Click for full-size.
AS I LAY DYING
by Faulkner, William
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Rockville, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1930. First Edition, First Printing, Second Issue. Hardcover. Octavo, 254 pages. In Good plus condition with poor dust jacket. Partial brown dust jacket spine. Bound in tan cloth with brown text on spine and front cover. Dust jacket is protected by mylar covering and has most of spine missing, remaining spine is heavily taped on inside and outside, front interior flap detached, and chipping to corners of rear cover. Boards have mild edge wear and shelf wear, partial sunning to spine, and fraying to spine edges. Text block has light age toning. First Printing, Second Issue indicated by "First Published, 1930" on copyright page and "I" aligned correctly on page 11. Shelved in Case 13. 1370922. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.
Synopsis
William Faulkner claimed to have written As I Lay Dying, his fifth novel, in just six weeks — with very little revision — while working at power plant in 1929. While this sounds impressive in and of itself, also consider the fact that this novel has 15 different narrators throughout its 59 chapters and has consistently been recognized as one of the greatest works of the American literature. As I Lay Dying is the first book in which Faulkner introduces Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional rendition of his native Lafayette County, Mississippi, which became the setting for some of his best-known works. The author’s self-described “tour de force” follows the death of Addie Bundren and her family’s various notions regarding her burial requests and their journey to Jefferson, in the heart of the county, to fulfill them. Poverty, bad weather, injury, and pregnancy are just some of the hindrances faced along the way. Fittingly, the title of the novel comes from a line in Homer’s The Odyssey: “As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades.” Along with The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying helped to secured Faulkner’s stance as a pioneer of the stream-of-consciousness technique, joining the ranks with James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. In vernacular that echoes Mark Twain, the characters of the novel are able to develop gradually through the perceptions of others. Though this requires readers to take an active part in constructing the story, it also allows for multiple, and sometimes, conflicting interpretations. Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 for his novels prior to that date, which includes As I Lay Dying. The novel has also directly influenced a number of other critically acclaimed books, including Graham Swift’s Booker prize-winning novel Last Orders and Suzan-Lori Parks’ Getting Mother’s Body, an African-American retelling of the story. As I Lay Dying is ranked 35th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 55th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels. The Grammy-nominated metalcore band As I Lay Dying derived its name from this book as well. In 2014, writer/director James Franco released a film adaptation of the novel.
Read More: Identifying first editions of AS I LAY DYING
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Second Story Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1370922
- Title
- AS I LAY DYING
- Author
- Faulkner, William
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, First Printing, Second Issue
- Publisher
- Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1930
- Keywords
- William Faulkner, American Literature
Terms of Sale
Second Story Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Trade discounts only on items not identified on inventory with special discounts
International customers are responsible for all Duties/Taxes/VATs/etc. For domestic orders, anything valued $300 or more will be shipped signature required. Returns/Refunds will be handled per Biblio's return policy. Please contact us directly, via email, before sending anything back so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Refunds occur when the book is received and the errors/issues/damages have been confirmed.
About the Seller
Second Story Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Rockville, Maryland
About Second Story Books, ABAA
DC's Oldest Rare and Used Bookstore, Second Story Books operates two open shops in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. We have a large internet presence including this website, Amazon, and Ebay, accredited appraisals member ASA, and an in house book binder. For more information go to www.secondstorybooks.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
Collecting the 1939 New York World’s Fair
Born in the midst of the Great Depression, the theme of the 1939 World’s Fair was “The World of Tomorrow” - a theme that captured the hearts of a generation. Check out the maps, souvenirs, and other ephemera on Biblio!
Collecting Signed Books
Read through our tips, hints, and information on collecting books signed or inscribed by the author or illustrator.
