Sironia Texas, Scarce First Edition, 2vols

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AUTHOR: Madison Cooper

TITLE: Sironia, Texas.

PUBLICATION DATA: 1952. Houghton Mifflin. Presumed first edition. (Lacks any indication of later printings. Houghton Mifflin generally placed the publication year on the title page to signify a first printing, but no copy I've seen has a date. A. C. Greene, in describing the novel in his 50 Best Books on Texas, indicates that he bought his copy in Abilene the year it was published...and his copy bore no date on the title page.)

Condition report:

Publisher's original cloth covers show light soiling and a bit of wear to spine ends. Corners are rubbed. Top edge dyed red by publisher.

Why It Matters:

Sironia was a hit when it was published. It is believed to be a fictionalized account of Cooper's life growing up in Waco. He gently pokes at the classism of upper crust folks in a smallish Southernish town and develops black characters who are navigating a segregated society. Though it sold thousands of copies in its initial print run, its star quickly faded. Cooper then destroyed his manuscript, and thus ends the saga of Sironia. To date, it is one of the longest American novels ever written...everything's bigger in Texas.