Kosinski, Jerzy

The Devil Tree

ISBN: 0151253285
New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973. First Edition. Hardcover. "Jonathan James Whalen is the American dream locked in the American nightmare. As the handsome young heir to a vast industrial fortune, Whalen moves freely from the hippie colonies of Nepal and the opium brothels of Burma to the exclusive clinics of Europe and the luxury suites of Manhattan, bathed in the irresponsibility of the super privileged. Yet his freedom exists only in the eyes of his women, his servants, and his enemies, for as his quest for self becomes more frenzied, his roots grow stronger, threatening to strangle him in a heritage of madness. Careening through the circuses of self-searching- drugs, sex, crime, encounter therapy- Whalen comes to discover the escape route has no exit: for some in America, coming of age is coming apart." (from front flap) The fourth novel by Jerzy Kosinski (1933-1991), the great if controversial Polish-American writer perhaps best known for his preceding novel Being There (1970), which was made into the acclaimed film (1979) starring Peter Sellers, for which Kosinski wrote the screenplay. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page, probable second printing as indicated by letter sequence beginning with "B" thereon. Followed by a revised & expanded edition (1981). An exemplary, collectible Kosinski work of intensive semi-autobiographical fiction, in its penultimately rarest original form. Book in fine condition with light rubbing, browning & fading to front, back covers & spine; light wear, fading & occasional spotting to edges & corners of same; mild dulling & loss to silver-gilt letters at spine; moderate rubbing & spotting to upper edge of text block; much less at side & lower edges of same. Interior very fine with only one small spot each to blank area near upper right corner of title page, upper left corner of blank opposite page; miniscule bleeding of spots noted above onto upper & lower edges of a few page leaves; otherwise substantially mint. Dust jacket relatively near-fine with mild rubbing, scratching & browning to front, back covers, spine & flaps; light wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same incl. a few tiny chips at upper spine-edge, corners with minimal loss of paper; several vertical crease-wrinkles across surface of front flap esp. at/ near right edge, not effecting legibility of text. Fine / Near Fine. [Item #4610]

Price: $60.00