NY, HRW, (1965). The uncorrected proof copy of Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. This is the earliest state of the proof: tall sheets ringbound in blue wrappers, printed on rectos only. Cardstock covers abraded and spotted; very good, in a custom quarter leather clamshell box. The later issue proof, also ringbound, was in beige wrappers. This copy is signed by the author in 1996, with a self-caricature. One of the earliest Vonnegut proofs we have seen. [#013436] SOLD