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HIGH SIERRA
by BURNETT, W. R
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940., 1940. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Burnt orange colored cloth, titles and decorations stamped in gray on the front cover and spine, beautifully colored purple top stain, [8], 292 [2] pp. A fresh, fine, bright copy, with the topstain rich and unfaded, in a bright dust jacket (priced $2.00), with some light rubbing to upper front corner, and some pinpoint wear to spine ends; else very near fine, with the spine panel perfectly unfaded. Housed in a blue cloth custom clamshell case with a red leather label on the spine and titles stamped in gilt. Burnett's eleventh novel, a character study of hardened criminal Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, the last surviving member of John Dillinger's gang, who plans to rob a plush Sierra hotel after getting out of prison. "Far from myths created by J. Edgar Hoover's biased attitude toward the criminals of the 1930s, Burnett gives us a sad, sometimes surreal look at a true outlaw. High Sierra is filled with every possible kind of feeling, from bleak humor to a pity that becomes Roy Earle's doom. The book's theme of time and fate are worthy of Proust" (Pronzini & Muller, p.101). Basis for Raoul Walsh's 1941 film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino, and filmed again by Walsh as the 1949 western Colorado Territory, starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo. This an exceptional copy and the nicest copy we've seen or handled in several years. There may be another copy as good as this one, but none better!
Synopsis
The tormented and exhausted man at the center of W.R. Burnett's High Sierra is a notorious criminal whom the newspapers call "Mad Dog" Roy Earle. Earle is every bit the criminal the newspapers depict, but he is a complicated soul who is the tragic hero of the novel -- a horribly flawed man, a violent criminal who still retains a bit of a conscience but never gets a decent break.As in most of Burnett's novels, High Sierra ostensibly describes a carefully plotted crime that is undermined by human nature. More interesting and important, perhaps, is its study of Roy Earle, who hardly seems the "Mad Dog" he is made out to be in the press. Pardoned from prison, he idealizes his childhood as he wearily makes his way across the California desert to meet up with two hoods named Red and Babe. Earle is dismayed to find they have with them a tough and brazen woman named Marie, though he begins to warm to her crude charm. He has been moved by the plight of a physically impaired woman he meets, Velma Goodhue, and he resolves to help her -- imagining, somehow, that she will be his. After a holdup he plans with Red, Babe and Marie (who has now fallen in love with him), Earle takes money to Velma for an operation to repair her clubfoot. But the holdup has disastrous results. Red and Babe are killed, and Roy goes on the lam with Marie. They have nowhere to turn and even Velma deserts him. Earle sends Marie away, to meet him eventually in a mountain pass in the High Sierras -- a rendezvous high in the sky that will not take place as planned.Much happens plotwise in High Sierra but it is Roy Earle who holds our interest. As remorseless as the book is -- the concluding chapter consists a few lacerating paragraphs of post-mortem chitchat from the police -- it makes Earle a rich and deeply compelling man, without sentimentalizing him at all. Reading High Sierra is close to the experience of reading James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, a tough, bleak and unforgiving narrative that works a dark and elusive magic.
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Details
- Bookseller
- BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 48717
- Title
- HIGH SIERRA
- Author
- BURNETT, W. R
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf, 1940.
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1940
Terms of Sale
BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
We accept checks and all major credit cards. Prices are NET to all. PA residents must add 6% sales tax. It is our preference to ship via either UPS or Priority Mail. All oversized books and all shipments outside the U.S. will be charged actual shipping, insurance, and handling costs. All parcels shall be shipped insured. All items may be returned within 7 days of receipt with prior notification. We request any items for return be sent by their original shipping route, be well packaged and fully insured.
About the Seller
BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
Biblio member since 2006
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
About BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
Buckingham Books specializes in new, used and rare books dealing with Mystery and Western Americana. Books in the mystery field include not only Mystery, but also Detective, Espionage, and Adventure Fiction. Our Western Americana Section offers books about the development of the American West. All books in our inventory are First Editions unless clearly stated otherwise.
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...
- 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...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- 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....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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