Alan Sillitoe "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" Leather Bound Signed Collector's Edition [Sealed]

Personally signed by Alan Sillitoe

Easton Press, Norwalk CT. 2002. Alan Sillitoe "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner". A special limited edition, this copy signed by the author Alan Sillitoe. A collector's edition, luxuriously bound in full genuine leather. Includes COA and original collector's notes. Very Fine, sealed without any flaws.

"Cunning is what counts in life" says the seventeen-year-old narrator of the title piece of this exuberant of darkly comic tales that established Alan Sillitoe as one of England"s best writers and gave a voice to an entire generation of angry young men.


Full of hard-won wisdom and gritty authenticity, these stories of working-class blokes slugging it out with the system in 1950s Nottingham resonate with the lusty defiance of those whose will cannot be broken by oppressive poverty. There is the rebellious youth of "the loneliness of the long distance runner, " whose running becomes a metaphor for his refusal to bow to societal rules in a delinquents" home. Sillitoe"s best known work, originally published in 1959, includes nine stories about working-class outsiders scorned by the "establishment", but determined to survive.

Perhaps one of the most revered works of fiction in the twentieth-century, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a modern classic about integrity, courage, and bucking the system. Its title story recounts the story of a reform school cross-country runner who seizes the perfect opportunity to defy the authority that governs his life. It is a pure masterpiece. From there the collection expands even further from the touching “On Saturday Afternoon” to the rollicking “The Decline and Fall and Frankie Buller.” Beloved for its lean prose, unforgettable protagonists, and real-life wisdom, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner captured the voice of a generation, and its poignant and empowering life lessons will continue to captivate and entertain readers for generations to come.

Review

“One of the best English writers of the day.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Sillitoe offers an authentic and vivacious portrait. . . . A sheer delight.”—Saturday Review

“A beautiful piece of work.”—The Guardian

“Brilliant.”—The New Yorker

“Mr. Sillitoe is a born writer, who knows his milieu and describes it with vivid, loving precision.” —Daily Telegraph

“There are few writers around who can rival Sillitoe when it comes to the complicated business of noticing things.” —Literary Review

“A master storyteller.” —The Observer

“Miles nearer the real thing than D.H. Lawrence's mystic, brooding working-men ever came.” —Sunday Express