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St. Aubyn, Edward : Lost For Words

Picador, London, England, 2014

ISBN 0330454226

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 265 pages. The author's eighth novel. One of Edward St. Aubyn's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Edward St. Aubyn's "Lost For Words". His thinly veiled assault on the Booker Prize. He was shortlisted for "Mother's Milk" (2006), the most polished novel in his "Patrick Melrose" cycle, word-for-word perfection, but ultimately lost (to Kiran Desai's "The Inheritance of Loss"). A satirist by temperament and therefore an acquired taste for many (if not most) readers, Edward St. Aubyn had what was probably his only chance at official recognition with "Mother's Milk". Not surprisingly, it was denied him by the notoriously politically correct prize, and to be fair, ALL literary awards need some kind of mainstream consensus, and sadly, even political correctness, to be accepted. So, he "returns with a hilariously smart send-up of a certain major British literary award. A witty, fabulously entertaining satire that cuts to the quick of some of the deepest questions about the place of art in our celebrity-obsessed culture, and asks how we can ever hope to recognize real talent when everyone has an agenda" (Publisher's blurb). In St. Aubyn's case, Booker or no Booker, genuine fame and glory did arrive, finally, belatedly, and permanently. At the same time, St. Aubyn deserves credit for insisting that literature is NOT a social event that people could carry out and discuss on social media, for example, as many aspiring writers now do, but an intense and private conversation between one intelligence (the writer) and another (the reader). "Our purest living prose stylist" (The Guardian). An absolute "must-have" title for Edward St. Aubyn collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black fountain pen on the title page by Edward St. Aubyn. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition. Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant novelists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDWARD ST. AUBYN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0330454226.

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