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High Sierra
by W.R. Burnett
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- Seller
-
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
USA: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. High Sierra by W.R. Burnett First Edition Alfred A. Knopf 1930. A fine copy that appears unread (boards spring when opened). No name inscriptions and free of any foxing or toning. Publisher's covers are completely unblemished. In original and remarkably well preserved fine dust jacket. With no wear to spine tips and no creasing, tears or loss. Not price clipped. An excellent copy.
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
- Brought to Book Ltd
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 007039
- Title
- High Sierra
- Author
- W.R. Burnett
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition 1st Printing
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- USA
- Date Published
- 1930
- Weight
- 1.43 lbs
- Keywords
- High Sierra by W.R. Burnett First Edition Alfred A. Knopf 1930
Terms of Sale
Brought to Book Ltd
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Brought to Book Ltd
Biblio member since 2009
London, Greater London
About Brought to Book Ltd
Founded by Adam and Justin Lay, Brought to Book Ltd offers rare and collectible titles from the more interesting and entertaining corners of the book world.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- 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....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Price Clipped
- When a book is described as price-clipped, it indicates that the portion of the dust jacket flap that has the publisher's...
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