Kathy Acker — Great Expectations (1982)

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Kathy Acker, Great Expectations. San Francisco: Open Book Publications, 1982. Paperback original. 128 pp. 13.5 × 21 cm. Printed wrappers; black-and-white cover illustration; origin al $5.95 price to rear. Condition: Fair. Spine worn and tattered, with rubbing, toning, handling marks, edge wear, and softened corners to covers. Interior pages remain in good condition. Complete and readable. Acker's Great Expectations rewrites Dickens through plagiarism, autobiography, sexuality, violence, and literary theft. Published in 1982, it belongs to her key early period, when appropriation became not just a method but a form of attack. The first chapter announces itself directly: Plagiarism. The rear cover carries praise attributed to Alain Robbe-Grillet — a detail that sits perfectly within the book's own unstable authorship. Whether taken as endorsement, mask, literary joke, or suspect quotation, it adds another layer to the object: Acker's plagiarism reflected back onto the commercial surface of the book itself. A strong early Acker object. Tattered, handled, and still sharp. Show more