THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, MY LIFE AS A MAN, THE PROFESSOR OF DESIRE: NOVELS 1973-1977 - Rare Pristine Copy of The First Library of America Slipcased Edition/First Printing: Signed by Philip Roth - ONLY SIGNED COPY ONLINE

Roth, Philip (Author) & Miller, Ross (Editor)

ISBN 10: 1931082960 / ISBN 13: 9781931082969

Published by New York City, NY: The Library Of America, 2007, 2006

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 645 pages. Published in 2007. Volume Three of The Library of America's definitive Collected Works of Philip Roth. The First Slipcased Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a Slipcased Edition for distribution to libraries and LOA subscribers only. None of the copies was sold to the public. The Slipcased Edition has the same ISBN as the regular trade edition. The Slipcased Edition is now rare. Printed to the highest standards on acid-free paper, utilizing sewn binding, closely woven rayon cloth boards, satin bound-in ribbon marker, and a page layout that is both readable and elegant, each volume is guaranteed to last for several generations of readers and collectors (despite frequent and regular use, the estimated life span of Library of America Editions is 1000 years; un-used, they will last forever). Without DJ, as issued. Presents Volume Three of The Collected Works of Philip Roth: "The Great American Novel", "My Life As A Man", and "The Professor of Desire". Three markedly different novels that together trace a crucial period in the bold evolution of one of America's indispensable novelists. "Surely the funniest novel ever written about baseball, 'The Great American Novel' (1973) turns our national pastime into unfettered picaresque farce. The cast of improbable characters includes Gil Gamesh, the pitcher who actually tried to kill the umpire, John Baal, the ex-con first baseman, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. 'My Life As A Man' (1974), Roth's most blistering novel, presents the treacherous world of Strindberg nearly a century later in the story of a fierce marital tragedy of obsession and blindness and desperate need. 'The Professor of Desire' (1977), the novel that prompted Milan Kundera to proclaim Roth 'a great historian of modern eroticism', follows an adventurous man of intelligence and feeling into and out of the tempting wilderness of erotic possibility" (Publisher's blurb). "One knows when one is reading something that will permanently enter the culture" (Cynthia Ozick). "Our foremost novelist since Faulkner" (Harold Bloom). Philip Roth was only the third writer to be so honored by The Library of America while still alive. Published in chronological order, the entire oeuvre consists of ten volumes in all and will surely be regarded as one of the "high spots" in The Library of America Series. Roth famously announced in 2012 that he has permanently stopped writing. Philip Roth died on May 22, 2018 of congestive heart failure, literally of heartbreak, at the age of 85. An absolute "must-have" title for Philip Roth collectors. This copy of Volume Three is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Philip Roth. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Library of America Slipcased Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: The First Slipcased Edition was distributed to libraries and LOA subscribers only. None of the copies was sold to the public. Copies available online have serious flaws, have the bookstore's stamp, or are subsequent printings yet command hundreds of dollars. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Six of Philip Roth's novels were selected as among the Top 20 works of American fiction of the last 25 years: "American Pastoral", "The Counterlife", "Operation Shylock", "Sabbath's Theater", "The Human Stain", and "The Plot Against America". One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER PHILIP ROTH TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1931082960.

Seller Inventory # 18577

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, MY LIFE AS A MAN, THE PROFESSOR OF DESIRE: NOVELS 1973-1977 - Rare Pristine Copy of The First Library of America Slipcased Edition/First Printing: Signed by Philip Roth - ONLY SIGNED COPY ONLINE
• Publisher: New York City, NY: The Library Of America, 2007
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1931082960
• ISBN 13: 9781931082969
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: None, As Issued
• Signed: Signed by Author

About this title

Synopsis

This third volume of The Library of America’s definitive edition of Philip Roth’s collected works presents three markedly different novels that together trace a crucial period in the bold evolution of one of America’s indispensable novelists.

In The Great American Novel (1973), a hilarious, bizarre, strangely poignant tall tale of American pieties and American lunacy, Roth lifts the lid on the suppressed history of the homeless Ruppert Mundys of baseball’s despised and vanquished third major league, turning the national pastime into unfettered picaresque farce. The cast of improbable characters includes: Gil Gamesh, the pitcher who actually tried to kill the umpire; John Baal, the ex-con first baseman, “The Babe Ruth of the Big House,” who never hit a home run sober; and the House Un-American Activities Committee.
 
My Life as a Man (1974) is Roth’s most blistering novel, the savage, sometimes lurid account of the all-out battle waged between the young writer Peter Tarnopol and the wife who is his nemesis, his demon, and his muse. This is the treacherous world of Strindberg nearly a century later: the story of a fierce marital tragedy of obsession and blindness and desperate need.
 
The volume closes with The Professor of Desire (1977), which charts the second sexual metamorphosis of David Kepesh, protagonist of The Breast. Roth follows Kepesh, an adventurous man of intelligence and feeling, into a vast wilderness of erotic possibility. The Professor of Desire is the troublingly affecting novel about the dilemmas of desire that prompted Milan Kundera to proclaim Roth “a great historian of modern eroticism.”

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

About the Author

Philip Roth, acclaimed author of Portnoy's Complaint, The Human Stain and many other works of fiction, is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts from the White House.