High Sierra
by Burnett, W.R
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1/1/1940. Hardcover w/DJ. 1st edition; gorgeous dust jacket with drawing by Bob Smith; dj in protective mylar cover; 1"" tear at head of spine; spine creased; edges and corners shelfworn; orange cloth with blue decoration and lettering on cover and spine; edges darkened; covers lightly soiled; endpapers foxed; text clean. G-/G-
Synopsis
The tormented and exhausted man at the center of W.R. Burnett's High Sierra is a notorious criminal whom the newspapers call "Mad Dog" Roy Earle. Earle is every bit the criminal the newspapers depict, but he is a complicated soul who is the tragic hero of the novel -- a horribly flawed man, a violent criminal who still retains a bit of a conscience but never gets a decent break.As in most of Burnett's novels, High Sierra ostensibly describes a carefully plotted crime that is undermined by human nature. More interesting and important, perhaps, is its study of Roy Earle, who hardly seems the "Mad Dog" he is made out to be in the press. Pardoned from prison, he idealizes his childhood as he wearily makes his way across the California desert to meet up with two hoods named Red and Babe. Earle is dismayed to find they have with them a tough and brazen woman named Marie, though he begins to warm to her crude charm. He has been moved by the plight of a physically impaired woman he meets, Velma Goodhue, and he resolves to help her -- imagining, somehow, that she will be his. After a holdup he plans with Red, Babe and Marie (who has now fallen in love with him), Earle takes money to Velma for an operation to repair her clubfoot. But the holdup has disastrous results. Red and Babe are killed, and Roy goes on the lam with Marie. They have nowhere to turn and even Velma deserts him. Earle sends Marie away, to meet him eventually in a mountain pass in the High Sierras -- a rendezvous high in the sky that will not take place as planned.Much happens plotwise in High Sierra but it is Roy Earle who holds our interest. As remorseless as the book is -- the concluding chapter consists a few lacerating paragraphs of post-mortem chitchat from the police -- it makes Earle a rich and deeply compelling man, without sentimentalizing him at all. Reading High Sierra is close to the experience of reading James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, a tough, bleak and unforgiving narrative that works a dark and elusive magic.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Loganberry Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 15310690
- Title
- High Sierra
- Author
- Burnett, W.R
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover w/DJ
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- 1/1/1940
Terms of Sale
Loganberry Books
Processing and shipping times may vary, please allow 5-7 business days for processing. Some oversized and special delivery items may require additional shipping time.
- We will ship all packages USPS Media Mail for $5.00 for the first paperback, $6.00 for the first hardcover, plus $1 for each additional book (approx. 5-15 days)
- USPS Priority Mail: $12.00 for the first book, plus $3 for each additional book (approx. 3-5 days)
- International, Alaska and Hawaii: minimum $20 for first book, $1 for each additional book (additional postage may be required; shipping times will vary).
About the Seller
Loganberry Books
Biblio member since 2022
Shaker Heights, Ohio
About Loganberry Books
Loganberry Books is an independently owned & operated bookstore in the historic Larchmere neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Established in 1994, we feature a carefully curated collection of new, used & rare books in all genres for both readers and collectors, with an inventory of over 100,000 volumes (give or take - we're still counting!).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
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