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The Man with the Golden Arm
by ALGREN, Nelson
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Galena, Illinois, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1950. Hardcover. 8vo. Tan cloth with red and green spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 343pp. Very good/very good. Spine slightly age toned; jacket (mildly edgeworn, with a few edge chips) has been expertly, professionally mounted to heavy archival stock, thus sturdy. The very first National Book Award given went to the Chicago novelist's best-known novel, and this nice fifth printing is inscribed and signed by him in blue ink on half-title page "With golden good wishes / to Greta and / Herb from / Nelson." (Their identity remains unknown, though clearly they were friends of the author since he signs first name only.) This unique copy has been extra-illustrated, for a special leaf tipped in before the title page bears choice autograph additions: Signatures of the three primary stars of the 1955 film version: Facing the title page like a frontispiece is a 4" X 5" 1955 fan magazine black-and-white magazine photograph of tuxedo-clad Frank Sinatra crooning onstage, and across this is a large secretarial signature of him in green ink; verso of this sheet, top to bottom, bears an oddly-trimmed (roughly 3" X 2½", with tape stains along four edges) slip bearing a boldly penned inscription and signature of Kim Novak ("To Donald -- / Best wishes! / Kim Novak"), and below this a fine heavy stock 5" X 3" card boldly signed by Eleanor Parker and dated by her 19 February 1988 at upper right. Sinatra (1915-98) portrays lead character Frankie "Dealer" Machine, Novak (born 1933) portrays Molly Novotny and Parker (1922-2013) portrays Sophia "Zosh" Machine. Novak and Parker are authentic, but to repeat, Sinatra is a secretarial signature. Jacket is a later state, identical but for "National Book Award 1950" at top of front panel. Laid in is the ideal bookmark: Parker's original transmittal envelope. Quite an interesting copy. BRUCCOLI A 4.1.e.
Synopsis
Nelson Algren was an American writer. He wrote his first story in 1933 while he was in Texas working at a gas station. Before returning home one evening, he was caught stealing a typewriter from an abandoned classroom. For this, he spent nearly five months behind bars. The incident made a deep impression on him. It enhanced his identification with outsiders, has-beens, and the general failures that later populated his fictional world. His novel, The Man With The Golden Arm won the National Book Award in 1950. The novel tells the story of Frankie Machine, an addict who gets clean while in prison. This complex tale takes place in mid-century Chicago and explores the circumstances that led to Frankie’s addiction as well as the stories of the community of swindlers, tenement housing dwellers, and drunks that he takes up with. As his life spirals downward, Frankie does not believe that he is worth saving. One of Algren’s accomplishments is that he has the reader cheering for Frankie, and his friends as well. A relentless evocation of life in the inner-city, its victims and survivors.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 49302
- Title
- The Man with the Golden Arm
- Author
- ALGREN, Nelson
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Doubleday & Company
- Place of Publication
- Garden City
- Date Published
- 1950
- Bookseller catalogs
- Books; American Literature;
Terms of Sale
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts accepts most major credit cards and PayPal. Checks are welcome. Institutions will be accommodated as their procedures require. Every effort has been made to describe each book and any defects accurately. If an item proves unsatisfactory for any reason, it may be returned within seven days. We would appreciate a courtesy call if an item is being returned. Member ABAA, ILAB, MWABA, The Manuscript Society.
About the Seller
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Biblio member since 2005
Galena, Illinois
About Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA
Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts has been serving book lovers, collectors and institutions since 1991. Our inventory of quality out-of-print books spans 50 subjects, while the extensive autograph holdings have a decidedly historical bent, reflecting personages from every field of human endeavor.
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.
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Later State
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from a later run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some part...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Tipped In
- Tipped In is used to describe something which has been glued into a book. Tipped-in items can include photos, book plates,...
- 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....
- 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...
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