"MAYBE THE WHOLE WORLD HELD TOGETHER ONLY WHEN YOU KEPT YOUR ATTENTION CENTERED ON IT AND BELIEVE IN IT": FIRST EDITION OF HEINLEIN'S THE UNPLEASANT PROFESSION OF JONATHAN HOAG

HEINLEIN, Robert A. The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag. Hicksville, New York: Gnome, (1959). Octavo, original gray cloth, uncut, original dust jacket. $850.

First edition of this Heinlein collection comprising a novella and five stories, in original dust jacket.

"An early, and very dark, example of urban fantasy" (William H. Stoddard), the titular novella stands out from Heinlein's other work by abandoning science fiction for the world of fantasy. A fairy story made cruel, "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" provides insight into Heinlein's feelings about humanity, emotion, and marriage. The accompanying stories are: "The Man Who travelled in Elephants," "All You Zombies," "They," "Our Fairy City," and "And He Built a Crooked House." The first edition of the novella, "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag," was published under the pseudonym John Riverside in the October 1942 issue of Unknown Worlds.

Book with only mild toning to interior as usual, dust jacket with light wear to extremities and single tape repair to verso. A near-fine copy.