[McMURTRY, Larry (1936-2021), his copy]. KESEY, Ken (1935-2001). The Day After Superman Died. Northbridge, CA: [The Castle Press for] Lord John Press, 1980.

8vo. Original cloth–backed decorative boards, gilt-lettered spine (spine gently sunned). Laid in with prospectus and a “compliments of the publisher” sheet laid in. Provenance: Larry McMurtry (his bookplate, which he designed, features the horseshoe-shaped brand his father and grandfather used on the McMurtry cattle), from his personal library at his home in Archer City.

FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, one of 350 copies, this designated “Presentation Copy”, SIGNED BY KESEY on the limitation. McMurtry and Kesey became lifelong friends beginning when both were classmates in the graduate writing program at Stanford University in 1960. McMurtry and Kesey maintained their friendship over the years, but both were competitive with each other. “Twenty-five years later, by chance, I won a Pulitzer Prize for ‘Lonesome Dove’, after which my times with Ken were never quite the same. In time, if he had continued to write, he probably would have won a Pulitzer, too” (Jeff Baker, in The Oregonian, 9 May 2011). On 29 April 2011, McMurtry married Kesey’s widow, Norma Faye Kesey in a civil ceremony in Archer City.