PARABLE OF THE SOWER
Bound galley (stated) of the first edition of Butler's post-apocalyptic novel, sent by the publisher to James Sallis, who was one of Butler's instructors "where Octavia got her start" (Carl Brandon Society) — at the 1970 Clarion Writers Workshop.
Very good plus.
Price: $1,000.00
PARABLE OF THE SOWER
"God is Change."
An African-American woman born with "hyperempathy" must navigate the 2020s in a hellscape formed by climate-change disasters. From the ashes of her dystopian civilization she ultimately resolves to build a new society — one with a future in the stars, and a Taoist-like philosophy similar to that of Ursula K. Le Guin's works. It was soon after the publication of PARABLE OF THE SOWER that Butler became the first science fiction author to receive a MacArthur "genius" grant.
This is the copy of James Sallis, who started publishing science fiction in the early 1960s and became an editor of NEW WORLDS in London in 1968-69, where he was associated with the New Wave movement. In 1970 he was one of the instructors at the Clarion Writers Workshop that Butler attended. (Vonda N. McIntyre, who attended the same year, recalled: "When she turned in her first story, everybody in the class read it and gave a collective gasp of amazement. It was clear from the first page that she was an extraordinary writer" (Reflections 433)). Butler would go on to become an instructor herself at Clarion.
This book was sent to Sallis in October (in advance of the December publication) with a letter from the publisher noting, "I hope you will give it the attention it deserves." The letter quotes at length from Butler: "Olamina's dream — of pushing some fraction of humanity out of its twenty-first century dark age — is impossible, of course. She knows it, and if she didn't, the handful of followers she gathers around her would tell her. And yet they follow her..."
Though this copy's binding makes it appear like a more traditional arc, the xeroxed text block suggests this is in fact closer to a "bound galley" as described on the rear wrapper — and hence likely had a very limited distribution.
Read more: Broderick & Di Filippo, Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010; McIntyre et al., "Reflections on Octavia E. Butler," in Science Fiction Studies Vol. 37, No. 3 (November 2010).
The Object
New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, (1993). 8.25'' x 5.25''. Original laminated wrappers. No jacket as issued. [4], 299, [1] pages. Typed letter signed by Daniel Simon, "Co-Publisher" at Four Walls Eight Windows, to Jim Sallis, dated October 12, 1993 laid in. Two gatherings on different paper stocks that show faint toning; one leaf unevenly cut by binder and standing proud.
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