3 Larry Brown first editions are documented on this shelf, from Facing the Music (1988) to Joe (1991). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Larry Brown 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 Larry Brown copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Facing the Music — 1988 · Algonquin Books of Chapel HillSmall octavo, 167 pp.; First Edition / First Printing stated on the copyright page; original price unclipped on the front jacket flap (ISBN 0912697911 / 9780912697918). Brown's first book, a collection of ten stories. The US Algonquin 1988 edition is the true first; this is Brown's debut, preceding the novel Dirty Work (1989). No significant book-club edition; later printings and paperbacks state a reprint and lack the first-issue stated First Printing and original flap price.
- Dirty Work — 1989 · Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill236 pp.; 'First Edition / First Printing' stated on the copyright page, with the printed price intact on the front jacket flap. ISBN 0-945575-20-3 (9780945575207). Quarter-bound in publisher's black cloth over grey boards, the spine lettered in silver, with red endpapers; the glossy dust jacket carries a color illustration in shades of purple. Brown's first novel (his second book). The US Algonquin 1989 edition is the true first; Brown's first novel, following the 1988 story collection Facing the Music. Later printings state additional printings on the copyright page; watch for clipped or price-stickered jackets that can mask reprints.
- Joe — 1991 · Algonquin Books of Chapel HillFirst Edition / First Printing stated on the copyright page with a complete number line ending in 1; original price unclipped on the front jacket flap. ISBN 0-945575-61-0 (9780945575610). Brown's second novel. The US Algonquin 1991 edition is the true first. Later adapted into the 2013 film. Later printings show a number line that does not end in 1; no notable book-club blind-stamp issue is associated with the first.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Larry Niven, Lawrence Durrell, Lee Smith, Leigh Brackett, Lewis Carroll, Lois McMaster Bujold.
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