CONVERSATIONS WITH AMERICAN WRITERS - Scarce Fine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing

1st Printing. 324 pages. Published in 1985. Retrospective collection of interviews. One of the best author-interviews of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original and in the United Kingdom only by a small independent press. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Charles Ruas' "Conversations With American Writers". An unsurpassable collection, which demands to be read through, illuminating and moving in its cumulative power. Encompasses the full breadth, diversity, and quality of mid- to late-20th century American literature. Eudora Welty, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, E. L. Doctorow, Susan Sontag, Toni Morrison, Robert Stone, Scott Spencer, and Paul Theroux, among others, grace these pages. Their singular personalities and authorial voices leap off the page, with a little help from the estimable Charles Ruas. Who patiently conducted, transcribed, introduced, and annotated each of the interviews over nearly a decade. Ruas is best-known as a brilliant translator of French literature into English, second only to the extremely prolific Richard Howard. This collection is as much his achievement as the now-canonical writers who agreed to be interviewed by him: He brings out the best in all of them with his scrupulous scholarship and probing yet never voyeuristic questioning. An absolute "must-have" title for American literature collectors. This title is a great collection. This is one of relatively few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (British/Quartet Books) still available online and is in fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are in subsequent printing. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. Some of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER TRUMAN CAPOTE, TONI MORRISON, SUSAN SONTAG, AND GORE VIDAL TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0704325543.…