FARTHER AND WILDER: THE LOST WEEKENDS AND LITERARY DREAMS OF CHARLES JACKSON

New York City, NY: Alfred A Knopf, 2013. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Alfred A Knopf, 2013. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 500 pages. Biography on subject. One of the finest literary biographies of our time. 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 Blake Bailey's "Farther And Wilder: The Lost Weekends And Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson". "The Lost Weekend" and its author revisited and re-contextualized, with grace and humanity, by one of our best literary biographers, himself apparently afflicted, but no less brilliant and accomplished as such. The title is the working title of the last, unfinished book Jackson was working on when he suddenly died. Charles Jackson's great novel "is entirely based on Jackson's own experiences. His valiant struggle fills these pages. Jackson worked in radio and Hollywood, was published widely, lived in the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, and knew everyone from Judy Garland and Billy Wilder to Thomas Mann and Mary McCarthy. A doting family man with two daughters, Jackson was often industrious and sober; he even became a celebrated spokesman for Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet he ultimately found it nearly impossible to write without the stimulus of pills or alcohol and felt his devotion to his work was worth the price. The moving story of an artist whose commitment to bringing forbidden subjects into the popular discourse was far ahead of his time" (Publisher's blurb) . An absolute "must-have" title for Charles Jackson and Blake Bailey collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Blake Bailey. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws ("Very Good") , are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER BLAKE BAILEY TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 030727358X.