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 (Click for larger image) 
Shepard, Sam.
GREAT DREAM OF HEAVEN: STORIES.
New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Hardcover. First Edition/First Printing. 142 pages. Fine/Fine. Signed. The author's second collection of short stories. One of the most important literary events of the year 2002. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. A handsome production by Carol Devine Carson: Regular-sized volume format. Green hard boards with metallic-silver titles on spine, as issued. Short stories by Sam Shepard. In pictorial DJ that utilizes a beautifully toned photograph of the author and his son fishing, taken by the Hollywood actress and Shepard's wife, Jessica Lange, as issued. Offers a resonant examination of personal crises and revelation in 18 spare tales. "At times humorous, tense, and tragic, these stories often focus on the elusive search for connection and understanding, visiting characters at key moments of consciousness or detachment. Seized by compulsion or repression, many disengage from life by assuming familiar roles or patterns. These stories achieve an understated impact due in part to Shepard's knack for acute dialogue and descriptions that reveal his dramatist's eye for sparse but evocative detail" (Ross Doll). For better or for worse, Sam Shepard is not just another short story writer. He is an American cultural icon who has written 45 plays, eleven of which have won Obie Awards and at least five of which are now regarded as masterpieces of late-20th century theater: "Buried Child", "Curse of the Starving Class", "True West", "Fool for Love", and "A Lie of The Mind". He is a force in Hollywood as a brilliant character actor (with singular good looks), screenwriter, and film director. Bruce Weber has devoted a whole book of photographs on him, "Sam", and he is one of America's genuine cultural exports, his plays translated into 36 languages and performed throughout the world. Shepard is also a virtual recluse who has chosen to live in Minnesota and rarely goes anywhere. This copy is prominently and beautifully signed in black fountain pen on the half-title page by Sam Shepard. Shepard's handwriting is unusually neat, flowing, and elegant. He rarely does public signings. This was for the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore, where the author made his one and only public appearance to celebrate the book's publication. This title has been out-of-print as a hardcover for some time. This is the only signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. One of the finest living American writers. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER SAM SHEPARD TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0375405054. $300.00 |
