Bibliographic Description
85.05.W012: Kramer – A Handbook for Visitors From Outer Space
A Handbook | for Visitors from | Outer Space | A NOVEL BY | Kathryn Kramer | Vintage Contemporaries | VINTAGE BOOKS • A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE • NEW YORK
First Vintage Books Edition, May 1985
176 leaves, pp. [10] 1-4 5-101 102-104 105-197 198-202 203-277 278-280 281-297 298-300 301-329 330-332 333-335 336 [6] [only odd-numbered pages numbered from 5-101, 105-197, 203-277, 281-297, 301-329, 333-335]
Contents: π1a blurbs, π1b “ALSO AVAILABLE IN VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES”, π2a half-title, π2b blank, π3a title, π3b imprint, π4a epigraph, π4b blank, π5a “A Note to the Reader”, π5b blank, 1-336 A Handbook for Visitors from Outer Space: 1 section title “Part One”, 2 blank, 3-5 “The House at the World’s End | (AFTERWORD AND PREFACE)”, 6-21 “On All Fronts”, 22-45 “Seeds of Conflict”, 46-102 “Green Fields and White Rooms”, 103-149 “Apostasy | (Not to Mention Incest)”, 150-198 “Investiture”, 199 section title “Part Two”, 200 blank, 201-219 “Unconfirmed | Troop Movement”, 220-265 “Mutiny”, 266-278 “The Lines Are Drawn”, 279-298 “Flying Home”, 299-330 “The Battle Joins on the | New Jersey Turnpike”, 331-336 “Parade”; χ1a blank, χ1b blank, χ2a about the author, χ2b blank, χ3a blank, χ3b blank.
Cover design by Lorraine Louie; cover illustration by David Monteil.
Copyright: ©1984. ISBN: 394-72989-7. Price: $5.95. A Handbook for Visitors from Outer Space was first published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
Copies: JDP 1.1 (presumed)
Blurbs
- (front cover) A wonderful first novel that dances on the edge of the apocalypse. – front page, The New York Times Book Review
- Triumphantly original. – The Philadelphia Inquirer
- It’s a fable. It’s a farce. It’s a world situation tragi-comedy and a cartoon family romance. It’s all about the end of the world. Sweet…sad…scary, and how wonderfully well-done. This combination of inspired tenderness and brilliant technique is…characteristic throughout; it reads as if it were written by a very witty angel. – The Sunday Boston Herald
- Funny, resonant…precisely expressive language. All the supporting characters are drawn with loving detail and complex stories of their own. – The San Francisco Chronicle
- Haunting…For all its kaleidoscopic vision and fragmented structure Kramer’s novel is pleasurable for conventional reasons—the tantalizing enjoyment of surprise, of discovering who knows what about whom. – Newsday
- The first novelist juggles big, weighty themes…with remarkable agility and surprising strength…She is an entertainer with both courage and conviction. – The Los Angeles Times
- The work of a powerful imagination…a rarity among first novels, a rich multi-layered construct. Kathryn Kramer is a writer to be watched. – The Houston Chronicle