Max Frisch. Stated first edition. New York: Harcourt, Brace Jobanovich, 1980. Both unclipped dust jacket and hardcover are in Very Good+ condition. Jacket design by Bob Silverman. No writing or markings found in the book, 113 pp. There is a small Doubleday sticker on rear jacket.
A compelling stated first edition of Man in the Holocene by Max Frisch, one of the most important European writers of the 20th century. Originally published in German in 1979, this novel is widely regarded as Frisch’s late masterpiece—an existential meditation on memory, isolation, and humanity’s fragility against the vast indifference of nature.
Set in a remote Swiss valley threatened by landslides and erosion, the story follows an aging man confronting the limits of knowledge and personal history. The book is notable for its innovative structure, incorporating fragments, diagrams, and clipped texts that blur the boundary between fiction, philosophy, and documentary.
An increasingly collectible modern first edition, particularly desirable in its original jacket. A strong addition to collections focused on postwar European literature, existential fiction, or Nobel-adjacent literary figures.
