The Lost Get-Back Boogie was published by Louisiana State University Press in 1986, after being rejected by 111 publishers over a nine-year period — one of the most celebrated rejection histories in American literature. The novel was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a recognition that confirmed what Burke had known for nearly a decade: this was serious literary work, not genre fiction dressed in literary clothing.
The novel follows Iry Paret, recently released from Angola Prison (Louisiana’s notorious penitentiary), who travels to Montana to stay with a friend from prison. Iry is trying to rebuild his life — to stay sober, to play music again, to find some peace — but the community is hostile to outsiders, particularly ex-convicts, and Iry’s own violent past makes it impossible for him to simply walk away from confrontation.
This is not a crime novel — it predates the Robicheaux series and operates as straight literary fiction — but it establishes the themes that Burke would explore for the rest of his career: the persistence of violence in those who have known it, the moral weight of landscape, the possibility of redemption for men who have done terrible things, and the way small-town communities enforce conformity through exclusion and intimidation.
The prose is already fully formed: Burke’s long, rhythmic sentences, his attention to the sensory textures of the natural world, and his ability to render both physical violence and psychological complexity with equal skill are all present. The nine years of rejection did not damage the book; they merely delayed its audience.
Collecting The Lost Get-Back Boogie
First edition (Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1986): Cloth binding, dust jacket. Small university press print run.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in fine jacket: $300–$800
- Signed first edition: $500–$1,200
- Reading copy without jacket: $20–$60
This is Burke’s most collectible title due to the small initial print run from a university press, the famous rejection history, and the Pulitzer nomination. Values have increased dramatically as Burke’s reputation has grown.