Skip to content

The Way of All Flesh (Dover Thrift Editions)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Way of All Flesh (Dover Thrift Editions) Paperback - 2004

by Samuel Butler

  • Used
  • Paperback

Description

Dover Publications, August 2004. Paperback. USED Very Good.
USED Very Good
NZ$9.97
NZ$8.29 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 2 to 14 days
More Shipping Options
Ships from Montclair Book Center (New Jersey, United States)

Details

  • Title The Way of All Flesh (Dover Thrift Editions)
  • Author Samuel Butler
  • Binding Paperback
  • Condition USED Very Good
  • Pages 320
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Dover Publications
  • Date August 2004
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 504872
  • ISBN 9780486434667 / 0486434664
  • Weight 0.55 lbs (0.25 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.26 x 5.18 x 0.8 in (20.98 x 13.16 x 2.03 cm)
  • Ages 14 to UP years
  • Grade levels 9 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, England
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2004043831
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About Montclair Book Center New Jersey, United States

Biblio member since 2003
Seller rating: This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Montclair Book Center has been in business since 1984, and we are the largest Used and New bookstore in New Jersey with 9,000 square feet of selling space and thousands of items in stock. We are just 15 miles or 30 minutes from New York City and certainly worth a visit.

Terms of Sale:

Shipping charges listed are estimates based on the average book. If a book is especially large, or is a set of multiple books, we may request that you pay an additional shipping charge. All books may be returned within one week of receipt, with prior notification. If book is not as described then a full refund will be issued. If the book is returned for some other reason then it will be refunded less shipping cost and possibly a 20% restocking fee. All international addresses must contain a street number or the order will be returned to us by the post office.

Browse books from Montclair Book Center

About this book

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler is a semi-autobiographical novel that attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. The story traces the history of the Pontifex family from the early eighteenth century until about 1880 and focuses, for the most part, on the life of young Ernest Pontifex, the novel’s protagonist. Yet Ernest isn’t born until 1835, in the book’s 17th chapter. Butler uses the first 16 chapters to provide a psychological portrait of the Pontifex family background as a means of allowing readers to understand what factors have gone into forming Ernest’s personality and the longevity of the chains of tradition he must break.

Upon publication in 1903, the book seemed very much of its time, an early 20th century groundbreaker alongside the work of Sigmund Freud and Pablo Picasso. The Way of All Flesh seemed to celebrate the end of the Victorian age just as it was decidedly over. But in fact, Butler had written the book decades earlier, between 1873 and 1884, though he deemed it too shocking for publication during his lifetime. As a result, Richard Alexander Streatfeild, a friend of Butler’s, arranged the publication — as the author requested of him — a year after his death. Streatfeild proved to be a good friend indeed as The Way of All Flesh was ranked twelfth on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

First Edition Identification

Grant Richards first published The Way of All Flesh in London in 1903. First editions are bound in dark red cloth with gilt-lettered titling on the spine and front cover. They also include a prefatory note by Streatfeild, who edited the book.

Categories