AN AMERICAN DREAM
by Mailer, Norman
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Near Fine
- Seller
-
Canandaigua, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: The Book Club. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Mailer was a novelist, journalist, politician, celebrity and founder of "The Village Voice," among many other things. Steven Rojack, protagonist of Mailer's fourth novel, "An American Dream," is a war hero, a politician, a celebrity, and, one suspects, how Mailer imagined himself when he wrote the book in a very short time frame in 1964 for serial publication in "Esquire." Rojack murders his wife, lies to the police about his crime and then careens wildly through New York's dark under-side, challenging the Devil himself. This copy is the 1965 London Book Club edition, first edition thus. About 5 x 7 1/2 inches, 256 pages in blue cloth-covered boards with black lettering on the spine. The front panel and spine of the dustjacket show a pictorial montage featuring a beautiful woman, a gold icon with a human eye, and a snake. Title and author in white letters across the top edge. Back panel lists five other selections from The Book Club. Top edge of text shows a trace of soiling, o/w boards and text are complete, clean and unmarked, with no significant flaws. Not ex-library. DJ shows only touch of soiling on back panel and very light edge wear. No tears, no creasing or chipping. A collectable copy for a completist collector or simply a very decent reading/study copy.
Synopsis
An American Dream is Norman Mailer's fourth novel, published by Dial Press. Mailer wrote it in serialized form for Esquire, consciously attempting to resurrect the methodology used by Charles Dickens and other earlier novelists, with Mailer writing each chapter against monthly deadlines. The book is written in a poetic style heavy with metaphor that creates unique and hypnotizing narrative and dialogue.
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Details
- Seller
- H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 005709
- Title
- AN AMERICAN DREAM
- Author
- Mailer, Norman
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- The Book Club
- Place of Publication
- London
- Keywords
- MODERN NOVEL, FIRST EDITION, LONDON, NEW YORK, 1960S, STEVEN ROJACK, CRIME, MURDER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEX ABUSE,
- Bookseller catalogs
- Modern Novel; Crime; Fine Literature;
Terms of Sale
H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller
All books subject to prior sale. All books returnable within two weeks for any reason. Please return by USPS (media mail rate) and note the reason for return. All sales subject to applicable taxes.
About the Seller
H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller
Biblio member since 2005
Canandaigua, New York
About H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller
H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller, has been serving customers on the internet since 2003. We specialize in modern American and English fiction and in mystery and detective thrillers, as well as art and art history. We also have a growing selection of mid-to-late 19th century history and literature. Nearly all our modern and contemporary books are first editions or otherwise collectable.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- O/W
- An abbreviation for otherwise
- Book Club Edition
- A generic term denoting a book which was produced or distributed by one of any number of book club organizations. Usually the...
- Completist
- A completist is a book collector who seeks all collectible editions of a particular title, subject, author, or other focus of...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...