The Postman Always Rings Twice by Cain, James M - 1934

Knopf, 1934. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934. First edition of Cains most significant title. Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 188 x 127 mm). [viii], 187, [1], [1, blank], [1, colophon] pp. Publishers orange cloth with blue-stamped spine outlining the lettering and blue lettering and designs on the front, top edge stained blue. Covers soiled. First edition stated on the copyright page. In dust jacket with the $2.00 price. Overall a good to very good minus copy in an unrestored dust jacket. Previous owner's bookplate attached to front free end paper. See photos. "Cain was one of the masters of American hard-boiled fiction. His first novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, is a story of a young hobo who has an affair with the wife of a roadside stand owner and plots with her to murder her husband and collect his insurance. In taut, sparse prose, Cain depicts a bleak, amoral society of desperate characters driven by their need for love, however twisted, as well as money." (Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia, 160). Bookplate of Hume Cronyn on the front free endpaper. Cronyn played the role of the lawyer in the first movie version of the book. Glare in photos is from plastic brodart cover. Comes in a custom-made collector's slipcase.