O'CONNOR, Flannery (1925-1964)

The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales [A Good Man Is Hard to Find]

London: Neville Spearman, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. First Impression of the author's first collection of short stories, one of only 2000 copies printed. 8vo: 251,[1]pp. Publisher's crimson paper-covered boards with simulated cloth grain, spine lettered in gilt; strikingly illustrated dust jacket printed in brown and red, priced 13s/6d. About Fine (offsetting to end papers), bright and tight without foxing, stains or inscriptions; about Fine jacket, very lightly rubbed to tips of spine panel. Yet another example of the value to be found in the graphically superior designs of most UK editions of American authors's works. Farmer A2.I.b.1. Fine- / Fine-. Item #BB1440

Originally published in New York, in 1955, as A Good Man is Hard to Find. O'Connor's "position with regard to race relations is a difficult and contentious one. Stories like 'The Artificial Nigger' and 'Everything that Rises Must Converge', which deal explicitly with race, can seem to moralize against racism while themselves rehearsing racist portrayals of African-Americans. But as Alice Walker has observed, O'Connor's general tendency in her stories is to refuse attempts at rendering African-Americans at all: 'she leaves them free, in the reader's imagination, to inhabit another landscape, another life, than the one she creates for them. This is a kind of grace many writers do not have'." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Price: $551.00