COETZEE, J. M. ~ Diary of a Bad Year. Signed by the author.

FIRST AUSTRALIAN PRINTING. Text Publishing, Melbourne: 2007.

8vo., two-tone orange and white publisher's boards, backstrip lettered in grey with publisher's device to foot; together in the matching dustwrapper; with matching grey endpapers; THE BOOK essentially fine, with very faint spots to the fore-edge and rubbing to the lower edges of boards; THE WRAPPER also fine; an excellent copy. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First Australian Edition. The true first printing, published in Australia, the author's 'adopted' country. This example signed to the title page. Coetzee had moved to Australia in 2002 and became a citizen in 2006. This work, published one year after he attained that citizenship, follows a character much like the author himself; an ageing, distinguished writer of South African heritage, a vegetarian, an academic, and a man hugely self-critical of his own accomplishments. Named 'JC', the character even, at one point, refers to "my novel Waiting for the Barbarians", referring to the book of the same name published by Coetzee in 1980. Essentially a book on "the one question that truly engaged his soul: how to live", the plot follows C as he contributes a series of essays to a work entitled 'Strong Opinions', typed for him by a beautiful young woman, Anya, whom he meets in the laundry room of his apartment block. Fine.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Fine
JACKET: Fine