THE GRASS ARENA - An Autobiography (First paperback edition - third impression with film tie-in cover)

John Healy (With an introduction by Colin MacCabe)

ISBN 10: 057115171X / ISBN 13: 9780571151714

Edité par Faber and Faber, 3, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AU, 1990

A propos de cet article

A third impression of the true first paperback edition, published in 1990, and the first with the film tie-in cover. With 'First published in 1988 - Reprinted 1988 - This paperback edition first published in 1990 - and the number line '4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3' on the printer's page. The scarcer hardcover first edition appeared in 1988, and was reprinted just the once before the novel was withdrawn from circulation and existing copies were pulped. ***Very good in illustrated card covers, with the cover picture taken from the film of the book. The covers are clean, with just some light rubbing and creasing at the edges, commensurate with age and handling. There is a short 1cm split to the edge of the spine and front cover, but no other significant creases or tears. No bumps. No fading. Light vertical reading crease to the spine, but no reading lean. Spine tight. Contents also nice and clean, with no inscriptions or annotations. Paper stock clean - just lightly tanned. The top corner tips of a few pages towards the centre of the book are slightly creased (please see scans). ***194 pages including a printed Chess Problem and Solution at the back of the book. 197mm x 126mm. ***'John Healy was born in London in 1943 to Irish immigrant parents in London's Kentish Town. Leaving school at the age of 14, he spent his formative years in the army, where he had a successful boxing career. Dishonourably discharged for drunkenness, resisting the guard and going absent without leave, Healy began a downward spiral that brought him into the subculture of London's homeless street drinkers. He spent fifteen years as a homeless alcoholic and was convicted of many petty crimes during this time. During one of his prison stretches he learned the game of chess from a fellow cellmate, Harry 'the Fox'. Finding that he had a special aptitude for the game, he decided to give up drinking and with the help of his former Probation Officer, Clive Soley (now Clive Soley, Baron Soley), he made his first moves back into normal life. He has remained sober since. His chess career continued for ten years and despite the ravages of his years spent on the streets he became a highly rated player, capable of playing four games simultaneously whilst wearing a blindfold and several games simultaneously with sight of the boards. Having given up his ambition of becoming a Grandmaster, Healy retired from tournament chess and began to write his life story, which was published in 1988 by Faber and Faber. "The Grass Arena" was instantly recognised as a classic of the memoir genre, and won many awards including the J. R. Ackerley Award for Literary Autobiography. This was the first book in the history of the prize to win the award outright. In 1990 Healy's autobiography was adapted into a film of the same name that won many major international awards, including the inaugural Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival. A documentary about Healy's life and work, titled Barbaric Genius, directed by Paul Duane and produced by Screenworks Film and TV premiered at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in 2011. It was nominated for the 2012 Grierson Documentary Award. Following a dispute with Faber and Faber in 1991, the book was put out of print in the UK, but was re-issued in 2008 as a Penguin Classic.' (Wiki) ***A third impression of the true first paperback edition, in very good condition. Due to the publisher withdrawing the book from circulation, copies of the original Faber editions in any printing are very scarce now. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

N° de réf. du vendeur PB659x

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: THE GRASS ARENA - An Autobiography (First paperback edition - third impression with film tie-in cover)
• Éditeur: Faber and Faber, 3, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AU
• Date de parution: 1990
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 057115171X
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780571151714
• Reliure: Soft cover
• Édition: First UK Paperback Edition
• Impression: Third Impression
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: No Jacket, as Issued
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Literature
  • First Editions
  • Collectable Paperbacks

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Winner of the J.R.Ackerley prize for The Best Literary Autobiography of 1988, this is the true story of John Healy, who lived as an alcoholic vagrant before learning to play chess in prison. His dedication to the game and natural ability led him to become a tournament champion.

Présentation de l'éditeur

John Healy's The Grass Arena describes with unflinching honesty his experiences of addiction, his escape through learning to play chess in prison, and his ongoing search for peace of mind. This Penguin Classics edition includes an afterword by Colin MacCabe.In his searing autobiography Healy describes his fifteen years living rough in London without state aid, when begging carried an automatic three-year prison sentence and vagrant alcoholics prowled the parks and streets in search of drink or prey. When not united in their common aim of acquiring alcohol, winos sometimes murdered one another over prostitutes or a bottle, or the begging of money. Few modern writers have managed to match Healy's power to refine from the brutal destructive condition of the chronic alcoholic a story so compelling it is beyond comparison.John Healy (b. 1943) was born into an impoverished, Irish immigrant family, in the slums of Kentish Town, North London. Out of school by 14, pressed into the army and intermittently in prison, Healy became an alcoholic early on in life. Despite these obstacles Healy achieved remarkable, indeed phenomenal expertise in both writing and chess, as outlined in the autobiographical The Grass Arena. If you enjoyed The Grass Arena, you might like Last Exit to Brooklyn, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'Sober and precise, grotesque, violent, sad, charming and hilarious all at once'Literary Review'Beside it, a book like Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London seems a rather inaccurate tourist guide'Colin MacCabe