Books

New York: Robert O. Ballou, 1934. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Second printing, published one month after the first, in second issue dustwrapper with blurbs from Edwin Seaver and Fred. T. Marsh on the front flap. A small burn shadow on front board, else near very good in about very good dust jacket with chipping mostly at the spine ends, a crease on the spine, and evidence of old internal tape repairs. A classic Jewish-American novel about the terrors of a young boy growing up in a squalid and poverty-stricken urban immigrant neighborhood, it is also a classic of proletarian fiction. Forgotten almost immediately upon publication, it was rediscovered in the 1950s and '60s and now stands among the finest novels of the 20th Century. The first edition is rare and expensive; this second printing is nearly as rare and is the only contemporary printing that reproduces the splendid, Stuyvesant Van Veen-illustrated wraparound jacket art of the first printing.

Call It Sleep is a novel by Henry Roth that tells the story of a young Jewish boy growing up in the immigrant slums of New York City during the early 20th century. The narrative explores themes of identity, assimilation, and the struggle to find a sense of belonging.