The Painted Bird

Originally published in 1965, in cloth, by Houghton Mifflin, this is the definitive, revised edition of the author’s novel. Now regarded as a late-modern classic, it has been completely revised by the author, who has also added an introduction. Jerzy Kosinski was not at all happy with the 1st edition, which was heavily cut & bowdlerized. This edition restores whole sections that did not appear in the previous one & also incorporates changes he subsequently made. This is a graphically violent & deeply affecting novel of human brutality as seen thru the eyes of a young orphan during the Holocaust. It is a powerful tale of a young Polish boy trapped during German occupation in WWII, & the brutalities that traumatize his childhood as he wanders alone from one village to another. This is a savage, unrelenting book, running the gamut from innocence to wanton barbarism, with whistle stops at everything in between. It’s one of the most powerful & profoundly moving books written in the 20th century. One of the canonical titles of the century’s literature, & Kosinski’s finest, unsurpassable & magisterial achievement, this is the author’s highly praised 3rd novel, the 1st published under his own name. His 1st two were under the pen name of Joseph Novak, The Future is Ours Comrade & No Third Path.