The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. 1952 Scribners, first edition, 140 pages. According to a review in the New York Times: "'The Old Man and the Sea' is a short novel, only 27,000 words. It is much simpler and enormously better than Mr. Hemingway's last book, 'Across the River and Into the Trees.' No phony glamour girls and no bullying braggarts sentimentalized almost to parody distort its honest and elemental theme. No outbursts of spite or false theatricalism impede the smooth rush of its narrative. Within the sharp restrictions imposed by the very nature of his story Mr. Hemingway has written with sure skill. Here is the master technician once more at the top of his form, doing superbly what he can do better than anyone else."

Points: Blue-tinted author photo on back jacket, no mention of prizes on the back flap, "A" and Scribners colophon on copyright page

Condition: Jacket in good-condition, chips at the corners, open tears on head and tail of spine, price clipped, book in good condition, crease on bottom corner of board, wear at spine, brown stains on first page. See photos.

"But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert."