THE SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE

New York City, NY: Random House, 1998. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Random House, 1998. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 349 pages. The author's third novel. One of the finest novels ever written on homosexuality in our time. 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. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jane Hamilton's "The Short History of A Prince". Her so-called "gay" novel. The poignant story of a young man driven by his unrequited passion for a career in ballet and for a handsome dancer, both of which he can never have. Jane Hamilton ends her novel with an enthralling coda that is reminiscent of both James Agee's "A Death In The Family" and Michael Cunningham's "Flesh And Blood". "Arguably her best, it matches its range of emotion with a technical precision both masterful and haunting. Hamilton has eased time and memory throughout her novel with the expert abandon of a dancer in full pirouette" (The Boston Globe) . An absolute "must-have" title for Jane Hamilton collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Jane Hamilton. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a late-modern 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. 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 PEN/Hemingway Award in 1989 for "The Book of Ruth". One of the finest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JANE HAMILTON TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679457550.