Boneless Roast
Los Angeles: [Mason Williams], 1967. First edition. Unpaginated. Perfect-bound printed wrappers. Some rubbing to spine edges and extremities.
A fairly uncommon self-published artist’s book by a fairly undersung developer of west coast conceptual art. Alongside his close friend Ed Ruscha, with whom he drove from Oklahoma to Los Angeles in 1956, Williams shared a love of wordplay, graphic signs, fonts, cars, subversive humor, and general shenanigans, all of which are on display in this publication. The brief essay “How to Derive the Maximum Enjoyment From Crackers” became the basis of Ruscha’s Crackers, published several years later. Around the same time, Williams was driving the 1963 Buick LeSabre on US Highway 91 when Ruscha threw a Royal Model X typewriter out the window, the results of the ensuing wreckage documented as Royal Road Test. Williams eventually moved towards more mainstream entertainment, writing for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and composing the wildly popular instrumental hit “Classical Gas” (originally titled “Classical Gasoline”). This copy is inscribed by Williams “For Gil.” OCLC locates a fairly scant seven copies. Item #2632
Price: $600.00