THE BEAUTIFUL ROOM IS EMPTY by White, Edmund - 1988

New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 228 pages. The second novel in the author's Gay Trilogy. One of Edmund White's finest achievements. 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 "The Beautiful Room Is Empty". The second volume of the author's ground-breaking trilogy. The latter was inaugurated by "A Boy's Own Story" (1982) and concluded with "The Farewell Symphony" (1997) . The title is the famous line by Franz Kafka. "To look only at what a single English sentence can, in White's hands, become is to stand entranced before sensuous grace" (Cynthia Ozick) . "One of the three or four most virtuosic living writers of sentences in the English language" (Dave Eggers) . An absolute "must-have" title for Edmund White collectors. <b><i> This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the half-title page by Edmund White. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. At the time of the book's publication, Edmund White was based in Paris, suffering from AIDS, and believed he would not return to America alive. He was one of the very first prominent figures to be diagnosed with the illness. After nearly forty years, he remains one of its longest-living survivors. 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, a beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. </b></i> Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet: A Biography". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0394564448.