A Walk on the Wild Side
New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1956. First Printing. Hardcover. Signed by Nelson Algren. “Nelson Algren’s first writing was done when he was working as a migratory laborer in the Southwest. His first story was published in ‘Story Magazine’ in 1933, while he was living in an abandoned filling station outside of Rio Hondo, Texas….‘A Walk on the Wild Side’ wasn’t written until long after it had been walked,’ Mr. Algren says. ‘That was through what remained of old Storyville by the summer of 1931. I’d come to New Orleans with a card entitling me to some editorial position because I’d attended a school of journalism. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be a columnist or a foreign correspondent but I was willing to take what was open. What was open was a place on a bench in Lafayette Square if you got there early. I found my way to the streets on the other side of the Southern Pacific station, where the big jukes were singing something called ‘Walking the Wild Side of Life.’ I’ve stayed pretty much on that curb ever since.” (Abridged Quotation from Back Cover Blurb). When asked about this work, Algren replied with the following: “The book asks why lost people sometimes develop into greater human beings than those who have never been lost in their whole lives. Why men who have suffered at the hands of other men are the natural believers in humanity, while those whose part has been simply to acquire, to take all and give nothing, are the most contemptuous of mankind.” If we are to take Algren at his word, it seems like he’d be a fan of the prose of Herbert Huncke, for what Your Devoted Managing Curator calls Huncke’s “Urchin Heroism” seems right up the alley of a writer like Algren, per the quotation above. Perhaps Algren deserves another look or scholarly consideration—and this time, as a Beat! Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket: the First Edition (though not explicated as such on copyright page); First Printing, as indicated on copyright page. This copy is additionally signed by Algren on recto of blank page immediately following the FFEP. Algren’s sizably wide signature, in thin blue pen ink, reads: “Nelson Algren.” Book in very fine condition with only modest shelf-wear & a few faint exhibits of bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; a few (similarly faint) exhibits of rubbing & tiny, almost microscopic exhibits of short vertical creasing to spine-edge near bottommost & topmost fine-edges, respectively, of same—one look at the pictures we’ve attached and you’ll see for yourself: this is incredibly clean compared to the other copies of this title that have come to market, historically. Dust-jacket in strong near fine condition with only slightest shelf-wear to fine-edges & corners of front cover; minute bumping, rubbing & a few low-impact exhibits of chipping & (ink from boards-related) staining to same, else quite pristine—in far better condition than many first-issue dust-jackets we’ve seen for this increasingly scarce Algren title. Very Fine / Near Fine. [Item #5142]
Price: $325.00