THE TOWN AND THE CITY

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950. First edition (stated). About fine in near-fine jacket.. First printing of Kerouac's first published novel, incorporating elements of his own life and heavily fictionalized portraits of major Beat figures, an excellent copy. Kerouac's Thomas Wolfeian masterpiece, suffused with tragic nostalgia, grandiose family-mythology, and "wild Dionysian American music". With more conscious polish and less evidence of spontaneous composition than his later works, THE TOWN AND THE CITY is filled with passages of great beauty and with rage at the intolerable imperfections of the world. 8'' x 5.5''. Original gilt-stamped red cloth. In original unclipped ($3.50) dust jacket. Black topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. [6], 499, [1] pages. Only light bumping to spine foot and top corner of front board. Jacket with shallow edgewear and a couple very short closed tears, much nicer than typically seen.