Book of Numbers - Hardcover
In the tradition of Chester Himes and Walter Mosley, Robert Deane Pharr's novel tells the tale of two black men, Dave and Blueboy, traveling waiters who establish themselves as numbers runners in a fictionalized Richmond of the 1930s. Published to great acclaim in 1969, The Book of Numbers centers on powerful themes of truth and illusion, myth and legend, and vividly conveys a sense of African American life on the periphery of white society. The new Virginia edition complements Pharr's text with an afterword by the Washington Post editor Jabari Asim.
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Review:
Mr. Pharr begins in biblical rhythms... and sustains his tempo with parables of love, brotherhood, and death. Fortifying the novel's supple style is its inescapable vitality... bringing to life every major and minor invention. - New York Times Book Review ""Alienation, loneliness, the quest for authentic communication between people, the effort to make sense out of a meaningless world pervade many black novels as fully as they do the works of such writers as Joseph Heller or Bernard Malamud. In Robert Deane Pharr's rich new novel The Book of Numbers, the hero strives for the illusion of independence while actually becoming totally dependent on others."" - Newsweek
About the Author:
ROBERT DEANE PHARR was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1916. The son of a minister and a schoolteacher, Pharr graduated from Virginia Union University and went on to graduate studies at Fisk, Columbia, and New York University, but spent most of his adult life as an itinerant waiter who moved from track to track, following the racing season. He wrote The Book of Numbers while working in New York City. During a stint at the Columbia University Faculty Club, Pharr showed the manuscript to a professor in the English department, who helped bring it to the attention of Doubleday. Pharr went on to write several other novels, among them The Soul Murder Case and Giveadamn Brown. He died in upstate New York in 1989.
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- PublisherCalder Publications Ltd
- Publication date1970
- ISBN 10 0714506966
- ISBN 13 9780714506968
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages374
- Rating
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
Published by
Calder & Boyars, London
(1970)
ISBN 10: 0714506966
ISBN 13: 9780714506968
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description First English edition. 8vo, pp. 374. Small clipping of the author's obit laid in. Paper over boards. A nice copy in somewhat soiled dj. Seller Inventory # 52976
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£ 24.60
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS.
Published by
Calder And Boyars., London,
(1969)
ISBN 10: 0714506966
ISBN 13: 9780714506968
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description 8vo. First UK edition. Fine in VG+ dust wrapper. Review copy with review slip. ISBN:0714506966 First Edition. Hardback. Dust Jacket. Seller Inventory # 55957
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£ 28.70
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THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
Published by
Caler and Boyars, London
(1969)
ISBN 10: 0714506966
ISBN 13: 9780714506968
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: very good. First UK edition. 5 1/4 x 8 in. 374 pgs. Scarce first UK edition, 1969. Gray cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine. Condition is VERY GOOD+ ; no wear to corners or edges, binding tight, text perfect. FINE except extremely faint yellow spotting to cloth, and old Strand price sticker on front pastedown. DJ condition is VERY GOOD ; not price clipped (40s) no chipping or tears and edges hardly worn at all, very clean and bright except again, extremely faint yellow spotting. A fantastic copy overall. Fiction. RG. Seller Inventory # 5894
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£ 32.80
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