Glass, Julia

A House Among the Trees

ISBN: 9781101870365
New York, NY: Pantheon Books/ Penguin Random House LLC, 2017. First Edition. Hardcover. "When the revered children's book author Mort Lear dies accidentally at his Connecticut home, he leaves his property and all its contents to his trusted assistant, Tomasina Daulair, who is moved by his generosity but dismayed by the complicated and defiant directives in his will. Tommy knew Morty for more than four decades, since meeting him in a Manhattan playground when she was twelve and he was working on sketches for the book that would make him a star. By the end of his increasingly reclusive life, she found herself living in his house as confidante and helpmeet, witness not just to his daily routines but also to the emotional fallout of his strange boyhood and his volatile relationship with a lover who died of AIDS. Now Tommy must try to honor Morty's last wishes while grappling with their effects on several people, including Dani Daulair, her estranged brother; Meredith Galarza, the lonely, outraged museum curator to whom Lear once promised his artistic estate; and Nicholas Greene, the beguiling British actor recently cast to play Mort Lear in a movie." (from front flap) The sixth novel by Julia Glass (b. 1956), the acclaimed American author whose very popular debut novel, Three Junes (2002), won the National Book Award. The character of Mort Lear at the center of this complex & compelling yarn has been critically noted as more-than-slightly resembling or based upon the real-life superstar children's author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (1928-2012, see esp. David Leavitt's review of this volume in the August 13, 2017 issue of the NYT Book Review, pg. 19). Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $27.95 price printed on front flap, "6/2017" on rear flap), first edition as stated on copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. We found & retained, between blank orange-colored front paste-down & endpaper, an attractive promotional bookmark of Bookworks bookstore in Pacific Grove, CA, printed & illustrated on both sides & in effectively mint condition. Also present is a Bookworks receipt for this & another book dated July 11, 2017- almost the very time of publication- in very fine condition with only some faint creasing & irregular edges. A collectible Glass classic-in-the-making in its rarest original form. Book in very fine condition with only a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers, spine & flaps. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4969]

Price: $40.00