One of my great finds this weekend at my local library's enormous book sale was a first edition paperback copy of Stephen King's famous debut novel, Carrie. It's not in mint condition, but considering it's nearly 40 years old (Signet/New American Library April 1975) I'd say it looks pretty damn good. I also found a 3rd printing with the same cover, and a 3rd paperback print of the original
Night Shift! (Images to come of course). I haven't read the book since I was in high school myself, but I may soon as there is
another film adaptation in the works. This paperback-collecting gene in me has been expressing itself pretty ferociously recently; so I hope
Carrie, and the 30 other books I bought at the sale, keeps it satisfied for some time.
Back cover
Inside cover
Inside back cover
The dapper King himself, author photo from the hardcover
One of my great finds this weekend at my local library's enormous book sale was a first edition paperback copy of Stephen King's famous debut novel, Carrie. It's not in mint condition, but considering it's nearly 40 years old (Signet/New American Library April 1975) I'd say it looks pretty damn good. I also found a 3rd printing with the same cover, and a 3rd paperback print of the original Night Shift! (Images to come of course). I haven't read the book since I was in high school myself, but I may soon as there is another film adaptation in the works. This paperback-collecting gene in me has been expressing itself pretty ferociously recently; so I hope Carrie, and the 30 other books I bought at the sale, keeps it satisfied for some time.
Back cover
Inside cover
Inside back cover
The dapper King himself, author photo from the hardcover
OH MAN. Awesome find. I have a copy of Carrie with the same image and it's old as the hills. But also: How much does young Stephen King look like young Billy Corgan?
ReplyDeleteOh thanks!
ReplyDelete"Almost 40 years old" and I had this edition as a teenager!!!!! :-(
now someone help me back to my wheelchair!
This is an amazing book when you consider the fact that it's a first novel. My buddy had some copies of Gent/gallery hidden under the bed and we used to read "The Boogeyman" aloud to each other. At this time though, no one had any idea who Stephen King was. It was only later around 79 or so when "Night Shift" came out that I relaized "Hey! SK's the guy from the titty mags!!"
take care.
Doug
Very cool find!
ReplyDeleteI have one of the paperbacks with the first cover you featured. I remember reading it in one sitting! Though the pages started falling off soon after.
ReplyDeleteoh yah, I had this very edition, bought it and read it in middle school (I'll be 50 this year).
ReplyDeleteI'm so insanely old that, IIRC, I first made a mental note to keep an eye out for King's stuff when I read a note by J. Vernon Shea (former correspondent of HPL's, later Mythos author) in his Esoteric Order of Dagon zine, OUTRE, about how much he'd enjoyed readubg a new novel called 'SALEM'S LOT on a flight. (He *might've* mentioned being altered to the author's promise by one Robert Bloch.)
ReplyDeletePicked up a used copy of the PB not long thereafter, though the first thing of his I read was an SFBC (or maybe some other bookclub's) edition of NIGHT SHIFT in the summer of '79. Then finally got around to reading 'SALEM'S LOT that December in preparation for the then-imminent airing of the TV mini-series.
I've since read everything he's published, pretty much, with the exception of all but the first Dark Tower book (a bit too fantasy-oriented, or something, to be my cup of tea) & LISEY'S STORY, which I simply haven't gotten around to yet. (Put off DUMA KEY for 3 years because my first couple of attempts left me utterly uninvolved after the first dozen of pages or so, then for some reason I picked it up again a couple of weeks ago & plowed right through to the end, finding it about as good as anything he's done.)
*Damn* the man!
Dan
Dan, I've never had any luck getting much into the Dark Tower series either. Tried reading the first one back when it first came out in paperback, but yes, somehow its "fantasy-oriented" aspect dulled any appeal it had. Now I know many readers who are just besotted with it!
ReplyDeleteI don't have this version of Carrie but I do have the original hardcover.
ReplyDelete