FARMER - INSCRIBED TO WILLIAM HJORTSBERG by Harrison, Jim - 1976

New York: The Viking Press, 1976. First Edition. Harrison's third novel, basis for Bruno Barreto's 1996 film Carried Away, starring Dennis Hopper, Amy Irving, and AMy Locane. Hjortsberg (1941-2017) and Harrison enjoyed a close, decades-long friendship, having first met in Northern California, and migrated to Montana in the late 1960's. Drawn by the prospect of adventure, solitude, and good fishing, they, along with Tom McGuane, were central figures in the Montana Gang - a coterie of authors, artists, and musicians whose ranks included Russell Chatham, Richard Brautigan, Don Carpenter, Bob Dattila, Peter Fonda, Jimmy Buffett, Jim Crumley, Erik Weber, and others. They transitioned from being friends to family when Hjortsberg's son, Max, married Harrison's daughter Anna. A superb association copy of this key, early work. Orr & Torrey A11.b. First Printing, one of 7,500 copies. Octavo (21.5cm); in the first issue binding of brown paper and black cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt and bronze on spine, and board edges from the corner to the backstrip measuring 5 1/16"; yellow topstain; dustjacket; [viii],160pp. While not explicitely designated, this copy was inscribed for fellow Montana author, screenwriter, and outdoorsman William "Gatz" Hjortsberg on the half-title page, comprised a full-page nude self-portrait of Harrison, shouting "Amour!" Faint finger-soil to right edge of textblock, else Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $7.95), with light wear to extremities and a hint of sunning to spine; Near Fine.