Long Haul
signed first edition
1938 · New York
by BEZZERIDES, A.I
New York: Carrick & Evans, 1938. First Edition. Inscribed and signed by the author in vintage fountain pen, A. I. Bezzerides to the noted writer Carey McWilliams. “To my friend, Carey McWilliams, A. I. Bezzerides.” Slight darkening at spine else very good tight copy in a very good dust jacket chipped at bottom of spine and a few tiny edge chips. The first novel to deal with long haul truckers and the basis of the acclaimed 1940 Warner Brothers film noir, They Drive By Night, starring Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino. A hugely influential California writer, Carey McWilliams’s book Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) has been acknowledged by screenwriter Robert Towne as his inspiration and guide for his writing of the classic film Chinatown, and Hunter S. Thompson has stated that McWilliams gave him the idea for his book, Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. McWilliams biography is crammed with remarkable books, social accomplishments and historic events including his 20 year editorship of The Nation. A.I. Bezzerides in addition to his novels wrote such action and film noir motion pictures as Desert Fury (1947), Thieves' Highway (1949), On Dangerous Ground (1952), Track of the Cat (1954), and Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and collaborated on screen work with William Faulkner at Warner Brothers in Hollywood. (Inventory #: 13820J)