Bester--THE Stars My DESTINATION--1957--1st and similar items

THE STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester Signet Books (New American Library), 1957 First U.S. Book Edition, 1st Printing Condition: Very Good- This exciting, suspenseful, innovative galactic thriller features Gully Foyle, "whose passion for revenge transforms him from an illiterate outcast to a transcendant,ambiguous, quasi-superman" (Peter Nicholls, THE SCIENCE FICTION ENCYCLOPEDIA). Along with Bester's Hugo award-winning THE DEMOLISHED MAN, this book is widely regarded as "one of the few genuine classics of genre science fiction" (Nicholls). Though Bester was an American writer and this novel first appeared in Galaxy Magazine, the first hardback edition (as TIGER, TIGER) was printed in Great Britain. This paperback edition, published March 1957, was the first U.S. printing in book form. (Cover art by Richard Powers.) It is much more scarce than the British 1st, which sells on the Internet for as much as $3,500! This copy has moisture staining at the top (mainly near the corner), which has caused some of the red edge dye to run onto the upper page margins. The exterior has moderate spine end wear, modest edge/corner wear (though the tip of the upper front corner has been clipped). Also, a slight spine lean and a tiny pull below the logo. The pages are variably darkened and there is small spotting on a few pages. Still, the book is tightly bound, the covers look nice and are virtually crease-free, and there are no pen or pencil markings in the book. A fairly decent copy of an elusive 1st. Free shipping and insurance included.