Dune Bce Gutter by Frank Herbert (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Book Club Edition. Book Club Edition Red hardcover with edgeworn dustjacket under new (unaffixed) archival mylar. Hinges intact and binding secure. No scent, no marks. The Gutter code is T23 . Your purchase benefits literacy and summer reading programs in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio. We ship every business day. All books ship in cardboard bookfolds with delivery confirmation. Sets or unusually heavy items ship in a box.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. John Schoenherr (Jacket Art) (illustrator). Book Club Edition. Frank Herbert's "Dune": the Chilton 1965 true first edition format, but in the homage-like book club reprint, in this case with gutter identifier Y49 indicating the 1983 edition of the several times re-printed book club edition, the coding used being that of Doubleday, wherein the Y indicates the year 1983, and the 49 indicates the 49th week of that year.The tiny gutter code is burid toward the hinge of the last page, the unnumbered one which bears author biographical information. Octavo, memorable illustrated wraps by John Schoenherr, maroon and brown boards (one of the differences between the true first edition and the very similar looking book club edition, which is something of a rarity itself, is the colors of the boards, the other being a slight dimensional difference in length and width), 538 pp (xxx+507+1). Near Fine, or better, both jacket and book; that is itself a rarity among currently available book club edition examples. See images. Underrated early on, Herbert's complex and epic novel - which, as you know, spawned many more, as well as a number of cinematic presentations has become one of the great efforts in science fiction, despite it's difficulty for first-timers. Hard to criticize other than for that complexity - except that the intentionally negative social commentary, like that of Isaac Asimov in his great Foundation trilogy, is in my opinion poorly thought through, as both portray humankind as a flawed species which retains its most atavistic instincts far into the future - a species which has shown nothing but constant self-enlightenment and progress away from primitive times for all 300,000 years (as currently assessed) of its existence. To rebut that Herbert wasn't really talking about humankind would be erroneous; in his dedication near the front, he refers to this work as an "effort at prediction", and he did know what he was socially criticizing. The mystery here - for Herbert, Asimov and others of like mind is how they fail to notice the inaccuracy of the 'flawed species' contention. Or, maybe they didn't fail to realize notice that; they may have just felt they didn't like the speed of progress, here and now, and that - well, money is and was still money, and a quasi-dystopia bent was more likely to sell more books. One need only observe prevailing sci-fi movie themes, right now: post-apocalyptic, dystopian (often both together); invading creatures of un-evolved, barbaric, atavistic instincts which somehow nevertheless created far-future tech; formulaic group dynamic studies; individual psychological descent, never ascent, etc.). Simply put: Fans Like It. Butts in the seats, cash in the bank. Sigh. What souls are such writers and producers THEMSELVES displaying? Unable to eschew social criticism, not daring to contemplate any of the infinite novel types of adversity out there in the multiverse. Cain't hardly swing a cat without hittin' post-apocalyptia etc these days. OK. In any case, Dune is beyond doubt one of the forever unforgettable novels in the science fiction genre. Do read it, and carefully. But get a paperback copy for that. Even this book club edition homage is quite scarce - check that out - particularly in worthy condition, such as this one. It's for your shelf display. Please see all images. L61.