signed first edition
1970 · New York
by [LGBTQIA+] WALKER, Gerald
New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1970. First Edition. First Printing, a review copy, with the publisher's typed slip laid in. Octavo (21.75cm); light grey paper-covered boards and red cloth backstrip, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and author's facsimile signature stamped at lower front cover; dustjacket; [8],9-192pp. Warmly inscribed by Walker on the front endpaper to Kenneth Millar, who wrote the rear panel blurb under his pseudonym, Ross Macdonald: "Feb.10, 1971 / For Kenneth Millar (who has this identity problem): With admiration for your work, and appreciation of your generosity / Sincerely, Gerald Walker." Base of spine gently nudged, else a clean, very Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $5.95), showing light wear and a few tiny tears to extremities, mild surface wear to panels, with some rubbing to spine ends and corners; Near Fine.
Laid into this copy is Millar's original full-page holograph review of the book, the source material from which the rear panel blurb was constructed. 23 lines (ca.192 words), composed in blue ball-point pen on white bond, measuring 8.5" x 11". Two old horizontal folds, subtle toning to extremities, with some rough wear along the center of the right margin, and the author's corrections throughout. The text reads as follows:
"I have a persistent antediluvian suspicion of the gross langnage with which the fiction market is flooded. And Mr. Walker's people are sex-obsessed, thinking and talking of almost nothing else. Yet it seems to me that the forest of priapic imagery in which they live is transfigured and controlled by Mr. Walker's irony and seriousness, and that his novel could have been written in no other terms. The two central figures are a murderer, a Jack the Ripper among homosexuals, and a young New York policeman assigned to hunting him down. The moves and countermoves of the hunt are given with psychological accuracy and moral intensity which make this novel, somewhat imperfect as it is, an erudite work of art. Though it has no prurient interest, its offbeat wit and angry speech make it very hard to put down. I recommend it to readers who have passed what may be called the Céline test and* are prepared to imagine that life in our cities can be very rough and damaging indeed. Ross Macdonald. *[Omit if you like: "have passed what may be called the Céline test and...]." Debut novel by Walker (1928-2004), a prize-winning journalist and book reviewer, centered around a closeted serial killer targeting gay men in the Columbia Circle neighborhood near Central Park, and the undercover NYPD detective assigned to lure and catch the killer. The book served as the basis for William Friedkin's highly controversial 1980 film adaptation, starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, and Richard Cox. "The basic plot of book and film remains the same: up against a serial killer who targets gays, the police department decides to send out decoys resembling the type that attracts the killer. We begin in this killer's mind. Twenty-two-year-old Stuart Richards – nominally a graduate student who is supposed to be working on an English thesis about Rodgers and Hammerstein, a schizophrenic who blames queers for many of his problems, and a son who hates both his parents – kills his fourth victim in the opening chapter...Twenty-one-year-old John Lynch draws the unwanted assignment to go undercover as "a homosexual on the prowl" (Gunn, Gay American Novels, 1870-1970, p.180). Throughout the course of the book, the detective has to process the idea that he is both the same type as the homosexual victims, as well as the same type as the killer. A key association copy of a significant and inflammatory work. YOUNG 2696; HUBIN, p.420. 81996. (Inventory #: 81996)
Laid into this copy is Millar's original full-page holograph review of the book, the source material from which the rear panel blurb was constructed. 23 lines (ca.192 words), composed in blue ball-point pen on white bond, measuring 8.5" x 11". Two old horizontal folds, subtle toning to extremities, with some rough wear along the center of the right margin, and the author's corrections throughout. The text reads as follows:
"I have a persistent antediluvian suspicion of the gross langnage with which the fiction market is flooded. And Mr. Walker's people are sex-obsessed, thinking and talking of almost nothing else. Yet it seems to me that the forest of priapic imagery in which they live is transfigured and controlled by Mr. Walker's irony and seriousness, and that his novel could have been written in no other terms. The two central figures are a murderer, a Jack the Ripper among homosexuals, and a young New York policeman assigned to hunting him down. The moves and countermoves of the hunt are given with psychological accuracy and moral intensity which make this novel, somewhat imperfect as it is, an erudite work of art. Though it has no prurient interest, its offbeat wit and angry speech make it very hard to put down. I recommend it to readers who have passed what may be called the Céline test and* are prepared to imagine that life in our cities can be very rough and damaging indeed. Ross Macdonald. *[Omit if you like: "have passed what may be called the Céline test and...]." Debut novel by Walker (1928-2004), a prize-winning journalist and book reviewer, centered around a closeted serial killer targeting gay men in the Columbia Circle neighborhood near Central Park, and the undercover NYPD detective assigned to lure and catch the killer. The book served as the basis for William Friedkin's highly controversial 1980 film adaptation, starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, and Richard Cox. "The basic plot of book and film remains the same: up against a serial killer who targets gays, the police department decides to send out decoys resembling the type that attracts the killer. We begin in this killer's mind. Twenty-two-year-old Stuart Richards – nominally a graduate student who is supposed to be working on an English thesis about Rodgers and Hammerstein, a schizophrenic who blames queers for many of his problems, and a son who hates both his parents – kills his fourth victim in the opening chapter...Twenty-one-year-old John Lynch draws the unwanted assignment to go undercover as "a homosexual on the prowl" (Gunn, Gay American Novels, 1870-1970, p.180). Throughout the course of the book, the detective has to process the idea that he is both the same type as the homosexual victims, as well as the same type as the killer. A key association copy of a significant and inflammatory work. YOUNG 2696; HUBIN, p.420. 81996. (Inventory #: 81996)
(540) 665-0855
