Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
Written By Bernie Weisz Hiistorian Pembroke Pines, Florida e mail: Bernwei1@aol.com
Title of Review:
"The Choirboys: An Authentic 1975 Predawn Nightmare!"
In 1975, a Los Angeles Police Department officer-turned-novelist named Joseph Wambaugh wrote the controversial novel "The Choirboys". Still a hot book, Wambaugh wrote this almost 40 years ago! What was happening in 1975? Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, the city of Saigon on April 30th was surrendered to the North Vietnamese and all remaining Americans were evacuated, thus ending America's role in the Vietnam War. The U.S. "Apollo" and the Soviet "Soyuz" spacecrafts took off for their historic July 15th link up in space. Gerald Ford experienced two unsuccessful assassination attempts on his life, one by ex Charles Manson gang member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Muhammed Ali defeated Joe Frazier in the "Thriller in Manilla", The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans to win the Super Bowl, and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Boston Red Sox in 7 games to capture baseball's "fall classic", and Joseph Wambaugh penned "The Choirboys"
The Choirboys was a tragicomedy that parodied the effects of urban police work on young officers, which Wambaugh exaggerated through the exploits of his characters, a group of Los Angeles police officers in the Wilshire Division of the L.A.P.D. Wambaugh used a group of ten patrol officers as his main characters that held end-of-shift "get together's" which Wambaugh euphemistically coined "choir practice". It was sarcastically called "choir practice" to disguise the true nature of these meetings from their superior officers, which involved heavy drinking, complaints about their superior officers, war stories, and group sex with a pair of raunchy, overweight "police groupie" barmaids.
Wambaugh had these "choir practices" held in MacArthur Park, overviewing downtown Los Angeles. Although a novel, MacArthur Park (named after General Douglas MacArthur) is a real park located at 2230 West 6th St., in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Aside from Wambaugh's novel, MacArthur Park was featured as the setting in two movies, e.g. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", and "Training Day". Sardonically disillusioned, at these "choir practices", each of Wambaugh's officers expresses differently that many of the fellow officers they work with are not unlike the suspects they arrest, and the absurd regulations of the L.A.P.D. are oppressively enforced on them while their commanders (who usually acquire their positions through nepotism, favoritism and are without basic police work skills) indulge themselves hypocritically.
I do not want to be a "plot spoiler", but I will mention that the theme of police officer suicide provides all the way to the end of this novel a grim undercurrent to the black humor and is suggestive of a subconscious motivation for all "The Choirboy's" activities. The author, Joseph A. Wambaugh, born January 22, 1937, was originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a police officer, and joined the U.S. Marines at age 17. He works this into "The Choirboys" early, as he starts off with "The Secret of The Cave", which is a description of two future police officers experiences while they were trapped in a cave near Khe Sanh, South Vietnam in 1967. This little vignette at the beginning of "The Choirboys" has later disastrous consequences at the conclusion of this book, as the reader will find out. One of Wambaugh's characters, officer Sam Niles, due to the aforementioned Vietnam experience, developed severe claustrophobia, which later became a key factor in what Wambaugh called the "MacArthur Park shooting".
Wambaugh married at 18, received a B.A. and M.A. degree from California State University in Los Angeles, and then joined the L.A.P.D in 1960. Rising from the rank of patrolman to detective sergeant, he served until 1974. Because he was amongst their ranks, Wambaugh had a unique perspective on police work which greatly assisted him in his first novel, "The New Centurions", published in 1971 to critical acclaim and popular success. Wambaugh actually remarked while working, "I would have guys in handcuffs asking me for autographs". Both "The New Centurions" and his second book, "The Blue Knight" were novels written while he was actively employed in law enforcement. Quitting police work and turning to full time writing, "The Choirboys" was also the start of a new approach. Where in his first two books, Wambaugh portrayed conventional and heroic fictional policemen as the basis for his characters, starting with "The Choirboys", he began to use dark humor and outrageous incidents to emphasize the psychological peril inherent in modern urban police work.
Furthermore, in "The Choirboys", Wambaugh used names of many characters by often unflattering nicknames rather than given names e.g. Herbert "Spermwhale Whalen, "Father" Willie Wright and Henry "Roscoe" Rules. It is no coincidence that Wambaugh left the L.A.P.D. while writing "The Choirboys" as the reader will discover that in this book he became sharply critical of the command structure of the L.A.P.D. and individuals within it, and later, of city government as well. It is interesting to note that in 1977, "The Choirboys" was made into a film starring Louis Gossett, Jr. and James Woods. However, the movie lost the focus that Wambaugh so eloquently set forth in his novel. Wambaugh's book had "The Choirboys", i.e. the five sets of L.A.P.D partners which, while on night watch, were joined together by the pressures of the job. Wambaugh showed that this patrol squad was composed of men of varying temperaments and they chose to spend their pre-dawn hours decompressing from the job in relaxing drink and sex sessions they deemed "choir practice" in MacArthur Park. Wambaugh's thrust was that these men were endangered ultimately not by the violence of their jobs but by their choice of off-duty entertainment. However, in the film, the entire ending was changed by the producer. Ostensibly to make it more interesting, the film showed Wambaugh's characters as a bunch of drunken debauchers, while the book had "The Choirboys" as sympathetic characters. Ultimately the film was unsuccessful and critically panned. Wambaugh himself refused to have his name associated with the film, as considered it to be an extremely poor interpretation of his novel. For this reason, he is uncredited as it's creator. In 1995, "The Choirboys" was selected by the "Mystery Writers of America" as #93 of "The Top 100 Crime Novels of all Time". But Wambaugh didn't stop there. He has written a total of 19 nonfiction accounts of crime and detection and novels, with his most recent contribution to the literary field of "Hollywood Station" (2006 novel), "Hollywood Crows" (2008 novel) and finally, as of this writing, "Hollywood Moon" (2009 novel). However, "The Choirboys" will give you everything-crime, humor, sarcasm, violence, sex, gore, war and much more! A great book!
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The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- First UK Edition
- Published
- 1976
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- Hardcover
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Didcot, Oxfordshire, GBR
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London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976. Hardcover. First UK edition. Jacket is slightly tanned, with a few minor marks; slightly shelfworn, with nicks on spine foot and one or two edges. Page block head is foxed; endpapers less so. Pages are clean and sound. TS. First UK Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Used. Item Price
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THE CHOIRBOYS
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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- 1975
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- 9780440053637
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Pomona, New York, USA
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£33.03
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New York: Delacorte Press. 1975. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 0440053633 . Very Good in a Good dust jacket. Several chips and tears to jacket. Owner name to FEP. Stated First Printing. ; 0.9 x 7 x 4.2 Inches; 346 pages . Item Price
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The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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- 1975
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Northridge, California, USA
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Delacorte Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1975. First Edition. Hardcover. Hardcover first edition is lightly bumped and stained. Unclipped jacket is toned and worn along edges. Inscribed by Wambaugh to half title page. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 306 pages; Signed by Author . Item Price
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The Choirboys
by Joseph Wambaugh
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- 1975
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Flemington, New Jersey, USA
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Delacorte Press, 1975. Book. Fine. Cloth. Presentation & Association. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Fine copy in a near fine jacket.$8.95 on flap.First Printing.Presentation & Association."For Swanie, the world's greatest agent and a great guy Your pal, James Wambaugh 7 Oct 1975." Dated Month and Year of Publication.Awesome Copy.. Item Price
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THE CHOIRBOYS.
by Wambaugh, Joseph.
- Condition
- Used - Good only in a good dustjacket (reading wear, some edgewear to the dj.)
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Ione, California, USA
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New York:: Delacorte,, (1975.). SIGNED hardcover -. Good only in a good dustjacket (reading wear, some edgewear to the dj.). Later printing. An early Wambaugh title,the first police novel he wrote after leaving the force. "A powerful dark comedy about 10 men in blue in a patrol squad attempting to stay sane in an insane world." SIGNED… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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Portland, Oregon, USA
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Delacorte Press, 1975-01-01. Second printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 0x0x0. Signed by Author. Signed & dated on the half title page. From the private collection of prominent Oregon lawyer Glenn R. Jack. Minor shelf wear to binding with scuffs, bumps & softening to tail of spine. Light wear & soiling on edges of text block. pages toning with… Read more about this item Item Price
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The choirboys
by Joseph. Wambaugh
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Prescott, Arizona, USA
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1975. First printing. Hardcover. Good. missing DJ, spine is good, pages clean Item Price
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The Clancys of Queens
by Tara Clancy
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- As New
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- 1st Edition
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- 2016
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- Hardcover
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Champlin, Minnesota, USA
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£4.64
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New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group, 2016. 1st Edition. Hardcover. New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1st Printing LV2 This book and DJ is in like new condition. The edges of the DJ do show normal shelf wear at edges of spine. A red remainder mark is present on bottom of block. From the… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Choir Boys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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- Used - Very Good +
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- Eighth Printing
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- 1975
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- Hardcover
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- 9780440053637
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Canton, Georgia, USA
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£5.56
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New York: Delacorte Press, 1975. Eighth Printing. Hardcover. Very Good +/Near Fine. Blue Board Covers with Gold Lettering in an open red box on spine; front covers have some light soiling/splotches; White Endpapers; right book edge is rough-cut; book interior is clean and tight; 8vo; 346 pages; dustjacket is protected by a mylar wrapper and is clean and… Read more about this item Item Price
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THE CHOIRBOYS
by Joseph Wambaugh
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- First Edition; Seventh Printing
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- 1976
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- 9780440053637
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Pomona, New York, USA
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New York: Delacorte Press. 1976. First Edition; Seventh Printing. Hardcover. 0440053633 . Very Good+ in a Very Good+ dust jacket. ; 8.2 X 5.9 X 1.1 inches; 346 pages . Item Price
£32.26
The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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- 1st Edition
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- 1975
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- 9780440053637
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Ellensburg, Washington, USA
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£6.46
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New York, NY, U. S. A.: Delacorte Press, 1975. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Good. New York, NY, U. S. A.: Delacorte Press, 1975. Author's third novel, book is straight and tight, no writing. dj priced 8. 95, and has small crease on inside back flap, and top corner split(1/4 inch), and shelfwear. 346pp stated first printing. 10/75.… Read more about this item Item Price
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Balance The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America
by Hubbard, Glenn & Tim Kane
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- 2013
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Odessa, Texas, USA
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£17.93
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New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket;. 2013. First Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 351 pages; Stated First Edition. Mylar Cover on dust jacket. Dust Jacket shows little wear of usage. Book Tight. Text is clean no markings seen. . Item Price
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The Choirboys
by Joseph Wambaugh
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- 2010-08
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- Mp3CD
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- 9781441874832
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Augusta, Georgia, USA
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£8.08
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Excellent condition disc in very good case. Item Price
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The Choirboys: Signed
by Wambaugh, Joseph
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- Used - Good
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- Good
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- 1975
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- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780440053637
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CARSON CITY, Nevada, USA
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£20.19
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U.S.A.: Delacorte Press, 1975. 1ST. Hardcover. Good/Good. Signed by Author(s). 1ST FM Signed By The Author On The Half-Title Page. First Edition, First Printing. Book Is In Good Condition. Boards Have A Mild Amount Of Shelf Wear, Tiny Bit Of Bump To The Corners. Page Edges Have A Small Amount Of Reading Wear. Interior Is… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Choirboys: **Signed**
by Wambaugh, Joseph
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- Later Printing
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- 1975
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780440053637
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carson city, Nevada, USA
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£24.23
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New York: Delacorte Press, 1975. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). Later Printing. SIGNED - For Lenora, Christmas greetings from your Choirboy friend - by the AUTHOR on the Half-Title page. 3rd printing. Book is in Very Good condition. Boards have a tiny bit of shelf wear/rub. Fore edges have a small amount of reading wear/foxing. Interior is clean… Read more about this item Item Price
£24.23
The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Published
- 1975
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
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Woodlawn, Illinois, USA
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£4.84
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New York, New York: Delacorte Press, 1975. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Bce. (Book Club Edition). The Book Is Bound In Dark Blue With Gilt And Red Stamped Lettering On The Spine. The Title Is Within A Red Stamped Border. The Book Has Lightly Bumped Corners And The Page… Read more about this item Item Price
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THE CHOIRBOYS.
by Wambaugh, Joseph.
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- Used
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 1975
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Santa Monica, California, USA
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£40.38
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NY: DELACORTE.. 1975. First Edition. SIGNED by Joseph Wambaugh on the half-title page. Fine in a very good+ dj. (Several smallish edge tears in dj. Orange hue on spine of dj. mildly discolored) Author's FOURTH book. Basis for a film adaptation. . Item Price
£40.38
The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
- Condition
- Used - Fair
- Jacket Condition
- fair
- Edition
- First edition
- Published
- 1975
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780440053637
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Wichita, Kansas, USA
- Item Price
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£22.61
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Delacorte Press, 1975. First edition. Hardcover. Fair/fair. Signed and dated by author on full title page in my presence. Dust jacket rubbed, chipped at spine; top corner of ffep cut diagonally. Unclipped DJ protected with mylar cover. Stated first printing. 8vo, bookseller #002306.
Item Price
£22.61
The Choirboys
by Wambaugh, Joseph
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Published
- 1975
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780440053637
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Garrison, New York, USA
- Item Price
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£121.14
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Delacorte Press. Clipped DJ in archival cover. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1975. Item Price
£121.14
The choirboys
by Joseph Wambaugh
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Published
- January 1975
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780440053637
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- 1
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Youngtown, Arizona, USA
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£4.85
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Delacorte Press, January 1975. Hardcover. Used - Acceptable/Good. Dust jacket has shelf wear. Name of previous owner inside cover. Item Price
£4.85