The Woman of Andros

New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1930. First Edition. Small octavo (21cm). Gray cloth (hardcover); dustjacket; 162pp. Spine cloth slightly foxed, else a clean, tight copy in unclipped jacket (priced $2.50 on front flap) with general light toning & soil; Very Good. Overall a quite decent copy of Wilder's third novel, published in the first year of the Depression and famously savaged by Michael Gold in The New Republic for its failure to confront contemporary social themes. Gold's scathing review launched a national debate over the duty of contemporary literature to be "useful," and gave Wilder's book a notoriety which far exceeded its literary weight, which was slight, especially in comparison to his earlier masterpiece "The Bridge of San Luis Rey.