Baxter, Charles

The Feast of Love

ISBN: 0375410198
New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2000. First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed, signed & dated near time of publication by Charles Baxter. "...here is a superb new novel that delicately unearths the myriad manifestations of extraordinary love between ordinary people. The Feast of Love is just that- a sumptuous work of fiction about the thing that most distracts and delights us. In a re-imagined Midsummer Night's Dream, men and women speak of and desire their ideal mates; parents seek out their lost children; adult children try to come to terms with their own parents and, in some cases, find new ones." (from front flap) The excellent, popular novel by Charles Baxter (b. 1947), the acclaimed & award-winning author & retired academician who for many years directed the Creative Writing MFA program at the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor. This novel was the basis for the well-received 2007 film version starring Morgan Freeman as the aggrieved father character Harry Stevenson. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with $24 price printed on front flap, "5/00" on rear flap), first edition though not explicated as such on copyright page. The number sequence thereon begins with "2" & would therefore usually indicate a second printing, but the first-issue points of dust jacket noted above; & publisher being a subsidiary of Random House, the custom of which is to indicate first printings beginning with "2," leads us to the conclusion that this is a first printing. On the shorter title page, Baxter has hand-written, signed & dated in bold black felt-tip ink: "For Peggy,/ with all best/ wishes-/ (signed) Charles Baxter/ June 27, 2000." The date so close to first publication during May 2000 (per flap as noted above) is another point that leads us to be quite certain that this copy is a first printing. A cornerstone collectible in the Baxter oeuvre in its rarest original form, greatly enriched by the esteemed author's inscription, signature & date. Book in very fine condition with only some bleeding of ink from signature page onto verso (list of author's publications previous to this); otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a touch of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5550]

Price: $60.00