Rudy Wurlitzer NOG Original first draft manuscript and archive for the #146213

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Rudy Wurlitzer NOG Original first draft manuscript and archive for the #146213:
$25000.00

Nog (Original first draft manuscript and archive for the 1968 novel)

Author: Rudy Wurlitzer
Title: Nog (Original first draft manuscript and archive for the 1968 novel)
Publication: N.p. N.p., Circa 1968

Description: Archive of manuscript material for Rudolph Wurlitzer's 1968 debut novel "Nog," including a complete first draft of the novel, showing significant differences from the published version and with an unpublished final chapter, and over 300 loose manuscript pages, both with extensive manuscript annotations throughout. As complete and detailed an archive regarding a writer's creative process as we can imagine.

From the collection of Rudolph Wurlitzer, with full provenance available.

A landmark of postmodern American fiction and a bona fide cult classic, whose plot is best summed up by the rear panel copy of Two Dollar Radio's 2009 reprint edition as "the tale of a man adrift through the American West, armed with nothing more than his own three pencil-thin memories and an octopus in a bathysphere." On publication, "Nog" drew favorable comparisons to the work of Thomas Pynchon and Samuel Beckett, with Pynchon himself stating it was "more than a beautiful and heavy trip, it's also very important in an evolutionary way, showing us the direction we could be moving in," and Jack Newfield stating in his revew for the "Village Voice" that the novel's impact on literature is "what Dylan is to lyrics." After reading the novel, director Monte Hellman would tap Wurlitzer to write the screenplay for "Two-Lane Blacktop," leading to a second career which saw him pen scripts for Sam Peckinpah, Alex Cox, Robert Frank, and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Included in the archive is a first draft of the novel with significant differences in both text and structure from the published version, and extensive revisions, deletions, and corrections to the text by Wurlitzer. Most importantly, the manuscript contains an unpublished final chapter, mirroring the first chapter in structure and providing a completely different ending than the published novel, which concludes with the penultimate chapter of this manuscript draft. 177 pages, rectos only, with both typescript and xerographically duplicated pages, with manuscript ink and pencil, copied, and typed annotations throughout. Also included in the manuscript in a xerographically duplicated copy of Wurlitzer's story "Octopus," as it appeared in the Summer 1966 issue of the "Paris Review."

In addition to the heavily revised manuscript, the archive contains approximately 320 loose manuscript pages, containing rewrites and edits to content of the novel, including multiple versions of the same pages or passages, primarily a mix of typescript and xerographically duplicated pages, with extensive manuscript, copied, and typed annotations throughout, and with occasional handwritten pages of text or notes also present.

Also included is an additional typescript draft of the first three chapters of the novel, appearing to closely resemble the published version, as well as the 2009 reprint edition of the novel.

Manuscript and archive material Near Fine overall.

Seller ID: 146213

Subject: Archives, Author's First Book, Avant-garde, Counterculture, Literature, Original Manuscripts, Writers

Royal Books

Baltimore, MD

Royal Books is located in the midtown area of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1996, we have specialized in rare books and paper relating to twentieth century literature, genre fiction, the arts, and popular culture, with a particular emphasis on cinema.

Terms of Sale

All books noted as First Editions are also First Printings unless indicated otherwise. All items are guaranteed to be as described, and may be returned at any time for any reason for a full refund, including return postage if not as described.

Shipping & International Customers

Shipping within the US is $10 by USPS Media Mail, or $20-$40 for heavy items.

If you are outside the US, shipping is handled via 's Global Shipping Program [GSP]—a very reliable service in our experience. Any questions you may have about shipping, fees, VAT, customs, etc., should go directly to them. They should reach out to you immediately once the order is placed, but if you need to contact them, call 's Customer Service and specifically request a GSP specialist.

This listing was created by Bibliopolis.