TALES OUT OF SCHOOL - Rare Fine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed by Benjamin Taylor - SIGNED ON THE HALF-TITLE PAGE

Taylor, Benjamin

ISBN 10: 1885983042 / ISBN 13: 9781885983046

Published by New York City, NY: Turtle Point Press, 1995, 1995

About this Item

1st Printing. Signed. 283 pages. Published in 1995. The author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most important literary debuts of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only by a small, independent press. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Benjamin Taylor's "Tales Out of School". An ambitious historical drama and a coming-of-age narrative at the same time, an epic (succinctly told in a mere 283 pages) compared to Andre Aciman's lyric, "Call Me By Your Name" (2007). "Affectingly introduces members of a genteel, wealthy German-Jewish family living in early 20th-century Galveston, Texas. Felix, scholarly and loyal, works his way through 'The Aeneid' and adolescent stirrings of desire, which he acts upon with Wick Frawley, once a bully, now a friend. Taylor's spare, supple prose easily accommodates effective forays into Magical Realism as well as nuanced evocations of the desire, religious doubt, and affection that animate his memorable characters. It is a measure of his skill that even those met briefly in this bewitching novel continue to resonate in the reader's imagination" (Publishers Weekly). Benjamin Taylor is well-known as a scholar, literary critic, editor, and essayist, which multi-faceted achievement may have (negatively) affected his reception as a novelist. As a "nonfiction" writer so-called, he is a major figure: "Into The Open: Reflections On Genius And Modernity" (1995) and "Proust: The Search" (2015), among others, are regarded as masterpieces. But as a serious novelist, he is unjustly underrated, a so-called "writer's writer" with an esoteric following, admired by Philip Roth. An absolute "must-have" title for Benjamin Taylor collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the half-title page by Benjamin Taylor. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER BENJAMIN TAYLOR TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1885983042.

Seller Inventory # 21688

Bibliographic Details

• Title: TALES OUT OF SCHOOL - Rare Fine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed by Benjamin Taylor - SIGNED ON THE HALF-TITLE PAGE
• Publisher: New York City, NY: Turtle Point Press, 1995
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1885983042
• ISBN 13: 9781885983046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author

About this title

Synopsis

Recounts the coming-of-age of a gay fourteen-year-old as viewed through his eyes and those of each member of his priviliged, eccentric family

Reviews

Elegant, lyrical and elegiac, this powerful first novel affectingly introduces members of a genteel, wealthy German-Jewish family living in early 20th-century Galveston, Tex. Felix Mehmel, scholarly and loyal, works his way through the Aeneid and through adolescent stirrings of desire, which he acts upon with Wick Frawley, once a bully and now a friend. Felix's mother, estranged from her New Orleans Christian community for marrying a Jew, finds herself vulnerable once more after her husband dies during the 1900 hurricane. Her brother-in-law Leo becomes the enthusiastic sponsor of Roache and Munger, amateur "aeronauts" who model themselves after the Wright brothers. The mysterious and benign interventions of Yankel Schmulowicz, a mute immigrant from Russia, who stages puppet shows so realistic that the audience is spellbound, indelibly alter the lives of these people and others in their orbit. Taylor's spare, supple prose easily accommodates effective forays into magic realism as well as nuanced evocations of the desire, religious doubt and affection that animate his memorable characters. Because he handles so many different characters in a short narrative span, some of them inevitably are less than full-bodied actors in his human comedy. It is a measure of his skill that even those met briefly in this bewitching novel continue to resonate in the reader's imagination. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Soon after immigrating to Galveston Island, the Gerson Mehmel family attains wealth (as brewers of Sweet Brook beer) and social prominence. A few decades later, bankruptcy, disease, and madness wipe out all their gains. The able elder son, Aharon, marries outside his Jewish faith, contracts syphilis, and dies in a hurricane. The effete younger son, Leo, watches birds and loafs. As the sole member of the next generation, Felix is a precocious adolescent who quotes Virgil, attempts to fly, and experiments with homosexuality. Meanwhile, his mother suffers the inner turmoil of having been raised a Catholic, converting to Judaism, and becoming an apostate to both religions. Taylor's first novel combines grand lyric musings with realistic social commentary. Containing a character with arcane powers, it is at times a disquieting mixture of the magical and the mundane.
Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.