3 Karen Russell first editions are documented on this shelf, from St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (2006) to Vampires in the Lemon Grove (2013). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Karen Russell 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 Karen Russell copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves — 2006 · Alfred A. KnopfBorzoi/Knopf copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' with a full number line descending to 1; Borzoi colophon. Yellow boards with an orange backstrip, spine lettered in silver. Russell's debut, ten stories. US Knopf hardcover (2006) is the true first. The later Vintage Contemporaries paperback is a first-thus reprint, not the first. Book-club hardcovers lack the number line and the flap price.
- Swamplandia! — 2011 · Alfred A. KnopfBorzoi/Knopf copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' with a full number line descending to 1; Borzoi colophon. A true first carries the unclipped flap price. Russell's first novel (2012 Pulitzer finalist), which grew out of 'Ava Wrestles the Alligator' in St. Lucy's. US Knopf hardcover (February 2011, published February 4) is the true first; the UK Chatto & Windus edition is a separate first-thus. Book-club editions are lighter in weight and omit the number line and the flap price.
- Vampires in the Lemon Grove — 2013 · Alfred A. KnopfBorzoi/Knopf copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' with a full number line descending to 1; Borzoi colophon. Russell's second story collection, eight tales. A true first carries the unclipped flap price. US Knopf hardcover (2013) is the true first. Book-club copies lack the number line and the flap price.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Katherine Anne Porter, Katherine Mansfield, Kathy Acker, Kelly Link, Ken Follett, Ken Kesey.
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