# Is "A Lie of the Mind" by Sam Shepard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard (New American Library, 1986) is identified by: The earliest documented book publications date to the 1985-1986 period: a Dramatists Play Service acting-edition softcover (1986) and the New American Library / NAL Books hardcover, which pairs the play with The War in Heaven and is variously dated 1986 to 1987 by cataloguers (black cloth over boards, silver spine lettering, ISBN 0-453-00530-6). The true first book form is unsettled between the Dramatists Play Service softcover and the NAL hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The earliest documented book publications date to the 1985-1986 period: a Dramatists Play Service acting-edition softcover
- and the New American Library / NAL Books hardcover, which pairs the play with The War in Heaven and is variously dated 1986 to 1987 by cataloguers (black cloth over boards, silver spine lettering, ISBN 0-453-00530-6)
- Precedence between these has not been reliably established here
- Publisher imprint reads New American Library
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sam Shepard |
| Publisher | New American Library |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The earliest documented book publications date to the 1985-1986 period: a Dramatists Play… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The earliest documented book publications date to the 1985-1986 period: a Dramatists Play Service acting-edition softcover (1986) and the New American Library / NAL Books hardcover, which pairs the play with The War in Heaven and is variously dated 1986 to 1987 by cataloguers (black cloth over boards, silver spine lettering, ISBN 0-453-00530-6). Precedence between these has not been reliably established here.

## Is this the true first?
The true first book form is unsettled between the Dramatists Play Service softcover and the NAL hardcover. The later Plume trade paperback is a reprint, not the first. Verify the specific copy against a dependable Shepard bibliography before assigning primacy.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No trade book club edition identified. A separate Arion Press limited edition (300 copies, signed, illustrated by Stan Washburn) exists but is a distinct deluxe issue, not the trade first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Lie of the Mind* by Sam Shepard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-lie-of-the-mind
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.