SWEET LAND STORIES

New York City, NY: Random House, 2004. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Random House, 2004. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 147 pages. The author's second collection of short stories. Now considered a contemporary classic. 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. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents E. L. Doctorow's "Sweet Land Stories". Possibly his best collection of short stories. Doctorow is at once a supremely entertaining storyteller and a profound writer of conscience, and he forges an extraordinarily potent blend of artistry, compassion, and outrage in his short-story collection, the first since the now-classic "Lives of the Poets" (1984). Here are five perfect and sharp-edged stories about faith, love, and the abuse of power, hair-raising tales featuring intensely compelling characters and impossible situations that unveil key paradoxes intrinsic to American society. The criminal mind fascinates Doctorow, as does the law and its failings, men's cruelty toward women, tragic realities he explores to powerful effect. "History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth. So to be irreverent to myth, to play with it, let in some light and air, to try to combust it back into history, is to risk being seen as someone who distorts truth" (E. L. Doctorow). 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 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: 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. A scarce 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". Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, 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 1400062047.