The Movie-goer

London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, (1963). First edition, 1st impression. 8vo. 242 pp. Original rust paper-covered boards, stamped in gold, in original unclipped (18s) dust-jacket. Light edge wear, particular to spine ends and corners. Handling and shelf wear very minor. Trace toning to spine. Protected in archival mylar. Book is tight, square and firm. Light handling wear present. Corners mostly quite sharp. Minimal toning to page edges. Wrinkling to spine cloth. Light curling to spine ends. Interior clean and unmarked.

Dust Jacket: Near Fine

Hardcover: Near Fine

“The Moviegoer is the debut novel by Walker Percy, first published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961. It won the U.S. National Book Award. Time included the novel in its "Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005". In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Moviegoer sixtieth on its list of the hundred best English-language novels of the twentieth century. It is published in the UK by Methuen. The novel is heavily influenced by the existentialist themes of authors like Søren Kierkegaard, whom Percy read extensively. Unlike many dark didactic existentialist novels (including Percy's later work), The Moviegoer has a light poetic tone. It was Percy's first, most famous, and most widely praised novel, and established him as one of the major voices in Southern literature. The novel also draws on elements of Dante by paralleling the themes of Binx Bolling's life to that of the narrator of the Divine Comedy.”