Schulberg, Budd

Waterfront

New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1955. First Edition. Hardcover. "Budd Schulberg has drawn for us the whole turbulent, seething harbor of New York- a world in itself. Here are the traffic turmoil, the sea-smells and sounds, the seething activity and the riverfront slum dwellers of simple faith- long accustomed to violence, betrayal and sudden death...in the intertwined stories of Terry Malloy, the "fringe hoodlum" who struggles against the faint pricking of an unfamiliar conscience, and a slum-reared Catholic priest who struggles with the problem of applying first-century Christianity to twentieth-century corruption, the author has succeeded in writing a novel of indignation in terms of unforgettable characters." (from front flap) The hard-hitting novel by Seymour Wilson "Budd" Schulberg (1914-2009), the great American journalist, screenwriter, producer & novelist. Schulberg had written the script for the iconic film On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy ("I coulda been a contender..."), released the previous year (1954). As explained on rear flap, "When the motion picture On the Waterfront carried before it every prize...it might have been thought that the author of the screenplay...had satisfied his interest in this material. But Schulberg is primarily a novelist, and his years of experience on the New York waterfront, which already had produced a series of stirring articles, short stories and the prize-winning motion picture, have now boiled over into a novel which is manifestly no mere fictionalizing of a film plot but a full-bodied, masterfully constructed and deeply felt work of fiction..." Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing as stated on copyright page. A prime Schulberg collectible, essential to fully understanding & appreciating the story so memorably acted out in On the Waterfront. Book in fine condition with slight wear, rubbing & browning to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; very light browning & a few short, faint scratches at side & lower edges of text block; same with mild fading to grey-dyed upper edge of same. Interior fine with light browning to blank paste-downs & endpapers, a few faint vertical wave-blisters at former (quite possibly minor flaws as issued); a touch of browning to blank margins of some page leaves; tiny bumps at mostly upper corners of some of same. Unrestored dust jacket relatively good-to-near-fine with moderate rubbing, scratching & creasing to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild wear, tiny bumps & creases at edges & corners of same esp. spine-edges & corners with very slight loss of paper; several short, closed vertical tears at lower edge & left corner of back cover; significant loss & some wrinkling of remains of thin layer of laminate throughout outer surfaces esp. covers (a point apparently common to all copies that we have encountered). Fine / Good- Near Fine. [Item #4541]

Price: $100.00