FIN & LADY

New York City, NY: Sarah Crichton Books/FSG, 2013. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Sarah Crichton Books/FSG, 2013. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 280 pages. The author's ninth novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. 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. Presents Cathleen Schine's "Fin & Lady". A comic novel of manners set in the comical and ill-mannered 1960's. "Eleven-year-old Fin and his glamorous, worldly, older half-sister, Lady, have just been orphaned, and Lady, whom Fin hasn't seen in six years, is now his legal guardian, and his only hope. That means Fin is uprooted from a small dairy farm in rural Connecticut to Greenwich Village, smack in the middle of the swinging '60s. He soon learns that Lady is as much his responsibility as he is hers. Fin and Lady lead their lives against the background of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, Lady pursued by ardent, dogged suitors, Fin determined to protect his impulsive sister from them and from herself" (Publisher's blurb). Fin is, of course, Huckleberry Finn reincarnated (while Lady Hadley is the Holly Golightly of the Sixties). Cathleen Schine's homage to Mark Twain and the single most beloved character in American literature is tenderly ironic. Twain's subject is hers, too: What does it mean to be free? Are tradition and family inherently incompatible with freedom? And while we're at it: Can't we have a laugh (and a cry) for a change in these sad and dreary times? An absolute "must-have" title for Cathleen Schine collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (on the day of publication) in black pen-marker on the title page by the author: "Cathleen Schine July 9 2013, NYC". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Schine, who is now based in Los Angeles, launched the book in New York City. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Souvenir Announcement of the event during which her signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, placed, and publication-day dated copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing 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 rare signed copy thus. Cathleen Schine's "Love Letter" (which was adapted into a fine film) and "Rameau's Niece" are widely regarded as contemporary American classics. One of the most brilliant American novelists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CATHLEEN SCHINE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374154902.