The Naked and the Dead
by Mailer, Norman
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Good/Good
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Rinehart and Company, 1948. First Edition. Hardcover. Good/Good. Signed by Norman Mailer on half title page. A good copy of the first edition, 1st printing, with first issue of jacket (jacket chipped with wear, light stain to rear panel; book has nicks and snags to spine tips, with some shelf and reading wear; erased pencil inscription just visible on front endpaper). Author's first book; novel set on a Greek island during the Second World War. Notable for the publisher's blurb on both fly leaves of the dust jacket: '.. you cannot afford to pass by this astonishing performance' (lower flyleaf). First issue, with publisher's seal and copyright date of 1948 on title page verso, $4 price on jacket (and blurb). 1 b/w Illustration (map). [8], 721 pages.
Synopsis
Acclaimed as a successful expression of the futility of war, Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead follows the story of an army platoon of foot soldiers fighting for the possession of the Japanese-held island of Anopopei during World War II. The novel, which embodies wartime disillusionment, is partly based on Mailer’s own experiences with the 112th Cavalry in the Pacific. Through its four parts, The Naked and the Dead addresses themes of loneliness, death of fear and dying, and brotherhood. The novel is written in gritty, journalistic detail. However, this tone was dialed back as publishers persuaded Mailer to use to euphemism “fug” in lieu of the mother of all curse words — the “F” word — in his novel. The Naked and the Dead sold 200,000 copies in its first three months and was a New York Times best seller for over a year. Despite some controversy among critics, the novel remains important in American literature. The Naked and the Dead is ranked 51st on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1958.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Naked and the Dead
Reviews
On May 21 2016, a reader said:
this is a book of the month issue
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Details
- Bookseller
- Arundel Books of Seattle
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 618459
- Title
- The Naked and the Dead
- Author
- Mailer, Norman
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Rinehart and Company
- Date Published
- 1948
- Keywords
- Mailer, Norman American Literature 20th Century American Fiction First Book Adventure World War II Signed QX91, , , , , , ,
Terms of Sale
Arundel Books of Seattle
7-day return only if not as described (you must notify us immediately on upon receipt of any problem). We pack carefully.
About the Seller
Arundel Books of Seattle
Biblio member since 2005
Seattle, Washington
About Arundel Books of Seattle
Arundel Books stunning new store is located in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square, and has an eclectic stock that will satisfy both the avid reader and discriminating collector.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Blurb
- The blurb refers to the commentary that appears on the dust jacket flaps or the rear of the dustjacket. In the case of a...
- Half Title
- The blank front page which appears just prior to the title page, and typically contains only the title of the book, although, at...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- 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...
- 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....
Frequently asked questions
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