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Eugenides, Jeffrey : Fresh Complaint: Stories

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York City, NY, 2017

ISBN 0374203067

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 285 pages. The author's debut collection of short stories. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Jeffrey Eugenides' "Fresh Complaint: Stories". His brilliant first collection. "Eugenides' novels have shown him to be an astute observer of the crises of adolescence, self-discovery, family love, and what it means to be an American in our times. These stories explore equally rich and intriguing territory. Ranging from the bitingly reproductive antics of 'Baster' to the dreamy, moving account of a young traveler's search for enlightenment in 'Air Mail' (selected by Annie Proulx for 'The Best American Short Stories'), this collection presents characters in the midst of personal and national emergencies. We meet a failed poet who, envious of other people's wealth, becomes an embezzler; a clavichordist whose dreams of art founder under the obligations of marriage and fatherhood; and in 'Fresh Complaint', a high school student whose wish to escape the strictures of her immigrant family lead her to a drastic decision that upends the life of a middle-aged British physicist. Narratively compelling, beautifully written, and packed with a density of ideas despite their fluid grace" (Publisher's blurb). Among his peers, Eugenides has probably the most poetic sensibility. His mastery of the formal possibilities of the novel and the linguistic intricacies of the English language is unequalled among writers of his generation. He shows here that his genius extends to the deceptively simple short story genre. An absolute "must-have" title for Jeffrey Eugenides collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jeffrey Eugenides. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as many copies available online are. The author signs like his Greek ancestors, with his family name only. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Souvenir Announcement of the event during which his signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction in 1991 and the Ingram Merrill Foundation Fellowship in 1992 for "The Virgin Suicides". Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for "Middlesex". The author was selected as one of "Twenty Writers for the 21st Century" on the basis of his first published work of fiction. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JEFFREY EUGENIDES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374203067.

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