Raintree County

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. (c.1948). Early printing. Hardcover. [good sound copy, a couple of teensy-weensy brown spots (like rust stains) at top edge of front cover, but no other significant blemishes; the jacket is modestly edgeworn, a little faded at the spine panel, with tiny tears at a couple of corners, a short closed tear at the bottom of the rear panel, a bit of creasing/wrinkling along the top edge of the front panel, and a couple of tiny and unobtrusive puncture-wounds]. One of the great one-shot works of mid-20th century American literature, "an epic novel of heroic proportions" set in a fictionalized Indiana county. Structured as "the story of a single day [July 4, 1892] in which are imbedded a series of flashbacks," covering the years between 1844 and 1892, it's underpinned, alas, by the tragedy of the author's early death by suicide just two months after the book's publication, as related movingly in John Leggett's 1974 book "Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies," a dual biography of Lockridge and Thomas Heggen, the author of "Mister Roberts." MGM filmed Lockridge's book in 1957, with the hope of replicating the success of GONE WITH THE WIND; it didn't, despite a stellar cast including Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Eva Marie Saint. An unstated printing, but quite early: the jacket bears the same original price ($3.95) as the first printing, and the rear panel biography of Lockridge makes no reference to his death. ****NOTE that additonal postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this moderately heavy book; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order.**** .