LIGHT IN AUGUST

New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1932. First Edition. Faulkner's seventh novel, set in the American South during the days of Prohibition and Jim Crow, exploring themes of race, class, sex, and faith. "At its base, this is a simple, small-town idyll, but in execution it becomes a complex novel packed with comedy, violent misfortune, and implicit moral and social commentary. Four major characters lead frustrated lives: a part-Negro who passes for white and finally ends the victim of a mob; a preacher whose religion doesn't meet reality; a lonely woman; a migratory worker" (Coan, America in Fiction, p.58). One of the defining books of the 1930's, and cited in The Modern Library's "100 Best Novels" list. Petersen A13a. First Printing, one of 8,500 copies. Octavo (21cm); coarse tan cloth, with titles stamped in orange and blue on spine and front cover; orange topstain; dustjacket; [iv],480pp. Fine in a very Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced $2.50), with some pinpoint wear to extremities, and a single, tiny tear to upper front joint - a vibrant example, rich in color, with the spine entirely unfaded. Lacking the original glassine overlay, but housed in a custom half-morocco slipcase and chemise.