<b>Now reissued in paperback on the fiftieth anniversary of its original publication—and published with Reynolds Price's posthumous memoir <I>Midstream</i>. </b><P>From its dazzling opening page, which announced the appearance of a stylist of the first rank, to its moving close, this novel has charmed and captivated millions of readers since its original publication almost fifty years ago. <P>The troubled love story of pretty, headstrong Rosacoke Mustian and the motorcycle-riding, stoic Wesley Beavers beautifully evokes a rural North Carolina now long gone. <P>Ecstatically reviewed and winner of the William Faulkner Award for a notable first novel when it was published in 1962, <I>A Long and Happy Life</i> launched the career of Reynolds Price, a writer considered to be “one of our greatest novelists” (Harper Lee).