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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
by Samuel Beckett ; Eoin O'Brien ; Edith Fournier
ISBN: 1559702176
ISBN-13: 9781559702171
Format: Hardcover
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Bibliographic Details
Publisher: Little Brown & Co
Published date: 1993
Size: 6 x 8.75 inches
Weight: 1.1 pounds
Publisher's Notes
Here, more than sixty years after it was written, is Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett's first novel. Written in a "white heat" in the summer of 1932 at the Hotel Trianon in Paris, when the author was poor and struggling, Dream of Fair to middling Women offers us a rare and revealing portrait of the artist as a young man. Beckett, just twenty-six at the time, to date had published a few poems, including the prize-winning "Whoroscope", a penetrating essay on Proust, and a contribution to the collective study of James Joyce's then Work in Progress, later to become Finnegans Wake. Beckett submitted the novel to several English publishers, all of whom found it too scandalous, too risky (or, said some, too risque), or too literary. Subsequently Beckett put the work aside, although he pilfered from it from time to time. After fame had overtaken him, he was still reluctant to publish it, partly because it contained thinly disguised and not always flattering portraits of some of the author's friends and acquaintances in Dublin, and partly because he was always his own harshest critic. The "hero" of Dream is one Belacqua - a youthful precursor of Molloy - who "wrestles with his lusts and learning across vocabularies and continents, before a final 'relapse into Dublin'" (The New Yorker). His love is divided between two women, Smeraldina-Rima and the Alba. Youthfully exuberant and visibly influenced by Joyce, Dream of Fair to middling Women is a work of extraordinary virtuosity in its own right. The author delights in wordplay and the sheer joy of language - indeed, of several languages. This is, too, one of Beckett's most Irish works, yet there is about it as well the sense of timelessness anduniversality that mark his later writing. Above all, it is filled with the unique Beckettian humor that, like brief stabs of sunlight, pierces the darkness of the vision. In his later years, Beckett agreed that Dream should eventually be published, but only "some little time" after his death. Now, more than six decades after it was written, this chest into which Beckett threw his wild thoughts can at last be opened, and its contents savored and enjoyed.
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Samuel Beckett
Arcade Publishing. Used - Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! ( more information) Offered by Better World Books (United States)
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2)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
New York: Arcade Publishing. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1993. First American Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall DJ is fresh and clean, preserved in mylar cover. Book is stated First US Edition, fresh and clean with solid binding. Problem-free. Although perhaps more accessible, Beckett's previously unpublished first novel features characters, themes, and the unique style characteristic of his later prose works ( More Pricks Than Kicks , Molloy , etc.). Written in English in 1932 when Beckett was 26 and living in Paris, the clearly autobiographical Dream was roundly rejected by publishers. Beckett put it aside, later entrusting it to O'Brien for posthumous publication in order not to offend friends and peers caricatured therein. Main character Belacqua, a writer and teacher, is clearly Beckett himself, although a "Mr. Beckett" also appears later in the work. The fair to middling women of the title range from ditzy to abrasive, while one male friend is described as "a persecution" and an "illegitimate cretin." Moving from Ireland to France to Germany (and from English to French to German, not to mention Italian and Latin), the novel is a literary smorgasbord. Discussions of music and writing jockey with tantalizing references to Hesse, Dmitiri Karamazov and "George Bernard Pygmalion" interrupted by the occasional aside from the narrator--"(Query: why do professors lack the gusts to get sons? Elucidate.)" Compared to the Nobel Prize winner's later exquisite fiction, poetry and plays, some of the writing in this book seems immature, but it does stand on its own as a lively and thought-provoking read. . ( more information) Offered by North American Rarities (United States)
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3)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel; O'Brien, Eoin; Fournier, Edith
New York, New York, U.S.A.: Arcade Pub, 1993 Has minimal edge wear.HAVE PLACED IT IN A NEW BRODART COVER.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. ( more information) Offered by A Great Book Shop, RMABA (United States)
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4)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel; Edited By Eoin O'Brien
New York: Arcade Publishing, 1993. Hardcover without dust jacket, 241 pages.. First American Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good ++. ( more information) Offered by Mimico BOOKS (Canada)
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5)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
Arcade Publishing, 1992. Edition is first thus. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. VG/VG, Exceptionally clean and bright former library. Edited by Eoin O'Brien and Edith Fournier. Foreword by O'Brien. Here more than 60 years after it was written, is Nobel laureate Beckett's first novel. This novel offers us a rare portrait of the artist as a young man. 2 ISBN: 1559702176. ( more information) Offered by Snooty Literary Society (United States)
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6)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
BECKETT, Samuel
NY: Arcade Publishing. Fine. 1993. Hardcover. 1559702176 . The Nobel laureate's first novel, published some sixty years after he'd written it. Edited by Eoin O'Brien and Edith Fournier. First North American edition, first printing. Fine in an about fine dust jacket. ISBN: 1559702176. . ( more information) Offered by Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB (United States)
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7)
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DREAM OF FAIR TO MIDDLING WOMEN
Beckett, Samuel
Edited by Edna O'Brien and Edith Fournier. Foreword by Edna O'Brien. NY: Arcade Publishing, (1993). First U.S. edition. Hardcover. Dust jacket. Very good, some bumping and rubbing to the jacket. Samuel Beckett's recently published first novel. ( more information) Offered by Chloe's Books (United States)
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8)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
BECKETT, Samuel
NY: Arcade Publishing. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1993. Hardcover. 1559702176 . The Nobel laureate's first novel, published some sixty years after he'd written it. Edited by Eoin O'Brien and Edith Fournier. First North American edition, first printing. . ( more information) Offered by Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB (United States)
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9)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel; O'Brien, Eoin; Fournier, Edith
New York, New York, U.S.A.: Arcade Publishing, 1993 1st Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8 Inches Tall. ( more information) Offered by Artists + Authors (United States)
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10)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
New York: Arcade Publishing. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket; Vg + 8vo hb and DJ.. 1993. First Printing. Hardcover. 1559702176 . A novel by Samuel Beckett, written more than 60 years after his recieving the Nobel nomination. Edited by Eoin O'Brian and Edith Fournier, with a forward by Eoin O'Brian. A story of divided love across vocabularies and continents. Vg hb. ; GFC; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 241 pages . ( more information) Offered by Gallowglass Books Ltd. (Canada)
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11)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel; O'Brien, Eoin; Fournier, Edith
New York, New York, U.S.A.: Arcade Pub, 1993 Light rubbing and edgewear. Bump and two small tears to top spine. First American Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall. ( more information) Offered by A Good Read (United States)
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12)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
Bx298: Arcade Publishing. 1993. Hardcover. 1559702176 . Hardcover. 8vo. Arcade. 1993. 241 pgs. First Edition (US) /First Printing. DJ in excellent shape, unclipped and with no tears present. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks, binding tight and solid, boards clean with no wear present. BX298; 1.01 x 8.53 x 5.76 Inches; 241 pages . ( more information) Offered by Mugwump Books (United States)
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13)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett Samuel
New York: Arcade. Very Good/Good+. 1993. 1st American Edition. Green Boards Brown Spine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall 1559702176 A very good copy with good + d/w-some crinkles of top edge and one small nick.This was the author's first novel published posthumously. . ( more information) Offered by Andy Carter (United Kingdom)
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14)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
New York, NY, U.S.A.: Arcade Publishing, 1993. As New in an As New DJ. Nobelist's first novel published 60 years after it was written.. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo. ( more information) Offered by modern-ISM (United States)
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15)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel
New York, NY, U.S.A.: Arcade Publishing, 1993. As New in an As New DJ. Nobelist's first novel published 60 years after it was written.. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo. ( more information) Offered by modern-ISM (United States)
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16)
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DREAM OF FAIR TO MIDDLINE WOMEN
Beckett, Samual
New York: Arcade Publishing, 1991 241pp: Beckett's first novel, written in 1932 and rejected by publishers; Beckett stuck it in a drawer, and was reluctant later to publish it (partly because it had some youthfully-severe caricatures of Beckett's friends and acquaintances). He agreed finally to publication but only after his death. A fine copy in a fine dustjacket. First US Edition. Half Cloth. Fine/Fine. ( more information) Offered by McLean Arts & Books (United States)
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17)
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Dream of Fair to Middling Women
Beckett, Samuel; O'Brien, Eoin, and Fournier, Edith (Edited by)
New York: Arcade Publishing, 1993 xx, 241 pp.; 22 cm. Tight, clean copy. Stated "First North American Edition." Dust jacket protected in a mylar book cover. "Samuel Beckett's 'high energy and boisterously libidinous' (Booklist) first novel - a wonderfully savory introduction to the Nobel Prize-winning author during this centenary year. Written in the summer of 1932, when the 26-year-old Beckett was poor and struggling, Dream of Fair to middling Women offers a rare and revealing portrait of the artist as a young man. Later on, Beckett would call the novel 'the chest into which I threw all my wild thoughts.' When he submitted it to several publishers, all of them found it too literary, too scandalous, or too risky, and it was never published during his lifetime. In the novel, Belacqua - a young version of Molloy, whose love is divided between two women, Smeraldina-Rima and the Alba - 'wrestles with his lusts and learning across vocabularies and continents, before a final "relapse into Dublin"' (The New Yorker). Youthfully exuberant and visibly influenced by Joyce, Dream of Fair to middling Women is a work of extraordinary virtuosity. Beckett delights in the wordplay and sheer joy of language that mark his later work. Above all, the story brims with the black humor that, like brief stabs of sunlight, pierces the darkness of his vision. / Samuel Beckett was born in Ireland in 1906. His plays Waiting for Godot and Endgame revolutionized modern theater, and his trilogy - Molloy, Mallone Dies, and The Unnamable - ranks among the major works of 20th-century fiction. He died in Paris in 1989." - Publisher.. First edition thus. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Collectible. ( more information) Offered by Left Coast Books (United States)
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