The Nigger Factory [Inscribed to Gwendolyn Brooks]
![The Nigger Factory [Inscribed to Gwendolyn Brooks]](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/882/202/1656202882.0.x.jpg)
- SIGNED
- Edinburgh: Payback Press, 1996
Edinburgh: Payback Press, 1996. First U.K. Edition. First Impression, a trade paperback original. Octavo (19.5cm); original pictorial card wrappers; xii,237,[7]pp. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks: "Miss Brooks – Forgive the N..... word, this was written a long time ago. (But I'd say it again) / Gil Scott-Heron (A Chicago Native) 4/97." Trivial wear to extremities, hint of foxing to text edges; very Near Fine.
UK edition of Scott-Heron's second novel, originally published by Dial Press in 1972. Inspired largely by his own experiences as a student during the late 1960s-early 1970s, the book is a satirical look at campus life during that turbulent era. "Earl Thomas, student body president at Sutton University, is in a difficult position: struggling with the fact that even a historically black college could be part of a system that still priviliges whites, he's also threatened by his fellow students, members of the radical activist group MJUMBE. Claiming the time has come for revolution, not reform, the leaders of MJUMBE are poised not only to bring Earl down personally, but also to instigate large scale acts of violence" (from the Grove/Atlantic reissue). This copy bears a particularly poignant inscription to fellow Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks, whose involvement in the Black Arts Movement was a key influence on Scott-Heron's work. Brooks's regard for Scott-Heron is evident in her poem titled "Gil Scott-Heron":
"Chance-taker
Emotion voyager
Street-strutter
Contemporary Spirit
Untamed Proud Poet
Rough Healer
He is His"
An exceedingly good association copy of a key title. Scott-Heron's autograph material has always been uncommon; this is only the third inscribed book we have seen over many years, with no signed or inscribed books appearing in the auction record. BLOCKSON 5986 (for the Dial Press edition).
UK edition of Scott-Heron's second novel, originally published by Dial Press in 1972. Inspired largely by his own experiences as a student during the late 1960s-early 1970s, the book is a satirical look at campus life during that turbulent era. "Earl Thomas, student body president at Sutton University, is in a difficult position: struggling with the fact that even a historically black college could be part of a system that still priviliges whites, he's also threatened by his fellow students, members of the radical activist group MJUMBE. Claiming the time has come for revolution, not reform, the leaders of MJUMBE are poised not only to bring Earl down personally, but also to instigate large scale acts of violence" (from the Grove/Atlantic reissue). This copy bears a particularly poignant inscription to fellow Chicago poet Gwendolyn Brooks, whose involvement in the Black Arts Movement was a key influence on Scott-Heron's work. Brooks's regard for Scott-Heron is evident in her poem titled "Gil Scott-Heron":
"Chance-taker
Emotion voyager
Street-strutter
Contemporary Spirit
Untamed Proud Poet
Rough Healer
He is His"
An exceedingly good association copy of a key title. Scott-Heron's autograph material has always been uncommon; this is only the third inscribed book we have seen over many years, with no signed or inscribed books appearing in the auction record. BLOCKSON 5986 (for the Dial Press edition).