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WILSON**, A[ndrew] N[orman]: : CONFESSIONS: A LIFE OF FAILED PROMISES

LONDON.BLOOMSBURY CONTINUUM/BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC,2012.

ISBN 9781472994808.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1.] FINE+/FINE+. Wrapped+ protected from day of issue/purchase,so no owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,matt,full-length photograph of author/subject to front panel of dw/dj with author/subject name+part-title glossy capitalised,white-lettered name,sub-title and publisher's name at bottom edge are flat printed and non-glossy,spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered title and author name with publisher's grey illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel with glossy sepia photograph of subject as a very young boy and 2 critics' white-lettered reviews.Negligible shelf-wear, bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges clean without blemish; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright, crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,original plain dark brown cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,a red+dark brown striped headband,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vipp+2-312pp [paginated] includes author's Introduction,36 chapters, random contemporary b/w biographical and non-biographical photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,recto of Contents list/table,an epigram (Marcel Proust - Within a Budding Grove) with a blank verso. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness and brightness. Known for his journalism,biographies and novels,A.N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life,his experience of sexual abuse,his catastrophic mistakes in love (sacred and profane) and his life in Grub Street - as a prolific writer.                                 Before he came to London,as one of the "Best of Young British" novelists,and Literary Editor of the Spectator,we meet a younger,more vulnerable A. N. Wilson.We meet his father,the Magaging Director of Wedgwood.We also meet the grotesque teachers at his first boarding school,and the dons of Oxford - one of whom,at the age of just 20,he married,Katherine Duncan-Jones,the renowned Shakespearean scholar.                  The book begins with his heart-torn present-day visits to Katherine,now for decades his ex-wife,who has slithered into the torments of dementia.                                         At every turn of this reminiscence,Wilson is baffled by his earlier self - whether he is flirting with unsuitable lovers or with the idea of the priesthood.His chapter on the High Camp seminary which he attended in Oxford is among the funniest in the book.                         We follow his unsuccessful attempts to become an academic,his aspirations to be a Man of Letters,and his eventual encounters with the famous,including some memorable meetings with royalty.                                       The pricesses,dons,paedophiles and journos who cross the pages are as sharply drawn as figures in Wilson's early comic fiction.But there is also a tenderness here,in his evocation of those whom he has loved,and hurt,the most. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!          N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.   ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **        

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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