BE MY GUEST: TWO NOVELLAS

New York City, NY: Turtle Bay Books/Random House, 1992. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Turtle Bay Books/Random House, 1992. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 238 pages. Retrospective collection of two novellas. One of Rachel Ingalls' finest achievements. The first appearance of the pieces in the United States. 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 Rachel Ingalls' "Be My Guest". Two novellas: "Sis And Bud" and the eponymous "Be My Guest". "Shows her to be as adept as ever at mixing the sinister and the commonplace to create psychological suspense: Two adopted children set out to find their real parents, descending into obsession, incest, and murder. A young woman rescues a boy who claims to be an adult trapped in a man's body" (Kirkus Reviews). Rachel Ingalls is THE bewildering, eternal recluse among great late-modern writers in English. She never made a public appearance in her fifty-odd-year career as a published writer, and her publishing history is as bewildering as her tales. For devoted reader/collectors, the rules of thumb are fairly simple: a) All of her books first appeared in the United Kingdom, where she lived since 1964; b) All of them have been issued subsequently in the United States, sometimes under altogether different titles; and c) the American Editions remain eminently collectible, particularly for completists, because she has been served well by her publishers here in terms of both content and production values. One of the greatest storyteller-writers of our time, she is a latter-day Isak Dinesen whose theme is the sublime mystery of human existence. Once started, it is impossible to put down a Rachel Ingalls book. An absolute "must-have" title for Rachel Ingalls collectors. This title is a late-modern classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Turtle Bay Books was a Random House Imprint, and as such, followed the latter's First Edition indications: "First Edition" statement with a number line that begins with the Number 2 (instead of 1). Copies available online have serious flaws or are subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. Rachel Ingalls' "Mrs. Caliban" is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels in the English language of the 20th century. One of the finest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER RACHEL INGALLS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679413006.