McPhee, John

Looking for a Ship

ISBN: 0374190771
New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. "This is an extraordinary tale of life aboard what may be one of the last American merchant ships. As the story begins, Andy Chase, who holds a license as a second mate, is looking for a ship. He has convinced John McPhee to join him in his search- the outcome of which is by no means assured...The job Chase finds- second mate on the S.S. Stella Lykes- takes them on a forty-two-day run through the Panama Canal and down the Pacific coast of South America, with stops to unload and pick up freight at such ports as Cartagena, Valparaiso, Balboa, Lima, and Guayaquil- an area notorious for pirates. Pirates are only one of the challenges facing the Stella Lykes." (from front flap) A classic tale of real-life adventure by John McFee, the acclaimed & prolific American journalist & academician who helped pioneer participatory "creative non-fiction" along with his more flamboyant contemporaries Hunter S. Thompson & Tom Wolfe. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, "First edition, 1990" as stated on copyright page, first printing-state with "0990" printed near lower right corner of jacket back cover. A suspenseful, daring, delightful & insightful McPhee collectible. Book in very fine condition with only a bit of wear & fading to thin edges & corners of blue-cloth front, back covers & spine; moderate spotting to side edge of text block; much less to upper & lower edges of same. Interior very fine with only light, sparse spotting to blank paste-downs & endpapers; miniscule bleeding of text block side-edge spots onto side edges of a few page leaves. Dust jacket very fine with very slight rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; light browning to thin upper margins/ edges of flaps; very small sticker of previous seller "Doubleday/ Book Shop" affixed to blank area near upper right corner of back cover. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4528]

Price: $50.00