THE GRANTA BOOK OF THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY

London, England: Granta Books, 1992. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. London, England: Granta Books, 1992. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 710 pages. Retrospective collection of great American short stories. The best collection of its kind ever published in the late-20th century. Advance Signed Copy of the First British Edition. Which is the true first. Elegant publisher's cream bookplate neatly pasted on the front free endpaper. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, of which there are many. Published, in conjunction with Viking Press in the United States, in a small and limited first print run by Granta Books as a hardcover original only that, quite improbably, given its 710-page length, went into multiple subsequent printings. The First Edition is now rare. Presents, in its true First Edition format, "The Granta Book of The American Short Story". Edited by Richard Ford, himself one of the greatest American short-story writers of our time, with an indispensable Introduction. First published by Granta Books in 1992 in this now-rare edition, it rapidly and perhaps inevitably, became a classic. "The definitive anthology of American short fiction written in the last half of the twentieth century. Stories by Eudora Welty, John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and forty others demonstrate how memorable power can lie in the briefest narration" (Publisher's blurb). Richard Ford revisited his rich subject and ended up editing its just as delightful - and voluminous - sequel, "The New Granta Book of The American Short Story" fifteen years later, in 2007. The two-volume set "constitutes an important reflection and judgment of recent American writing as well as the superb pleasure yielded by the stories themselves" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for collectors of American literature. This is an Advance Signed Copy. It is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the publisher's elegant cream bookplate (that is neatly pasted on the front free endpaper) by Richard Ford. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only such pre-signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (British) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: ALL other copies available online are in multiple subsequent printings. Copies available online have very serious flaws because they were thoroughly read. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Some of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO "THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE MODERN AMERICAN SHORT STORY" AND "THE NEW GRANTA BOOK OF THE AMERICAN SHORT STORY" TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0670845272.