THE BOOK OF DANIEL: THE NEW MODERN LIBRARY SERIES - Rare Fine Copy of The 2005 First Modern Library Edition/First Printing With Souvenir Material: Signed by E.L. Doctorow - SIGNED ON THE TITLE PAGE

Doctorow, E. L.

ISBN 10: 0679643370 / ISBN 13: 9780679643371

Published by New York City, NY: The Modern Library, 2005, 2005

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 303 pages. Published in 2005. New And Expanded Edition of the author's breakthrough third novel. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The first appearance of the classic in the 2005 First Edition Thus. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent printings, of which there are innumerable. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only and as part of the newly re-designed "Modern Library Series". Includes an Introduction by E. L. Doctorow, which appears in published form for the very first time and places his novel in its proper historical context, that is to say, with the benefit of distance. Printed on pristine-white, acid-free stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Re-presents E. L. Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel". Named after one of the books in the Holy Bible. It is the re-imagination of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage case, as recalled by their grieving and inconsolable surviving son, who is trying as honestly as possible to understand one of the defining events of modern history, an event that defined what it means to be an American - and a human being. "In the silence of the library at Columbia University, where he is supposedly writing a dissertation, Daniel composes something quite different. It is a book of memories. It is a book of investigation. It is a book of judgments of everyone involved in the case. It is a book rich in characters, from elderly grandmothers of immigrant culture to covert radicals of the McCarthy Era to hippie marchers on the Pentagon. It is a book that spans the quarter-century of American life since World War II. It is a book about the nature of Leftist politics. It is a book about some of the beautiful and terrible feelings of childhood. It is a book about the nature of guilt and innocence. It is a book about the relation of people to nations" (Publisher's blurb). It is THE book that made Doctorow a great writer. An absolute "must-have" title for E. L. Doctorow collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by E. L. Doctorow. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It comes with a rare and pristine copy of the lovely Souvenir Material of the event during which his signature was obtained. This title is a great book. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Modern Library Edition/First Printing (2005) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Late in life, E. L. Doctorow seldom did public signings, and when he did, limited the number of books he was willing to sign. As a result, his Limited Editions, while highly collectible, are often more widely available than copies of the First Hardcover Editions, which are signed directly on the title page rather than on a tipped-in leaf. Signed copies of the 1971 First Edition available online command up to $600. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the very first National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976 for "Ragtime". Winner of the National Book Award in 1986 for "World's Fair". Winner of the PEN/Faulkner and a second National Book Critics Circle Award in 2006 for "The March". One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER E. L. DOCTOROW TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0679643370. Seller Inventory # 23306

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE BOOK OF DANIEL: THE NEW MODERN LIBRARY ...

Publisher: New York City, NY: The Modern Library, 2005

Publication Date: 2005

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

The central figure of this novel is a young man whose parents were executed for conspiring to steal atomic secrets for Russia.

His name is Daniel Isaacson, and as the story opens, his parents have been dead for many years. He has had a long time to adjust to their deaths. He has not adjusted.

Out of the shambles of his childhood, he has constructed a new life—marriage to an adoring girl who gives him a son of his own, and a career in scholarship. It is a life that enrages him.

In the silence of the library at Columbia University, where he is supposedly writing a Ph.D. dissertation, Daniel composes something quite different.

It is a confession of his most intimate relationships—with his wife, his foster parents, and his kid sister Susan, whose own radicalism so reproaches him.

It is a book of memories: riding a bus with his parents to the ill-fated Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill; watching the FBI take his father away; appearing with Susan at rallies protesting their parents’ innocence; visiting his mother and father in the Death House.

It is a book of investigation: transcribing Daniel’s interviews with people who knew his parents, or who knew about them; and logging his strange researches and discoveries in the library stacks.

It is a book of judgments of everyone involved in the case—lawyers, police, informers, friends, and the Isaacson family itself.

It is a book rich in characters, from elderly grand- mothers of immigrant culture, to covert radicals of the McCarthy era, to hippie marchers on the Pen-tagon. It is a book that spans the quarter-century of American life since World War II. It is a book about the nature of Left politics in this country—its sacrificial rites, its peculiar cruelties, its humility, its bitterness. It is a book about some of the beautiful and terrible feelings of childhood. It is about the nature of guilt and innocence, and about the relations of people to nations.

It is The Book of Daniel.

About the Author:

E. L. DOCTOROW was born in 1931 in New York City and was educated at Kenyon College and Columbia University. His earlier novels are Welcome to Hard Times and Big as Life. Formerly editor-in-chief of a prominent New York publishing house, he was most recently writer-in-residence at the University of California at Irvine. He lives in Westchester County with his wife and three children.