Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984) Signed First Edition Reference

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand was intended as the first half of a diptych, with a sequel called The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities. The sequel was never written, making this 1984 Bantam publication a magnificent fragment — a novel of extraordinary ambition that opens onto a story it cannot complete.

The Book

The novel follows two protagonists — Rat Korga, a laborer whose world has been destroyed, and Marq Dyeth, an industrial diplomat on the planet Velm — whose lives converge in a galaxy-spanning narrative about information, desire, cultural difference, and the forces that destroy civilizations. Delany’s pronoun system — using “she” as the default pronoun for all persons regardless of sex, with “he” reserved for objects of desire — was decades ahead of contemporary discussions about gendered language.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Bantam Books, New York Publication date: 1984 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $150–$400
• Unsigned first edition: $25–$60

The novel’s status as an unfinished masterpiece gives it a particular poignancy. Delany has spoken about the lost sequel over the decades, but it has never materialized. For collectors, this means the single published volume must stand alone — and it does, as one of the most intellectually stimulating science fiction novels ever written.