THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN (First UK edition - first impression)
Language: English
Published by Sceptre (An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton), London, 2008
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Orlando Booksellers, Lincoln, United KingdomOrlando Booksellers
AbeBooks seller since January 11, 2000
Condition: Used - Near fine
£ 15.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
First impression of the first edition in English, with the no. "1" on the printer's page. ***Near fine in silver-grey cloth-covered boards with white titles to the spine. The boards are clean and unmarked. Head and tail of the spine slightly rubbed. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges clean. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. Pages bright - paper stock just lightly tanned. No foxing. No creases or tears. ***In a near fine colour-illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £16.99. No creases, chips or tears. Dustwrapper clean and bright. ***223mm x 140mm. 306 pages. ***'Compulsive, thought-provoking and profoundly affecting, "The Sorrows of an American" probes the mysterious workings of the heart and mind to dazzling effect in a tale of the ghosts that haunt families from one generation to the next'. (Quote taken from the dustwrapper). ***'Siri Hustvedt (born Feb 19, 1955) is an American novelist and essayist. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of non-fiction. Her books include "The Blindfold" (1992), "The Enchantment of Lily Dahl" (1996), "What I Loved" (2003), for which she is best known, "A Plea for Eros" (2006), "The Sorrows of an American" (2008), "The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves" (2010), "The Summer Without Men" (2011), "Living, Thinking, Looking" (2012), "The Blazing World" (2014), and "Memories of the Future" (2019). "What I Loved" and "The Summer Without Men" were international bestsellers. Her work has been translated into over thirty languages. "The Sorrows of an American" is about a Norwegian American family and their troubles. The novel is partly autobiographical in that Hustvedt herself is of Norwegian descent and in that passages from her own deceased father's journal about the Depression in America and the Pacific theatre of war during World War II are scattered through the book. The novel operates on several time levels and depicts the difficult times of four generations of the fictional Davidsen family. At the core of the novel lies a long-kept family secret which the first person narrator, a middle-aged psychiatrist called Erik Davidsen who lives and works in New York, sets out to unearth together with his sister. However, the novel abounds in subplots which focus on the present rather than the past.' (Wiki) ***First impression of the first UK edition, in its original dustwrapper in near fine condition. The author was married to literary author Paul Auster. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…
Seller Inventory # 9092
- Title
- THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN (First UK edition - first impression)
- Author
- Siri Hustvedt (Author of the international bestseller What I Loved)
- Publisher
- Sceptre (An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton), London
- Publication year
- 2008
- Condition
- Near Fine
- Dust jacket
- Near Fine
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0340897066
- ISBN 13
- 9780340897065
- Edition
- First UK Edition
- Printing
- First Impression
- Seller catalogs
- First Editions, Literature
After their fathers funeral, Erik and Inga Davidsen find a cryptic letter from an unknown woman among his papers, dating from his adolescence in rural Minnesota during the Depression. Returning to his psychiatric practice in New York, Erik sets about reading his fathers memoir, hoping to discover the man he never fully understood.
At the same time, another woman enters Eriks lonely, divorced life a beautiful Jamaican who moves into his garden flat with her small daughter. As Erik gets drawn into the cat-and-mouse tactics of someone who appears to be stalking her, he finds out that his sister Inga is also being threatened, by a journalist in possession of a wounding secret from her past.
A multi-layered novel that probes the mysteries of the heart and mind, THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN is compulsive, thought-provoking and profoundly affecting a novel that resonates long beyond the last page.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Siri Hustvedt's first novel, The Blindfold, was published by Sceptre in 1993. Since then she has published The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, What I Loved, The Sorrows of an American, The Summer Without Men and The Blazing World, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2014 and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. She is also the author of the poetry collection Reading To You, and four collections of essays -Yonder, Mysteries of the Rectangle: Essays on Painting, A Plea for Eros and Living, Thinking, Looking, as well as the memoir The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves.
Born in Minnesota, Siri Hustvedt now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has a PhD in English from Columbia University and in 2012 was awarded the International Gabarron Prize for Thought and Humanities.
She delivered the Schelling Lecture in Aesthetics in Munich in 2010, the Freud Lecture in Vienna in 2011 and the opening keynote at the conference to mark Kierkegaard's 200th anniversary in Copenhagen in 2013, while her latest honorary doctorate is from the University of Gutenburg in Germany. She is also Lecturer in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and has written on art for the New York Times, the Daily Telegraph and several exhibition catalogues.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Orlando Booksellers
Lincoln, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since January 11, 2000
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 8 to 12 business days | 6 to 8 business days |
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We specialize in 20th Century literature, and in particular, Modern First Editions. We would be interested in buying such books, whether individual items or collections. We are particularly interested in Bloomsbury writers, Beats & Counter Culture and 20th C photography monographs. Our books can be viewed as a whole on ABE, or by choosing one of a number of catalogues that we have set up for particular interests, such as Crime Fiction & True Crime, Collectable Paperbacks, Children's Literature etc.…
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Modern First Editions, Literature, Literature in Translation, Bloomsbury Group, Counter-culture, Antiquarian, Collectable Paperbacks, Art & PhotographySeller's business information
Orlando Booksellers
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Lincoln, United Kingdom LN1 3EZ
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