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Croce, Arlene (Author) & Lerman, Leo (Recipient) : After-images

Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, NY, 1977

ISBN 0394410939

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 466 pages. The author's breakthrough debut collection of dance essays. One of the greatest books on dance of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. Portions of the book were subsequently reissued in an Omnibus Edition called "Writing In The Dark, Dancing In The New Yorker" (2000). The First Edition is now rare. Presents Arlene Croce's "After-Images". Her masterly inaugural collection from her first decade, 1966-1977. Illuminates, demands, and rewards repeated readings. Croce's dance essays (avidly followed by aficionados in The New Yorker Magazine) captured the essence of the most elusive of the performing arts. She analyzed and described individual dancers, choreographers, dance companies, performances, and trends with insights and turns of phrase as thrilling as brilliantly executed pas-de-deux. Always thoughtful and provocative, Croce exulted in the sublime and excoriated the meretricious. Kenneth Tynan once said that "a good critic is one who perceives what is happening in the art of his [or, as the case may be, her] time. A great critic also perceives what is not happening". If so, then Croce is the one dance critic who captured for posterity the glories (and inevitable shortcomings) of dance in our time, surpassing her most eminent predecessor, Edwin Denby: "Croce is the Jane Austen of dance criticism. In breadth as well as in intensity, the best dance critic" (Richard Poirier). "Theoretically, I am ready to go to anything once. If it moves, I'm interested. If it moves to music, I'm in love" (Arlene Croce). An absolute "must-have" title for Arlene Croce collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated, and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "For Leo Lerman, In gratitude, respect, and love. Arlene Croce June 1, 1979". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page or bookplate. The preeminent writer, culture critic, Vanity Fair Magazine editor, and major figure of New York's cultural life from the 1940's until his death in 1994, Leo Lerman was New York Living Legend personified. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, dated, and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and despite its imperfection (slight wear on DJ spine and back, but it's there) is still in fine condition: Every single internal page is clean, crisp, and bright. The cloth boards are sharp, with NO bumping at all. Please note: This is an association copy. As far as we know, Arlene Croce did NOT do a single public signing throughout her high-profile and highly influential career. Copies available online are subsequent printings or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. The greatest dance critic of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ARLENE CROCE AND JOAN ACOCELLA TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0394410939.

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