Independence Day

First edition. Royal 8vo. Pp. [viii], 451, [5]. Quarter-bound buckram over tan boards, with the author's initials gilt-stamped to front and gilt lettered to spine; untrimmed fore-edges. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson, priced $24.00 to front flap, dated "6/95" to rear flap, and with author photo to rear panel (replaced by reviews in later issues). First printing (dropped 'with' p.289, line 21). 1/50,000 copies printed. Portions of this work were originally published in Antaeus, Esquire, and The New Yorker.

The second volume in the "Frank Bascombe" trilogy, preceded by The Sportswriter (1986) and concluded with The Lay of The Land (2006). A first-time double winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize and the 1996 PEN/Faulkner Award. Selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review for their list of the 10 Best Books of 1995, as well as one of the most important works of American fiction of the last 25 years.

Over the course of a Fourth of July weekend, Frank Bascombe, working now as a real estate agent in the fictional, leafy town of Haddam, N.J., tries to reconnect with life, his failed career, and his wayward son. "A great mythic American character and [an] exhilarating sequel to The Sportswriter." –Jeff Giles, Newsweek