A Notable & Controversial Work
GOLDMAN, William (author). Errol LE CAIN (illustrator). Wigger. New York Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich. 1974

8vo. Original deep red cloth lettered in white to spine, in pictorial dustwrapper; pp. [66]; with pictorial title-page, 10 glorious full-page black-and-white plates by Errol Le Cain heightened in pink, with initials and other typesetting in the same colour; an unusually fresh copy, protected by a near fine, and unclipped, dustwrapper with a very short corner crease to inner upper flap of the jacket and the original printed price there of $4.75 overlaid with a printed price sticker in pounds sterling (£1.65).

First edition, as stated, first printing, presented in the reinforced library binding, in a fine, unclipped, dustwrapper.  This is a fine example of the book cased in the more durable cloth binding, designed to be sold to libraries but, in this case, presumably for the export market in the U.K.

This is the only children’s book by the author of “Marathon Man” and the cult classic “The Princess Bride”. Goldman also won Academy Awards for his screenplays for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All The President’s Men”. It is no longer in print (hence is sought after) due to reprint issues surrounding the title, which was innocently named after a blanket but in urban slang has evolved to denote a white person emulating black culture, and thus has derogatory overtones.

The story was written for, and dedicated to, the author’s daughter Susanna and her favourite pink blanket, which was the inspiration for the tale.  It was named Book of the Year by the Child Study Association.  It is an oddly dark and soulful tale centring on a character named after his daughter, who loses her parents in a tragic accident.  Orphaned, she ends up rather abandoned in various homes but retains her loyal “Wigger”, a blanket with human feelings.  This companion is lost in a chaotic bank robbery and the story develops around the child’s search for her favourite friend.

Goldman referred to the writing of the book as cathartic as it mirrors, in its themes of loss, grief and loneliness, his own experiences as a child. He lost his father to suicide when he was young.  He referred to it as one of his favourites among his works.