[Item #4454] Loon Lake. E. L. Doctorow.
Loon Lake
Loon Lake
Loon Lake
Loon Lake
Loon Lake
Loon Lake
Loon Lake

Loon Lake

ISBN: 039450691X
New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1980. First Trade Edition. Hardcover. Signed by E.L. Doctorow. "Loon Lake, E.L. Doctorow's first novel since Ragtime, resembles its famous predecessor only in the power of its prose and its author's continuing challenge to the reader's expectations of what fiction can be. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, a tempestuous young man...finds himself lost one night beside a single-track railroad in the Adirondack Mountains. A private train goes by, ablaze with lights. He follows it as if it were a vision- and so comes to Loon Lake, the hidden wilderness estate of one of the country's richest men. Here he encounters a great-hearted poet-drunkard, a willful, beautiful young girl, a gangster, a world-famous aviatrix and the ineffable master of Loon Lake himself. Faced with their conflicting values and demands, he makes his move- plunging into a life and destiny that he, and the reader, could hardly have expected." (from front flap) The fifth published novel by E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015), the venerable, award-winning & beloved American author, one of the greatest masters of historical fiction. Preceded by & riding on the wild popularity of his novel Ragtime (which was made into acclaimed stage & film productions), this hard-act-to-follow work is immensely entertaining & exemplary. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first trade edition as stated on copyright page (published simultaneously with a special limited edition). On the title page, between his printed name & title, Doctorow has hand-written his signature in bold black ink. An excellent Doctorow collectible. Book in fine condition with minor fading & scratching mostly to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; front cover gilt facsimile signature & esp. spine letters & graphics with just a touch of loss; mild-to-moderate rubbing, browning & light spotting to upper edge of text block; hardly any to side & lower edges of same. Interior fine with previous owner's place, date ("October, 1985") & signature in black ink at upper margin of blank light-brown front endpaper; very small creases, tiny bumps at mostly upper corners of a few page leaves. Dust jacket near-fine with slight rubbing, browning & scratching to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same incl. some very short, mostly closed tears. Fine / Near Fine. [Item #4454]

Price: $75.00

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