THE FREE WORLD: A NOVEL

New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 360 pages. The author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most sensational literary debuts of our time. The appearance of the title in the United States. 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. The dazzling DJ design is by Dean Nicastro. Presents David Bezmozgis' "The Free World". His first novel. Born in Latvia, Bezmozgis grew up during the waning days of the Soviet Empire before emigrating to the West, the "Free World" of the title. His book is an unabashedly "Russian" novel, unable to break free of homeland. "Its strength is in the language. The voices speak a new Frankenstein tongue, its seams purposefully showing. Though written in English, the dialogue has the distinct rhythm and tone of Russian that has been translated, almost word-for-word, without an interpreter's laborious task of adjusting for context. As a storytelling device, it's perfect. It immerses the reader in the Krasnansky household and lest he forget, reminds him that the place he has entered is very Russian, not Russians among Americans, as he may be used to, or even Russians among Italians" (The New York Observer). Migration, that is, the pull of Home versus the push of the World, is the central narrative of the modern novel, whether it's Vladimir Nabokov ekeing out a living in Paris while longing for and cursing Mother Russia at the same time or Roberto Bolano desperately fleeing Latin America by travelling restlessly everywhere only to find the continent wherever he went and ended up. An absolute "must-have" title for David Bezmozgis collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by David Bezmozgis. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) 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. David Bezmozgis was selected as one of "20 Writers Under 40" of the decade by The New Yorker Magazine. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DAVID BEZMOZGIS TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374281408.