Lie Down in Darkness by Styron, William - 1951

Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket. 1951. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. 0965335852 . This book is in Very Good+ condition and has a Very Good+ dust jacket. The book and its contents are in mostly clean, bright condition. The spine of the book cover has some toning / darkening and there is fading to the gilt lettering. The text pages are clean and bright. There is some beginning toning to the endpapers and the bottom edges of a section of the text pages have light bumping as if from a fall. The dust jacket is clean and bright, but does have two tears (one to the bottom rear spine end, and the bottom rear flap joint. The rear cover and spine have toning /darkening. "This is the story of the irreconcilably divided Loftis family of Port Warwick, Virginia. It is the story of Peyton Loftis, whose tragic beauty, it seemed, inevitably sowed devotion and destruction wherever she went." This is the author's first novel. "After graduation, Styron took an editing position with McGraw-Hill in New York City. Styron later recalled the misery of this work in an autobiographical passage of Sophie’s Choice. After provoking his employers into firing him, he set about writing his first novel in earnest. Three years later, he published the novel, Lie Down in Darkness (1951) , the story of a dysfunctional Virginia family. The novel received overwhelming critical acclaim. For this novel, Styron received the prestigious Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome and the American Academy of Arts and Letters." .