VANDAL LOVE: A NOVEL

Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2012. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. As New/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2012. Softcover. As New/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 345 pages. The author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most important literary debuts of our time. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. Presents, at long last, Deni Y. Bechard's "Vandal Love". His first novel. It finally appears in the United States after being issued in Canada several years ago. "An astonishing novel of epic ambition, 'Vandal Love' follows generations of a unique French-Canadian family across North America and through the 20th century, as they struggle to find their place in the world" (Publisher's blurb). Quite a struggle it turns out to be: A genetic curse runs through the family whereby the offspring are born either as giants or dwarfs ("runts"). "Reinvents the generational novel with innovative brilliance. The book has all the quirky depth of a great HBO series and a line-by-line literary energy that is very rare. This is an enormously impressive debut by a clearly talented writer" (Robert Olen Butler). Deni Yvan Bechard was born to French-Canadian and American parents in 1974 and is a largely self-taught writer who has lived in both Canada and the United States. The acclaim that some of the finest living writers have heaped on his debut novel is staggering, reminiscent of the praise that greeted Vikram Seth's "The Golden Gate" in the 1980's, Zadie Smith's "White Teeth" in the 1990's, and Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" at the turn of the century. Bechard has been compared to Annie Proulx, one of the most revered American writers of our time, and E. L. Doctorow, one of the greatest writers in any language. An absolute "must-have" title for Deni Y. Bechard collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (in the month and year of publication) in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "Deni Y. Bechard 6/24/2012 NYC". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, placed, and publication-month dated copy of the First American Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant new voices in contemporary literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DENI YVAN BECHARD TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1571310916.