Age of Iron

New York: Random House, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. An Essentially Fine copy of the first edition, first printing (slight push to the spine head, some fading to the board extremities; J. M. Coetzee's sixth novel. The book won the 1990 Sunday Express Book of the Year, the most lucrative prize for novels in Britain at the time. The tale presents a picture of social and political tragedy unfolding in a country ravaged by racism and violence; an excellent work on South African apartheid and its effect on that nation's people. J. M. Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature for being a writer "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider." In his Presentation Speech for the Prize, Per Wästberg of the Swedish Academy stated: "Coetzee sees through the obscene poses and false pomp of history, lending voice to the silenced and the despised. Restrained but stubborn, he defends the ethical value of poetry, literature and imagination. Without them, we blinker ourselves and become bureaucrats of the soul.....Coetzee’s work runs like a high-tension cable across an inhospitable South African landscape. Mrs. Curran in Age of Iron has witnessed monstrous actions but is unable to condemn them using the words of others. Neither will Coetzee himself sign petitions or join in political rallies." This copy of "Age of Iron" remains tight and unread. An Essentially Fine, tight, and unread copy.