Birds of America.

New York, NY Avon: Bard, 1981. Paperback First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Near Fine in Wraps: shows only the most minute indications of use; tiny stain at upper front corner of text block affects first fifteen pages; pages tanned with age; binding square and secure; text clean. Just a hint of wear to extremities; mildest rubbing. Very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder. NOT a Book-Club Edition. NOT an Ex-Library copy. 12mo. 344pp. Mass Market Paperback. Mary McCarthy has never gotten her due as a prose writer and this -- her best novel -- seems to have been overlooked. This is the story of a young man 's emancipation from his very much loved mother (with whom he has an almost romantic relationship based on her attractiveness and their shared sensibility). They construct an ideal life together in which they eschew all "modern" conveniences for the niceties of the past. She remarries and he is launched as an adult, going to Paris to school, where he attempts to apply his interpretation of Kant's moral imperative to the various experiences he has (including one very funny-painful episode in which he invites a urine-soaked clochard to share his quarters). It is a completely delightful book and can be reread with pleasure. She is a master story teller.