About this title: Durrell's third work, the original angry young novel, was first published by his good friend and long-time correspondent Henry Miller as the first title in the short-lived "Villa Seurat" imprint of the Paris-based Obelisk Press. Unpublishable by the more staid (and censored) presses across the Channel, no work better captures the anguish and death-consciousness of a Europe about to plunge, once again, into cataclysmic war and destruction. The Black Book first saw print in 1938.
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Description: Fair. Paperbacks are previously owned. They are all in readable condition. They may have previous owners stamps, labels or names written or on them. The covers and spine may have creasing from previously being read. The corners may be bumped and there may be a small number of bent pages. Older books may have fading/discoloration due to light exposure. read more
Binding: Perfect Bound Paper
Publisher: Cardinal Edition/ Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1962
Description: Very Good- No Jacket. Mass Market Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Some edgewear; spine has slight cant. Wraps show light rubbing. In protective bag. (STORE DISPLAY-Fiction) read more
Description: Good. ---Approx. 250 pgs. Interior-Nice overall condition w/ only light underlining. The paperback cover has only light signs of aging. -Publish Place: New York-Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. read more
Description: Very Good. 0571110754 Binding square and tight, no spine creasing. Pages clean and unmarked. Minimal shelf/edge wear. Satisfaction guaranteed. Ships Immediately from CA. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1960
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is tight. Cover has minor edgewear and some creasing to spine. 250 p. 21 cm. read more
Description: Acceptable. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"I am fond of this book for the shear expressionistic brilliance. comparisons with joyce and William Bouroughs come to mind but it is different from both sensibilities which are in some ways opposites."
"An amazing first book! And he asked Henry Miller to throw it into the Seine after reading the only manuscript! Thank God that isn't what happened. This book changed my perceptions of modern fiction forever."
By Nico,
Montesquieu Volvestre (Haut Garrone), France
"The Black Book has come back to me over and over in my life. I first read it in Amsterdam living in a squat in a drizzly november; it is angry and taut and magnificent-terribly flawed and scarred in a way that first novels rarely are these days. Durrell sent the only copy of his MS to Henry Miller, saying that he didn't know what to do with it, and asking Miller to throw it in the Siene when he was done with it; instead Miller took it to Jack Kahane, the founder of Oberlisk Press in Paris and demanded Kahane publish it, which he did promptly after reading it. It is a great first work, if only because it is so over the top, so solipcistic and miserable, so uncontained..."
"I guess being called The Black Book and having it banned at some point somwhere and it being written by Lawrence Durrell all came together to make me read this, and it was really disappointing. I think he was really trying to be Henry Miller when he wrote this, but no one can really dow Henry Miller but Henry Miller. Durrell got much much better with age (I think this was his first book), so just skip this one."
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