Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

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1-800-99-BAUMAN

Alan ALDA

Item#: 108666 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself

INSCRIBED BY ALAN ALDA

ALDA, Alan. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. New York: Random House, 2007. Octavo, original red paper boards, original dust jacket.

First edition of Alan Alda's ruminations on the meaning of life drawn from the many speeches he has given during his career, inscribed on the title page: "To Larry<—y [correcting a poorly scribed 'y'] Alan Alda."

"Nothing requires a person to summarize the essence of a meaningful life like being asked to write a commencement address, and Alda has given plenty over the years. Here, he recalls—and includes generous excerpts of—those commencement addresses, as well as eulogies and other speeches… Even for the rich and famous, the really important stuff is small: searching for sea glass with children, reminding your buddies not to take themselves too seriously. Alda is at his best when describing the transcendent joy of acting" (Kirkus).

A fine inscribed copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
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