4 Richard Russo first editions are documented on this shelf, from Mohawk (1986) to Empire Falls (2001) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Richard Russo 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 Richard Russo copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Mohawk — 1986 · Vintage BooksPaperback original in pictorial glossy wraps, issued without dust jacket; wrappers designed by Lorraine Louie with illustration by Rick Lovell; ISBN 0-394-74409-8; First Edition stated on the copyright page. Vintage Contemporaries original, 1986. There is no hardcover true first. The Vintage Contemporaries paperback original is the true first edition of Russo's debut novel. The first hardcover edition appeared in the UK in 1987; a US hardcover did not appear until 2001. As a paperback original, beware later printings: confirm the First Edition line and the intact original wrapper price; reprints carry a number line not ending in 1.
- The Risk Pool — 1988 · Random HouseQuarter cloth over paper boards, jacket design by Robert Aulicino, original price intact on the front flap. The Random House first printing states First Edition on the copyright page together with a number line ending in 2 (not 1), per Random House practice of that era. Russo's second novel and his first book issued in hardcover. The US Random House 1988 edition is the true first. Note the year is 1988 (sometimes misdated 1989). Random House book-club reprints remove the words First Edition from the copyright page, carry a blind-stamp to the rear board, and lack the priced jacket flap.
- Nobody's Fool — 1993 · Random HouseQuarter gray cloth over light-gray paper boards, blue lettering on the front board and spine; original price intact on the front jacket flap. The Random House first printing states First Edition on the copyright page together with a number line ending in 2 (not 1), per Random House practice of that era. The US Random House 1993 edition is the true first. It was the basis for the 1994 Paul Newman film. Book-club state: no price on the jacket flap, blind-stamp to the rear board, and the words First Edition absent from the copyright page.
- Empire Falls — 2001 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf first states 'First Edition' on the copyright page, with the Borzoi colophon present, in the first-issue cloth and priced jacket. The rear panel of the first-state jacket carries a photograph of the author together with review quotations, including one from the Houston Chronicle and a blurb from Annie Proulx, with the printed flap price present. The US Knopf 2001 hardcover is the true first; the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page is the operative point, corroborated by the first-state rear-jacket blurbs (Houston Chronicle and Annie Proulx). Book-club editions lack the 'First Edition' statement, are of lighter construction, often blind-stamped on the rear board, with an unpriced jacket.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Richard Wright, Richard Yates, Rick Moody, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Charles Wilson, Robert Coover.
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