GOLDING, William ~ The Paper Men. Inscribed by the author.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Faber and Faber, London: 1984.

8vo., black boards, spine lettered in silver, with publisher's device to foot; the unclipped dustwrapper (£7.95 net) featuring an illustration by Paul Hogarth; THE BOOK essentially fine, with a couple of very small spots to the edges of the text block; THE WRAPPER also near-fine, with very light spotting to the edges. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition, first printing. This copy inscribed by Golding to the ffep: "David Whitney [?] from William Golding". Written below, likely by the recipient at time of signing, is 'Blackwells, Oxford 1984'. Published in 1984, the year after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, 'The Paper Men' was one of the final novels by William Golding. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway, as well as himself, Golding's plot follows protagonist Wilf Barclay, a middle-aged alcoholic in an unhappy marriage, locked into a fraught, obsessive, relationship with his would-be biographer. In many ways, the narrative echoes the author's own long and troubled relationship with alcoholism, and the tone is satirical in style, described by several reviewers as having a rather surprising ending. "You might not want Wilf Barclay as a neighbour", the author's daughter Judy later said, "or even as a fellow guest in a hotel, but he is great fun to read about, and the ending is a triumph."

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Fine
JACKET: Near Fine