New York: Viking, (1983) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - African American writer's first book, a comic novel about a baseball player, an elephant he wins, and a 9 year old runaway who adopts them both. The three friends hole up in a cabin and outfox all intruders, including the local sheriff, a drug smuggler, and a taxidermist with his eye on Renoir, the elephant. Although Everett has received many awards - including an award for lifetime achievement by the National Book Critics Circle - and the Washington Post described him as one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists. he remains not nearly as well-known or read as he should be - although the award-winning film "American Fiction" based on his novel "Erasure" has finally begun to change that, as has the acclaim (and awards) given to his 2024 novel "James." SIGNED on the title page, and uncommon thus. 171 pp. ISBN: 0-670-681105.