High Sierra

W. R. BURNETT

Publication: Alfred A Knopf, 1940, New York

First edition. 8vo. Burnt orange colored cloth, titles and decorations stamped in gray on the front cover and spine, beautifully colored purple top stain, [8], 292 [2] pp. A fresh, fine, bright copy, with the topstain rich and unfaded, in a bright dust jacket (priced $2.00), with some light rubbing to upper front corner, and some pinpoint wear to spine ends; else very near fine, with the spine panel perfectly unfaded. Housed in a blue cloth custom clamshell case with a red leather label on the spine and titles stamped in gilt. Burnett's eleventh novel, a character study of hardened criminal Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, the last surviving member of John Dillinger's gang, who plans to rob a plush Sierra hotel after getting out of prison. "Far from myths created by J. Edgar Hoover's biased attitude toward the criminals of the 1930s, Burnett gives us a sad, sometimes surreal look at a true outlaw. High Sierra is filled with every possible kind of feeling, from bleak humor to a pity that becomes Roy Earle's doom. The book's theme of time and fate are worthy of Proust" (Pronzini & Muller, p.101). Basis for Raoul Walsh's 1941 film noir, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino, and filmed again by Walsh as the 1949 western Colorado Territory, starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo. This an exceptional copy and the nicest copy we've seen or handled in several years. There may be another copy as good as this one, but none better!

Inventory Number: 48717