LOCOS A Comedy of Gestures

(New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1936).

LIMITED FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, RARELY ENCOUNTERED, AND ESPECIALLY SO WITH THE CLOTH SO BRIGHT AND THE JACKET INCLUDED. One of the author's two novels written in English; LOCOS is by "an author at the mercy of his characters" and is a metafictional collection of related stores set in Spain involving several characters that defy the wishes of the author, write their own stories, and even assume each other's roles.
Originally published in this LIMITED SIGNED EDITION, the work won critical praise but was largely overlooked by the book-buying public and was not reprinted until it was rediscovered in 1987 by an editor for the Dalkey Archive Press. That new edition's positive reception then led to the publication of Alfau's second English-language novel, CHROMOS, in 1990 (when the author was 88 years old) from a manuscript which had been tucked in a drawer since 1948. Upon publication, the book was nominated for the National Book Award for 1990. Item #31507

LIMITED First Edition, one of only 1250 copies printed SIGNED AND HAND-NUMBERED BY THE AUTHOR. 8vo, in the publisher's original red cloth lettered on the upper cover and spine in silver, the spine with silver ruled bands, in the very scarce original dustjacket. xiv, 307 pp. An attractive copy of this rarely encountered book, the red cloth is fine and fresh, the text-block with a light bit of the mild mellowing associated with paper of the depression era. The elusive and seldom seen dustjacket, with some wear and a few closed tears, chips to the spine tips, and some separation along the fold lines. William Soskin's New York Times Book Review of March 29, 1936 neatly affixed to rear blanks, a second book review by Jonathan Daniels laid in.

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Price: $595.00