Books

New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1950. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Octavo, 499 pages. In Very Good condition, with a Good plus dust jacket. Spine illustrated with white titling. Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering. Price unclipped: "$3.50". Dust jacket shows mild chipping and wear to all extremities, some tape reinforcement along interior of jacket on the rear hinge and lower edge. Boards have light wear to bottom edges. The Text block has a small price-stamp to rear endpaper. Signed flat by Kerouac as 'John Kerouac' on the front free end page, unusually signed as such. CX Consignment. Shelved in Case 3. The first major work published by Kerouac, The Town and the City was originally published under the name of ‘John Kerouac’. However, for the remainder of his writing career, Kerouac elected to go by the name 'Jack'. This novel shows Kerouac at an early stage in his development as a writer, before his embrace of "spontaneous prose" and deeply…

The Town and the City was Jack Kerouac's debut novel, published in 1950. It presents a coming-of-age story of a young man who experiences the dichotomy between provincial American life and the attraction of the city. Kerouac's alter ego is Peter Martin. The novel is heavily influenced by the works of Thomas Wolfe and is based on Kerouac's own early life.

Look for the Harcourt Brace and Company logo as well as the published date on the copyright page of the book, and check for statements of 'First Edition'.