NETHERLAND: A NOVEL - Rare Pristine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed by Joseph O'Neill - SIGNED ON THE TITLE PAGE

O'Neill, Joseph

ISBN 10: 0007269064 / ISBN 13: 9780007269068

Published by London, England: Fourth Estate, 2008, 2008

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 248 pages. Published in 2008. The author's breakthrough third novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Joseph O'Neill's "Netherland". Exquisitely written from first lapidary sentence to last. Very large claims have been made for it by the few credible critical voices left in contemporary literature. James Wood, the preeminent, "almost-always-right" critic of his generation, devoted a full essay to it (instead of the standard review) in The New Yorker Magazine, comparing it to both "The Great Gatsby" and "A House For Mr. Biswas": "Has an ideological intricacy, a deep human wisdom, and prose grand enough to dare the comparison. O'Neill has Naipaul's genius for creating unforced ideological connections. And he knows perfectly well that when, on the last pages of his novel, he writes about a memory of Manhattan's skyline and the 'extraordinary promise in what we saw', he is hovering, like some novelistic Google Earther, over the sentence grids and prose plateaus of the last page of 'The Great Gatsby' " (James Wood). An absolute "must-have" title for Joseph O'Neill collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Joseph O'Neill. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. He also crossed out his printed name. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the true First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (British) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the American Edition. Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2008 for "Netherland". One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER COPIES OF THIS TITLE IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0007269064. Seller Inventory # 14181

Bibliographic Details

Title: NETHERLAND: A NOVEL - Rare Pristine Copy of ...

Publisher: London, England: Fourth Estate, 2008

Publication Date: 2008

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, Hans--a banker originally from the Netherlands--finds himself marooned among the strange occupants of the Chelsea Hotel after his English wife and son return to London. Alone and untethered, feeling lost in the country he had come to regard as home, Hans stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country. Ramkissoon, a Gatsby-like figure who is part idealist and part operator, introduces Hans to an “other” New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality. Hans is alternately seduced and instructed by Chuck’s particular brand of naivete and chutzpah--by his ability to a hold fast to a sense of American and human possibility in which Hans has come to lose faith.

Netherland gives us both a flawlessly drawn picture of a little-known New York and a story of much larger, and brilliantly achieved ambition: the grand strangeness and fading promise of 21st century America from an outsider’s vantage point, and the complicated relationship between the American dream and the particular dreamers. Most immediately, though, it is the story of one man--of a marriage foundering and recuperating in its mystery and ordinariness, of the shallows and depths of male friendship, of mourning and memory. Joseph O’Neill’s prose, in its conscientiousness and beauty, involves us utterly in the struggle for meaning that governs any single life.

Review:

Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Joseph O'Neill

Joseph O’Neill was born in Ireland and raised in Holland. He received a law degree from Cambridge University and worked as a barrister in London. He writes regularly for The Atlantic Monthly and is the author of two previous novels, This Is the Life and The Breezes, and of a family history, Blood-Dark Track, which was a New York Times Notable Book. O'Neill received the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his third novel, Netherland. He lives with his family in New York City.

Question: President Obama mentioned in a New York Times Magazine profile that he’s reading Netherland. How do you feel about the President reading your book?

Joseph O'Neill: I'm very honored, of course.

Question: How is the world of Netherland particular to the United States after 9/11?

Joseph O'Neill: The story takes place in the aftermath of 9/11. One of the things it does is try to evoke the disorientation and darkness of that time, which we only emerged from with the election of President Obama.

Question: What is the importance of the sport of cricket in this book? Do you play?

Joseph O'Neill: I love sport and play cricket and golf myself. Sport is a wonderful way to bring together people who would otherwise have no connection to each other.

Question: One of your reviewers calls Netherland an answer to The Great Gatsby. Were you influenced by Fitzgerald’s book, and was your book written with that book in mind?

Joseph O'Neill: Halfway through the book I realized with a slightly sinking feeling that the plot of Netherland was eerily reminiscent of the Gatsby plot: dreamer drowns, bystander remembers. But there are only about 5 plots in existence, so I didn't let it bother me too much. Fitzgerald thankfully steered clear of cricket.

Question: Many reviewers have commented on the “voice” of this novel. How it is more a novel of voice than of plot? Do you agree with this?

Joseph O'Neill: Yes, I would agree with that comment. This is not a novel of eventful twists and turns. It is more like a long-form international cricket match (which can last for 5 days without a winner emerging), about nuance and ambiguity and small slippages of insight. And about language, of course.

(Photo © Lisa Acherman)