America

First edition/first printing. Hardcover with dustjacket. Black cloth-covered boards, 12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches, unpaginated, b/w illustrations. Book very good plus--near fine (modest bump to upper edge of rear board). Dustcover very good plus (not price clipped; mild rubbing and edge wear; three short closed tears, the longest 7/8 inch). One of Steadman's best books. From the Introduction by Hunter S. Thompson: "There's a wild theme in Steadman's drawings: decadence, corruption, immorality. Obscenity in its broadest sense is another hallmark of the things that shock him. I think he sees all of America as a mockery of what it should be. He probably thinks it was doomed from the start. He has that King-George-III notion of America. A bunch of crude upstarts --- couldn't make it work. He works best when you put him in a situation where he's bordering on flipping out. During one of the intermissions [at the Watergate hearings], Ralph leaped up with a beer in his hand and knocked [Senator] Sam Ervin off his feet. When he comes over here and gets involved in these horrible scenes, Steadman has a way of becoming part of the story." (1722RO007).