Rene Daumal. 
 
Shambala: 1979. First American edition. Hardcover in a jacket. Octavo. Mild soiling on the tan jacket. Spine and along the top of the jacket are faded. Front flap is price clipped, and the price clip looks like it was torn off. Very slight fading and bumping on the boards. Minor foxing on the fore edge of the text block. 121 pages. Very good. 
 
It took almost 75 years for Night to be translated from French into this first edition, which does for the night of drinking and debauchery what Mount Analogue did for the quest narrative: turns a familiar story on its head and shakes it until it becomes symbolic allegory. Night's also a satire that corrodes our shared social delusions until they burst into flame. It's easy to recognize, assisted by intoxication, who in 'real life' the Scienters, Nibblists, and Clarificators the protagonists encounter are - scientists, politicians, and philosophers all peddling ideas that make up our good sense and sober judgment. 
 
"Words are made for a certain exactness of thought, as tears are for a certain degree of pain."