4 Amy Hempel first editions are documented on this shelf, from Reasons to Live (1985) to The Dog of the Marriage (2005) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Amy Hempel title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Amy Hempel copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Reasons to Live — 1985 · Alfred A. KnopfBorzoi/Knopf copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' with the number-line descending to a terminal '1'; Borzoi colophon. White paper boards with a grey cloth spine, silver lettering on the front cover and spine; priced dust jacket (spine of the jacket is commonly sunned/darkened). ISBN 0-394-53993-1. Hempel's debut collection (contains 'In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried'). The US Knopf hardcover (1985) is the true first. Book-club editions lack the number-line and the jacket flap price and are lighter in weight.
- At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom — 1990 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf (Borzoi) first edition, ISBN 0-394-57174-6. Copyright page states FIRST EDITION with a number line descending to 1; Borzoi colophon present. Hempel's second book, a story collection (137 pp), typically in orange cloth over black boards with matching jacket. Verify the jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Knopf hardcover (1990) is the true first edition. Book-club issues lack the FIRST EDITION/number-line statement and the priced jacket.
- Tumble Home — 1997 · ScribnerScribner first edition, ISBN 0-684-83375-9, full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; Scribner 'S' colophon. Subtitled 'A Novella and Short Stories' — the title novella plus stories (155 pp). Verify the jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Scribner hardcover (1997) is the true first edition. Book-club copies lack the number line and the priced jacket.
- The Dog of the Marriage — 2005 · ScribnerScribner first edition, ISBN 0-7432-6451-7, with a number line descending to 1; Scribner colophon. Hempel's fourth collection (nine stories, 160 pp), bound in tan cloth and boards. Verify the jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Scribner hardcover (2005) is the true first edition of this collection. Later paperbacks and the 2006 Collected Stories omnibus are not the first book appearance of this collection. Note that The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel (Scribner, 2006) is a separate first-thus omnibus and is not the first book appearance of the stories from her earlier three collections.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Ana Castillo, Andre Dubus, Andrea Barrett, Andy Weir, Angela Carter, Anne Brontë (as 'Acton Bell').
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