The Known World (Signed First Edition; Pulitzer Winner for Fiction 2003)

Edward P. Jones

ISBN 10: 0060557540 / ISBN 13: 9780060557546

Published by Amistad, 2003

About this Item

SIGNED by author EDWARD P. JONES in black ink on title page. Amistad Press 2003 First Edition, Seventh Printing. Condition: fine, near fine, fine. Light gold hardboards with ecru spine; metallic copper printing. Deckled edge text block clean, tight, square, unmarked, appears to be unread. Has very tiny soil spot on bottom edge. Unclipped satin-gloss pictorial dust jacket with original $24.95 price on flap; fine, like new condition; protected in clear archival Brodart wrapper (removable.) Packaged with care and shipped in a box to arrive in best condition. Complete satisfaction guarantee. With this book, Jones won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. In 2005, it won the International Dublin Literary Award, one of the richest literary awards for a novel in the English language. "The Known World", set in Virginia during the antebellum era, examines the issues regarding the ownership of Black slaves by both white and Black Americans. The book was published to acclaim, which praised its story and Jones's prose. In particular, his ability to intertwine stories within stories received great praise from The New York Times. The narration of The Known World is from the perspective of an omniscient figure who does not voice judgment, allowing the reader to experience the story without bias. (Wiki).

Seller Inventory # 250304-4

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Known World (Signed First Edition; Pulitzer Winner for Fiction 2003)
• Publisher: Amistad
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060557540
• ISBN 13: 9780060557546
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize Award and recognized as the best book of fiction in the 21st century by the New York Times, Edward P. Jones's The Known World is a debut novel of stunning emotional depth and unequaled literary power and continues to show its importance to the American literary canon.

Henry Townsend, a farmer, boot maker, and former slave, through the surprising twists and unforeseen turns of life in antebellum Virginia, becomes proprietor of his own plantation—as well his own slaves. When he dies, his widow Caldonia succumbs to profound grief, and things begin to fall apart at their plantation: slaves take to escaping under the cover of night, and families who had once found love under the weight of slavery begin to betray one another. Beyond the Townsend household, the known world also unravels: low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave “speculators” sell free black people into slavery, and rumors of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.

An ambitious, courageous, luminously written masterwork, The Known World seamlessly weaves the lives of the freed and the enslaved—and allows all of us a deeper understanding of the enduring multidimensional world created by the institution of slavery. The Known World not only marks the return of an extraordinarily gifted writer, it heralds the publication of a remarkable contribution to the canon of American classic literature.

About the Author

Edward P. Jones, the New York Times bestselling author, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World; he also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2004. His first collection of stories, Lost in the City, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was short listed for the National Book Award. His second collection, All Aunt Hagar’s Children, was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award. He has been an instructor of fiction writing at a range of universities, including Princeton. He lives in Washington, D.C.