Description
For sale: a Rare and Exceptional first paperback edition, early printing of The Maids and Deathwatch by Jean Genet. First Grove Press Edition stated, 1954 Grove Press. Sixth Printing, revised, 1962 stated with 53-7149 LOC number on the copyright page and a $1.95 cover price.
The exterior of the paperback edition is in Near Fine condition, with clean, The interior of the book is in Very Good condition with the previous owner’s crossed out name on the first free end paper with some ink transfer to the inside cover. No other marks, inscriptions, or signs of ownership inside. The inside rear cover and the interior pages are clean and lightly toned, making it an excellent addition to any collection. Appears unread.
The two plays collected in this volume represent Genet’s first attempts to analyze the mores of a bourgeois society he had previously been content simply to vilify. In The Maids, two domestic workers, deeply resentful of their inferior social position, try to revenge themselves against society by destroying their employer. When their attempt to betray their mistress’s lover to the police fails and they are in danger of being found out, they dream of murdering Madame, little aware of the true power behind their darkest fantasy.
In Deathwatch, two convicts try to impress a third, who is on the verge of achieving legendary status in criminal circles. But neither realizes the lengths to which they will go to gain respect or that, in the end, nothing they can doincluding murderwill get them what they are searching for.
Small Paperback volume with two plays ships promptly in a manila envelope with book wrapped in both craft paper and bubble wrap.
