isles that he did not visit were Northern Ireland, saying that he did not feel comfortable recommending any place where he was afraid to visit, and the Channel Islands due to a lack of available time. Originally titled A Lover's Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland Woods realised married couples may feel alienated, and changed it to A Romantic's Guide..., defining a "romantic" as a person " who is susceptible to charm" in addition to The Concise Oxford Dictionary's definition of someone "given to romance, imagination... visionary... professing grandeur of picturesqueness or passion or irregular beauty to finish and proportion." Woods' first novel, Chiefs, was published in March 1981. The story was inspired by a police chief's badge Woods had found in his grandmother's home. The badge was stained with blood and pockmarked by buckshot. It had belonged to his grandfather, who died wearing it 10 years before Woods was born. He submitted the first one hundred pages and an outline to three publishers who all turned him down, before Norton bought the publishing rights for $7,500. He later stated it was a mistake to sell the book unfinished as he could have got much more money had it been completed. 20,000 copies of the book were printed in hardback, but Norton did little to promote the book. He contracted with Bantam Books to print the paperback edition. In 1983 Chiefs was adapted into a television miniseries of the same name, starring Charlton Heston, Danny Glover, Billy Dee Williams, Stephen Collins and John Goodman. CBS broadcast the miniseries over three nights, and it was nominated for three Emmy Awards and one Eddie Award. Its success sparked interest in the paperback, and Woods was awarded the Edgar Award in the "Best First Novel" category from the Mystery Writers of America. Woods' most prolific series of novels focus on Stone Barrington, a former NYPD detective turned lawyer who is of counsel to a prestigious law firm and handles sensitive cases for the firm's prominent clients, but cases with which the firm nonetheless does not wish to be publicly associated. As such, Barrington commands exorbitant fees, and a strong cast of recurring characters such as his ex-partner Dino Bacchetti, frequent use of the New York restaurant Elaine's as a setting and Stone's frequent exploits with women, travel and fine dining. Stone, like Woods, is also an experienced pilot and frequent references are made to his aircraft. In addition to Stone, Woods has written several other character-focused series. These characters include Holly Barker, a retired Army major and Florida police chief recruited to become a CIA operative; Ed Eagle, a Santa Fe defense lawyer; William Henry Lee IV, a Georgia senator who is elected President of the United States; and Rick Barron, a police detective who becomes a security officer and later chief of production for a Hollywood movie studio in the 1930s. All of Woods' novels take place in the same universe and characters frequently appear in other series. Woods has published a memoir, a travel book and forty-four novels in a thirty-seven year career, and has now had twenty-nine consecutive New York Times best sellers in hardback. Two completed novels are awaiting publication in January and April, 2011, and he has just signed another three-book deal with Putnam. In the past he has written two novels a year and has increased that to three novels a year, at the request of his publishers. In 2014 he started publishing four times a year. He now publishes each year in January, April, June/July and October.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.