THE OUTSIDERS by Hinton, S.E - 1967

New York: Viking Press, 1967. First printing. Near fine in a near fine jacket.. Signed first edition of this enduring YA classic, adapted into an equally classic and enduring film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring a who's-who of about-to-be-huge 1980s stars (Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, etc.). Written while she was still in high school and published when she was just eighteen, Hinton's OUTSIDERS is set in her native Tulsa and follows the wrong-side-of-the-tracks Greasers and their rich "Westside" rivals, the Socs. Told from the point of view of fourteen-year-old Greaser Ponyboy Curtis, the book's frank depiction of class conflict and teenage violence marked a turning point in young adult literature - toward realism and away from the idealization of youth typical of previous generations. As Hinton herself wrote at the time of the book's publication: "Teenagers today want to read about teenagers today. The world is changing, yet the authors of books for teen-agers are still 15 years behind the times. In the fiction they write, romance is still the most popular theme with a horse and the girl who loved it coming in a close second. Nowhere is the drive-in social jungle mentioned. In short, where is the reality?" But that reality came at a price. Despite its status as a classic and its appeal across generations, the book remains among the most frequently challenged books in the United States. Increasingly elusive in the first printing, uncommon signed, and decidedly scarce in this condition. A beautiful copy of this YA landmark. 8.25'' x 5.5''. Publisher's original full black cloth. In original unclipped ($3.95) color pictorial jacket designed by Richard M. Powers. 188 pages. Bottom front flap corner clipped, as usual. Jacket with tiny closed tear at spine fold and attendant small tape repair to verso, with similar unobtrusive reinforcement at top edge of folds. Trace toning here and there. Book has a bit of fading to top edge, some moderate offsetting to front endpapers. Else a bright, sharp, sound and clean example. Presents beautifully.