Cool Hand Luke

DONN PEARCE

Publication: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965, New York

First edition of author's first published book. Fine in a bright dust jacket. with some very minor restoration to the extremities. The author subsequently co-wrote the screenplay adaptation for the 1967 film starring Paul Newman in the title role as Luke. "Luke's outsized feats of gambling and gluttony ... he bets Society Red, a college man from Boston, that he can eat fifty eggs and his harrowing escapes and recaptures are recounted by Dragline, who followed Luke in his last, fatal escape attempt and who basks in Luke's reflected glory. To the convicts left behind on the chain gang, Luke has become the hope of freedom and defiance that they dare not act upon themselves. Luke's refusal to "git his mind right" and submit to the sadistic discipline of the Walking Boss becomes part of their mythology of survival."

Inventory Number: 48776