King, Stephen “The Bachman Books” [New American Library, 1985] Near Fine

KING, Stephen. The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels by Stephen King.

New York: New American Library, 1985. Book club edition. Hardcover in black boards with original dust jacket. Includes Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man, together with King's introduction, "Why I Was Bachman." An exceptionally well-preserved copy with clean boards, a tight binding, and lightly toned pages. Dust jacket shows only minimal evidence of handling. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.

Originally published separately between 1977 and 1982 under Stephen King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, these four novels were collected in 1985 following the public revelation of Bachman's identity. The collection includes King's introductory essay explaining the origins of his pseudonym and his reasons for publishing under another name.

Particularly notable is the inclusion of Rage, King's controversial novel about a high school shooting. King subsequently allowed the novel to go out of print, and it was omitted from later editions of The Bachman Books. Copies retaining Rage have consequently become desirable among Stephen King collectors.