[Item #4922] One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

New York, NY: Frederick Praeger, 1963. First Softcover Edition. Softcover. Subtitled “A Soviet Novel of Life in Stalin’s Forced Labor Camps,” Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” is an uncontested classic of World Literature. First published in the Soviet literary magazine “Novy Mir,” or “New World” in November of 1962, it describes a single day in the life of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukov. The mere appearance of the book in 1962 was considered historic and entirely without precedent, as never before had such a brutal, fearlessly-rendered account of Stalinist repression appeared before the reading public—and in mass circulation, no less. Thanks to a group of groundbreaking contemporary intellectuals influenced by Solzhenitsyn (including the UK-based, Ukrainian-born co-host of the explosive Triggernometry Podcast, Konstantin Kisin and the internationally celebrated Psychologist-Philosopher-Author Jordan Peterson), Solzhenitsyn’s staggering contributions are by turns enlightening and terrifying a new generation of readers. Ever in need of revisiting, Solzhenitsyn’s harrowing tales of famine, state-sponsored repression--and the will to go on in the face of it all--will continue to enjoy distinguished historical and moral relevance. We’re not sure if we can call this “the First American Edition” or “a First American Edition,” as there seems to be two: there is this edition, released by Frederick Praeger Inc. in 1963, and an E.P. Dutton edition also from 1963 which labels itself the “ONLY AUTHORIZED EDITION.” On the official website for the Nobel Prize in Literature (which was awarded to Solzhenitsyn in 1970), it lists the Praeger edition before the E.P. Dutton edition, possibly making the Praeger edition the True First Edition (this would hold true if, like the E.P. Dutton edition claims, the Praeger edition too was released in January of 1963). What we do know, though, is that the front cover of the Praeger edition is much cooler, and that just about settles it. Trade-format softcover, the First Praeger Edition (reference notes on publication history noted above). Book in strong near fine condition with moderate shelf-wear to fine-edges, corners; slight, age-typical toning, spotting & yellowing at select spots on front, back covers & spine; moderate-to-pronounced rubbing to same, particularly along fine-edges; some blue pen ink staining to back cover (see photos), as if set down on a piece of paper on which had been recently written on; binding tight and text quite clean, as if unread. Near Fine. [Item #4922]

Price: $35.00