# Is "Off Season" by Jack Ketchum a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Off Season by Jack Ketchum (Ballantine, 1981) is identified by: Ballantine mass-market paperback original, 1981 (Ballantine 29427); copyright page carries Ballantine's dated First Edition statement rather than a modern number line. The 1981 Ballantine paperback original is the true first; the unexpurgated text with Ketchum's restored ending first appeared from Overlook Connection Press in 1999 and is a first thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Ballantine mass-market paperback original, 1981 (Ballantine 29427); copyright page carries Ballantine's dated First Edition statement rather than a modern number line
- Ketchum's first novel
- Ballantine required cuts to the text and quickly withdrew support after release, so first-printing copies are scarce
- A special advance edition was distributed to booksellers in early 1981
- Publisher imprint reads Ballantine
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack Ketchum |
| Publisher | Ballantine |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Ballantine mass-market paperback original, 1981 (Ballantine 29427); copyright page carries Ballantine's dated First Edition statement… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Ballantine mass-market paperback original, 1981 (Ballantine 29427); copyright page carries Ballantine's dated First Edition statement rather than a modern number line. Ketchum's first novel; Ballantine required cuts to the text and quickly withdrew support after release, so first-printing copies are scarce. A special advance edition was distributed to booksellers in early 1981.

## Is this the true first?
The 1981 Ballantine paperback original is the true first; the unexpurgated text with Ketchum's restored ending first appeared from Overlook Connection Press in 1999 and is a first thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Not applicable; issued only as a mass-market paperback original.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Off Season* by Jack Ketchum a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/off-season
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.