HIGHSMITH, Patricia. The Blunderer. Cresset Press, London, 1956.

Price: US$8500.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: First English edition. Nominal foxing on the foredge else very near fine in near fine dust jacket, with a small, faint stain visible only on the interior. Raymond Chandler's copy of Highsmith's second book, with his ownership Signature writ large: "Raymond Chandler. London. Feb. 1956." Of significance, Chandler wrote the screenplay for the 1951 classic film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that was made from Highsmith's first book, *Strangers on a Train*. Hitchcock largely discarded the two drafts of Chandler's screenplay in favor of one by Ben Hecht's protégé Czenzi Ormonde, and which later precipitated one of the great Hollywood "fuck you" letters from Chandler to "Dear Hitch." Highsmith would later write the introduction to the 1977 book, *The World of Raymond Chandler*.

Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.