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THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE
by Kingston, Maxine Hong
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.
- ISBN 10
- 0679440755
- ISBN 13
- 9780679440758
- Seller
-
CHICAGO, Illinois, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 402 pages. The author's sequel to her debut novel, "Tripmaster Monkey". Her best book as such. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Fifth Book of Peace". The great author's retrieval project. Began fourteen years ago, Maxine Hong Kingston tentatively titled her book, "The Fourth Book of Peace", echoing a Chinese legend about The Three Books of Peace. As the legend went, the latter were all burned. So while we have innumerable Books on War, the secret to lasting peace has been elusive because there is no surviving text. As it happened, Hong Kingston's own manuscript was also destroyed when her home burned down, an uncannily suggestive personal disaster that made the author even more determined to start over and finish the book. Hence its title. "She re-creates her lost fictional narrative and sets it alongside an account of her life after the fire so that the Vietnam-era doings of her antic hero, Wittman Ah Sing, who moves to Hawaii to evade the draft, are juxtaposed with her own experience teaching writing workshops for veterans of Vietnam and other wars. Rich in empathy and moral conviction, Kingston is also such an exuberant storyteller that readers may regret that she purposely leaves the fictional narrative unfinished" (The New Yorker Magazine). That is, however, the whole point: That peace will always remain elusive. No sooner is it within our grasp that we do something to lose it again. An absolute "must-have" title for Maxine Hong Kingston collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in pink pen-marker on the title page by Maxin Hong Kingston. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. As is her custom, Maxine Hong Kingston added her signature-chop. It comes with a rare and pristine copy of the lovely Souvenir Material of the event during which her signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for "The Woman Warrior" in 1976, the National Book Award for "China Men" in 1980, and the National Medal for the Humanities. One of the greatest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MAXINE HONG KINGSTON TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679440755.
Synopsis
Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who operated a gambling house in the 1940s, when Maxine was born, and then a laundry where Kingston and her brothers and sisters toiled long hours. Kingston graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1962 from the University of California at Berkeley, and, in the same year, married actor Earll Kingston, whom she had met in an English course. The couple has one son, Joseph, who was born in 1963. They were active in antiwar activities in Berkeley, but in 1967 the Kingstons headed for Japan to escape the increasing violence and drugs of the antiwar movement. They settled instead in Hawai‘i, where Kingston took various teaching posts. They returned to California seventeen years later, and Kingston resumed teaching writing at the University of California, Berkeley. While in Hawai‘i, Kingston wrote her first two books. The Woman Warrior , her first book, was published in 1976 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award, making her a literary celebrity at age thirty-six. Her second book, China Men , earned the National Book Award. Still today, both books are widely taught in literature and other classes. Kingston has earned additional awards, including the PEN West Award for Fiction for Tripmaster Monkey , the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and the National Humanities Medal, which was conferred by President Clinton, as well as the title “Living Treasure of Hawai‘i” bestowed by a Honolulu Buddhist church. Her most recent books include a collection of essays, Hawai ‘ i One Summer , and latest novel, The Fifth Book of Peace . Kingston is currently Senior Lecturer Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Modern Rare
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 6269
- Title
- THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE
- Author
- Kingston, Maxine Hong
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine Dust Jacket.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition. First Printing.
- ISBN 10
- 0679440755
- ISBN 13
- 9780679440758
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York City, NY
- Date Published
- 2003
- Pages
- 402
Terms of Sale
Modern Rare
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About the Seller
Modern Rare
Biblio member since 2003
CHICAGO, Illinois
About Modern Rare
ModernRare.com is exclusively an online bookstore. We believe this is the best way to satisfy our customers' expectations. Unlike an open bookstore, where books are routinely handled and may deteriorate, we guarantee the condition of our books as described. We specialize in modern firsts, photography, the arts, and erotica. You will also find a fine selection of signed copies, limited editions, and memorabilia because our ultimate goal is to deepen the pleasure of collecting books. We carry titles that we ourselves like and believe in -- books that we think will excite, enchant, and endure.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- 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...
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- 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...
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