Happy Birthday, Wanda June

New York: Delacorte Press, 1971 Illustrated with photos by Jill Krementz and Bert Andrews. First edition, first printing. One of 3,000 copies. Inscribed by Vonnegut on half-title page. Publisher's black cloth, with red foil trident to front board, spine lettered in bronze, and orange endpapers; in its original black dust jacket, with red trident to front panel, lettered in white and yellow, and photo of Vonnegut to rear panel taken by Jill Krementz. About fine book, with a tiny hole to cloth at foot of spine, and light toning to top edge of text block; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with a small chip to bottom left of front panel, and a couple of small closed tears. Overall, a bright and clean copy. Pieratt and Klinkowitz AI1. Happy Birthday, Wanda June tells the story of Harold Ryan, a macho war hero and big game hunter who is presumed dead. He returns home to find that his wife, Penelope, is entertaining two suitors very unlike himself - a vacuum cleaner salesman and a hippie doctor. To celebrate Harold's birthday in his absence, one of Penelope's suitors bought a cake that had originally been made for a young girl, Wanda June, who was run over by an ice cream truck. At the end of the play, Wanda June and several other deceased people connected to Harold address the audience from heaven. The Vietnam War-influenced play made its off-Broadway debut at the Theatre de Lys in 1970. It was adapted into a 1971 film directed by Mark Robson and starring Rod Steiger and Susannah York as Harold and Penelope. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Dust Jacket Included.