3 Jeffrey Eugenides first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Virgin Suicides (1993) to The Marriage Plot (2011) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Jeffrey Eugenides 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 Jeffrey Eugenides copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Virgin Suicides — 1993 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxUS first edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1993), Eugenides's debut, is the true first. The first-printing dust jacket is with its printed price on the front flap, NOT the printed price as claimed. Primary point of issue is the stated "First edition, 1993" on the copyright page. The FSG number line, when present, reads 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2; the stated-first line is the real identifier rather than the…. US FSG is the true first; UK Bloomsbury is later. As Eugenides's debut, first printings are scarce and sought; signed copies premium. Book-club edition lacks the full number line, has a blind-stamp, and a price-absent jacket.
- Middlesex — 2002 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst edition, first printing has the full FSG number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' ending in 1 on the copyright page. Octavo of roughly 529 pages, bound in tan boards backed with tan cloth with metallic red detailing; dust jacket designed by Susan Mitchell with multicolored spine lettering, retaining its original printed price on the front flap. Pulitzer Prize winner. Oprah's Book Club selection — jackets bearing…. US FSG (2002) is the true first; the UK Bloomsbury edition is later. An advance uncorrected proof / reader's copy precedes the published first edition. The first-state jacket lacks the printed Oprah's Book Club seal. Oprah's Book Club printings carry the printed Oprah seal on the jacket; book-club editions lack the full number line ending in 1 and typically carry a blind-stamp on the rear board.
- The Marriage Plot — 2011 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011. The first printing states 'First Edition, 2011' on the copyright page accompanied by a full number line beginning with 1, with the FSG colophon present and the first-issue jacket carrying the printed flap price. The US FSG 2011 hardcover is the true first; the UK Fourth Estate edition follows. Eugenides's third novel, after The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. No separate book-club edition is a concern here. Later printings are shown by a shortened number line (the leading digits dropping away), and subsequent trade reprints appear as Picador paperbacks.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Jennifer Egan, Jerzy Kosinski, Jesmyn Ward, J.G. Ballard, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jim Harrison.
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