YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY: THE UNCORRECTED PROOF

London, England: Hamish Hamilton, 2003. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. Fine/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. London, England: Hamish Hamilton, 2003. Softcover. Fine/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 371 pages. The author's debut novel. Uncorrected Proof. Precedes and should not be confused with the regular trade edition. Published in a small and limited one-time-only print run as a softcover original only for the exclusive use of the author and publisher and in the United Kingdom only. None of the copies was sold commercially. It has no ISBN of its own. The Uncorrected Proof is now rare. A brilliant production by Hamish Hamilton: Regular-sized volume format. Softcovers with the opening paragraph of the novel on the cover and titles on the spine, as issued. Text by Dave Eggers. Printed on archival stock paper in London to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in its earliest-state format, Dave Eggers' "You Shall Know Our Velocity". His first, and in many ways, still his best, novel. Excerpted in The New Yorker Magazine, the novel is a further exploration of the themes of his breakthrough memoir, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius". The title comes from the "Jumping People", who wanted to become birds and believed that by constantly trying to jump off a cliff, they would eventually learn how to fly. They left a poignant message on the same cliff, carved in stone, their (defiant) motto as well as their (tragic) epitaph. The Spanish conquistadors who found the inscription were able to decipher and translate it (correctly) as "you shall know our velocity". As such, Eggers' ears are keenly attuned to the malaise (as well as the inchoate, redemptive possibility) of contemporary life, which is otherwise about mindless velocity, speed as the principal quality of life. "He writes wonderfully. An extremely impressive debut" (John Banville). An absolute "must-have" title for Dave Eggers collectors. This is a copy of the British Uncorrected Proof. It is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the Back Cover by Dave Eggers. It is signed directly on the cover itself, not on a tipped-in page. His signature, one of the best we have ever seen, was obtained directly from the publisher. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Uncorrected Proof of the First British Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Dave Eggers did NOT issue an Uncorrected Proof of the American Edition. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DAVE EGGERS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).