# Is "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead Books, 2017) is identified by: On the US Riverhead issue (ISBN 9780735212176), the copyright page reads First Edition with a full number line beginning with 1 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10). Both editions appeared in March 2017, with the UK Hamish Hamilton hardcover (early March) slightly preceding the US Riverhead first (a few days later), so the UK is arguably the true first; both are collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- On the US Riverhead issue (ISBN 9780735212176), the copyright page reads First Edition with a full number line beginning with 1 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
- The binding is quarter-bound: light blue paper-covered boards with a purple cloth spine stamped in silver
- The first-state dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap and does not yet bear the later Man Booker Prize shortlist blurbs added to reprint jackets
- Publisher imprint reads Riverhead Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mohsin Hamid |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Year | 2017 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | On the US Riverhead issue (ISBN 9780735212176), the copyright page reads First Edition with a full number line beginning with 1 (1 2 3 4 5… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
On the US Riverhead issue (ISBN 9780735212176), the copyright page reads First Edition with a full number line beginning with 1 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10). The binding is quarter-bound: light blue paper-covered boards with a purple cloth spine stamped in silver. The first-state dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap and does not yet bear the later Man Booker Prize shortlist blurbs added to reprint jackets.

## Is this the true first?
Both editions appeared in March 2017, with the UK Hamish Hamilton hardcover (early March) slightly preceding the US Riverhead first (a few days later), so the UK is arguably the true first; both are collected. The novel was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. Later printings drop the terminal 1 from the number line and add award blurbs to the jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Exit West* by Mohsin Hamid a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/exit-west
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.