The Dusty Road (Only Signed Copy)

Barry Reder

Published by The Understanding Business Press, San Francisco, California, 1994

About this Item

First Edition ( 'First published in the United States in 1994' ). There are only a few other copies of this book for sale on the Internet. Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy. The signed inscription reads: 'To Justin, I hope you enjoy lots of relaxing walks down The Dusty Road. Barry Reder.' You can see the covers in the photos. They are very clean. They have very little wear, a little crinkling the spine ends and a tiny crease at the front bottom corner. The spine has a moderate forward lean. The book has a stapled binding. It is very solid. All the pages are nicely tight, as are the covers. The pages are exceptionally clean and in excellent shape. I didn't see any soiling at all. I didn't see any creasing. There are no markings. No attachments of any kind. And the author's signed inscription is the only writing the book. The illustrations by Cheryl Moreno are charming (and serene). There are also a few small photographs taken by the author. The design of the book complements the story beautifully. Here are some excerpts from an article I found about the book and author that will give you a feeling for what the story is about: 'One day in 1989, Barry Reder took a quiet moment-- a feat for a busy lawyer--and wrote down the bedtime story he had made up years before to help his young daughter fall asleep. Days before, a doctor had informed Reder he had a heart condition, and, thinking of his own mortality, Reder felt compelled to preserve the story for the grandchildren he might never know. As it turned out, the doctor misdiagnosed Reder's condition. He remains healthy. But the bad experience led to something good. Reder wrote 'The Dusty Road,' one of the things he had always told himself he wanted to get done but never had time for. The bedtime story is about a serene, peaceful walk that eases both reader and listener into a state of drowsiness. 'When my older daughter, Libby, was about 8, she used to thrash around at bedtime,' he said. 'She was not ready to go to sleep. Life was too much fun. I began telling her a story about a walk down the dusty road. It became a ritual.' One day, when Libby was in fourth grade, she told the story to restless classmates and helped everybody calm down. The book is unlike the typical bright, hardcover children's book. It is a paperback that at first glance resembles a brochure, filled with soft water-color paintings and faded photographs. After receiving 35 rejections from publishers, Reder turned to friends and associates in the print and publishing business. With their help, he was able to get 5,000 copies published. 'I designed the story to be the last part of the bedtime reading ritual,' he said. 'But I'm finding it is being used much more by adults to calm them down. I sometimes say that 'The Dusty Road' is a Mr. Rogers minute in a Sesame Street world. Mr. Rogers is quiet, and Sesame Street is Boom, boom, boom!'.

Seller Inventory # 004866

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Dusty Road (Only Signed Copy)
• Publisher: The Understanding Business Press, San Francisco, California
• Publication Date: 1994
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Cheryl Moreno
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Signed Children's Books or Juvenile Fiction
  • One-Of-A-Kind
  • Nature, Outdoors