Published by Fourth Estate Ltd, London; 1996. 8vo. 381pp. First edition, first impression. Condition: Fine/Fine
Bound in black cloth boards with title in silver to the spine. The binding is square and tight and in excellent condition, with no marks or damage. Inside, the pages are clean and bright, free from blemishes or wear.
The book is housed in its equally smart, first issue, dust jacket. It is vibrant and bright, illustrated by John Fontana. There is a touch of bumping to the spine ends and a small scratch to the rear, but it remains in lovely condition.
In all, this is an excellent example of this first edition by Pulitzer Prize and National Book award winning author, E. Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. This is her 4th book and 3rd novel. It tells the tale of an accordion made in Sicily and taken to the USA. On its journey, it passes through immigrant hands in Iowa, Texas, Maine, Louisiana and Montana. A restless nation comes alive in this work by Proulx. Here failure and success are juxtaposed in absurd tragicomedy. For the immigrants must pay for entrance into mainstream American life by giving up identity, name and culture, must suffer ethnic hatred and the contempt of their own children. Utterly original, entrancingly lyrical, Accordion Crimes is a novel which stays in the mind like an old song, tugs at the memory like a half-forgotten tune (blurb).