The Beach

First US edition. 8vo. Pp. [viii], 371. Quarter-bound black cloth over purple paper boards, title stamped in mauve foil to spine; mosquito intaglio blind-stamped to front panel; black endpapers. Jacket design by Marc J. Cohen. First edition in hardback.

Signed by Author to title-page.

Author's literary debut. Winner of the 1997 Betty Trask Prize for Best First Novel by a writer under the age of 35. No. 8 in The Telegraph's 20 Best Travel Books of All Time. Listed on the BBC's survey 'The Big Read' in 2003. A Newsday Favourite Book of the Year. A gap-year student in search of a mythic Thai paradise soon finds his utopian hideaway turning into a nightmare. Basis for Danny Boyle's 2000 cult movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton and Robert Carlyle. ''A white-knuckle ride into the heart of darkness.'' –Sunday Times