Zorba the Greek.

KAZANTAKIS, Nikos; Translated by Carl Wildman.

Item Number: 145474

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953.

First American edition of the witty novel that served as inspiration for the 1964 film of the same name. Octavo, original half cloth. Near fine in a good price clipped dust jacket. Light bumping to the crown and foot of the spine with a mark to the front free endpaper. Rubbing and a few losses and closed tears to the extremities of the dust jacket. Jacket design by Dick Dodge.

'Zorba the Greek' is the tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and mysterious Alexis Zorba. "Mr. Kazantzakis has breathed into his prose all the warm airs of the Mediterranean, its light, its color, its sadness. But, more surprising, he has created in Zorba one of the greatest characters of modern fiction. The novel reflects Greek exhilaration at its best. Zorba, pure in feeling, makes havoc of monks, scholarship and the life of withdrawal" (London Times Literary Supplement). The novel was adapted into the successful 1964 film of the same name, directed by Michael Cacoyannis and starring Anthony Quinn as Zorba, which won awards for Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards and Best Actor with the National Board of Review.