WAITING

New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 1999. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 1999. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 308 pages. The author's breakthrough second novel. One of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. 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 Ha Jin's "Waiting". The novel that finally brought Ha Jin mainstream, "bestseller" success in the United States and the international recognition he richly deserved after a period of obscurity. Translated into numerous languages, "Waiting" is firmly identified with Ha Jin even though he had already published a brilliant body of work that includes two poetry collections, two short story collections, and a novel. Ha Jin came to the United States as an adult barely able to speak English. He still has difficulty speaking it and has said that the main impetus for writing is the opportunity it affords him to sit down and write and re-write, edit and re-edit, and start all over again if necessary until he is satisfied with the results. He has begun and abandoned works that he has lost count of in the process. But he has learned the language to the point that he is now regarded as one of its living Masters. He uses his acquired language as an incomparable storyteller and poet of the first rank who bears witness to the collision between personal experience (in all its pain, beauty, and complexity) and the arbitrary suffering that History, Fate, and Destiny inflict upon all human beings, whether they be powerful or powerless. His sympathy for every human being in all his or her particularity is unsurpassed among contemporary American writers. "Ha Jin profoundly understands the conflict between the individual and society, between the timeless universality of the human heart and constantly shifting politics of the moment. With wisdom, restraint, and empathy for all his characters, he vividly reveals the complexities and subtleties of a world and a people we desperately need to know" (Award Citation, National Book Award). An absolute "must-have" title for Ha Jin collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and dated in black ink-pen (in both Roman letters and Chinese characters) on the title page by the author: "Ha Jin 1/14/10". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such double-signed and dated copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for "Ocean of Words". Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award For Short Fiction for "Under the Red Flag". Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award in 1999 for "Waiting". One of the finest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER HA JIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0375406530.