# Is "Nobody's Fool" by Richard Russo a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo (Random House, 1993) is identified by: Quarter gray cloth over light-gray paper boards, blue lettering on the front board and spine; original price intact on the front jacket flap. The US Random House 1993 edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Quarter 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
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Russo |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1993 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Quarter gray cloth over light-gray paper boards, blue lettering on the front board and spine; original price intact on the front jacket flap |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Quarter 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.

## Is this the true first?
The US Random House 1993 edition is the true first. It was the basis for the 1994 Paul Newman film.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Nobody's Fool* by Richard Russo a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/nobodys-fool
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.