Pack of Cards: Stories 1978-1986
by Lively, Penelope
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good+
- ISBN 10
- 0434427438
- ISBN 13
- 9780434427437
- Seller
-
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Though Lively (Moon Tiger; Perfect Happiness) can be satirical, even wicked, these 36 stories (two earlier collections from England plus assorted recent stories, some published in US magazines) are mostly gentle, affectionate portraits of English men and women who muddle through. While there's a host of types and situations here, most center on village streets, petty bourgeoisie society, and academia. In truth, when a character in "Venice, Now and Then" says that "Things are so inconstant. That's the trouble," she could be speaking for most of her fictional cohorts: an aging English lady with insomnia ("The Voice of God in Adelaide Terrace"); a befuddled housewife whose "treasure" of a maid turns out to be a domineering sneak-thief ("Help"); and a professor suffering through the small humiliations of academia ("Revenant as Typewriter"), among many others. In addition to "Help," other notables include: "Nothing Missing but the Samovar," about a German Anglophile who spends a touching season with a sympathetically drawn family of shabbygenteel aristocrats at the end of their economic tether; "Corruption," a delicately textured portrait involving an aging judge, his wife, a female interloper, and a box of confiscated pornography; "The Pill Box," very short and a little metafictional ("How, having glimpsed the possibility of the impossible, can the world remain as steady as you had supposed?"); and" The Dream Merchant," a whimsical portrait of a sensible man who sells dreams from 9:30-5:00 but doesn't believe in them: "that was the secret of his success." Occasionally cloying or thin, but mostly solid work, full of character, incident, and elegiac charm. (Kirkus Reviews)
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Biblioasis (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 013095
- Title
- Pack of Cards: Stories 1978-1986
- Author
- Lively, Penelope
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0434427438
- ISBN 13
- 9780434427437
- Publisher
- Heinemann
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1986
- Pages
- 336
- X weight
- 0 kg
Terms of Sale
Biblioasis
About the Seller
Biblioasis
About Biblioasis
signed books, the eighteenth century, and books about books. Open since 1998, we
have a large selection of history, literature, philosophy, art, music, religion,
science, and technical books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- FFEP
- A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- 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...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 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....