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Thomas, Matthew : We Are Not Ourselves: A Novel

Simon & Schuster, New York City, NY, 2014

ISBN 147675666X

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 625 pages. The author's breakthrough debut novel. One of the most important 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 original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Matthew Thomas' "We Are Not Ourselves". His "ten-years-in-the-making" first novel. The evocative title refers to lost hopes and dreams, and Alzheimer's. "Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, in an apartment where the mood swings between heartbreak and hilarity, depending on whether guests are over and how much alcohol has been consumed. When Eileen meets Ed Leary, a scientist whose bearing is nothing like those of the men she grew up with, she thinks she has found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs to inhabit. They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers Ed doesn't aspire to the same stakes in the American Dream. Eileen encourages her husband to want more: A better job, better friends, a better house. But as years pass, it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen, Ed, and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. The result is a riveting and affecting work of art. Epic in scope, heroic in character, masterful in prose" (Publisher's blurb). An absolute "must-have" title for Matthew Thomas and contemporary literature collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (shortly after publication) in blue ink-pen on the title page by the author: "Matthew Thomas 9/21/14 Brooklyn". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Souvenir Program of the Brooklyn Book Festival during which event his signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed, placed, and post-publication dated copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine 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. One of the most brilliant American novelists of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 147675666X.

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