First edition, first printing, of the author's best-known novel. Though infused with science fiction elements, the plot centres on the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945, which Vonnegut himself experienced. "Amid the disenchantment surrounding the Vietnam War, this tale of the innocent but decidedly unheroic World War II GI, Billy Pilgrim, hit a nerve and soared to the top of the sales lists. Approaching fifty years of age, Vonnegut became a household name, a rumpled, cigarette-wielding prophet to the younger generation" (ANB). Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, red, and black, facsimile signature stamped on front cover in gilt, black endpapers. With dust jacket by Paul Bacon. Mild toning to spine, faint foxing on edges, contents clean; sharp, unclipped jacket with occasional trace of toning, still remarkably bright: a near-fine copy in fine jacket.