It’s been a particularly cruel end to spring for fans of literature: we lost Paul Auster and Alice Munro in the span of two weeks, and now we’ve said goodbye to another original artist.
The military historian and novelist Caleb Carr died of cancer at his home last week in Cherry Plain, New York, at the age of 68.
Carr was born in Lower Manhattan to bohemian royalty—his father, Lucien Carr, was a key figure in the Beat Generation—but it was a childhood marred by violence, with Caleb suffering terrible beatings at the hands of his famous father.
Through writing, Carr went on to explore the nature of evil—on battlefields, on the streets of Gilded Age New York, and in the bedrooms of his own home.
His 1994 bestseller, The Alienist, follows a cast of characters using methods that were new at the time, such as psychology, to hunt for a serial killer on the Lower East Side.
The Alienist was adapted into an excellent limited series for TNT, and a second season based on its prequel, The Angel of Darkness, soon followed.
We especially love this First Printing of the Alienist, which features decorative endpapers showcasing the 1903 photograph The Street by Alfred Stieglitz, iconic photographer and husband of Georgia O’Keefe.
DM us for more details, but more importantly, go grab one of Carr’s books if you’ve got one. It’s the best way to honor a writer.
