# Is "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung" by Lester Bangs (edited by Greil Marcus) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs (edited by Greil Marcus) (Alfred A. Knopf, 1987) is identified by: US Knopf hardcover, 1987; 386 pp; ISBN 0-394-53896-X (9780394538969). US Knopf 1987 hardcover is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Knopf hardcover, 1987
- ISBN 0-394-53896-X
- Look for stated 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and a full number line ending in 1
- Published five years posthumously
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lester Bangs (edited by Greil Marcus) |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Knopf hardcover, 1987 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US Knopf hardcover, 1987; 386 pp; ISBN 0-394-53896-X (9780394538969). Look for stated 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and a full number line ending in 1. Published five years posthumously.

## Is this the true first?
US Knopf 1987 hardcover is the true first. The UK Heinemann edition is a separate British first. The 1988 Vintage trade paperback (ISBN 0679720456, subtitle 'The Work of a Legendary Critic...') is a reprint, not the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Vintage paperback reissues are the most common copies in the market and are routinely miscatalogued as 'first'; the first is the Knopf cloth hardcover only.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung* by Lester Bangs (edited by Greil Marcus) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/psychotic-reactions-and-carburetor-dung
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.