Washington, DC, Counterpoint, 2000. The dedication copy of this novel by the author of A Sport and a Pastime and Burning the Days, among others. Inscribed by Salter for Norm Phillips, to whom the book is dedicated. The printed dedication reads: "To the officers and men and Norm Phillips." Beneath the dedication, Salter has inscribed: "This number one copy to the number one guy, Admiration and love - Jim." Laid in is a typed letter signed from Salter to Phillips, from November, 2000, recounting the story of getting a photo of the 22nd Fighter Squadron framed (and earning a discount from the South Korean framer); telling of his mother's memorial service; and, this being the month of the Bush/Gore Presidential election recount, adding a few words about incoming President Bush. On hotel stationery; folded in half; fine. The book is fine in a fine dust jacket. The novel was based on Salter's experiences as a fighter pilot in the Korean war. Phillips was a commander of a squadron that included Salter, as well as future astronauts Ed White and Buzz Aldrin. Cassada is Salter's reworking of his second novel, The Arm of the Flesh, which, as best as we can tell, was not dedicated to Phillips. Salter is widely considered one of the finest stylists in American letters, although he was never widely known to the general American reading public. When he died in 2015, Esquire magazine published an obituary calling him "the finest writer you have never read." Richard Ford famously said "It is an article of faith among readers of fiction that James Salter writes American sentences better than anybody writing today." Possibly the best copy of this book extant. [#032674] SOLD