The Short History of a Prince

Hamilton, Jane

ISBN 10: 0679457550 / ISBN 13: 9780679457558

Published by Random House, New York, 1998

About this Item

First printing of the stated first edition. Signed by Jane Hamilton directly on the title-page. Light shallow crimping to spine ends, else book and dust jacket in fine condition.

Seller Inventory # 004768

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Short History of a Prince
• Publisher: Random House, New York
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679457550
• ISBN 13: 9780679457558
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jill Krementz (Author photo); Mary Javorek (Jacket photo); Barbara de Wilde and Chip Kidd
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Signed First Editions
  • Modern First Editions
  • A Collection of Women Writers

About this title

Synopsis

"Jane Hamilton has removed all doubt that she belongs among the major writers of our time."  
--San Francisco Chronicle

Set in Jane Hamilton's signature Midwest, The Short History of a Prince is the story of Walter McCloud and his ambition to become a great ballet dancer. With compassion and humor, and alternating between Walter's adolescent and adult voices, the novel tells of Walter's heartbreak as he realizes that his passion cannot make up for the innate talent that he lacks.

Introduced as a child to the genius of Balanchine and the lyricism of Tchaikovsky by his stern but cultured aunt Sue Rawson, Walter has dreamed of growing up to shine in the role of the Prince in The Nutcracker. But as Walter struggles with the limits of his own talent and faces the knowledge that Mitch and Susan, his more gifted friends, have already surpassed him, Daniel, his older brother, awakens one morning with a strange lump on his neck that leads to fearful consequences--and to Walter's realization that a happy family, and a son's place in it, can tragically change overnight. The year that follows will in fact transform the lives not only of the McClouds but also of Susan, who becomes deeply involved with the sick Daniel, and Mitch, the handsome and supremely talented dancer with whom Walter is desperately in love. Into this absorbing narrative Hamilton weaves a place of almost mythical healing, the family's summer home at Lake Margaret, Wisconsin, where for generations the clan has gathered on both happy and unhappy occasions.

Only a writer of Jane Hamilton's sensitivity and humanity could do justice to this moving story of the torments of sexuality and the redemptive power of family and friendship. This book confirms her place as a preeminent novelist of our time.

About the Author

Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin. Her short stories have appeared in Harper's magazine. Her first novel, The Book of Ruth, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was a selection of the Oprah Book Club. Her second novel,  A Map of the World, was an international bestseller.