King Rat : Advance Uncorrected Proofs
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, (1962). Advance Uncorrected Proofs. Paperback. Comb bound blue card covers with title stamped in black onto upper cover, proof copy (11 inches tall), pp. (iv), 272, "FIRST EDITION" stated on copyright page. Volume with fading, a few splashes, minor creases and light soil, one tiny chip from upper cover at foot of spine within the comb binding and some mild toning to page edges. Basis for the successful 1965 film directed by Bryan Forbes starring George Segal, Tom Courtenay and James Fox. At Least Very Good. Item #1722
The "UNREVISED, UNCORRECTED, PROOFS" and as such the earliest state of Clavell's first novel printed from his original manuscript. King Rat, based on the author's real life experiences of spending 3 years in the Changi Camp in Singapore (where only 10,000 of the 150,000 prisoners survived) tells how an American corporal "King" positions himself as the unofficial ruler over POWs in a rat-infested Japanese prison camp during World War II. "The natives consider them to be a great delicacy. Rusa tikas translated means 'mouse deer.' That's it, then. We're in the rusa tikas business." from the movie script of "King Rat" (1965). Precedes the first UK (Michael Joseph) proof and edition by a year and a relative rarity thus.
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