Mungo, Raymond

Return to Sender or When The Fish In The Water Was Thirsty

ISBN: 0913374245
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975. First Edition. Hardcover. "The "inscrutable Orient" becomes demystified when Raymond Mungo, the eloquent young activist of the 1960s, leaves America in 1971 to find what he self-mockingly calls "the secret of the universe." From streamlined bullet trains to rat-infested freighters, from a flophouse in Hong Kong to the high-powered world of television and advertising in Tokyo, from opium dens in Malaysia to banquet tables in India, Mungo wanders the face of the planet with light knapsack and little cash, debunking stereotypes all the way. As his many followers will expect, Mungo's quest uncovers strata of cultures few ever see, especially when he becomes involved with the dope-dealing trade in India, strangely ebullient lifestyles in Thailand, saints and scholars in Nepal, and a broiling youth subculture in Japan." (from front flap) The cult-classic memoir-travelogue by Raymond Mungo (b. 1946), the acclaimed & prolific author & activist. Hardcover in clipped first-issue dust jacket (with "0975" printed at front flap), first edition, first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. A delightful work of immersive Gonzo-style journalism in its rarest original form. Book in fine condition with slight rubbing to blue-cloth front, back covers & spine (gilt letters & graphics at spine & front cover quite bright & intact); mild wear incl. some loss of blue color at edges & corners of same; one very small area at/near middle-right lower edge of back cover with loss of color; moderate-to-medium rubbing, browning, spotting & spot-staining to edges of text block esp. upper edge. Interior fine-verging-on-very-fine with line in thick black marker ink drawn over first line of copyright page (indication along with clipped front flap of jacket that this is a publisher's remainder); mild browning mostly to blank margins/edges of page leaves; tiny bumps & very small, faint creases at lower corners of a few of same. Dust jacket relatively near-fine with mild rubbing, browning, scratching & creasing to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same incl. slight loss of surface paper; several mostly closed tears at/near upper spine-edges, corners with slight loss of paper esp. at back cover-side. Fine / Near Fine. [Item #5454]

Price: $30.00