Exley, Frederick

Last Notes from Home

ISBN: 0394405196
New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1988. First Edition. Hardcover. "Last Notes from Home is the long-awaited and triumphant third volume of Frederick Exley's trilogy, which began with A Fan's Notes. Exuberant, witty, perceptive, paranoid, outrageous- half fantasy, half fact- Last Notes from Home is ostensibly the story of Exley's journey to Hawaii from upstate New York to visit his brother, "the Brigadier," an Army officer who is dying of cancer. Exley's journey not only involves his brother's death and all of the love and guilt that entails, but the Brigadier's past life of covert activities, which troubles the narrator...The narrator, sometimes cajoling and inveigling the reader...reveals the always fascinating convolutions of his own life, a confession that is at times hilarious, at times sad, and finally joyful." (from front flap) The final volume of the acclaimed trilogy of autobiographical novels by Frederick Exley (1929-1992), the hard-living American author & journalist. Preceded by the very popular A Fan's Notes (1968, made into a film released in 1972), & Pages from a Cold Island (1975). Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page, possible second printing as indicated by number sequence thereon beginning with "2." An American literary classic, the last of Exley's works of "Fictional Memoir" (subtitle of first volume). Book with very slight wear & fading to thin edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate spotting to upper edge of text block; much less with one small, very light spot-stain to lower edge of same; side edge untrimmed as issued. Interior with one small, light spot-stain to blank rear paste-down near lower left corner; hand-marginalia in thin blue-purple ink consisting almost entirely of underlinings (a few words at margins of pg. 45) not effecting legibility of any text on several (appx. 30/397) pages, the latter point having earned this our near-fine designation since interior is otherwise virtually mint & outer areas very fine as described above. Dust jacket very fine with only slight rubbing & a few short, faint scratches & tiny non-penetrating dimples to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; light browning at thin upper edges of flaps. Near Fine / Very fine. [Item #4509]

Price: $35.00