The Smile of the Lamb, by David Grossman. First US Edition, First Printing. Translated from the Hebrew by Betsy Rosenberg. 1990. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. 325 pp. 8vo. Black cloth spine with gilt & paper-covered boards in pictorial dust jacket.

Israeli novelist David Grossman made his US debut in 1989 with the translation of his third novel, See Under: Love. Building off that success, FSG published Grossman’s wrenching debut, The Smile of the Lamb, the following year. A classic story of dangerous liaisons unfolding amidst war and strife, The Smile of the Lamb was originally published in Hebrew in 1983 and was one of the first Israeli works of fiction to deal with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. It tells the story of Uri, a young, idealistic Israeli soldier, and his wife, Shosh, who works in a juvenile psychiatric institution. When Uri becomes involved with an Arab storyteller who considers Uri his spiritual heir, and Shosh enters into an affair with Uri’s commander, personal desires clash with the developing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Book: Near Fine, unread copy with a clean, bright interior, and the slightest hint of foxing on the head. Bound in black paper to the spine and grey paper to the boards, with copper lettering along the spine. Grey flyleaf and endsheets.

Dust Jacket: Fine. NOT price-clipped. Protected in archival mylar cover.