Nestucca Spit Press Announces Sale of Special Hardback Edition of Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel.

Dear Friend of Nestucca Spit Press:

Four years ago I issued a limited hardback edition of Oregon’s sesquicentennial anthology to help finance its publication and further hone my model of producing sustainable Oregon literature.

The strategy proved successful and I want to replicate it with my latest book, Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel. Nestucca Spit Press will publish 300 hardback copies and offer them in a tiered pricing system with different amenities. I invite you to buy the special edition and assist me in publishing a book about a fascinating and entertaining chapter of Oregon’s cultural history.

Which was…in June 1970, the biggest movie star in the world traveled to the Oregon Coast to film an epic novel about a defiant family of loggers written by a home grown counterculture hero. The star was Paul Newman. The author was Ken Kesey. The story was Sometimes a Great Notion.

What ensued was a wild working vacation between Hollywood and Oregonians involving beer, sex, scotch, loggers, beaches, and perhaps, a spectacularly vandalized pool table. In Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel, I document the legend of that magical summer and present over a 125 never-before-seen photographs, including many in color, in a large 8 ½’’ by 8 ½’’ format size of 168 pages. It’s far and away my most ambitious publishing project and will launch Nestucca Spit Press to the entire Pacific Northwest and beyond.

In the book, I blend reportage, memoir, primary documents, oral history, film criticism, and photographs to produce a unique, visually rich work of non fiction. I also present a thesis that filming Kesey’s literary masterpiece may have helped re-elect Governor Tom McCall, who in his second term (1971-75), led the state to pass a series of progressive governing initiatives that created modern Oregon and one of the most desirable places to live in the country.

I have set two prices for the special edition:

$100—Deluxe Package
(Free Shipping)

Purchasers receive a numbered and signed hardback copy and an original black and white photograph of a studio publicity still or color Polaroid taken by a local. These are not digital reproductions. I have 65 books to sell for the deluxe package and the photographs included for each purchaser will be chosen at random. Therefore, you can expect a surprise but I guarantee all the photographs are suitable for framing.

Don’t you just want a chance to own a color photograph of Paul Newman drinking two cans of Olympia beer at once? Or drunk on margaritas with Joanne Woodward? Or Joe Ben drowning under the log?

Purchasers of the deluxe package also receive a special bookmark created on a letterpress; recognition at the book’s launch at Powell’s downtown on May 25 and a screening of the movie at the Hollywood Theater in Portland on May 26; and a can of Olympia (the beer of choice in the movie) whenever we meet in person.

$50—Basic Package
(Free Shipping)

Purchasers receive a numbered and signed hardback copy and a special bookmark created on a letterpress.

If you prefer not to pay via Paypal, please send a check along with an email about your order to Nestucca Spit Press, at 8575 SW Abalone, South Beach, Oregon 97366.

Thanks for considering a purchase of the special edition of Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel. If it’s not something that interests you, I understand, and hope you will check out the soft cover version, coming in May.

Sincerely,

Matt Love
Publisher of Nestucca Spit Press