That very review copy of the 1818 first edition, the three volumes, bound as one in period calf, lacked the half-titles and advertisements and there was spotting throughout, but firsts of Frankenstein are rare beasts, and those shortcomings were in some way compensated for by its unusual provenance. It made £36,425 ($52,090).

A new exhibit titled Experimental Women in Flux: Selective Reading in the Silverman Reference Library opened at the Museum of Modern Art earlier this month. Fluxus, if you're not familiar, is an avant-garde art form that emerged in the 1960s. As described on MoMA's site: "With an emphasis on performance and play, Fluxus artists aimed to bring art and life together, collapsing the traditional divisions between mediums and undermining the authority of the artist through collaboration and audience participation." 

In 2009, MoMA acquired the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection, which included the reference library of more than 1,500 artists' books, event scores, exhibition catalogues, periodicals, and examples of the alternative press. This exhibit, organized by Sheelagh Bevan with David Senior, includes the work of artists like Alison Knowles, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, Yoko Ono, Dorothy Iannone, and others. Shown here at left is Helen Chadwick and David Mayor's conceptual photobook, Door to Door, from Beau Geste Press (1973).

The exhibit runs through Nov. 8 at MoMA's Cullman Education & Research Building (entrance at 4 West 54th St.).

One of the reasons that my wife and I get along so well is that we both suffer from some of the same afflictions. Both of us have seriously collected books for decades. We both love simple, honest food. And we both love film, especially quirky, independent films. 

And thereby hangs a tale. For we have found that simply by purchasing DVDs of many of our favorite films, we also have enlarged our respective book collections. 

How so? Well, at first accidentally, then deliberately, by buying a fair number of the films which interest us from a single film distributor, The Criterion Collection.

Richard Goodman, known to you all as a long-time FB&C contributor, has published his third book, A New York Memoir, which hits stores this week. The story begins in 1975, when Goodman arrived in New York City, where he lives today. It follows the author as he meets remarkable people and grapples with the city's ups and downs. Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue, said of the book, "So much more than an engaging memoir of New York, this is a heart laid bare. One can learn much from this man who feels tender toward cobblestones and old women, nostalgic about a daughter's childhood, frightened at the prospect of dying alone—a rare individual who, with honesty, sensuousness, and keen observation, turns yearning and remembrance into art."

Taking this opportunity to chat with Richard about something aside from rare books and deadlines, I asked him about creating this memoir and about his life in New York City.