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Burnet, Graeme Macrae : His Bloody Project: Documents Relating To The Case Of Roderick Macrae

Contraband Imprint/Saraband, Glasgow, Scotland, 2016

ISBN 191019266X

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 282 pages. The author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most sensational literary debuts of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover AFTER it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, by popular demand. The 2015 First Edition was a softcover original only. The First Edition Thus is now scarce. Re-presents, in its Hardcover Edition format, Graeme Macrae Burnet's "His Bloody Project: Documents Relating To The Case of Roderick Macrae". Ostensibly, a historical thriller set in nineteenth-century Scotland. In reality, a riveting psychological novel, not simply a thriller, of and for our time. Beautifully written, awash in ambiguity, with twist after excruciating twist, Burnet's subversive book presents an anguished, complex character and shows how the injustice and oppressiveness of a deeply entrenched social system insidiously corrupts, destroys, and kills him - and everybody else. As only literature, NOT textbook psychology or The Law, could subtly and powerfully make us see anew, as if for the very first time. The novel is in two parts: A first-person narrative, Roderick Macrae's "Account" (of his life, not just the murders he committed), followed by its counter-narrative, his "Trial" (both are preceded by prologues in the form of brief, legal depositions). Apart from the vitality of his prose (whose depiction of the physical aspect of life is often breathtaking), Burnet's achievement remains his protagonist. Roderick Macrae, multiple-murderer and alienated loner, is the most sympathetic and self-aware anti-hero of a novel with a large cast of characters up and down the social ladder, all of them victims, rich and poor, educated and un-educated alike, of socially and culturally pre-determined mores, logic, and reasoning. Graeme Macrae Burnet savors a macabre sense of lineage and identification with his literary creation: The killer's name is Macrae, an apparent ancestor, a writer whose innate brilliance and eloquence are belied by his youth, poverty, and insufficient formal education. His account is so articulate that the usual suspension of disbelief is required. An absolute "must-have" title for Graeme Macrae Burnet collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed and inscribed ("lined") in black ink-pen by the author: " 'May God have mercy on your soul', Graeme Macrae Burnet". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Brunet also stamped the page with a bloody thumbprint, which beautifully matches the cover design. The inscription is the last sentence of "The Trial" counter-narrative (Page 274). This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed and inscribed ("lined") copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Finalist of the Booker Prize for "His Bloody Project: Documents Relating To The Case of Roderick Macrae" in 2016. One of the most brilliant novelists of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER GRAEME MACRAE BURNET TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 191019266X.

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