SKYWRITING BY WORD OF MOUTH and other writings,including The Ballad of John and Yoko.

UK,slim 8vo HB,1st edn.[Simultaneous publication in USA (Harper & Row Inc.,1986) and UK (Pan Books Ltd.,in association with Jonathan Cape Ltd.A Pan Original published jointly with Jonathan Cape.] FINE+.No owner inscrptn,but a b/w line illustrated (a cat stood on a pile of 3 books, peering at fore-edge of second book) owner inked,named 'Ex-libris' bookplate pasted to ffe,no dw/dj - as issued.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy glazed colour pictorial artwork illustrated boards; with negligible shelf- wear to edges and corners and immaculate plain white endpapers apart from aforementioned pasted bookplate to ffe.Top+fore-edges very slightly aged,but generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - despite presence of owner bookplate,appears unread? UK,slim 8vo HB,1st edn,7-200pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, 4 sections comprising 33 written pieces,profuse b/w line illus by John Lennon interspersed throughout the text and the book, and an afterword by Yoko Ono.Plus [unpaginated] 2pp blanks,half-title page,John Lennon b/w caricature portrait illustrated frntis,title-page and 6pp blanks at rear. This collection contains: THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO: All We Were Saying Was Give Peace a Chance,We'd All Love to See the Plan,We Fought the Law and the Law Lost,The Mysterious Smell of Roses.Two Virgins.An Alphabet.SKYWRITING BY WORD OF MOUTH: Skywriting by Word of Mouth: Subtitled "Lucy in the Scarf with Diabetics", Up Yours,Puma Eats Coast Guard,Puma Eats Scapegoat, Spare Me the Agony of Your Birth Control,"Demented in Denmark","It Nearly Happened in Rome","A Paradox and a Matching Sweater Please", "The Air Hung Thick Like a Hustler's Prick","A Conspiracy of Silence Speaks Louder Than Words", "Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Killer Whale","The Art of Deception Is in the Eye of the Beholder","Be Were Wolf of Limitations," or . . ."The Spirit of Boogie Be Upon You","A Word in Your Orifice," or . . ."Bebe Seagull Bites Dust",The Incredible Mediocre Rabbits, Europe on Five Camels a Day,"Death Is Switching Channels on TV",Chapter 23 or 27: In Which a Harvard Graduate Faints at the Sight of Enlightenment . . . "Florence de Bortcha Has Nuptials", Grueling Bi Centennial Scatters Entrails,"A Reason for Breathing", "Hang This Garlick Round Your Neck and You'll Never Marry", Experts Dance at Soc Hop Ball,The Importance of Being Erstwhile, "Never Cross a Horse with a Loose Woman",The Life of Reilly,by Ella Scott Fitzgeraldine,Chapter Forty-one: A Complete Change of Pacemaker,Never Underestimate the Power of Attorney and an AFTERWORD by Yoko Ono. In 1964,with Beatlemania rampant,John Lennon suddenly revealed another side of the rock & roll star - literary man.His first book,'In His Own Write' was published,followed a year later by 'A Spaniard in the Works'.Replete with fantasy mayhem,solecistic spellings,and imagery that reminded the critics of Edward Lear and suggested untapped lyrical possibilities,both were huge international bestsellers. 'SKYWRITING BY WORD OF MOUTH' is a collection of Lennon's fiction and non-fiction,illustrated by his own drawings,written between 1968 and 1979 and never before published.The fiction is a parody of every kind of writing,with all the wit and literary swiftness,the playfulness,the iconoclasm,the sexual explicitness and the sheer vitality that made the earlier books such a joy to read.In 'The Ballad of John and Yoko',Lennon reflects upon his first meeting with Yoko,the break-up of the Beatles,his persecution by the US and UK authorities and his adventures with the American underground. Completing this collection are 'An Alphabet' and 'Two Virgins',the latter written in 1968,when the public discovered that John and Yoko were living together as man and wife. Masterful and haunting,'SKYWRITING BY WORD OF MOUTH' takes us inside the brilliant creative mind of one of the most remarkable artists of our time. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. US customers please be aware: US standard AIR postage from UK to US can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. 1/2 to 2/3rds of standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving long before the quoted 42 days - but not always.