The Outsiders
“When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.”
FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY HINTON: "I hope you enjoy my book! Best wishes, Susie Hinton". Although not dated, the inscription, in ink on the front free endpaper, is contemporary with the publication of the first edition when Hinton was a teenager.
The Outsiders, now recognized as a young-adult classic was, remarkably, written by Hinton when she was still in high school. She later explained the origin of the story:
"I was actually fifteen when I first began it. It was the year I was sixteen and a junior in high school that I did the majority of the work (that year I made a D in creative writing). One day a friend of mine was walking home from school and these 'nice' kids jumped out of a car and beat him up because they didn't like his being a greaser. This made me mad and I just went home and started pounding out a story about this boy who was beaten up while he was walking home from the movies – the beginning of The Outsiders. I was just something to let off steam. I didn't have any grand design. I just sat down and started writing it. I look back and I think it was totally written in my subconscious or something."
Notable for its realistic portrayal of gang violence, and the struggles and friendships of young adults, The Outsiders has been a popular selection for school syllabuses for years. (It also frequently makes the list of the most banned books in school for the same realistic portrayal of violence.)
The basis for the classic 1983 film by Francis Ford Coppola and the 2024 Tony Award winning musical.
As is typical for the first book from an unknown writer, the first edition is rare. The charming inscription ("I hope you enjoy my book") and the fact that she signed it "Susie" are consistent with other copies she signed around the year of publication.
Note: The first edition was issued in black cloth (as here) and in a decorated “library binding” (no priority). Both were issued with the now iconic dust-jacket with artwork by Richard M. Powers.
HINTON, S.E. The Outsiders. New York: Viking Press, 1967. First edition. Octavo, 188 pp. Original black cloth, original dust jacket. Early owner signature at top of front free endpaper (above Hinton's inscription). Dust jacket with fading to spine; front panel extraordinarily bright. A little foxing to text block edges; one page (65) with some soiling in margin. RARE, especially signed, and without any library markings.
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