What We Lose — Zinzi Clemmons — Signed First Edition (2017, Viking) — NF/NF

A beautiful signed first edition of What We Lose, the acclaimed debut novel by Zinzi Clemmons, published by Viking in 2017. This copy is personally inscribed, dated 7/20/17, and remains in near‑fine condition with a clean, bright dust jacket now housed in a Brodart archival protective cover.

Clemmons’ novel is celebrated for its lyrical structure and powerful exploration of identity, grief, and belonging. This signed first printing makes an excellent addition to any contemporary literature collection.

Condition

• Book: Near‑Fine. Clean boards, tight binding, no marks or odors.

• Dust Jacket: Near‑Fine. Bright, clean, no tears; now protected in a Brodart jacket.

• Signature: Bold, clear author inscription and signature on the title page, dated 7.20.17.

• No bookplate or ownership marks. Clean other than the author's writing.

Edition Details

• Publisher: Viking (Penguin Random House)

• Year: 2017

• Format: Hardcover

• First Edition / First Printing

• ISBN: 9780735221100

A standout signed copy—ideal for collectors of modern literary fiction, signed first editions, and contemporary women’s writing.

About the Book

A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree
NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize Finalist
Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, NPR, Elle, Esquire, Buzzfeed, San Francisco Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, The A.V. Club, The Root, Harper’s Bazaar, Paste, Bustle, Kirkus Reviews, Electric Literature, LitHub, New York Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Bust

“The debut novel of the year.” —Vogue

“Like so many stories of the black diaspora, What We Lose is an examination of haunting.” —Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker

“Raw and ravishing, this novel pulses with vulnerability and shimmering anger.” —Nicole Dennis-Benn, O, the Oprah Magazine

“Stunning. . . . Powerfully moving and beautifully wrought, What We Lose reflects on family, love, loss, race, womanhood, and the places we feel home.” —Buzzfeed

“Remember this name: Zinzi Clemmons. Long may she thrill us with exquisite works like What We Lose. . . . The book is a remarkable journey.” —Essence

From an author of rare, haunting power, a stunning novel about a young African-American woman coming of age—a deeply felt meditation on race, sex, family, and country

Raised in Pennsylvania, Thandi views the world of her mother’s childhood in Johannesburg as both impossibly distant and ever present. She is an outsider wherever she goes, caught between being black and white, American and not. She tries to connect these dislocated pieces of her life, and as her mother succumbs to cancer, Thandi searches for an anchor—someone, or something, to love.

In arresting and unsettling prose, we watch Thandi’s life unfold, from losing her mother and learning to live without the person who has most profoundly shaped her existence, to her own encounters with romance and unexpected motherhood. Through exquisite and emotional vignettes, Clemmons creates a stunning portrayal of what it means to choose to live, after loss. An elegiac distillation, at once intellectual and visceral, of a young woman’s understanding of absence and identity that spans continents and decades, What We Lose heralds the arrival of a virtuosic new voice in fiction.