New York: Random House, 1974. First Edition ~1st Printing. Hardcover. acclaimed author's third book, near fine in near fine dust jacket, in mylar cover; faint foxing on top of pageblock, gentle rubbing to jacket edges, some creasing to end of front jacket flap, two small yellowed blemishes to front endpapers else a tight square unmarked copy in unclipped dust jacket; stated first edition

Synopsis

The 158-Pound Marriage, author John Irving's third published novel, revolves around an unidentified narrator, a college professor, and a mediocre novelist. The narrator met his wife Utch, an orphaned survivor of WWII, in Vienna while doing research. They are a relatively happy couple; their family rounded out by two children. At a faculty party, they meet Severin Winter, a Viennese-born professor and coach of the college wrestling team, and his wife, Edith. The couple's interests (Edith is an aspiring fiction writer, and Severin has a commonality with Utch's upbringing in Austria) and resulting infatuations between the couples lead to after-dinner partner-swapping. At first, the swinging goes smoothly, but eventually, uneven feelings and obsessions throw the couples off track. The title, The 158-Pound Marriage , refers to the 158-pound weight class in wrestling, which Severin, the coach, feels is the most competitive. The book is small, only 176 pages, compared to Irving's later weighty tomes, like the 610 page The World According to Garp ( 1978) and The Cider House Rules (1985), which is 973 pages.

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Details

Bookseller: David Kaye Books & Memorabilia (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 30031
Title: The 158-Pound Marriage
Author: Irving, John
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used
Edition: First Edition ~1st Printing
Publisher: Random House
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 1974

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Edges: The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Rubbing: Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...