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A House for Mr. Biswas (Reviewer's copy)
by Naipaul, V. S
- Used
- near fine
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good +
- Seller
-
Pasadena, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. Near Fine book in a bright, unfaded VG+ jacket. Chipping and creasing to jacket's spine ends; dampstaining to verso of jacket not visible on recto. Spine ends of book creased and bumped. Internally clean and unmarked. A reviewer's copy, accompanied by the McGraw-Hill reviewer card requesting two copies of a two-hundred word review; also included is one typed copy of the review composed by recipient David Fidler.
"Among the poor a common denominator is the lack of privacy. To Mr. Biswas, a sensitive man, the wonder of living in one' own house could create almost unbearable pleasure. For five years, until his death at 46, Mr. Biswas lived his dream. If he was cheated in buying a house he could not afford, it was infinitely superior to the room or two his family had occupied under sufferance of relatives...This colorful and moving novel of Hindu life in the West Indies deals with the chronically impoverished Mr. Biswas, a high-caste scholar, his family, and the Tulsis, his in-laws...Naipaul has written with skill and understanding of the universal longings and dreams of the poor, wherever they may be" (Fidler). Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
"Among the poor a common denominator is the lack of privacy. To Mr. Biswas, a sensitive man, the wonder of living in one' own house could create almost unbearable pleasure. For five years, until his death at 46, Mr. Biswas lived his dream. If he was cheated in buying a house he could not afford, it was infinitely superior to the room or two his family had occupied under sufferance of relatives...This colorful and moving novel of Hindu life in the West Indies deals with the chronically impoverished Mr. Biswas, a high-caste scholar, his family, and the Tulsis, his in-laws...Naipaul has written with skill and understanding of the universal longings and dreams of the poor, wherever they may be" (Fidler). Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
Synopsis
V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas tells the story of Mohun Biswas, an Indo-Trinidadian, who struggles as he yearns for a place he can call home following the death of his father. Homeless and loveless, he wanders from place to place, from one type of work to another, with every small success matched by a humiliation. A House for Mr. Biswas is primarily a sharply drawn look at life that uses postcolonial perspectives to view a vanished colonial world. The novel—Naipaul's first work to achieve acclaim worldwide— is ranked 72nd on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century, won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and is listed in TIME’s “100 Best Novels” (since 1923).
Read More: Identifying first editions of A House for Mr. Biswas (Reviewer's copy)
Reviews
On Aug 31 2009, Madmom said:
I read this book in high school and will be reading again. This time from a mature perspective and will then give a critique
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Details
- Bookseller
- Whitmore Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5833
- Title
- A House for Mr. Biswas (Reviewer's copy)
- Author
- Naipaul, V. S
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good +
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- McGraw-Hill
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1961
- Keywords
- How terrible it would have been...to have lived without even attempting to lay claim to one's portion of the earth; to have lived and died as one had been born, unnecessary and unaccomodated.
Terms of Sale
Whitmore Rare Books
15 day return guarantee, with full refund if an item arrives damaged or not matching the description.
About the Seller
Whitmore Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Pasadena, California
About Whitmore Rare Books
We operate a retail shop in "Old Town" Pasadena open normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- 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...
- 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....
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
- 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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