New York: Rinehart and Co., 1948. First edition, first issue with the Rinehart logo on copyright page, and in the first state jacket with the introductory "word from the publisher" by Stanley Reinhart on the flaps. Thick 8vo, in the publisher's original black cloth printed in white on the spine, and in the first state dustjacket. (8), 721 pp. A very good and handsome copy of this important work, the text is quite clean and fresh for this book which was printed on paper still of the War Standards type, so is normally mellowed. The black cloth is vivid with no fading, a little flaking to the black at the tips and corners, hinges tight. The first-state jacket is essentially complete, having only a tiny bit of chipping at the top of the rear fold and back cover and the price neatly clipped, some normal rubbing and age, the fading which is very common on the spine of this title is really quite mild in this copy's case, though present. FIRST EDITION AND FIRST ISSUE OF NORMAN MAILER’S FIRST BOOK AND ARGUABLY STILL ONE OF HIS BEST. Long considered one of the best novels to come out of World War II, and the best to come out of America. It caused a sensation on its initial publication; critics compared the 25-year-old author to Tolstoy and catapulted him to instant literary celebrity.
Mailer uses extensive flashbacks and brutally frank battle scenes to tell the story of General Cummings’ invasion of a Japanese-held island in the South Pacific. Believing that “the morality of the future is a power morality,” Cummings runs into opposition from Lieutenant Hearn, who refuses to fit into the general’s “fear ladder.”

Synopsis

Acclaimed as a successful expression of the futility of war, Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead follows the story of an army platoon of foot soldiers fighting for the possession of the Japanese-held island of Anopopei during World War II. The novel, which embodies wartime disillusionment, is partly based on Mailer’s own experiences with the 112th Cavalry in the Pacific. Through its four parts, The Naked and the Dead addresses themes of loneliness, death of fear and dying, and brotherhood. The novel is written in gritty, journalistic detail. However, this tone was dialed back as publishers persuaded Mailer to use to euphemism “fug” in lieu of the mother of all curse words — the “F” word — in his novel. The Naked and the Dead sold 200,000 copies in its first three months and was a New York Times best seller for over a year. Despite some controversy among critics, the novel remains important in American literature. The Naked and the Dead is ranked 51st on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1958.

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On May 21 2016, a reader said:

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Details

Bookseller: Buddenbrooks, Inc. (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 31889
Title: THE NAKED AND THE DEAD
Author: Mailer Norman
Book Condition: Used
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rinehart and Co.
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 1948

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Flap(s): The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Rubbing: Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Copyright page: The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Chipping: A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
First State: used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some...