James Salter (1925 - 2015) was a novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Salter grew up in New York City and was a career officer and Air Force pilot until his mid-thirties, when the success of his first novel (The Hunters, 1957) led to a fulltime writing career. Salter’s potent, lyrical prose earned him acclaim from critics, readers, and fellow novelists. His novel A Sport and a Pastime (1967) was hailed by the New York Times as “nearly perfect as any American fiction.”
This is such a perfect thin little thing, like Salter decided to write a monograph about New York City, a list of its denizens and attributes. The photographer/illustrators Duane Michals and William Drenttel lay out Salter's text in bold colorful type and end the book with a single somewhat Lynchian image of the city. According to the back there are only 226 copies in existence of the first printing (who knows if there was ever a second) - check with your library!
Love STILL SUCH, love Salter, love this wonderful little book. An important correction of a review on this site. The book was not designed by Bill Drenttel. The designer was the brilliant Stephen Doyle, Drenttel's partner. Duane Michals was the photographer for the final spread.