Roman Gary
The Life before Us
New Directions, 1986 (copyright). Cornell University edition. Translation by Ralph Manheim of "La Vie devant soi" (Gallimard, 1975), with an afterword by James Laughlin. 9780811209618 191 pages.
Softcover volume, measuring approximately 5.25" x 8", is in fine condition. 
This novel, awarded the 1975 Prix Goncourt, tells "the story of an orphaned Arab boy, Momo, and his devotion to Madame Rosa, a dying, 68-year-old, 220-lb. survivor of Auschwitz and retired "lady of the night." Momo has been one of the ever-changing ragbag of whores' children at Madame Rosa's boardinghouse in Paris ever since he can remember. But when the check that pays for his keep no longer arrives and as Madame Rosa becomes too ill to climb the stairs to their apartment, he determines to support her any way he can."