Lettered King

The Killer Inside Me [Signed, Lettered]

[King, Stephen] Thompson, Jim

Publication: Los Angeles: Blood and Guts Press, 1989. First Edition.

Notes: One of 26 lettered copies (of an edition of 376), signed by the author of the introduction, Stephen King.

Thompson's novel, first published as a paperback original in 1952, is a grim story about police corruption, sexual abuse, and violence against women. In his introduction, King calls this "an American classic...a novel which deserves space on the same shelf with Moby-Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Sun Also Rises, and As I Lay Dying." Certainly few books have laid bare the simmering violence in American culture as bluntly as Thompson.

This book was reissued by Patti and Craig Graham of Vagabond Books. They also published an edition of Fahrenheit 451 with illustrations by Ralph Steadman, among others.

Bound in black bonded leather stamped in gilt. Slipcase with wrap-around paper label. [20], 205, [1] pages. Afterword by Arnold Hano.

Edition + Condition: First edition. Slight mustiness, else a fine copy in a fine slipcase (not issued in a dust jacket). This is letter M of 26 (at least it's probably an M; it has three humps, which makes it hard to say for sure).

Provenance: Herb Yellin to James Strand (1990, $600). This copy was stolen from Strand's house after his death in 2023; it was recovered by the FBI and their evidence tag is laid in.

Item No: #365581

Price: $1,200