Magical realism meets Southern gothic in this lyrical, God-haunted novel from Texas novelist, short story writer and playwright William Goyen, the great and underappareciated author of HOUSE OF BREATH.

ARCADIO, by William Goyen.

First Edition, Early Printing (3rd) with Number Line.

Hardcover, 1983. Ocatvo. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. Publisher's Orange Quarter Cloth with Orange Paper Boards and Gilt Lettering Stamped to Spine. Dust Jacket Illustrated by Bascove. Blurbs on the Inner Flap by Christopher Isherwood and Joyce Carol Oates. 147 pp.

A very good to near-fine copy with straight boards, sharp corners, square spine, and tight binding. Minor toning to top and bottom edges of text block, else excellent. Pristine interior with clean, crisp pages. NO previous owner names or bookplates. NOT a remainder. NO writing. Comes in a very a good illustrated dust jacket, NOT price-clipped ($12.95), and now protected in Mylar. 

ARCADIO tells the story of its titular character, a hermaphrodite who recounts their life’s journey in a confessional, dreamlike story with spiritual and mythic overtones. It's one of the more challenging and boundary-pushing works from Goyen (1915-1983), a writer known for blending lush, flowing prose and strange, Gothic elements.