KING BLOOD

New York, NY: The Armchair Detective Library/Otto Penzler Books, 1993. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. New York, NY: The Armchair Detective Library/Otto Penzler Books, 1993. Hardcover. As New/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 221 pages. Posthumous Edition of the author's crime novel. The first appearance of the title in hardcover and in the United States. Limited Slipcased Edition of 100 numbered and signed copies. Precedes and should not be confused with the regular trade edition. Published as a hardcover original only and as part of The Armchair Detective Library Series. The Limited Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by Otto Penzler: Regular-sized volume format. Maroon cloth boards with gilt titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Text by Jim Thompson. Introduction by James Ellroy. Matching maroon cloth slipcase. Printed on archival stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Re-presents, in a Limited Edition format, Jim Thompson's "King Blood". Oklahoma! This marks the very first appearance in the United States of the author's 1954 novel, shelved, ignored, re-discovered, and finally issued twenty years later, in 1973, by a British publisher. It is now given the regal Limited Edition treatment by Otto Penzler Books, in 1993, almost forty years later. In a nutshell, Ellroy describes the novel as sub-Shakespeare melded with sub-Erskine Caldwell resulting in sub-Dostoevski. Admittedly not Thompson's greatest work, but then again, sub-Thompson is superior to most other contemporary "bestseller" crime thrillers. Ellroy previously introduced another unjustly neglected novel by Jim Thompson, "Heed The Thunder", in 1991, after the latter languished in "out-of-print" obscurity for 46 years. An absolute "must-have" title for Jim Thompson and James Ellroy collectors. This is a copy of the Limited Slipcased Edition of 100 copies, indicated/numbered as such on the Front Limitation Page. It is very boldly and beautifully numbered and signed in black ink-pen by James Ellroy. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the regular trade edition. A scarce signed copy thus. Two of the finest American writers in the crime thriller genre. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JAMES ELLROY TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1562870475.