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Stone, Robert; Black Oak Books; Okeanos Press : Original Broadside - Excerpt "From Outerbridge Reach"

Black Oak Books, Berkeley, CA, 1992

Original broadside printed on beige paper in black and green ink Green and white illustration of a sea creature printed at top. 6 1/2" x 13 1/2." Signed by Robert Stone at the bottom in black pen. Broadside is virtually pristine and intact except for slight wrinkling in the upper-right corner. A Fine copy. A beautiful, fine-press broadside featuring an excerpt from Robert Stone's fifth novel, Outerbridge Reach (1992). Robert Stone (1937-2015) was an American novelist who was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1975 for Dog Soldiers. Outerbridge Reach is about a copywriter who falsifies his account during a single-handed, circumnavigational boat race. Stone reportedly based at least part of the book on the real-life story of Donald Crowhurst (1932-1969), a British businessman and weekend sailor. Crowhurst attempted to circumnavigate the world in the Golden Globe Race, a solo yacht race sponsored by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. After beginning the voyage on October 31, 1968, Crowhurst eventually ran into a series of problems due in part to his limited experience sailing on the open ocean and repeated damage befalling his faulty trimaran, the Teignmouth Electron. From here, Crowhurst began to keep a false log of his voyage to make it appear that he was moving faster than he was, so as to avoid the scenario of quitting the race which would lead to financial ruin. He also had the intention of not finishing in first to avoid close examination of his falsified account. However, other participants dropped out of the race to the point where Crowhurst was slated to win. Commentators have suggested the resulting pressure and prospect of facing public scrutiny as well as the trying environment of the race had a significant negative impact on his mental health. Sadly, Crowhurst's mental state deteriorated, and he committed suicide sometime in July1969. The Teighmouth Electron was recovered several days later. Copyright information printed at the bottom: "Copyright 1992 by Robert Stone. From Outerbridge Reach, published by Ticknor & Fields. This is a gift from Black Oak Books, Berkeley, on the occasion of a reading by the author. Designed and printed at Okeanos Press, 1992." Black Oak Books was a bookstore in Berkeley, California. It originally opened in 1983 and carried a wide variety of new and used books, some of which were rare and first editions. Sadly, the store closed in 2016 due to the rising cost of rent in the area. Okeanos Press was also based in Berkeley. The first few lines from the broadside: "Carefully, he examined his imagined positions on the chart. All the stories were embroidered, so it was said. Sailors privately ridiculed each other's accounts. No one had ever brought the truth ashore.". Poster. Book Condition: Collectible-Fine. Binding: No Binding

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