PLEASING MYSELF: FROM BEOWULF TO PHILIP ROTH

London, England: The Penguin Press, 2001. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. London, England: The Penguin Press, 2001. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 278 pages. Retrospective collection of essays. One of Frank Kermode's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run by The Penguin Press/Allen Lane as a hardcover original only. Despite the inclusion of American subjects and issues by the author, there is NO American Edition. None of the copies was commercially distributed outside the United Kingdom. Presents Frank Kermode's "Pleasing Myself: From Beowulf To Philip Roth". Literary and cultural criticism by a Master Critic. This is practical criticism as aesthetic hedonism, the most misunderstood, most widely attacked - by political correctness, the contemporary version of conformism and censorship - and most valuable philosophical approach to contemporary life. Ranges across a breadth of issues by breaking otherwise insuperable barriers through Frank Kermode's transcendent, prehensile reach. "Kermode has a strong claim to be Britain's most distinguished literary critic. Over the course of a long career, he has written on a enormous variety of literature, most recently William Shakespeare's plays. Should be of keen interest to lovers of literature, and also to those interested in post-war intellectual life. For as much as these essays exemplify the tension, the patience, and the insight of a great critic, in their defense of proportion and clarity, they are also works of ethical importance" (Publisher's blurb). Well, when properly understood and practiced, aesthetics IS ethics. An absolute "must-have" title for Frank Kermode collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Frank Kermode. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: There is NO American Edition. None of the copies was commercially distributed outside the United Kingdom. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest critics of the 20th century and our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 0713995181.