# Is "Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years" by Diane di Prima a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years by Diane di Prima (Viking, 2001) is identified by: New York: Viking, 2001. The trade first is the 2001 Viking hardcover; the Penguin trade paperback that followed is a later reprint, not the first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New York: Viking, 2001
- Memoir, subtitled The New York Years, running to roughly 424 pages
- Cloth-backed boards in a photographic dust jacket, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page beneath a descending number line ending in 1
- Publisher imprint reads Viking
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Diane di Prima |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Year | 2001 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New York: Viking, 2001 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
New York: Viking, 2001. Memoir, subtitled The New York Years, running to roughly 424 pages. Cloth-backed boards in a photographic dust jacket, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page beneath a descending number line ending in 1.

## Is this the true first?
The trade first is the 2001 Viking hardcover; the Penguin trade paperback that followed is a later reprint, not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition; the follow-on Penguin paperback is the only common later state.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years* by Diane di Prima a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/recollections-of-my-life-as-a-woman-the-new-york-years
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.