OUT OF EGYPT: A MEMOIR

New York City, NY: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1994. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1994. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 340 pages. The author's memoir. One of the most beautifully written memoirs of the late-20th century. 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. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Andre Aciman's "Out of Egypt". His sensational first book. "When Aciman, born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, was asked his nationality as a boy, he automatically replied, 'French'. His confusion was understandable: His family were Sephardic Jews who had wandered from Italy to Turkey, then settled in Egypt. His father owned a woolen mill and his parents were very rich, as were the rest of the exotic clan who lived with them or gathered regularly for elegant, memorable teas, fetes, and fierce but transient squabbling. Few of them learned Arabic, and preferred French, English, Ladino, or Italian. They concealed their Jewish-ness when Nasser was in power, a time of high Arab nationalism, intense anti-Semitism, and then war. Eventually, they fled to Paris, leaving behind much of their wealth, but not their culture, which Aciman recalls with a magical sensibility streaked with antic humor. A marvelous memento of a place, time, and people that have all disappeared" (Publishers Weekly). Disappearance - or what we also call "loss" - is also the subject of Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa" (1938), among other uncanny resemblances between two great books that are separated by sixty years. Like Dinesen, Aciman is not nostalgic at all, much less sentimental. He remembers in order to survive and go on living. Memory becomes one's best weapon in the struggle against the caprice called History, and against death itself. An absolute "must-have" title for Andre Aciman collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed and inscribed in blue ink-pen on the half-title page by the author: "Thank you so much. With all my best wishes, Andre Aciman". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, who is named, is personally close to the author and cannot be named here at her request. This title is a great book. This is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and despite its imperfection (slight wear on DJ's corner and spine, but it's there) is still in fine condition overall: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Almost ALL other copies available online are subsequent printings even if their dealers don't say so. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Andre Aciman's "Call Me By Your Name" is regarded as a classic by Colm Toibin. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ANDRE ACIMAN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374228337.