Zorba The Greek.

KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos. Translated by Carl Wildman.

Item Number: 141451

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1953.

First edition of Kazantzakis’ masterpiece and basis for the beloved Oscar-winning film. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Nikos Kazantzakis and translator Peter Bien with the classic line of this novel on the copyright page, “‘Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.’ Peter Bien Aug. 26, 2002.” Peter Bien translated a number of Kazantzakis’ works, most notably his new translation of Zorba the Greek. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Dick Dodge. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare and desirable, we have never seen another example of this edition signed.

Zorba the Greek is the epic tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and mysterious Alexis Zorba. Kazantzakis has made a work of stunning genius. The book is about life. How does one live it? How does one deal with the vicissitudes of it? The tragedies? The failures? Does one stand on the sidelines of life and never jump in? Does one fear getting married or fear having children or fear doing any activity that could fail or come to naught? Zorba tells us what to do. And in the end, when the whole bloody mess comes falling down around us, and all our plans and schemes are for naught, what do you do? Dance. Dance as hard and as wild as you can. Spit and fume and sing and smash your heels into the dirt. And laugh at it all. the absurdity of worry and wondering. Zorba shows us the joy of just "being" and "doing". The novel was adapted into a successful 1964 film of the same name as well as a 1968 musical, Zorba.