THE DEVIL FINDS WORK

New York: The Dial Press, 1976. Fine in near fine jacket.. First edition of Baldwin's extended essay on a life in film. THE DEVIL FINDS WORK traces a captivating line from the author's first wondering childhood glimpse of Joan Crawford's straight shoulders through to his dispiriting season in Hollywood writing a doomed screenplay on the life of Malcolm X for an industry with little love for art and no use for honesty. THE DEVIL incorporates memoir, social commentary, media criticism, and the best critique yet written of THE EXORCIST, a film "not in the least concerned with damnation, an abysm far beyond the confines of its imagination, but with property, with safety, tax shelters, stocks and bonds, rising and falling markets, the continued invulnerability of a certain class of people, and the continued sanctification of a certain history," in a conclusion which gathers strength as it goes, paragraph upon paragraph on the way to its final crushing words on Americans who "should certainly know more about evil than that; if they pretend otherwise, they are lying." 8.25'' x 5.5''. Original red leatherette, spine lettered in metallic orange. In original unclipped ($6.95) glossy color pictorial dust jacket with design by Jack Ribik, photo of Baldwin by Jerry Bauer to rear panel. Red endpapers, red topstain. [6], 122 pages. Faint toning to margins and verso of jacket. Tight.