“EVEN THE SACRED ISN’T SACRED”

ROBBINS, Harold. Spellbinder. New York: Simon and Schuster, (1982). Octavo, original red paper-covered boards, original dust jacket. $300.

First edition, second printing of this chronicle of “‘Preacher’ a young man who turns his self-chosen vocation into a multimillion-dollar business that makes him first a celebrity, then a evangelical superstar, and ultimately a martyr,” inscribed, “For Paul [Gitlin]— Who should have written a better book— but then— my name would have been in. Love, Harold R. N.Y. 22 Oct 82.”

"Harold Robbins' formula of sex, money and power made him one of the best-selling authors of his day… Robbins himself once said, 'I just happen to think I've done better than anyone else in reflecting the times in which I live… and the claim isn't completely absurd. If nothing else… [his] oeuvre changed American publishing." In Spellbinder Robbins explores "the world of the newest, biggest and most disturbing phenomenon in contemporary American life— the rise of religious leaders who command vast financial resources and use show-business techniques to change the moral values, the life style and the politics of the nation." The recipient of this copy was Robbins' close friend Paul Gitlin, his agent and attorney for 35 years. Gitlin's modus operandi was: "I structure the deal first, and then Harold worries about the writing." Gitlin structured extraordinary deals— for domestic rights, foreign rights, television, movies. The rights to The Adventurers, for example, were sold for a million dollars before Robbins even wrote a single word.

A fine inscribed copy.