"The Plague" by Albert Camus, translated by Stuart Gilbert, Vintage Books/ A Division of Random House, First Printing of the Vintage Book Edition, February 1972.

Soft cover, 4" x 7"; initials and 'Apr.85' is ink written on the first blank page, 287 pages + 'About the Author' page and publisher's list of books at the end, tight binding, appears unread, very good condition.

"In the North African town of Oran, rats begin to come out of hiding and die in the streets. Shortly thereafter, residents, in ever-increasing numbers, fall ill with a mysterious fever. As these stricken townsfolk die, Dr. Bernard Rieux recognizes they have contracted the bubonic plague. The city is shut down. Guards are posted at all the gates so no one can enter or leave. Rieux devotes himself to alleviating the suffering of the sick as much as he is able, painfully aware that the city is at the mercy of a scourge for which he has no cure. He “fights against a creation which allows children to suffer and die..."

"I first read this novel when I was twenty years old, more than five decades ago, and I still have that paperback copy, its pages yellow with age, passages marked that I read and re-read for years afterward. On that first reading, I remember being shaken to my core. After all, I was a student in a Catholic seminary at the time, and this book challenged all I thought I knew about life. This past month I asked myself, “Will it still resonate? Does it have something to say to our quarantined life?.... Ultimately, The Plague is a meditation on the meaning of life and death. It examines the behavior of human beings in the face of ineluctable destiny. Some act heroically; others are driven mad." [a private review]

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ----------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c 2-6 weeks) -- $28.50
World: 1st Class (c 2-8 weeks) --- $42.50