The Living End: A Triptych

Three novellas forming a triptych — a liquor store owner, heaven, hell, and God's final inexplicable decision at the end of everything. Stanley Elkin was one of the great unclassifiable American novelists: maximalist, comic, theologically obsessed, linguistically extravagant. The Living End is him at full throttle, a book that manages to be genuinely funny about damnation and genuinely serious about grace. The three sections appeared first in American Review, Antaeus, and Tri-Quarterly before Elkin shaped them into a single arc.

First edition, E.P. Dutton, 1979 — a Henry Robbins Book, the imprint of the legendary editor who worked with everyone from Philip Roth to Don DeLillo. The dust jacket's explosion of clouds and pitchfork is one of the great pieces of late-70s design. Very Good condition throughout.