The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner

First edition. 8vo. 176pp. Publisher's grey-green cloth, stamped in silver to spine. Dust-jacket design by Mona Moore (priced 12s/6d to front flap).

Partial offsetting to free endpapers, as usual, light spotting to top and fore-edge, else an exceptionally fresh copy in a complete dustwrapper, sans any rubbing, soiling, or discolouration.

Winner of the 1960 Hawthornden Prize. Author's second book, a collection of nine tales, including the title story. A darkly comic first person narrative – set in post-war Britain – of a boy sent to borstal for theft, who 'redeems' himself through his prowess as a cross-country runner. Basis for the 1962 movie, directed by Tony Richardson, with a screenplay by Sillitoe, and starring Michael Redgrave and Tom Courtenay.