Suttree by McCarthy, Cormac - 1979

New York: Random House, 1979 First edition, first printing. Black cloth-backed yellow boards with author's initials in gilt to front board, titles in gilt to spine; in its original black dust jacket designed by Jack Ribik with titles in yellow, green, red and white to front panel, and photo of McCarthy taken by Dan Moore to rear panel. Near fine, with previous owner's inscription to front free endpaper, a hint of offsetting to endpapers, and remainder mark (pink Random House logo) to top edge of text block; in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with a small closed tear to top of front panel, and a light scratch across front panel. Overall, a bright and attractive copy. Suttree tells the story of Cornelius "Buddy" Suttree, a man who has left his privileged life, and abandoned his wife and son, to live in a dingy houseboat on the Tennessee River. Here Suttree ekes out a livelihood as a fisherman, and co-exists with thieves, gamblers, prostitutes, and other "felonious debauchees" who live on the fringe of society. Suttree is considered to be McCarthy's most comic work and has drawn comparisons to James Joyce's Ulysses and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The book is quite autobiographical in nature, as McCarthy spent his formative years in Tennessee. It is one of the greatest works of the author of such American classics as Blood Meridian (1985), No Country for Old Men (2005), and The Road (2006). . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.