ITHACA. Hardback - 2017

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2.] NFINE/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,colour pictorial landscape artwork by Jo Thomson,illustrated dw/dj panels; front panel with part embossed and 5-colour block illustration: 3 shades of brown - light to dark - blue and white with bronze gilt highlights to some elements of illustration; with capitalised, embossed,matt black-lettered title and author's bronze gilt-lettered name and 2 critics' [Edna O'Brien+Patrick McCabe] blue-lettered reviews. A white spine/backstrip with front's colour thumbnail illustration detail to its head,similarly coloured+lettered but flat printed title+author's name and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name at foot of same,rear panel with partially repeated front's colour illustration with 4 other critics' blue-lettered reviews.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - minimal creasing to top edges with a single tiny snick at front's top corner tip - else no other nicks,tears or splits present,a small indent to rear gutter towards the foot of same.Top+fore-edges both with slightly heavier toning at top edges' fore-edge and hear of fore-edge too remainder bright and clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean/ unblemished sharp-cornered,original plain dark green cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked thumbnail bronze gilt illustration at head of spine/backstrip and bright,crisp,blocked bronze gilt lettering to same and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-311pp [paginated] includes non-numbered chapters/divisions and Acknowledgements as last page; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication with blank reverse,an epigram [Tom Waits,Time] also with blank reverse. Visually the external appearance is more than acceptable,and particularly internally,is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall. Despite that,it really is still an exemplary example for it's brightness, cleanliness and lack of other or age-acquired detracting faults usually encountered in a book of comparable age. 'ITHACA',the ferociously funny and unbelievably poignant debut novel from Alan McMonagle,combines a fiercely emotional story with crackling prose. This was the summer after all the money disappeared. One minute it was here. The next it had vanished. All of it. Without trace . . . Now that all the money had vanished everyone had their eyes and ears ready for all manner of doom. Summer 2009, and eleven-year-old Jason Lowry is preoccupied with thoughts of the Da he has never known. In the meantime, his vodka-swilling, swings-from-the-hip Ma is busy entertaining her latest boyfriend and indulging her fondness for joyriding. Jason escapes to the Swamp: a mysteriously rising pool of fetid water on the outskirts of the town. There, he meets the girl, a being as lost as himself and with even less regard for reality. Together, they conjure exotic adventures - from ancient Egypt to the search for Ithaca,home of Odysseus. But what begin as innocent flights of fancy soon become forays into hazardous territory; the girl is a dangerous (and very committed) partner in crime. 'Ithaca' is the darkly comic story of how far a lonely boy will go to find what he's looking for,and how in searching for what we've lost,we risk losing sight of what we have. Please contact the seller,particularly ALL overseas buyers for correct,[insured] shipping/P+p quotes BEFORE placing your order,especially if ordering any multiples. N.B. ALL buyers please note, stock(s') shipping quotes are adjusted for any refunds AFTER receipt of order and BEFORE the despatch of the order,especially if the item is offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now,in some cases,cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **