Butler, Jack

Jujitsu for Christ

ISBN: 087483015X
Little Rock, AR: August House, Inc., 1986. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Jack Butler. "Included in Jack Butler's Hawk Gumbo and Other Stories is a story entitled "Flies," which introduces Roger Wing, a young boy attempting to use self-discipline as an uneasy means of gaining his father's approval. As Jujitsu for Christ begins, the year is 1960, and eighteen-year-old Roger has found a home for his discipline in the martial arts, which he decides to pledge to the service of Jesus Christ...As Roger becomes increasingly aware that his girlfriend is "being called to become a preacher's wife" but that he is not being called to become a preacher, he is befriended by the Gandys, a neighboring black family, and finds himself reluctantly entangled in the rumbling civil rights movement and its resultant explosions. Jujitsu for Christ is at once a comic novel and a tribute to courage and sacrifice..." (from front flap) The acclaimed novel by Jack Butler, the Southern American poet, short story writer & novelist. The comedic-dramatic saga of Roger & his "eclectic mix of acquaintances" (front flap) at his Christian martial-arts club takes place in Jackson, Mississippi as the civil rights movement builds to its crescendo of violence, resistance & reform. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, "First Edition, 1986" as stated on copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. On the title page, below his printed name, Butler has hand-written his signature & date in black ink: "(signed) Jack Butler/ 7 June 1988." A key Butler collectible in the venerable tradition of Southern American literature with its own uniquely compelling style, especially rare in this original form with his signature & date not long after publication. Book in very fine condition with only light rubbing & fading to edges & corners of brown-cloth front, back covers & spine; moderate spotting to upper edge of text block; much less at side & lower edges of same with two short, thin crossed lines in pencil(?) at upper portion of the former. Interior very fine with only miniscule bleeding of spots onto thin side edges of a few page leaves; otherwise virtually mint. Dust jacket very fine with only very slight wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of front, back covers, spine & flaps; a bit of browning, spotting to blank marginal areas of flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4574]

Price: $70.00