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"Wearing red underwear
the mere suggestion of
undress is frightening."
J.P. Donleavy from
A Singular Man |
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Although Donleavy began work on the novel A Fairy Tale of New York following
completion of The Ginger Man, his second completed and published novel was
A Singular Man. His interview in Paris Review #63 (see JPD Interviews for more)
explains why he found it impossible at the time to finish A Fairy Tale of New York
but was able to write A Singular Man.
As if Donleavy hadn't had enough publishing woes with The Ginger Man, Little,
Brown & Co. gave him grief by delaying publication of A Singular Man, claiming
their legal department had become concerned with possible obscenity litigation that
might arise if the book were to be published unexpurgated. Now quite well-experienced
in dealing with publishers, Donleavy drafted a letter to Little, Brown & Co., threatening
to sue for breech of contract if the book, as submitted, was not published in short order.
His sizable amount of damages asked (down to the penny) panicked the publishers making
them think Donleavy had found some legal precedent unknown to them, and they relented
and published the book.
In several interviews, when asked if he has a favorite of his works, Donleavy states,
"A Singular Man." |
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If you have information
about other editions of
this title, including non-
English language editions,
please email the JPDC
to add it to the bibliography.
All contributors will be
given credit here on
the site. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | Atlantic Monthly Press/Little, Brown & Co.,
Boston, 1964 - 402 pages
First trade edition. Although the front end paper
states a copyright date of 1963, this first edition was
not actually issued until 1964.
According to an interview with publisher Seymour
Lawrence, the cover art was based on the actual
manuscript as submitted by Donleavy.
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Special thanks to
Thomas E. Kennedy,
whose photos of
Donleavy's library
revealed the existence
of the 3 Bodley Head
first UK edition
variants. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | The Bodely Head (an imprint of Penguin),
London, 1964 - 340 pages
One of three First UK edition variants, the only
difference being the colors on the dust jacket, this
one having orange-red boxes around the spine and
front cover titles and subheads. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | The Bodely Head (an imprint of Penguin),
London, 1964 - 340 pages
"Yellow" variant of first UK edition. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | The Bodely Head (an imprint of Penguin),
London, 1964 - 340 pages
"Blue" variant of first UK edition. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | Atlantic Monthly Press/Little, Brown & Co.,
Boston, 19?? (no publication date given) - 402 pages
Second Atlantic/Little, Brown printing. No date given
apart from the original copyright date of 1963. Dust
jacket and boards identical to first printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | Atlantic Monthly Press/Little, Brown & Co.,
Boston, 19?? (no publication date given) - 402 pages
Third Atlantic/Little, Brown printing. No date given
apart from the original copyright date of 1963. Dust
jacket and boards identical to first printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Penguin, Middlesex, England, 1966
349 pages
First paperback edition. Black covers and spine. |
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Un uomo singolare |
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Binding? | Publisher?, Milano, 1966
Italian translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Penguin, Middlesex, England, 1967
349 pages
First Penguin reprint. Black covers with
orange spine. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | Delacorte Press, New York, 1967
402 pages
First Delacorte edition. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, New York, September 1967
304 pages
First US paperback edition. |
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Kawatta Otoko |
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Binding? | Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Tokyo, 1967
349 pages
Japanese translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, NY, April 1968 - 304 pages
Second Dell printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Delta, (an imprint of Dell) New York,
September 1968 - 402 pages
First Delta printing. |
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Ein ängstlicher Held |
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Binding? | Kindler, München 1968 -
German translation. |
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Un hombre extraño, un hombre singular |
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Binding? | Publisher & City? 1968 -
Spanish translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Penguin, Middlesex, England, 1970
ISBN 140024476 - 349 pages
Third Penguin reprint with slightly different front
cover from previous printings and completely
different back cover. |
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Un Homme singulier |
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Wraps | Denoël, Paris 1971 - 381 pages
French translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | The Bodley Head (an imprint of Penguin),
London 1972 - ISBN 0370005724 - 340 pages
Second Bodley Head printing with entirely new
dust jacket art. Dark gray boards. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, Laurel edition, September, 1973
ISBN 0440379416 - 304 pages
First Dell Laurel printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, Laurel edition, December, 1973
ISBN 0440379416 - 304 pages
Second Dell Laurel printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, Laurel edition, August, 1975
ISBN 0440379416 - 304 pages
Third Dell Laurel printing. |
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En säregen man |
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Binding? | Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm 1975 - ? pages
Swedish translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Dell, Laurel edition, June, 1979
ISBN 0440379416 - 304 pages
Fourth Dell Laurel printing. |
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A Singular Man |
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Cloth | The Bodley Head (an imprint of Penguin),
London 1979 - ISBN 0370005724 - 340 pages
Third Bodley Head printing. Dust jacket same
as 2nd printing, but boards are grayish-green. |
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No photo yet;
edition being sought. |
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Een man zonder weerga |
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Binding? | Meulenhaoff, Amsterdam 1984
ISBN 9029011106 - 379 pages
Dutch translation. |
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A Singular Man |
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Wraps | Atlantic Monthly Press (now Grove/Atlantic)
New York, 1989 - ISBN 0971132656 - 402 pages
First AMP printing. |
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Un hombre singular |
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Cloth | Edhasa, Barcelona, 1989
ISBN 8435008053 - 424 pages
Spanish translation. As of Jan., 2000
still available from publisher. |
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