8vo. Original cloth, top edge stained red (a few pale stains, spine slightly leaned); in unrestored unclipped dust jacket (some chipping, a few short tears, some pale staining).

FIRST EDITION OF McCOY'S FIRST BOOK about a grueling dance marathon and murder trial, which was widely read in existentialist circles in Europe, and which is among the best examples of absurdist existentialism in American fiction. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? was adapted to a film of the same name in 1969, starting Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin.