The Quiet American

VERY GOOD — DUST JACKET: Wear & tear to top and bottom edges of spine, panels, folds and flaps. Minor chipping to top and bottom of spine, primarily top. Slight sun-fading of spine. Very minor chipping to top outside corners at folds, front and back. BOARDS: Very good condition. No issues. BOOK: Very good condition. Some spotting/light staining to outside edge of front and back paste-downs, FFEP and LFEP, half title page, and last page of text. Ink markings top of FFEP. Please inspect photos closely for condition details.

Here on offer is a very nice copy of Graham Greene's popular novel, The Quiet American, which depicted America's early involvement in the Vietnam War and was the basis for the 1958 and 2002 films of the same name. This copy is a true 1st American trade edition, 1st printing of the work published by the Viking Press in 1956. The dust jacket is protected from further wear by a Mylar sleeve.

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" 'The Quiet American' is a terrifying portrait of innocence at large. While the French Army in Indo-China is grappling with the Vietminh, back at Saigon a young and high-minded American begins to channel economic aid to a 'Third Force'.

Fowler, a seasoned foreign correspondent, observes: 'I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused.' As young Pyle's policies blunder on into bloodshed, the older man finds it impossible to stand aside as an observer. But Fowler's motives for intervening are suspect, both to the police and to himself: for Pyle has robbed him of his Vietnamese mistress."

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"Henry Graham Greene OM CH (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century.

Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. He was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize.

He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia,[8] and was buried in Corseaux cemetery. . . .

Greene is regarded as a major 20th-century novelist, and was praised by John Irving, prior to Greene's death, as 'the most accomplished living novelist in the English language'. . . .

Greene collected several literary awards for his novels, including the 1941 Hawthornden Prize for The Power and the Glory and the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Heart of the Matter. As an author, he received the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize, a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. In 1986, he was awarded Britain's Order of Merit. . . . "

The above text was taken from, respectively, Penguin publishing (via Google Books) and Wikipedia.
[Greene, Graham. The Quiet American (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics). Kiribati: Penguin Books, 1991.]

This handsome copy would be a worthy addendum to your First editions library.