Condition Continued: There is a little discoloration off the bottom of the rear cover. There is a tiny loss at the top edge of the spine and the top edge of the rear cover above a tear. There is a small tear off the top edge of the middle edge between the rear cover and rear end paper. There are a few other edge tears off the bottom edges and just adjacent to the bottom edge of the spine. I have the jacket in a protective cover is pretty much conceals the small edge tears. The spine has the smooth rubbing that you can see in the second photo.The flaps are in solid shape, a sliver of loss at the top edge of the rear one, along with a little bit of receded spotting there. The jacket is  NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all. 

Pageant Press, New York, 1964. Hardcover in Dust Jacket. Written by Carmen Anthony Fiore. Stated First Edition. Once listed, this will be the Only hardcover, the Only first edition, for sale anywhere on the Internet. It was published in 1964. In 1986 another publishing house put out a paperback copy of the novel. I think it may also be the author's first book, though I'm not sure. He seems to have published several books in the 1980s and has continued publishing up to current times. As an aside, I purchased this book directly from the library of the former High Commissioner of Postwar Germany and Assistant Secretary Of War, John J. McCloy. However, he did not write his name in the book. It's not a book that is typical of the kind of books he had in the library. There weren't a great many novels. So, perhaps he was acquainted with the author, or perhaps he was interested in the subject matter of the novel.

From the dust jacket: 'In The Barrier, Carmen Anthony Fiore has written a stark and tragic novel of the failure of this society to come to grips with the 'social dynamite' in our cities streets. Bobbie Lee, the young Negro anti--hero of his novel, is the prototype of the thousands of youngsters who pass through the courts, social agencies, and jails of our nation every day of the year. His story is typical of the countless young people growing up in the depressed metropolitan areas of this country.

Mr. Fiore has not been afraid to reveal the poverty, violence, and bureaucratic indifference which form the backdrop against which Bobbie, and hundreds of thousands of other youngsters, must attempt to act out the drama of growing up. In telling Bobbie's story, he has frequently pointed out the guilt which we all must share for our crime against these children. 

With an almost clinical objectivity which immeasurably heightens the bitter reality of the story, Mr. Fiore has graphically portrayed the plight of Bobie Lee. Many readers will be shocked by his descriptions of life in our slums, but they will not easily forget them.'