Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1976. His irrepressible second novel. Inscribed by Robbins: "To Paul, with 'eternal' gratitude for introducing me to the Clock People. Your friend, Tom Robbins." Paul Dorpat, who is the first person acknowledged in Robbins' Author's Note for the book, was a co-founder with Robbins and others of Seattle's first underground newspaper, Helix; and an issue of the paper featured a story about The Great Clock and the legend of the Eternity of Joy, the text of which parallels Chapter 59 of Cowgirls (in addition to "the clockworks" playing a larger role in the novel as a whole). A dozen or so ink and pencil notes in the text, presumably by Dorpat. Apart from the annotations and a bit of spotting to the boards, this is a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a chip at the upper rear spine fold. One of the best possible association copies of this beloved novel. [#034749] $1,500