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HALF A LIFE

HALF A LIFE

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HALF A LIFE

by Naipaul, V.S

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Fine/Fine
ISBN 10
0375407375
ISBN 13
9780375407376
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Covina, California, United States
Item Price
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About This Item

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Octavo. Original black paper-covered boards over a red cloth spine, with gilt titles. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket.

From the library of revered English actor, comedian, musician, and writer Eric Idle, accompanied by a letter of provenance. Idle (b.1943) is a founding member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python, as well as the parody rock group The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Spamalot.

In a review for his Eric Idle Online! blog concerning his Fall and Winter reading in 2001, Idle wrote: "And half a book. Sadly not involving. Fulfilling the odd fact for the Nobelist that you get awards as your powers fail... I liked the early English bit then it skipped unaccountably twenty years to Africa and for me began to fall apart.

Synopsis

Half a Life is the story of Willie Chandran, whose father, heeding the call of Mahatma Gandhi, turned his back on his Brahmin heritage and married a woman of low caste–a disastrous union he would live to regret, as he would the children that were a product of it. When Willie reaches manhood, his flight from the travails of his mixed birth takes him from India to London, where, in the shabby haunts of immigrants and literary bohemians of the 1950s, he contrives a new identity. He buries his self-doubt in sexual adventures and in the struggle to become a writer–strivings that bring him to the brink of exhaustion, from which he is rescued, to his amazement, only by the love of a good woman.  Together they return to her home to live out the last doomed days of colonialism, while Willie remains a passive bystander in yet another life that is not his own. (Summary from Publisher-Random House)

Read More: Identifying first editions of HALF A LIFE

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Details

Bookseller
Johnson Rare Books & Archives US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
75675
Title
HALF A LIFE
Author
Naipaul, V.S
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Fine
Jacket Condition
Fine
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Edition
ISBN 10
0375407375
ISBN 13
9780375407376
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
2001
Keywords
Literature, Nobel Prize

Terms of Sale

Johnson Rare Books & Archives

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About the Seller

Johnson Rare Books & Archives

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2008
Covina, California

About Johnson Rare Books & Archives

Established in 1981, johnson rare books & archives is located in the heart of downtown Covina, about 20 miles east of Los Angeles. Our shop is currently open by appointment Thursday - Saturday from 11am - 6pm (please call ahead) and houses an inventory of some 30,000 titles, ranging from the general second-hand to the truly antiquarian. For more information, visit our website at www.johnsonrarebooks.com or call 1-626-967-1888.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Title Page
A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...

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