Carson McCullers — The Square Root of Wonderful

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1958. First edition. Cloth. The first printing of a bittersweet play centered on a single mother and the return of her estranged husband, written by American literary figure Carson McCullers. The first printing of The Square Root of Wonderful, a bittersweet play set in 1950s rural New York, written by American literary figure Carson McCullers.  In the publisher's original cloth, in the original unclipped dust wrapper. Famous for her exploration of misfits, particularly in her acclaimed novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and her first play Member of the Wedding, this second play looks at a single mother coming to terms with the return of her estranged husband. Her works often feature eccentric characters and contain tragicomical themes, with this particular play looking at maturity. From the theatrical collection of Clive Hirschhorn, theatre critic for the Sunday Express from 1966 to 1993. Known for his witty and thorough reviews, features and interviews, Hirschhorn also authored several works on the film industry, including his critically acclaimed biographies of Hollywood stars, Gene Kelly and James Mason.  A renowned book collector, the majority of works from Hirschhorn"s incredible library of theatre-related material have a characteristic pencil inscription with his date of acquisition to the upper corner of the paste down. In the publisher's original cloth, in the original unclipped dust wrapper. Externally, very smart, with minimal marks. Small knocks to the head and tail of the spine, and to the extremities. Dust wrapper is bright and clean with minor edgewear and faint sunning to wrapper spine and rear wrapper extremities. Yellow end papers are bright and clean with minor wear to hinges. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Near Fine . Ill.: None. Near Fine/Near Fine.