THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

Camp David, PA: Book Of The Month Club, 1988. Hardcover. Very Good to Near Fine/Very Good. Condon's 1959 satirical political thriller near perfectly reflected the "red scare" paranoia rampant in the U.S. in the late 1950s. During the Korean War, an American POW is secretly transported to Chinese Manchuria where he is brainwashed and turned into a Pavolovian assassin by the Chinese. He is then returned to the U.S. to await the bidding of his Communist masters and, in a typical Condon touch, his covert Red handler in the U.S. turns out to be his mother. First book club edition, first printing thus. About 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, 311 pages in red paper-covered boards with black cloth backstrip and gold lettering on spine. Tiny "book club" dot near bottom edge of backstrip on back cover. Front panel of pictorial dustjacket shows queen of diamonds playing card above author and title in red with playing card motif and red lettering repeated on spine. Back panel contains five blurbs of praise from reviewing media, with b&w photo of Condon on the back fold. Light foxing on text edge, o/w text and boards are clean, complete, unmarked. No bumping, chipping or scratching, no creasing or tearing. Dustjacket shows only a tiny chip on back panel near upper corner, and touch of sun-toning on spine, o/w only very minor surface and edge wear. The book served as the basis for two movies, one in 1962, the other in 2004. The 1962 film, which closely followed the novel, starred Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansberry, was instrumental in promoting the book to its current status as a classic political thriller.