Free Live Free

Wolfe, Gene

ISBN 10: 0312932480 / ISBN 13: 9780312932480

Published by Tor Books, 1985

First thus; the first trade hardcover, first printing with number line to 1. Inscribed to a previous owner by author Gene Wolfe at the title page. Blue boards with silver spine titling, very good with lightly bumped spine ends. Spine square. Binding sound. Dust jacket very good in Mylar with light edgewear. Text bright and unmarked. Seller Inventory # BBS-2018349

Synopsis:

Jim Stubb, an out-of-work detective, Madame Serpentina, an occultist, Ozzie Barnes, a salesman, and Candy Garth, a prostitute band together to search for Benjamin Free, a time traveler, and his missing treasure

Reviews: Wolfe established himself as one of the new masters of SF in 1972 with his Fifth Head of Cerberus; he has since received high acclaim for his four-volume Book of the New Sun series. This new novel is a disconcerting departure that resembles the work of Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis rather than traditional SF. Like Gaddis, Wolfe spins a web of conspiracy, con-games, coverups and detection, endless dollar chasing and genuine talent put to the service of fakes and forgeries. But at the end of the quest for Wolfe's four protagonists (an unlicensed detective, an overweight prostitute, a novelties salesman and a witch who works gypsy scams) is a Pynchonesque vision of America's secret masters living perpetually aloft in an immense wooden plane. Always intriguing but sometimes equally baffling, this novel reaches comic heights of cross purposes in the malapropisms of old Mrs. Baker and the sequence set in a mental hospital during a blackout. Although it requires patience, the narrative is darkly humorous, affecting, continually surprising and surprisingly affirmative in its presentation of unconventional, deadbeat characters. November 19
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Free Live Free
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: 1985
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Signed: Signed
Edition: First Edition.