Updike, John

Bech at Bay

ISBN: 037540368X
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. First Book Club(?) Edition. Hardcover. "Henry Bech, the moderately well known Jewish-American writer who served as the hero of John Updike's previous Bech: A Book (1970) and Bech is Back (1982), has become older but scarcely wiser. In these five new chapters from his life, he is still at bay, pursued by the hounds of desire and anxiety, of unbridled criticism and publicity in a literary world ever more cheerfully crass. He fights intimations of annihilation in still-Communist Czechoslovakia, while promiscuously consorting with dissidents, apparatchiks, and Midwestern Republicans. Next, he succumbs to the temptations of power by accepting the presidency of a quaint and cosseted literary body patterned on the Academie Francaise. Then, the reader finds him on trial in California and on a criminal rampage in a gothic Gotham, abetted by a nubile sidekick called Robin. Lastly, our septuagenarian veteran of the literary wars is rewarded with a coveted medal, stunning him into a well-deserved silence." (from front flap) The third & final novel in the Henry Bech trilogy by John Updike (1932-2009), among the most acclaimed, successful & prolific authors in the American canon, whose vast oeuvre is slowly but surely being enshrined in the Library of America series. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page, published simultaneously with a limited edition as noted thereon. Despite these first edition points, this copy appears to be a book club edition, with no price printed on front flap. However, the customary tiny circle or square that usually would be impressed at lower back cover near spine of book club editions is not present here- so we surmise that either publisher omitted this point in error, or that this is after all not a book club edition (also considering the first edition statement that is usually not found in BC copies), & that the lack of price reference at front flap is a publishing error. We found & have retained, between pages 44-45, a vintage bookmark from the venerable After Words bookstore that formerly graced a storefront here in downtown Ann Arbor, in pristine condition. In any case, this is a desirable Updike collectible in a rare state which very nearly mirrors, or indeed is an interestingly flawed example of, its most original trade form. Book in very fine condition with only light spotting to upper edge of text block; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only a touch of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; one small area at lower right portion of front cover with light, mostly transparent residue from sticker removal. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5519]

Price: $40.00