Fade Out (Lettered Edition)

First published in 1959, Fade Out is a stunning, surreal criticism of American life in the materialistic, youth-and money-crazed 1950s. Its hero is Dick Twombley, a 74-year old retired bank clerk who struggles to retain what remains of his dignity in a world that regards old age as an embarrassment. When he is mistakenly accused of kidnapping two little girls he has befriended, Dick’s daughter packs him off to a suburban New York City retirement home. He soon makes his escape with the help of a fellow inmate, and together the two “fugitives from injustice” embark on a cross-country odyssey that lands them in the abandoned hotel of an Arizona ghost town.

Douglas Woolf was born in New York City and studied at Harvard University, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Arizona. His studies were paused by World War II, during which he served in the Air Force. Longing for the excitement he experienced in the war, he spent much of his youth traveling throughout the United States and working transitory jobs. His experiences on the road would inform his writing, much of which concerns cross-country journeys. His accolades include a 1980 American Book Award.