SIGNED BY J.M. COETZEE

COETZEE, John Maxwell. Diary of a Bad Year. Melbourne, Australia: Text Publishing, (2007). Octavo, original orange and white paper boards, original dust jacket. $650.

First edition of this strange and humorous novel experimenting with form, offering essay-style commentary on politics and war and filled with autobiographical touches, signed on the title page by J.M. Coetzee.

"Novelist Coetzee's 19th book features a stand-in for himself: Señor C, a white 72-year-old South African writer living in Australia who has written Waiting for the Barbarians. C falls into a metaphysical passion for his sexy 29-year-old Filipina neighbor, Anya, and quickly plots to spend more time with her by offering her a job as his typist. C's latest project is a series of political and philosophical essays, and Coetzee divides each page of the present novel in three: any given page features a bit of an essay (often its title and opening paragraph) at the top; C's POV in the middle; and Anya's voice at the bottom" (Publishers Weekly). "J.M. Coetzee's novel Diary of a Bad Year is something of a self-managed funeral, but a lavish one: mordant, funny and wise. Mr. Coetzee writes circles around any attempt to pin him down" (New York Times). This Australian first edition was followed by both the English and American editions the same year.

Fine condition.