FLESH AND BLOOD

New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1995. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1995. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 466 pages. Rare Michael Cunningham collectible set. A fine copy of the Advance Reader's Edition of "Flesh And Blood" with a fine copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing, both signed by Michael Cunningham. Both precede and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a tiny print run for the exclusive use of the publisher and author (in the case of the ARC) and in a small and limited first print run (in the case of the First Hardcover Edition) . They are now scarce. Presents Michael Cunningham's "Flesh And Blood". A historical saga, a grand "family" drama that represents a departure from the author's early and acute personal dramas. "Family defines us, one way or another. In Cunningham's empathetic and searing family drama, the haphazardness of genetics and fate plays in mocking counterpart to the predictability of heartache. Cunningham is a tenacious and word-perfect writer, with acute insight into the eccentricity of personalities and the chemistry of intimate relationships. He stretches this sorrowful saga across an entire century, beginning in 1935 in Greece, where a boy suffers poverty and neglect. Constantine eventually immigrates to the US, where he amasses a fortune and his life becomes a living hell" (Booklist) . Cunningham is an ambitious and restless writer in the most positive sense: He is a novelist whose commitment to lapidary prose (that is, exquisite writing with a faultless ear for the Zeitgeist) sets him apart from other "experimental" writers (whose prose is often clumsy and careless) . He is, at the same time, a committed, serious innovator, and with each new novel, he challenges himself - and therefore, the reader - by departing from what he has already achieved and trying something different and new. He has often railed against the proven success formula, its corrupting influence on the artistically and commercially successful writer who voluntarily turns himself into a hack. Adapted to enormous critical acclaim into a Broadway play by Peter Gaitens. An absolute "must-have" title for Michael Cunningham collectors. This copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing is very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Michael Cunningham. It comes with a pristine copy of the Advance Reader's Edition, which is also very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen by the author. They are both signed directly on the title page, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed set available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed set thus. "A Home At The End of The World" was selected as one of "The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950" by The Modern Library, the most prestigious list of its kind for the period 1950-1999. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and The Pen/Faulkner Award in 1999 for "The Hours". One of the finest American writers of our time. A fine set. (SEE ALSO OTHER MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374181136.