New York: Crown Publishers, 1972

8vo, pp. 247. Original yellow boards, lettered in red to spine. Illustrated dust jacket, author's photographic portrait to rear flap. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a little light edgewear, most noticeably at spine ends.

First hardback edition, with some textual differences from the first edition published as a paperback original in 1962.

Charles Willeford [1919-1988] -- orphan, boxcar rider, soldier as soon as he was old enough -- proved an unplaceable talent for most of his career: too intellectual for the sleazier imprints, too brutal for the mainstream, and too weird for just about everybody. Cockfighter is a case in point: a take on Homer's Odyssey it follows a mute hero through the American South, making his way in a subculture where chickens are forced to fight to the death for sport. The book was first published by the Chicago Paperback House, an offshoot of a soft-core porn imprint, in 1962. It disappeared without trace. Slightly rewritten, it was republished in this edition in 1972, and filmed two years later by Monte Hellman with a cast including Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton, from Willeford's own screenplay. A 70s indie high spot, the film is now difficult to track down (and a difficult watch if you manage to).

A well preserved copy of some kind of classic.