CALDWELL, ERSKINE. 1903-1987. God's Little Acre. New York Viking Press, 1933.

The Library of David Lloyd, Part ICALDWELL, ERSKINE. 1903-1987.
God's Little Acre. New York: Viking Press, 1933. 8vo. Publisher's black cloth lettered in orange with green and orange rule, dust jacket. Spine ends rubbed, unrestored jacket with old tape repairs on inside, light soiling to both panels, chips to corners.FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY TO SAM MARX, HIS BOSS AT MGM: "For Sam Marx, to the day when we have a good story to work on. Erskine Caldwell." In 1933, Caldwell somewhat hopefully went to work as a writer for MGM under the direction Sam Marx, replacing an "angry, unhappy, and sometimes drunk" William Faulkner. The day after he arrived he wrote to his wife, "This country is not a fit place to live ... except for old people." Caldwell despised California and Hollywood. When Marx asked him if he'd like to contribute an original story, he flatly said no. His original material was going into books, and not to the studio. The publication of Caldwell's novel of the industrialized South (the follow-up to Tobacco Road) led to the author's prosecution under New York State obscenity laws. He was acquitted. A WONDERFUL AND DROLL HOLLYWOOD INSCRIPTION.