4 Mary Gaitskill first editions are documented on this shelf, from Bad Behavior (1988) to Veronica (2005) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Mary Gaitskill 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 Mary Gaitskill copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Bad Behavior — 1988 · Poseidon PressPoseidon Press (a Simon & Schuster division) first edition, copyright 1988, with a full number line ending in 1. Bound in brown cloth over gray boards, stamped in silver, in the original dust jacket. ISBN 0-671-65871-7. Gaitskill's debut collection. Some catalogues date the book 1989 (a later printing); the 1988 number-line-to-1 copy is the true first. The US Poseidon Press hardcover of 1988 is the true first. UK editions followed. Book-club editions lack the number line and the jacket price; later Vintage and Simon & Schuster paperbacks are reprints.
- Two Girls, Fat and Thin — 1991 · Poseidon PressPoseidon Press first edition, copyright 1991, with a number line ending in 1. Octavo, quarter navy cloth with maroon paper-covered boards. Gaitskill's first novel. Confirm the original jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Poseidon Press hardcover of 1991 is the true first. Book-club issues omit the number line and the jacket price; later paperbacks are reprints.
- Because They Wanted To — 1997 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first edition, first printing, with a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Simon & Schuster imprint. Blue textured boards over speckled paper, gilt spine, in the illustrated dust jacket. PEN/Faulkner finalist. Confirm the original jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Simon & Schuster hardcover of 1997 is the true first. Book-club copies lack the number line and the printed jacket price.
- Veronica — 2005 · Pantheon BooksPantheon first edition, first printing, with a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Pantheon colophon. National Book Award finalist. Confirm the original jacket price is present and unclipped. The US Pantheon hardcover of 2005 is the true first. Book-club editions are lighter and omit the number line and the printed flap price.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Mary McCarthy, Mary Oliver, Mervyn Peake, Michael Chabon, Michael Crichton, Michael Moorcock.
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