WYLIE, PHILIP — Gladiator

New York, NY: Avon, 1949. 1st Paperback Edition. Paperback. This is a mass market paperback book. Avon book number 216 with no price on the cover, but .25 cent prices on the books at the rear of the book. The book is in Very Good condition and was issued without a dust jacket. The spine ends, spine joints and corners of the book covers have some lightish bumping and rubbing. The top rear corner of the book cover has a previous owner's inked notation. The text pages are generally clean and bright, though there is some lightish generalized toning. "Gladiator is a science fiction novel by American author Philip Wylie, first published in 1930. The story concerns a scientist who invents an "alkaline free-radical" serum to "improve" humankind by granting the proportionate strength of an ant and the leaping ability of the grasshopper. The scientist injects his pregnant wife with the serum and his son Hugo Danner is born with superhuman strength, speed, and bulletproof skin. Hugo spends much of the novel hiding his powers, rarely getting a chance to openly use them. " (from Wikipedia). Very Good .