A GHOST IN THE MUSIC by Nichols, John - 1979

New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. The sixth novel of writer and photographer, John Nichols, probably best known for "The Milagro Beanfield War," part of his New Mexico Trilogy. "Ghost" is a story about a father-son relationship. It features Marcel Thompson, bastard son of Bart Darling, sometime actor, stunt man, poet, womanizer and food fadist. Marcel, in NYC, receives a desparate 3 a.m. phone call from father Bart, on location in New Mexico. 48 hours later, Marcel finds himself picking his way through a houseful of film crazies, trying to dodge the fight between Bart and his pregnant girl friend, Lorraine, who has declared she'll leave if Bart goes ahead with plans for a suicidal stunt for the movie. First edition, first printing (as stated, with complete numberline). About 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, 230 pages in black paper-covered boards with yellow cloth backstrip. Black lettering on backstrip. Dustjacket shows a red and black abstract design wrapping around spine and front panel against a yellow backgrounf with black lettering. Dj's back panel shows photo of Nichols and a ladder above a collection of praise for his past novels. A single, irregularly-shaped, half-inch, shallow dent near the bottom edge of the front cover, o/w boards show no noticeable flaws. A light scattering of foxing on top edge of text, o/w no other damage, no tears, creases, no chipping or bumped corners. Clean, complete and unmarked; binding tight and square. Not remaindered, not ex-library. The dustjacket also shows the almost unoticeable dent and a tiny tear on the back panel near the fore edge fold. Minimal other surface and edgewear. Not price-clipped. Besides "The Milagro Beanfield War, the basis for a movie directed by Robert Redford, two other Nichols novels, "The Wizard of Loneliness" and "The Sterile Cuckoo," have been adapted for film.