# Is "Garden State" by Rick Moody a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Garden State by Rick Moody (Pushcart Press, 1992) is identified by: Pushcart Press first edition; winner of the Editors' Book Award. US Pushcart Press edition (Wainscott, New York, 1992) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Pushcart Press first edition; winner of the Editors' Book Award
- Moody's debut and true first book, far scarcer than his later titles
- Issued as a hardcover (black boards stamped in silver) with dust jacket, and simultaneously as a softcover that is scarcer than the hardcover
- Confirm the Pushcart Press imprint on the title page and the absence of any later-printing notice
- Publisher imprint reads Pushcart Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rick Moody |
| Publisher | Pushcart Press |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Pushcart Press first edition; winner of the Editors' Book Award |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Pushcart Press first edition; winner of the Editors' Book Award. Moody's debut and true first book, far scarcer than his later titles. Issued as a hardcover (black boards stamped in silver) with dust jacket, and simultaneously as a softcover that is scarcer than the hardcover. Confirm the Pushcart Press imprint on the title page and the absence of any later-printing notice.

## Is this the true first?
US Pushcart Press edition (Wainscott, New York, 1992) is the true first. A later Little, Brown reissue (1997, 'first thus'), prompted by the success of The Ice Storm, is NOT the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No genuine book-club issue is the point of confusion here; rather, the Little, Brown / Back Bay reissue is the common copy mistaken for a first. Any Little, Brown or Back Bay imprint, or any post-1992 date, indicates a reprint, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Garden State* by Rick Moody a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/garden-state
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.