Cormac McCarthy. Suttree. New York: Random House, [1979]. First edition, first printing, without the remainder mark usually found on the bottom edge of the textblock. Inscribed and signed by the author, "For Billy Ray & Pam / with love / Cormac" on the title page. Octavo. 471 pages. Publisher's black cloth over yellow paper boards with gilt titles. Original dust jacket. Moderate blue damp-staining to the bottom and top edge of the text near the spine, and also the verso of the dust jacket. Jacket spine somewhat sunned. Some edge wear to the dust jacket. Some wear and rubbing to the panels. Overall, a good copy of a book very rarely encountered signed, much less with a personal inscription from McCarthy to his friends.
Billy Ray Reynolds met Cormac McCarthy one summer in the mid-1970s, when Cormac was a struggling writer working as a stonemason in Tennessee for Bill Kidwell, a lifelong friend of Billy Ray's. Billy Ray was soon surprised to find that McCarthy was an aspiring writer, knowing him at that time as a working stonemason. During this time, Billy Ray was a longtime member of Waylon Jennings road and studio band, where he played guitar and sang harmonies with Waylon. Billy Ray is a professional musician and singer-songwriter, with over 40 years working in the music business in Nashville. He and Cormac McCarthy have been friends for over 35 years.