James P Reynolds

• Running in the Family
• Michael Ondaatje
• McClelland and Stewart, Canada, 1982

Here is a perfect example of how collecting signed books does not have to be prohibitively expensive. This is a second reprint of the first trade paperback edition of Ondaatje’s beautifully written fictionalized autobiography.

Regarding Running in the Family, Ondaatje himself wrote, “In Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts.”

There are actually none of this edition for sale on AbeBooks today, but because it a later edition and later printing, I would expect signed copies to cost about $15 to $30. Not bad, considering the fact that Ondaatje’s signature is really quite rare.

Signed hardcover first printings run as high as $275. U.S. first printings, signed, cost up to $175.

This copy is in good plus condition. There are a couple of folds to the front cover and bruising to the corners, but the spine is not creased and the interior of the book is excellent. I would put the value at a mere $20 — give or take.

Ondaatje is one of Canada’s hopefuls for the Nobel Prize. If he did happen to win, his signed work would immediately become much more valuable. As it is, Ondaatje has won many prestigious awards for his work, including the Booker Prize for The English Patient. Signed copies of The English Patient go as high as $900 today.