“HE LEFT HER A DOLLAR TIP THAT WAS CRAWLING WITH DEATH”: FIRST EDITION OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND

KING, Stephen. The Stand. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. Thick octavo, original half black cloth, original dust jacket. $950.

First edition of King’s epic tale of apocalyptic terror, “a cornerstone of modern horror fiction.”

"I was writing this story near the end of the so-called Energy Crisis in the 1970s and I had an absolutely marvelous time envisioning a world that went smash during the course of one horrified, infected summer… Rarely have I seen so clearly with the eye of my imagination… There is no moral to The Stand, no 'We'd better learn or we'll probably destroy the whole damned planet next time'—but if the theme stands out clearly enough, those discussing it may offer their own morals and conclusions. Nothing wrong with that; such discussions are one of the great pleasures of the reading life" (King, On Writing, 201-6). "A cornerstone of modern horror fiction… A sprawling, kaleidoscopic novel with an impressive scope and command of detail that features some of King's strongest characters… King's most ambitiously imaginative novel" (Fantasy and Horror 6-206). Nominated for the 1979 Hugo Award for Best Book Length Fantasy. Anatomy of Wonder II:601. Collings A21. Brooks A6.1. Ketchum et al., in Underwood & Miller, 16. Ink gift inscription on front pastedown.

Book near-fine, price-clipped dust jacket with some light edge-wear at corners, extremely good.