Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 29 Oct 2026.
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First published in New York by Hill and Wang (1988, ISBN 0809074478). The first British edition is the Viking hardback published in London in 1989 (ISBN 0670830089, 135 pages). Penguin issued a British paperback in 1990 and a new UK edition appeared in 2000, so look for the 1989 Viking imprint and the 0-670 ISBN. Many US Hill and Wang copies dated 1989 are later printings and are not the British first. No source found describes the jacket, price or the copyright page wording of the first impression.
Viking's British list, published in London under Penguin, marks a first impression with a "First published" line and a complete number line on the reverse of the title page.
How to read it
Read the full guide to Viking first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
Viking, London, in 1989, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 29 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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