At Swim-two-birds

Pantheon, 1951-01-01. First American Edition. Hardcover. Very Good+/Very Good. Hardcover, First American Edition (see description) 1951 Pantheon 316 pages. Very Good+, in a VG DJ. Just a touch of shelf/edge wear to navy blue cloth spine with yellow spine titles over yellow paper boards with black and yellow titles - corners sharp. One small scuff to rear board and a two small indentations to the front board. Minor shelf/edge wear, a few small closed tears and dust soiling to original yellow unclipped DJ - now in mylar. Spine of DJ is sun-darkened and there are also two thin strips of sun-darkening to the front panel of the DJ. No previous owner markings - all pages are clean and unmarked. This is the First American Edition. (Although the publication date is given as 1939, the First American Edition was actually published in 1951). Brian O'Nolan 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966) was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist, considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. At Swim-Two-Birds is a 1939 novel by Irish writer Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It is widely considered to be O'Brien's masterpiece, and one of the most sophisticated examples of metafiction. The novel was included in TIME magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It was also included in a list, published by The Guardian, of the 100 best English-language novels of all time. The book was published on 13 March 1939, but did not sell well: by the outbreak of World War II it had sold scarcely more than 240 copies. In 1940, Longman's London premises were destroyed during a bombing raid by the Luftwaffe and almost all the unsold copies were incinerated. The novel was republished by Pantheon Books in New York City in 1951, on the recommendation of James Johnson Sweeney, but sales remained low. Dylan Thomas, in a remark that would be quoted on dust-jackets in later editions of the book, said "This is just the book to give your sister – if she's a loud, dirty, boozy girl". Anthony Burgess considered it one of the ninety-nine greatest novels written between 1939 and 1984. Graham Greene's enthusiastic reader's report was instrumental in getting the book published in the first place. Very handsome First American Edition in DJ. LOC SE-2