Fool on the Hill (First Edition)

Ruff, Matt

ISBN 10: 0871132435 / ISBN 13: 9780871132437

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 1988

About this Item

New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987. First edition. First printing (with full number line including 1). Hardbound. Near Fine in a near fine jacket. Slight soiling to edges. Slight wear to head and foot of spine. A clean tight copy. Publisher's price intact on front jacket flap ($19.95). Comes with archival-quality mylar jacket protector. Smoke-free. The author's first book, a novel. Ruff, an American, is an author of thriller, science-fiction and comic novels, including The Mirage and Lovecraft Country, the latter having been adapted in 2020 by HBO into a TV series. Fool on the Hill, his first novel, is a fantasy that drew on his experiences living in Risley Residential College at Cornell. It was first written as his senior thesis in Honors English. It was published shortly after Ruff graduated from the university.

Seller Inventory # F3400-Ruff

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fool on the Hill (First Edition)
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, New York
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0871132435
• ISBN 13: 9780871132437
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Stephen Titus George finds the campus of Cornell University a site for talking cats and dogs, fairies cavorting, an emerald-green dragon, and the too-shallow grave of Rasferret the Grub

Reviews

This exuberant first novel unfolds at Cornell University, the alma mater of its 22-year-old author, who has re-imagined his school as the center of a violent and funny modern-day fairy tale. Stephen Titus George is a young writer longing for true love and a great story to tell. With the mysterious appearance of Calliope, a sorceress who can transform herself into anyone's vision of female perfection, both of his dreams begin to come true. Ruff shapes an adventure for his protagonist that includes everything from poisoned apples to winged dragons, all set on a campus where there isn't a professor in sight and where the actions of dogs, cats and invisible sprites are as meaningful as those of the students. On its way to a certain happy ending, the story falls short of its own ambitionsit's vastly overpopulated with extraneous characters (human and otherwise), and packed with self-conscious, punning references to everyone from Beckett to A. A. Milne. Too many of Ruff's narrative devices exist only to spotlight the author's cleverness, but at its best, his debut brims iwth good humor and imagination.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this comic fantasy a young writer-in-residence at Cornell University searches for true love and combats the forces of evil. Ruff uses the stock motifs of fairy tale and myth, but his treatment is remarkably inventive. Inspired by the mysterious Calliope, Ruff's hero learns to write without paper and thus, by the force of his imagination, to revise the mundane scenario of life in Ithaca. Aptly named S.T. George, he vanquishes a green canvas dragon and thereby foils the malignant plot of Rasferret the Grub. The multi-layered plot also includes animals who communicate by telepathy and tiny sprites with Shakespearean names. Ruff's exuberant tale will appeal strongly to readers with a taste for the fabulous. Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.