The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner

London: W. H. Allen, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine+. First Impression of the author's second book (following "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning"), a collection of nine stories. Crown 8vo: 176pp. Publisher's grey cloth-effect paper-covered boards, spine stamped in silver gilt; dust jacket illustrated by Mona Moore and priced 12s/6d. A Near Fine copy, lightly read, with dust-soiled top edge, offsetting to end papers (as often), owner's inscription to fly-leaf; Near Fine or better jacket, bright and unfaded, with lightly soiled back panel. Gerad A5. Awarded the Hawthornden Prize for 1959. "Despite their hasty assembly, the stories in Loneliness cohere remarkably well. They are all set in working-class milieux (sometimes shading into criminal ones); they all have working-class protagonists (apart from "Mr Raynor the Schoolteacher" and the narrator of "The Decline and Fall of Frankie Buller"); and they all deal with different kinds of isolation. . . . Loneliness suggested that Sillitoe was perhaps less a long-distance runner than a master of the short sprint. Certainly the title story, the longest in the volume, is masterly." (Literary Encyclopedia) A film version of the title story, scripted by Sillitoe and directed by Tony Richardson, became a classic of British "New Wave" cinema. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).