Pack of Cards: Stories 1978-1986.
by LIVELY, Penelope
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Heinemann, London. 1986. First edition. Heinemann, London. 1986. Hardback with dust-wrapper. 323 pages. Sl. discolouration to dust-wrapper spine and margins; small inscription to front free end-paper. Overall a nice copy.
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)
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Details
- Bookseller
- Addyman Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 97782
- Title
- Pack of Cards: Stories 1978-1986.
- Author
- LIVELY, Penelope
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- Heinemann, London. 1986
- Keywords
- FICTION, MODERN FIRSTS short stories
Terms of Sale
Addyman Books
All books are First edition, printed in London, unless otherwise stated. We offer a changing selection of old/out-of-print/remaindered books in a wide range of subjects. Every effort has been made to describe the books as accurately as possible, but any items ordered can be returned if not as described within a 7 day period. European Union customers have 14 days.
About the Seller
Addyman Books
Biblio member since 2006
Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire
About Addyman Books
Addyman Books is based in Hay-on-Wye, the book capital of the world, with almost 30 bookshops in the town, nestled in the Black Mountains of Wales. We have been established since 1986 and have three shops, Addyman Books, Addyman Annexe and Murder & Mayhem. Large general stock. Murder & Mayhem specialises in Detective Fiction, True Crime and Horror.
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- First Edition
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