The Panama Portrait

London: Macdonald. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. 1963 (c.1962). 1st UK edition. Hardcover. [slight bumping to several corners, minor dust-soiling to top of text block; jacket shows a bit of wear at extremities]. An early novel by Ellin, about "a young American, intelligent but uncertain of his basic ambitions who is given the job of negotiating a contract for a product his company badly needs and on which they would make a handsome profit." Problem is that to close the deal he has to travel to an "island republic off the South American coast" and navigate its "characteristically feudal society -- a few families who control the politics and wealth of the country, and an illiterate peasantry." .