About My Father's Books

The books for sale on this web site are for the most part, one-owner, hard-bound books. Good books! Some were acquired originally by my father during his lifetime. Many were published by Random House Inc. or Alfred A. Knopf.

As a book salesman for more than 45 years and one-time President of the American Association of Book Travelers, my father loved good books. He read every book that he sold, and frequently advised Presidents Bennet Acer (Random House) and Donald Klopfer (Alfred A. Knopf) about marketing the books they published. My father's standards in literature were quite high. He wouldn't sell anything he couldn't be proud of, and frankly said he had to believe in what he sold. He made certain that his family knew the difference between a good book and one for which he wouldn't give a nickel! The latter had no place in our library.

My father's appreciation for good books derived from the fact that he grew up on a farm in the Midwest during the dust bowl and the depression and good, hard-cover books were hard to come by. Anyone, it seemed, could afford a pulp magazine, but a book, a really good book was dear and something you treasured. My father worked very hard in his young life, he left the farm, came east and signed on to sell for the Garden City Publishing Company, Garden City, Long Island, NY. That's where he started and he never looked back. He went on, to work for Doubleday for more than 20 years, and Random House for over 18 years. I used to tease him about the amount of time he spent working with books or reading, and he would say, "My books are my friends." During his lifetime, especially in later years, my father bought, sold and collected fine hard-bound books. He knew just about everyone in the book business and they knew, and most loved, him.

So perhaps you can appreciate the wonder I experienced growing up in the midst of this wonderful library of excellent books. The fact that both my parents would read to me as a child encouraged me learn to read and to develop a love of reading and books. My first part-time job in high school was checking out books in the school library, and my love of reading and writing has never departed. I can easily lose myself in a good book, as many people do in a good movie!

When my father was quite elderly and knew he couldn't keep his entire library, he offered part of it to me...he didn't give it to me, he made me buy it! At first, I was a little put out, but then I realized, that he wanted me to appreciate the books for their value at the time, and perhaps he wanted me to be his last sales coup de gras! (You'd have to know my father to see the humor in this.) In any case, buy them I did-- and I never regretted it. That's when I began seriously collecting books myself. Stopping at old book stores, going to book fairs and antique shops and simply following wherever books would lead me.

Now, looking back, this web site is a kind of testimonial to my father's lifelong commitment to good books and to his great love for reading and great literature... long may they wave! Hopefully, this web site will transmit a love of great books and wonderful "reads" to you. You might even find a few bargains here, and you may even find that your books are your friends as well.

I am a personal member of the American Library Association and My Father's Books is a member of the American Booksellers Association.

Please enjoy My Father's Books, and come back again soon.

Sincerely,

Marianne M. Frederick
My Father's Books

p.s. Please see this newspaper article about My Father's Books.