“Anywhere But Here” 1987 Mona Simpson Signed

📖 “Anywhere But Here” by Mona Simpson (1987, Alfred A. Knopf) — the Whiting Award-winning debut novel about a mother and daughter chasing reinvention in California. This copy is inscribed by Simpson with a personal note, and includes a separate signed thank-you card — a genuine association copy.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Mona Simpson (b. 1957), American novelist, biological sister of Steve Jobs
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York
• Year: 1987 (published January 14; fifth printing, March 1987)
• Format: Hardcover in dust jacket, cream paper boards over navy cloth spine
• Pages: 406 | ISBN: 0-394-55283-0
• Condition: Very good — full report below

THE STORY

Adele August flees small-town Wisconsin with her twelve-year-old daughter Ann, heading west in an unpaid white Lincoln Continental. She dreams of Hollywood, a rich husband, and stardom for Ann. What follows is a sharp, funny, and sometimes painful portrait of the American desire to be anywhere but where you were born. The novel weaves Adele’s restless ambition against the quieter lives of her mother and sister back in Bay City, Wisconsin.

THIS EDITION

First edition, fifth printing — published January 14, 1987, with three reprints before this March 1987 impression. The original Knopf hardcover with dust jacket bearing the $18.95 price on the front flap (not price-clipped). The book is set in a typeface based on the William Caslon face.

COVER ART & DESIGN

The dust jacket features an illustration by Douglas Fraser — a stylized scene of a blue car on a dirt road with rolling green hills and a small house, rendered in earthy browns, greens, and vivid blue sky. Without the jacket, the book shows cream paper boards with a navy blue cloth spine and an embossed “MS” monogram. Deckled outer edges on the text block.

THE INSCRIPTION & ASSOCIATION

Inscribed on the half-title page in brown ink: “To Kathleen and Arthur, With thanks and every best wishes for your life and work, Mona Simpson, July 1989, New York City.” A separate personal note on a folded card, signed “Maria S.,” thanks Kathleen and Arthur for “the evanescent dinner party” and compliments their daughter — written in the same hand. The identity of Kathleen and Arthur is part of this copy’s story.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Won the Whiting Award for Fiction (1986) and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
• Adapted into a 1999 film starring Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon
• Mona Simpson is the biological sister of Steve Jobs — the dedication reads “For Joanne, our mother, and my brother Steve”
• Back cover features advance praise from Walker Percy, Louise Erdrich, Alice Munro, Jay McInerney, and John Ashbery
• Simpson’s subsequent honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA grant, Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Prize, and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First edition, fifth printing, published March 1987 by Alfred A. Knopf.

What condition is it in? Very good — full condition report below.

Is it signed? Yes — inscribed by Mona Simpson on the half-title page, plus a separate signed note card.

CONDITION DETAIL

Binding is tight and crisp with solid hinges. No writing or marks aside from the author inscription. Text block is square and closes tightly. No loose, torn, or folded pages. Upper board corners are crisp; lower corners just slightly bumped. Upper text block edge lightly foxed; other edges uniform and bright. Boards front and back are uniform, not marked or scuffed.

Original matching dust jacket is not price clipped ($18.95 on front flap). Some mild edge wear and a little chipping at the spine tail. Enclosed in a protective sleeve.

SHIPPING

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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