Sam. by Selby, John - 1939.

New York:: Farrar & Rinehart, 1939.. 3rd Printing.. Hardbound . BINDING/CONDITION: red cloth with gilt text; the top edge tint is red; bookplate on the half-title page, a Good book, with a Fair dust jacket; publisher's price on the jacket flap is intact.. 8vo (about 8.25 inches tall) . Description: This was the American prize winner in the All-Nations competition in 1939. The saga of a rugged individual's rise to power. Sam, crude and powerful, gets into the driver's seat of a growing midwestern city, buying a newspaper through a poker game -- and going on from there. Consumed by ambition, he manipulates men and property to suit his ends, all save Martha, his wife, who rebels against her position as fifth wheel and turns to a pianist, who becomes her lover. But when his son is killed, his road to empire crumbles, and as a last gesture of power he endows a university with the wealth he had accumulated solely for his son. (from Kirkus Reviews, October, 1939) Author John Selby was a staff writer for the Associated Press and was known for his book column, The Literary Guidepost.